Do I have a chance? please help...

[rashmyan]

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Hi,

Basically here is my situation. I am a math major with a 3.7 overall GPA and all A's in my sciences except for 2 B+'s. However i do have an one F in a math class. I had a huge misunderstanding with the math department and now there is ultimately nothing i could do. Im applying right and taking my MCAT in a couple of months. I do plan on retaking this course next semester but they will not get to see it on my transcript. I do volunteer/research as a research coordinator and am also registered for an EMT certification course next semester. I volunteered for only a few months in patient care. The 3.7 is with the F by the way. Im getting strong recommendations but I am just so scared that i have zero chances. can anyone please shed some light

 

[rashmyan]

I am also a chemistry and econ minor and Russian Jewish. I will be taking biochem next semester as well but again they will not get to see it.

 

[Catalystik]

If you have a cGPA of 3.7 with the F, that's not too bad. But what is your BCPM GPA with the F?

If you apply with just a few months of patient contact experience, you won't have much chance of an acceptance regardless of how strong your MCAT score is. How many hours of physician shadowing do you have? How long have you done research? What about leadership and teaching and nonmedical community service?

EMT certification won't help you much if you don't use it in a job or volunteer capacity.

When one applies, one also lists future planned coursework, so schools will know what you intend to take the next semester or two.

 

[rashmyan]

well the volunteering i did for only a few months but i volunteer/research at mt.sinai for over a year already and had a lot of patient interaction. Ive also attended many case studies and been to 2 cadaver courses. During this time, I also shadowed the doctor i was working (if that is even the proper terminology).
Unfortunately i have no community service but i feel its too late to change anything now. please inform me of the smartest steps to take because i am literally losing sleep over this. Is it too late to volunteer in the ER and do community service? Is it worth devoting time to when I have the MCATs coming up? Will it help that I am retaking that course in the fall semester or is that too late as well?

 

[rashmyan]

I am also the director of public affairs at the EMT club at my college. I have also been a math tutor for about 3 years. Should i include a letter of rec from one of my students? My BCPM gpa is ofcourse lower since all my other non science classes are mostly A's with a few A-. I would guess around a 3.4 since i have a lot of math classes to balance that F out. If you need anymore information to develop some sort of consensus on how this is acceptance process is likely to go for me, please let me know. thank you so much

 

[rashmyan]

In addition I also worked at a branch of Kaplan called SCORE! ive worked there for over 2 years from 2006 to 2008 and have a letter from them as well. (dont know if that helps)

 

[rashmyan]

In addition I am also a resident in nyc and would like to attend med school somewhere within the tristate area. Is this even a possibility?

 

[Catalystik]

If you've been working directly with patients for a year in a research capacity, in addition to the few months of patient-care volunteering, you might be fine for clinical experience (1.5 years seems pretty average, and you're close to that). If you've only shadowed one doctor, it would help if you follow maybe two other docs in different specialties before you apply. How many shadowing hours do you have so far? You'll need to list the hours.

The Math and Kaplan tutoring is good to see. You don't need an LOR from a student, but could use one as a contact person if you didn't tutor as a job or through an organization. Teaching will be a very strong experience for you.

It would help for you to continue to gain clinical experience and to start some nonmedical community service, even if only for two hours per week, during the application year. You can advise schools of your ongoing experiences through periodic update letters and at interviews.

Put Director of Public Affairs for the EMT club under Leadership.

Are you a US citizen or green card holder? This would make a huge difference in your chance of an acceptance if you are not (in a negative way).

Retaking the course won't help you much if the grade is not on your transcript. You could include the grade in an update letter though.

If you take the MCAT "in a couple of months," by the time the score comes back a month later, your application will be disadvantaged by the lateness. If you decide to go ahead and apply this summer, I suggest you live the application year as if you know you'll need to reapply, and continue to build your ECs. Once you have an MCAT score, it will be easier to gauge your chances of an accptance.

 

[rashmyan]

I am a US citizen. Well i was thinking of taking the MCAT on Aug 4th and was informed that it was not late to do so. If you could please shed some light on that i would greatly appreciate it. I also have been shadowing another doctor however in the same field. Also i dont quite understand what you mean by documentation of my hours. For the last i have just been coming in once a week for 6 hours and shadowing. Is there something wrong with that meaning something i did not do? So with all of this and if i get a 31 on my MCAT your truly believe i will not get in this year?

 

[rashmyan]

also, should i put my directing a class at SCORE! under leadership as well?

 

[rashmyan]

I also lead many class discussions and help many students with the material in my classes. where would something like that go on the application?

 

[Rzarecta]

I also lead many class discussions and help many students with the material in my classes. where would something like that go on the application?

Do you do this in any official capacity (like a TA?) or hold tutoring sessions?

 

[rashmyan]

Well SCORE! was official but the tutoring isn't. I do hold sessions with upto 3 students sometimes but nothing i can show for on paper. Isnt this a very small part compared to everything else? Im just really worried about how the overall picture looks..

 

[rashmyan]

Sorry i misread your post. It is not official but some of my professors know about this and will write it in their reccomendations but can i put that on aamc somewhere?

 

[Catalystik]

It is not official but some of my professors know about this and will write it in their reccomendations but can i put that on aamc somewhere?

Even though it was unofficial, it's fine to put on your application under teaching, listing one of the students you tutored as the contact person. It would help if a prof referrred to the tutoring in the LOR as well. Estimate the total hours.

 

[Catalystik]

also, should i put my directing a class at SCORE! under leadership as well?

I would list it as Teaching, unless you were in charge of other people who did the actual teaching.

 

[Catalystik]

Well i was thinking of taking the MCAT on Aug 4th and was informed that it was not late to do so. If you could please shed some light on that i would greatly appreciate it.

I also have been shadowing another doctor however in the same field. Also i dont quite understand what you mean by documentation of my hours. For the last i have just been coming in once a week for 6 hours and shadowing.

So with all of this and if i get a 31 on my MCAT your truly believe i will not get in this year?

If you take the MCAT August 4, the score comes back in early September. If you submit then, it takes about five weeks to get verified, in October. Then you submit Secondaries. Even if you got each one returned within a few days, it nmight be November before you get them all done. That would be considered very LATE by most people on SDN.

For shadowing hours you just keep track of the time spent. You write down the total in the application. You don't need formal documentation.

Even some folks with 4.0/40 stats on their application fail to get accepted. No one will guarantee you'll get in no matter how perfect your application may be.

 

[rashmyan]

ok thank you. can you also please inform me of what secondaries are by any chance? ive never heard about that. My MCAT's will come back in september so why would it take another 5 weeks?

 

[Catalystik]

If you wait to apply until after you know if you have a competitive MCAT score, at that time of year it takes AMCAS 4-5 weeks to verify that the information on your college transcript is correct. You have to wait in line until they get around to you.

A Secondary application for each med school typically has some essay questions for you to answer and may request additional information about you. When it's done, you have to pay another $30-$130 for the school to process it (in addition to the fee charged for the Primary application.

 

[rashmyan]

Well yes of course but I was thinking to not wait for my MCAT scores but send them out right away before I even know what I get. Should I be alright then?

 

[Catalystik]

Well yes of course but I was thinking to not wait for my MCAT scores but send them out right away before I even know what I get. Should I be alright then?

The earliest your schools will get the score is September. You would still be at a disadvantage. You could minimize this by prewriting the essays for the Secondaries, so your turn-around time is a few days once you are formally invited to complete the Secondary. You can find the essay prompts here on SDN. Certainly, it's not impossible that you could get an acceptance, but I've seen many folks in such a position get no or few interviews, or get an acceptance to a less-selective school that they might have aspired to. If you take this path, just be sure you understand the risk and be prepared to take it. Prepare yourself to reapply, in case you need to, as i mentioned in an earlier post. By no means can I reassure you that you'll "be all right, then." But you might be fine, especially if you have a strong MCAT score.