Do I stand a chance to get into NYU?

[983710]

Edit: Thank you all for your help! I'm not a fan of leaving too many personal details up online, so I've edited out what I had and leaving the barebones of what the issue was for others who view the thread.

High MCAT (top 5%), GPA, high everything except volunteering, which was only 80 hours clinical and 80 hours nonclinical. Was asking if the lack of volunteering shoots me in the leg.

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[ihoop24]

Any clinical experience besides playing with the sick patients at the hospital?

 

[983710]

Any clinical experience besides playing sick with the sick patients at the hospital?

No, unfortunately. I'm aware it's an extremely weak link in my application, which is why I'm worried about being too ambitious. I spend a lot of time working on my thesis, doing research, club responsibilities, studying, working 2-3 jobs for the most part, etc.

 

[ihoop24]

I would say drop one of those things and add in a few hours of clinical volunteering a week. It is a very important part of any application.

 

[983710]

I would say drop one of those things and add in a few hours of clinical volunteering a week. It is a very important part of any application.

I have been considering handing off my project in the lab for a while now. The problem is that the application goes out in less than a month, and its going to be painfully obvious that I'm last minute checklisting patient-contact experience. What I might be doing regardless is volunteering with Alzheimer's patients, but I'm worried about sticking that in the application. Should I just save that for the secondary? By then I'll have been doing it for a month and a half.

 

[ihoop24]

I have been considering handing off my project in the lab for a while now. The problem is that the application goes out in less than a month, and its going to be painfully obvious that I'm last minute checklisting patient-contact experience. What I might be doing regardless is volunteering with Alzheimer's patients, but I'm worried about sticking that in the application. Should I just save that for the secondary? By then I'll have been doing it for a month and a half.

Sorry, didn't realize you are applying this year. Unfortunately, any activities you start now will look like box checking, and on top of that, the hours won't be significant enough to put on your application.

 

[ciestar]

Take a gap year. With little clinical experience, it will be an uphill battle for any school, especially NYU.

Retaking a 517 is foolish.

You also shouldnt be putting stuff from high school unless you continued it throughout college.

 

[983710]

Sorry, didn't realize you are applying this year. Unfortunately, any activities you start now will look like box checking, and on top of that, the hours won't be significant enough to put on you application.

That's what I thought. It kind of sucks because I'm probably doing it anyways. Is the rest of my solid enough to compensate though? Or are the schools going to shoot me down?

 

[ciestar]

That's what I thought. It kind of sucks because I'm probably doing it anyways. Is the rest of my solid enough to compensate though? Or are the schools going to shoot me down?

You’re applying to medical school. Your app as it stands doesn’t scream i want to be a doctor to me.

 

[ihoop24]

That's what I thought. It kind of sucks because I'm probably doing it anyways. Is the rest of my solid enough to compensate though? Or are the schools going to shoot me down?

I agree. Do not retake your MCAT. Take another year to amp up both clinical and non-clinical (underserved communities) to >150 hours of both and you'll be good to go.

 

[983710]

Do my experiences with my sister count at all as clinical experience? I spent a lot of nights sleeping in the room with her during her chemotherapy. A lot of my Creative Writing coursework also involved me interviewing patients and doctors to write credibly for my stories? Or does it have to be hands-on stranger patient contact?

 

[ihoop24]

Do my experiences with my sister count at all as clinical experience? I spent a lot of nights sleeping in the room with her during her chemotherapy. A lot of my Creative Writing coursework also involved me interviewing patients and doctors to write credibly for my stories? Or does it have to be hands-on stranger patient contact?

That doesn't count. Look for something more like hospital or free clinic where you see a wide variety of conditions.

 

[ciestar]

Do my experiences with my sister count at all as clinical experience? I spent a lot of nights sleeping in the room with her during her chemotherapy. A lot of my Creative Writing coursework also involved me interviewing patients and doctors to write credibly for my stories? Or does it have to be hands-on stranger patient contact?

No, this doesn’t count.

It doesn’t have to be hands on either. For stuff like hopsice, you tend to sit there and just talk to them. You dont need to be doing clinical activities for it to count.

 

[983710]

That doesn't count. Look for something more like hospital or free clinic where you see a wide variety of conditions.

Gotcha. If I do take the gap year, I'm probably going to volunteer at a hospice.

 

[983710]

No, this doesn’t count.

It doesn’t have to be hands on either. For stuff like hopsice, you tend to sit there and just talk to them. You dont need to be doing clinical activities for it to count.

So it's more about, "know about patients and what they go through and what a doctor's role is all this," rather than something like a medical mission trip?

 

[ciestar]

So it's more about, "know about patients and what they go through and what a doctor's role is all this," rather than something like a medical mission trip?

It’s learning whether you can be around patients your entire career.

Please dont do a mission trip.

 

[meronebib]

If you take a gap year, you probably will have to retake the MCAT, as most schools require the MCAT grade to be at the max 3 years old (by the time of matriculation I think). That will be a good excuse to retake that high score though. Just make sure you do better on it!

 

[dodolol21]

I'm gonna catch you early on here. Be very careful not to become dead-set on one program -- even if you are 100% competitive on paper with scores, LORs, close location wise, and ECs are there, there's a very real chance you don't get in and you don't want that to ruin your parade of achieving a medical school acceptance elsewhere.

 

[unluckyadhessiveness]

Retaking a 517 is foolhardy. If you score similarly or end up decreasing in score, this will not reflect well on your judgement.

 

[Goro]

No, unfortunately. I'm aware it's an extremely weak link in my application, which is why I'm worried about being too ambitious. I spend a lot of time working on my thesis, doing research, club responsibilities, studying, working 2-3 jobs for the most part, etc.

Don't even think of applying anywhere this cycle without clinical experience.

Ae you retaking the MCAT because it's expiring? If not, your judgement will severely be called into question.

Your non-clinical volunteering is also very weak.

 

[LizzyM]

The writing stuff might be of interest as an aside at schools that have a medical humanities thing going. I thought that NYU did so I googled NYU medical humanities and got some good hits.

 

[983710]

The writing stuff might be of interest as an aside at schools that have a medical humanities thing going. I thought that NYU did so I googled NYU medical humanities and got some good hits.

That’s part of why I’m applying to NYU as well. They have a great Creative Writing master’s that I want to do during residency (whether its an NYU residency or not) and I plan to live in NY if even if I’m not going to NYU! I’m kind of paranoid about my low patient-care experience as a whole, and I’m starting to think I should put off the application by a year.

 

[WedgeDawg]

Moving to WAMC