Do normal people get into med school???

[BEE DO]

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What I mean with normal is somebody without hundreds of hours of research, volunteering etc.
After reading some of these forums it seems like only people with extraordinary stats get into med school.

I'm just starting my junior year in college and want to apply for the next cycle to Texas med schools only(IS). This is what I have as of now, I don't think I'll have much more time to do anything else before I apply:

1. full time student athlete
2. URM (Hispanic)
3. cGPA=3.92, sGPA=3.90
4. volunteering (medical/clinical setting)=120 hrs
5. volunteering (community)=130 hrs
6. shadowing=50 hrs

*I haven't done any research and have not taken the MCAT yet
What are my chances with a decent MCAT?

Any comments would be greatly appreciated, Thanks

 

[Goro]

The average MD school matriculant has > 100 hrs of clinical volunteering, has > 50 hrs of shadowing, > 100 hrs on non-clinical volunteering, and > 90% of them have done research.

Not all Hispanics are UR; what community do you represent?

Someone who has been a full time athletes like you and still maintains sky-high grades is worthy of med school. You might be the 7% how haven't done research, who gets in!

Being from TX, AND an athlete, give you a major shot at the TX schools.

 

[BEE DO]

The average MD school matriculant has > 100 hrs of clinical volunteering, has > 50 hrs of shadowing, > 100 hrs on non-clinical volunteering, and > 90% of them have done research.

Not all Hispanics are UR; what community do you represent?

Someone who has been a full time athletes like you and still maintains sky-high grades is worthy of med school. You might be the 7% how haven't done research, who gets in!

Being from TX, AND an athlete, give you a major shot at the TX schools.

@Goro My father is from South America, and my mother is from Mexico. Do I qualify as a URM?

Thanks for the response.

 

[Goro]

Possibly...but do you have any service or involvement in the community?

Even without the URM status, anyone who can maintain such a stellar GPA while being a student athlete has amply demonstrated outstanding time mgt skills, something which is crucial for survival in med school. You have avg numbers of hours in your ECs, so you qualify as a more than normal person. I'd say add some more shadowing, and some more service hr, and you're golden...oh, yeah, and do well on MCAT!

@Goro My father is from South America, and my mother is from Mexico. Do I qualify as a URM?

Thanks for the response.

 

[Willy38]

If you've managed to keep that GPA as a student athlete AND are URM you should do really well. Just definitely take your MCAT seriously, do well on it and you should be fine.

I was a student athlete and just finished applying this past cycle ( although I'm not URM) and got accepted. If you want to PM me with questions please don't hesitate to do so !

Edit: I also didn't have research, although I worked to rectify that toward the end of the cycle.

 

[Banco]

You seem to have the basics of the application down pretty well. Getting some research will help. If you can get a good MCAT you should be fine.

 

[gyngyn]

@Goro My father is from South America, and my mother is from Mexico. Do I qualify as a URM?
.

Do you have evidence of commitment to service?

 

[BEE DO]

Do you have evidence of commitment to service?

@gyngyn I was given an award for completing four years of volunteer work during high school. During those four years I volunteered at the food pantry and Christian ministries. It has been harder to do this kind of volunteer work at college, I have tutored at a predominantly Hispanic elementary school, coached underprivileged children, and worked with children and adults with special needs.

This summer, I am volunteering (once again) at the food pantry and Christian ministries. I will probably do work (that was mentioned above) again during the year, once I return to the university.

 

[gyngyn]

@gyngyn I was given an award for completing four years of volunteer work during high school. During those four years I volunteered at the food pantry and Christian ministries. It has been harder to do this kind of volunteer work at college, I have tutored at a predominantly Hispanic elementary school, coached underprivileged children, and worked with children and adults with special needs.

This summer, I am volunteering (once again) at the food pantry and Christian ministries. I will probably do work (that was mentioned above) again during the year, once I return to the university.

This is laudable, but the HS stuff should really not be a part of your application.

 

[BEE DO]

This is laudable, but the HS stuff should really not be a part of your application.

@gyngyn Thank you for the reply. The only reason I mentioned the HS award was to be sure that you would know that I have been volunteering in my community for a while now and not just for the sake of the med school application. If possible, could you please elaborate on the relationship between community service and URM? Thanks

 

[yeezuswest]

You would honestly be surprised by just how "normal" most accepted pre-meds are. I'm one of those people you're referring to, with many hours of volunteering, research, etc. and I like to think I am one of the most "normal" people out there (or at least I try to be). It's not that difficult to get involved in a few activities and stick with them over long periods of time, developing hundreds of hours. I actually think that's pretty normal. There are a lot of really smart, really driven pre-meds who don't get accepted because of their personalities, and that's what shows during the interview.

 

[gyngyn]

@gyngyn Thank you for the reply. The only reason I mentioned the HS award was to be sure that you would know that I have been volunteering in my community for a while now and not just for the sake of the med school application. If possible, could you please elaborate on the relationship between community service and URM? Thanks

Applicants who are members of under-represented communities are valued for what they can contribute to the learning environment as well as their enhanced probability to provide service to those who need it.
A dissociated member is much less valuable to us.
How is your Spanish? Have you used enhanced language skills to help others?

 

[BEE DO]

Applicants who are members of under-represented communities are valued for what they can contribute to the learning environment as well as their enhanced probability to provide service to those who need it.
A dissociated member is much less valuable to us.
How is your Spanish? Have you used enhanced language skills to help others?

@gyngyn My Spanish is not perfect, kind of broken. To answer you question, honestly, not much.

 

[Goro]

What my learned colleague is saying here is that you not only have to talk the talk, but walk the walk (not literally as in speaking Spanish, but in doing).

Applicants who are members of under-represented communities are valued for what they can contribute to the learning environment as well as their enhanced probability to provide service to those who need it.
A dissociated member is much less valuable to us.
How is your Spanish? Have you used enhanced language skills to help others?

 

[BEE DO]

What my learned colleague is saying here is that you not only have to talk the talk, but walk the walk (not literally as in speaking Spanish, but in doing).

@Goro @gyngyn Once again, thank you very much for taking the time to post. Sorry, but I am a bit confused. As I posted, I have been volunteering for a few years now, a lot more during HS than while in college. I really enjoy teaching under privilege kids the game I love. That being said, most of these kids speak English even though they are of Hispanic descent ( we do a lot of Spanglish). In my opinion I have been trying to walk the walk. Perhaps not walking a marathon, but a few miles 🙂 , Sorry to ask this, but what does speaking Spanish have to do with helping, is this because I mentioned URM? As I mentioned in my original post, I don't think , due to my academic/athletic schedule, that I will be able to do additional things (other than what I am doing). Is this going to be enough?

 

[Goro]

What med schools do not want to do is reward people of privilege, but URM has a precise meaning. We want to know that you'll be a doctor for the Mexican-American community, because they don't have enough Mexican-American doctors. Hell, they don't have enough doctors, period.

There are ample papers reporting that people like to see doctors who look and talk like them, and they have better health outcomes because of this. See my post in the pre-Allo forum listing citations in the post on affirmative action (OP by ratman7)

@Goro @ gyngyn Once again, thank you very much for taking the time to post. Sorry, but I am a bit confused. As I posted, I have been volunteering for a few years now, a lot more during HS than while in college. I really enjoy teaching under privilege kids the game I love. That being said, most of these kids speak English even though they are of Hispanic descent ( we do a lot of Spanglish). In my opinion I have been trying to walk the walk. Perhaps not walking a marathon, but a few miles 🙂 , Sorry to ask this, but what does speaking Spanish have to do with helping, is this because I mentioned URM? As I mentioned in my original post, I don't think , due to my academic/athletic schedule, that I will be able to do additional things (other than what I am doing). Is this going to be enough?

 

[BEE DO]

What med schools do not want to do is reward people of privilege, but URM has a precise meaning. We want to know that you'll be a doctor for the Mexican-American community, because they don't have enough Mexican-American doctors. Hell, they don't have enough doctors, period.

There are ample papers reporting that people like to see doctors who look and talk like them, and they have better health outcomes because of this. See my post in the pre-Allo forum listing citations in the post on affirmative action (OP by ratman7)

@Goro Well at least I have the "look" down 🙂 I come from a middle class family, so would that keep me from being considered a URM? How do you convince people that you do want to "walk the walk"?

 

[Goro]

Service!

@Goro Well at least I have the "look" down 🙂 I come from a middle class family, so would that keep me from being considered a URM? How do you convince people that you do want to "walk the walk"?