English Major/Pre-med

[Exmachina]

Hey y'all. So I'm a junior at a top 50 university. I'm an English major/Biology minor. Still have orgo left.

I didn't do so hot in bio freshman year but I've been getting A's in all my sciences ever since. I also took 4 upper level biology classes to make up for it. Here are all my grades that would go toward BCPM that I've taken so far

Physics 1 B
Physics 2 A
Bio 1 C+ (freshman year)
Bio 2 C+ (freshman year)
Chem 1 B- (freshman year)
Chem 2 A
Orgo 1 A
Biochem A
Stats A
Evolution B+
Histology A
Biology of Cancer A
Nanobiotechnology A

sGPA right now is 3.5
cGPA is 3.69
I took the MCAT and got a 35.

Extra-curriculars
- run student-run art gallery (I've had board positions since freshman year and now I'm the director. I've also had my own show where I've featured my own art work with other student artists). I sell my own art on the side.
-writer for school newspaper (staff writer, been on it since freshman year)
-member of pre-med fraternity
-published in three literary magazines (poems and some short stories)

Volunteer
-Helped out in an elementary school and helped kids read (150 hrs since freshman year)
-Volunteered at local hospital (100 hrs)
-Helped out being a teacher for people immigrating from Central America into the US who need help with English (60 hours)

Shadowing
-Plastic Surgeon 15 hours
-Pediatrics 12 hours
-Radiologist 10 hours

Research
None

I'm from NY.

Here are the schools I wanna apply to. Is this list good? Should I apply to more? Which ones do I have decent chances at?

UWash in Seattle
Columbia
NYU
Mt. Sinai
USC
GWU
UCSF
UFlorida
UMiami
UArizona
Florida State
Florida International University
Suny Buffalo
New York Medical College
University of Central Florida
SUNY Downstate
Tulane

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[Exmachina]

anyoneeeeeeee?

 

[frochocinco]

Hey y'all. So I'm a junior at a top 50 university. I'm an English major/Biology minor. Still have orgo left.

I didn't do so hot in bio freshman year but I've been getting A's in all my sciences ever since. I also took 4 upper level biology classes to make up for it. Here are all my grades that would go toward BCPM that I've taken so far

Physics 1 B
Physics 2 A
Bio 1 C+ (freshman year)
Bio 2 C+ (freshman year)
Chem 1 B- (freshman year)
Chem 2 A
Orgo 1 A
Biochem A
Stats A
Evolution B+
Histology A
Biology of Cancer A
Nanobiotechnology A

sGPA right now is 3.5
cGPA is 3.69
I took the MCAT and got a 35.

Extra-curriculars
- run student-run art gallery (I've had board positions since freshman year and now I'm the director. I've also had my own show where I've featured my own art work with other student artists). I sell my own art on the side.
-writer for school newspaper (staff writer, been on it since freshman year)
-member of pre-med fraternity
-published in three literary magazines (poems and some short stories)

Volunteer
-Helped out in an elementary school and helped kids read (150 hrs since freshman year)
-Volunteered at local hospital (100 hrs)
-Helped out being a teacher for people immigrating from Central America into the US who need help with English (60 hours)

Shadowing
-Plastic Surgeon 15 hours
-Pediatrics 12 hours
-Radiologist 10 hours

Research
None

I'm from NY.

Here are the schools I wanna apply to. Is this list good? Should I apply to more? Which ones do I have decent chances at?

UWash in Seattle
Columbia
NYU
Mt. Sinai
USC
GWU
UCSF
UFlorida
UMiami
UArizona
Florida State
Florida International University
Suny Buffalo
New York Medical College
University of Central Florida
SUNY Downstate
Tulane

You should take the advice of some learned colleagues (@Goro @gyngyn @LizzyM) over me, however, I think I can safely say a couple of things:

1) Add other NY state schools (Upstate and Stony Brook)

2) Remove UWash and UCSF from your list
--> They are highly competitive state schools that show very little preference to OOS applicants (see here: https://www.amherst.edu/campuslife/careers/act/gradstudy/health/guide/part2/appendix)

3) Don't get your hopes even remotely up for Columbia, NYU, Mt. Sinai (ask the pros, but with no research and practically no clinical experience, I don't know if you're close to competitive. Practically everyone that applies to med school has good grades now...you need to distinguish yourself in non-quantitative ways)
--> Despite being an English-major...you're still taking pre-med courses at the same time, so I don't think you'd qualify as a non-traditional. With no research, Those top 20 research programs will likely not be interested.

4) Apply more broadly...you're have a lot of big state schools out West and down South. There are many private colleges in the northeast that I'd imagine you'd be competitive for (UVM, Albany, Drexel, Jefferson, Georgetown, Penn State and VCU to name a few)

5) You also seem to have practically zero clinical experience. 3-5 days shadowing and volunteering at a local hospital (likely doing busy work -- don't worry, we've all been there) probably hasn't exposed you to very much. Especially depending on what you did, (plastic) surgeons and radiologists don't always spend that much time with patients. It's hard to convince adcoms you want to be a doctor working with patients if you don't know what that is like.

6) Also, when are you planning on applying?...if you're only a junior and have already taken the MCAT, if you taking time off after college, you may need to re-take as most school don't accept MCATs taken more than 3 years before applying.

 

[Doug Underhill]

Keep boosting your clinical ECs and limit your reach schools to 5 spots or so. Look into Tufts, Einstein, Emory, Hofstra, NYMC, Jefferson, and others.

 

[Exmachina]

alright cool thanks guys.

yeah i'll definitely boosy my clinical ECs.

I'm applying in the fall in August. I definitely do not want to take any time off

 

[Exmachina]

what counts as more clinical experience? Should I shadow a general physician. I've had a lot of patient contact when I was volunteering at the hospital and sat through consultations at the plastic surgeon I shadowed.

 

[Goro]

I have to go do some Xmas cooking right now, so be patient and I'll post my suggested list later.

Scratch U Wash because they're heavily favor IS and surrounding.

Hey y'all. So I'm a junior at a top 50 university. I'm an English major/Biology minor. Still have orgo left.

I didn't do so hot in bio freshman year but I've been getting A's in all my sciences ever since. I also took 4 upper level biology classes to make up for it. Here are all my grades that would go toward BCPM that I've taken so far

Physics 1 B
Physics 2 A
Bio 1 C+ (freshman year)
Bio 2 C+ (freshman year)
Chem 1 B- (freshman year)
Chem 2 A
Orgo 1 A
Biochem A
Stats A
Evolution B+
Histology A
Biology of Cancer A
Nanobiotechnology A

sGPA right now is 3.5
cGPA is 3.69
I took the MCAT and got a 35.

Extra-curriculars
- run student-run art gallery (I've had board positions since freshman year and now I'm the director. I've also had my own show where I've featured my own art work with other student artists). I sell my own art on the side.
-writer for school newspaper (staff writer, been on it since freshman year)
-member of pre-med fraternity
-published in three literary magazines (poems and some short stories)

Volunteer
-Helped out in an elementary school and helped kids read (150 hrs since freshman year)
-Volunteered at local hospital (100 hrs)
-Helped out being a teacher for people immigrating from Central America into the US who need help with English (60 hours)

Shadowing
-Plastic Surgeon 15 hours
-Pediatrics 12 hours
-Radiologist 10 hours

Research
None

I'm from NY.

Here are the schools I wanna apply to. Is this list good? Should I apply to more? Which ones do I have decent chances at?

UWash in Seattle
Columbia
NYU
Mt. Sinai
USC
GWU
UCSF
UFlorida
UMiami
UArizona
Florida State
Florida International University
Suny Buffalo
New York Medical College
University of Central Florida
SUNY Downstate
Tulane

 

[Exmachina]

thanks goro! merry christmas!!

 

[Goro]

OK, the sweet potato casserole is in the oven and the rice is steaming, so now I can answer your question.

Not all experiences have to be in the hospital...think Planned Parenthood, hospice, clinics, camps for sick children, suicude/crisis hotlines or nursing homes. Also, try adding more non-clinical ECs.

what counts as more clinical experience? Should I shadow a general physician. I've had a lot of patient contact when I was volunteering at the hospital and sat through consultations at the plastic surgeon I shadowed.

If you're aiming for the top schools, you need research.

Your stats are good for ALL schools in NY, U VM, all schools in PA except U Penn, all Chi schools except U Chicago, Duke, Dartmouth, Emory, Vanderbilt, USC, Tulane, BU, Tufts, U Miami, and all new MD schools. That should do it.

 

[Lamel]

Add all of the SUNYs, Hofstra, Albany, and Einstein. Also don't apply in August, submit first day in June when the application opens. Applying early is pivotal.

what counts as more clinical experience? Should I shadow a general physician. I've had a lot of patient contact when I was volunteering at the hospital and sat through consultations at the plastic surgeon I shadowed.

You could either volunteer at the hospital more or shadow some more, or both. If your volunteering had longevity (1+ years) then I'd just shadow a couple more doctors. But basically I think you have enough clinical experience if you can talk about it perceptively in your application essays and interviews.

Look into trying research as well if you're interested.

 

[Exmachina]

okay thank you lamel. i will do that! i'll apply immediately.

i am going to continue to volunteer more at the hospital over the summer. i have been volunteer since sophomore year. I'll definitely get in more hours.

Thanks for the advice, goro. Hope your casserole turns out good! Next semester, I'm going to work with little kids at the local children's hospital and possibly a suicide hotline (i didn't know that would be an okay extra-curricular).