General Advice

[Jyggaswoop]

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Hello,

I applied to dental schools and didn't get in last cycle. I was ticked off, and later called schools and found my weakness was volunteering (around 30 hours), which I've worked to improve. But now, I am thinking of med school and have studied the past semester for the MCAT, albeit not consistently. I recently graduated and am forced to take a gap year.

My stats are:

3.5 cGPA, 3.54 sGPA. (Huge upward trend)

EC:S
1 Year research experience, 1 Semester UTAing for genetics, and around 100 hours of volunteering and a leadership position for a science related club.

The problem is I don't have any clinical experience at all; I tried to shadow doctors over the semester in my uni, but all the ones I called didn't allow it, and one I did end up sending my resume to didn't call back. I am in talks with ScribeAmerica to get a scribe position for the year. I was mainly interested in dentistry because my freshman year was horrendus, and didn't think I had a good enough GPA for med; but now that's changed and didn't bother to look for shadowing opportunities till the last second.

I am set to take the MCAT this June 2nd, and will probably apply if I get a 510+ to MD. I am wondering when is the latest I can apply this cycle to keep me in good shape for best chance for interviews

I would preferably like to apply after I have some scribing hours under my belt.

As of now, my time frame is as such: Take the MCAT June 2nd, then start the application for MD as I attain scribing hours (hopefully), wait for my MCAT scores to send in my application. Would that be a good time frame?

Also, does it look poorly to have only scribing hours and not shadowing? I am thinking whoever I scribe under (hopefully if i get the position), can perhaps let me shadow if it is indeed deemed poorly that I don't have any shadowing.

 

[chaim123]

Hello,

I applied to dental schools and didn't get in last cycle. I was ticked off, and later called schools and found my weakness was volunteering (around 30 hours), which I've worked to improve. But now, I am thinking of med school and have studied the past semester for the MCAT, albeit not consistently. I recently graduated and am forced to take a gap year.

My stats are:

3.5 cGPA, 3.54 sGPA. (Huge upward trend)

EC:S
1 Year research experience, 1 Semester UTAing for genetics, and around 100 hours of volunteering and a leadership position for a science related club.

The problem is I don't have any clinical experience at all; I tried to shadow doctors over the semester in my uni, but all the ones I called didn't allow it, and one I did end up sending my resume to didn't call back. I am in talks with ScribeAmerica to get a scribe position for the year. I was mainly interested in dentistry because my freshman year was horrendus, and didn't think I had a good enough GPA for med; but now that's changed and didn't bother to look for shadowing opportunities till the last second.

I am set to take the MCAT this June 2nd, and will probably apply if I get a 510+ to MD. I am wondering when is the latest I can apply this cycle to keep me in good shape for best chance for interviews

I would preferably like to apply after I have some scribing hours under my belt.

As of now, my time frame is as such: Take the MCAT June 2nd, then start the application for MD as I attain scribing hours (hopefully), wait for my MCAT scores to send in my application. Would that be a good time frame?

Also, does it look poorly to have only scribing hours and not shadowing? I am thinking whoever I scribe under (hopefully if i get the position), can perhaps let me shadow if it is indeed deemed poorly that I don't have any shadowing.

Honestly - you aren't in good shape to apply this cycle. Adcoms will see that you squeezed in your only clinical experience months before your application, and know/feel that you were "checking a box". You're going to want to take at least a year, if not two, to participate in clinical and community service work to be competitive for MD schools.

 

[Catalystik]

Hello,

I applied to dental schools and didn't get in last cycle. I was ticked off, and later called schools and found my weakness was volunteering (around 30 hours), which I've worked to improve. But now, I am thinking of med school and have studied the past semester for the MCAT, albeit not consistently. I recently graduated and am forced to take a gap year.

My stats are:

3.5 cGPA, 3.54 sGPA. (Huge upward trend)

EC:S
1 Year research experience, 1 Semester UTAing for genetics, and around 100 hours of volunteering and a leadership position for a science related club.

The problem is I don't have any clinical experience at all; I tried to shadow doctors over the semester in my uni, but all the ones I called didn't allow it, and one I did end up sending my resume to didn't call back. I am in talks with ScribeAmerica to get a scribe position for the year. I was mainly interested in dentistry because my freshman year was horrendus, and didn't think I had a good enough GPA for med; but now that's changed and didn't bother to look for shadowing opportunities till the last second.

I am set to take the MCAT this June 2nd, and will probably apply if I get a 510+ to MD. I am wondering when is the latest I can apply this cycle to keep me in good shape for best chance for interviews

I would preferably like to apply after I have some scribing hours under my belt.

As of now, my time frame is as such: Take the MCAT June 2nd, then start the application for MD as I attain scribing hours (hopefully), wait for my MCAT scores to send in my application. Would that be a good time frame?

Also, does it look poorly to have only scribing hours and not shadowing? I am thinking whoever I scribe under (hopefully if i get the position), can perhaps let me shadow if it is indeed deemed poorly that I don't have any shadowing.

Applying to med schools this cycle is a terrible idea. Adcomms want to see evidence of thoughtful consideration of medicine as a career through various longitudinal experiences. When your application makes it look like you made an impulsive decision to go into the field, it won't end well for you.

If you realign your timeframe, you can take the MCAT when you're really ready and hopefully get a higher-than-average (for matriculants ) MCAT score to offset your lower-than-average GPAs. You can beef up your nonclinical volunteering and even get your clinical experience through volunteering 4 hours per week in a clinical environment where you interact more with patients than a scribe does. And though theoretically scribing should cover shadowing, too, more and more med schools want to see dedicated shadowing where you can see more aspects of what a doc's day is like.