good grades, ok MCAT, mediocre ECs, nontrad

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Bobby23

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Did ChemE as an undergrad and got all required classes taken care of. 3.83 GPA (sGPA is similar, don't know the exact number right now), 32L MCAT (12P/8V/12B). Took the MCAT once before and got 31N (11/10/10), so that shows that I'm not completely illiterate I hope. After graduating I moved across the country & I work at a ChemE job and volunteer at the hospital on the weekends. I've got about 100 hrs volunteering (ongoing) & 16 hours shadowing (will get more when I get days off work... not much shadowing to be had on weekends). During college I did a little web design work & taught an MCAT class for Kaplan (yes, I taught with a 31... they didn't have anyone else). I'm not looking to get into a top med school, but state school (which has historically leaned very heavily on ECs) or other mid-level school in the US (MD). Don't sugarcoat it please. Thanks in advance.

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Did ChemE as an undergrad and got all required classes taken care of. 3.83 GPA (sGPA is similar, don't know the exact number right now), 32L MCAT (12P/8V/12B). Took the MCAT once before and got 31N (11/10/10), so that shows that I'm not completely illiterate I hope. After graduating I moved across the country & I work at a ChemE job and volunteer at the hospital on the weekends. I've got about 100 hrs volunteering (ongoing) & 16 hours shadowing (will get more when I get days off work... not much shadowing to be had on weekends). During college I did a little web design work & taught an MCAT class for Kaplan (yes, I taught with a 31... they didn't have anyone else). I'm not looking to get into a top med school, but state school (which has historically leaned very heavily on ECs) or other mid-level school in the US (MD). Don't sugarcoat it please. Thanks in advance.
What about leadership, perhaps through work, research or special engineering projects in college, nonmedical community service. It would help to know how many years you have been out of college and your home state.
 
What about leadership, perhaps through work, research or special engineering projects in college, nonmedical community service. It would help to know how many years you have been out of college and your home state.

Thanks for the response Catalystik.

Leadership: Not an extraordinary amount in college, though I was captain of some engineering groups that competed in regional & national competitions. At work I do have my hands in several multi-million dollar projects and am an important part of the team, but am not in a "leadership" type position in any of them.

No research experience & nonmedical community service is paltry. I do spend a little time doing some unrecognized search and rescue on Saturday nights at Rocky Mountain National Park. You would be amazed at the number of kids who wander off and get lost during the summer. This only started late last summer though and is really a summer thing, but I'll definitely do it again this year. It's great to see parents' faces when they're reunited with a lost child.

I've been out of college a year now & have residence in CO. I pretty much knew I wanted to go to med school since senior yr of high school, but did engineering as a way to get pre-med courses done and have a back-up plan, but then ended up needing to work a couple years while my fiancee finished up school so we could keep our finances more balanced.

I've got about 8 places I'm planning on applying to, mostly with median scores similar to or slightly lower than my own (MCAT & GPA for matriculants), with 2 "stretch" schools thrown in. Colorado's my first choice since I love the area, I own a home fairly near the campus and my fiancee also found a job out here that she's excited about.
 
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You are doubtless aware that Colorado is nontrad friendly (I've read 75% of their matriculants) but also that they love to see heavy clinical experience (they used to post 500 hours). Perhaps yours will be sufficiently meaty by the time you plan to apply. You might give them a call and see if their new dean has nudged that expectation downward. And don't forget to find opportunities for more shadowing. Be sure a primary care doc is included.

I'd be sure to list those engineering team projects, while highlighting your peer leadership for them (I'd get that word "Leader" into the name you give the activity). Hypothesis-driven research, in general (may not be true in Colorado), seems less essential for nontrads and the engineering projects can highlight your scientific curiosity and teamwork skills just as well. Who knows, once your boss knows you better, you may be able to add a more recent leadership activity.

The Search and Rescue gig sounds perfect. I hope you can get back into it and maybe eventually take on an organizational role there as well. Maybe you and your fiancee could find a cause you can both give time to during the rest of the year so you have a venue for "quality time." Consider something that serves the poor.
 
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You are doubtless aware...


Thanks for the advice Catalystik. Now time to cross my fingers and hope for the best (while continuing clinical/nonclinical volunteering & shadowing, of course).
 
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