Got my mcat scores, what now?

[js1227]

I just took the Sept MCAT and got my score:a 350, ps13, v10, bs12 . My gpa isn't that great: 3.49 with a 3.3 science gpa
ECs are also limited: I did a physical therapy internship, worked in the campus greenhouses, currently a research assistant in an MCB lab, but I dont get to do a lot of research. I also volunteer a couple hours a week at a local hospital, but this is just candy striper type stuff.

How should I go about applying and deciding where to apply?

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[honker]

Need more data. What is your state of residency? What is your trend in grades through college? Do you expect to get great LORs? Do you have a compelling history that can be expressed in your personal statement? Offhand, your GPA is going to be an issue at most private schools. It doesn't sound like you have outstanding ECs to compensate for the GPA, either. Your MCAT is fine. If you are still in college, it is critical for you to bring up your GPA. Buffing up your ECs would help, too.

 

[Mobius1985]

You have a great MCAT score. If you're aiming for highly selective schools, they'd be in reach if you can improve your GPA. If you'd be happy with mid selectivity schools, I think you're fine, as long as your recent grades have been good. Regardless of how high you aim school-wise, your ECs need work. If you have 100-200 hours at the hospital you volunteer at (and "candy-striper type stuff" is fine, if you have face-to-face interactions with sick folks), either change departments, or volunteer elsewhere in a non-hospital setting (free clinic, family planning clinic, nursing home, hospice, residential home for med/psych patients, etc.), try to get more involved in a research project to the point where you could discuss the process in-depth, shadow a few types of docs, stay involved in any other humanitarian effort or sport you're involved in already, And find a leadership role. Meanwhile, start to collect good Letters of Reference. Your lab PI should be one of them, so try to impress that person. (By the way, I think your PT internship will make an interesting EC, not often seen on applications.)

As far a deciding on schools to apply to, it's helpful to know your state of residency, selectivity goals, predicted final GPA, regional preferences, and whether you plan to escalate your research involvement, or let your current experience stand (and not apply to research-intense, highly selective schools). I'd suggest you get hold of an MSAR (Medical School Admission Requuirements) available in your reference library, med school advisory office, or on-line for $25? through the AMCAS website.

Again, congratulations on the great MCAT score. You must be feeling pretty good right now.

 

[js1227]

I live in California, so I would have liked to stay in-state, but going to another state isnt an issue. Before my mcat score, I was sure I was only going to apply to Caribbean schools. Now I dont know what I should do b/c of the disparity between my less than average gpa/ECs and more competitive mcat. LORs should be all right from the PI, should I also ask the postdoc I'm working with? I understand the research being done in the lab, but I am mostly doing PCRs, digests, and normal lab stuff. Nothing too interesting with the gpa history, but I have never gotten below a B, and recently my gpa has been rising, so at the end of this year, when I graduate, I should be higher than a 3.5 unless something goes wrong. I will have at least a year between graduating and med school, so I was thinking of using that time to also gain more experience, and doing more volunteer work, but I'm assuming that like everything else, that is easier said than done. How do people get experience shadowing doctors? I live in a big city, and private places are pretty much unknown to me...I dont even think I've ever had a regular doctor I can go to shadow. Does the MSAR make it easier to find a list of more "average" medical schools?
Thanks for your replies...I need all the help I can get.

 

[Mobius1985]

LORs should be all right from the PI, should I also ask the postdoc I'm working with?

How do people get experience shadowing doctors?

Does the MSAR make it easier to find a list of more "average" medical schools?

You'd probably want the person with the best credentials to write the letter. If the PI doesn't know you well, the postdoc should write it. (As he's a PhD too, that's as good as it gets, unless the PI is chair of the department.) It's also OK to have one write it and the other co-sign it.

You usually find docs to shadow through your volunteer work. Don't you have occasion to see physicians in the hospital? Be bold. Ask if you might come to their office and shadow them. Or maybe when you interned for PT, you met an orthopedist you could hit on.

The best way to get an idea of the school selectivity is to look at the sticky at the top of this forum "School Selectivity spreadsheet". Your LizzyM score is almost 70. You'll see there are few schools outside your reach.