GPA: 3.29cgpa 3.23sgpa MCAT: 513 (127/127/129/130) 25y/o White male

[KoreisSaysHi]

• Major: Biology with Biochemistry minor
• GPA: 3.29cgpa 3.23sgpa (DIY Post-Bacc 8 hours 3.5sGPA)
• MCAT: 513 (127/127/129/130)
• California resident
• 25y/o White Male
• Small Private School
• Clinical Experience:
  • 200 Hours Scribing in Urgent Care
  • FT Job as Medical Assistant Private Ortho Office (~1000 Hours at the moment; ongoing)
  • 100 volunteering in ED of large Hospital (normal garden-variety exp. for premed; stock gloves, give pillows, and blankets)
  • ~80 volunteering at Non-profit Clinic focused on homeless (ongoing)
  • 20 hours volunteering at "Pop-up" Clinic for 10,000 Homeless and Uninsured over one-weekend annually (did some shadowing)
• Research:
  • 1-year research in Ecology - (Research Fellow title, Stipend; No publications; Presented poster)
  • 1-year Research Assistant for Mesothelioma Lab (Work-Study)
• Shadowing:
  • 24 hours - Rheumatologist
  • 24 hours - Primary Care (Geriatrics)
  • ~ 20 Hours - Shadowed multiple Ortho Surgeries (Work in Ortho Office)
• Non-clinical volunteering:
  • none since High school
• Other extracurricular activities (including athletics, military service, gap year activities, leadership, teaching, etc):
  • 20 months working as Biomedical engineer at Biotech Company that became 2nd ever FDA Approved Therapy of its kind
  • Fraternity
• Relevant honors/awards:
  • Dean's List 1 semester
  • Two Scholarships

Basically expecting to get roasted. Fire away!

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[Mr.Smile12]

• Major: Biology with Biochemistry minor
• GPA: 3.29cgpa 3.23sgpa (DIY Post-Bacc 8 hours 3.5sGPA)
• MCAT: 513 (127/127/129/130)
• California resident
• 25y/o White Male
• Small Private School
• Clinical Experience:
  • 200 Hours Scribing in Urgent Care
  • FT Job as Medical Assistant Private Ortho Office (~1000 Hours at the moment; ongoing)
  • 100 volunteering in ED of large Hospital (normal garden-variety exp. for premed; stock gloves, give pillows, and blankets)
  • ~80 volunteering at Non-profit Clinic focused on homeless (ongoing)
  • 20 hours volunteering at "Pop-up" Clinic for 10,000 Homeless and Uninsured over one-weekend annually (did some shadowing)
• Research:
  • 1-year research in Ecology - (Research Fellow title, Stipend; No publications; Presented poster)
  • 1-year Research Assistant for Mesothelioma Lab (Work-Study)
• Shadowing:
  • 24 hours - Rheumatologist
  • 24 hours - Primary Care (Geriatrics)
  • ~ 20 Hours - Shadowed multiple Ortho Surgeries (Work in Ortho Office)
• Non-clinical volunteering:
  • none since High school
• Other extracurricular activities (including athletics, military service, gap year activities, leadership, teaching, etc):
  • 20 months working as Biomedical engineer at Biotech Company that became 2nd ever FDA Approved Therapy of its kind
  • Fraternity
• Relevant honors/awards:
  • Dean's List 1 semester
  • Two Scholarships

Basically expecting to get roasted. Fire away!

What prevented you from doing non-clinical volunteering since high school? Be more specific with the clinic experience serving the homeless with respect to your responsibilities and frequency of opportunity.
Other employment experience outside of the clinical employment you have listed?

I think you are in range for some DO schools (not so much on the MD schools, especially in-state California). Would want to better know your life journey to medicine.

 

[Faha]

You should receive interviews at DO schools and I suggest these:
Western
TUCOM-CA
TUNCOM
AZCOM
KCU-COM
ATSU-KCOM
DMU-COM
CCOM
MU-COM
CUSOM
VCOM (all 4 schools)
You could try some MD schools such as these
Loma Linda
California University
California Northstate
NOVA MD
TCU-UNT
Seton Hall
New York Medical College
Oakland Beaumont
Western Michigan
Medical College Wisconsin
Rosalind Franklin
Drexel
Temple
George Washington

 

[KoreisSaysHi]

What prevented you from doing non-clinical volunteering since high school? Be more specific with the clinic experience serving the homeless with respect to your responsibilities and frequency of opportunity.
Other employment experience outside of the clinical employment you have listed?

I think you are in range for some DO schools (not so much on the MD schools, especially in-state California). Would want to better know your life journey to medicine.

Nothing prevented me If I am being honest, I just was on a different path. I was more interest in the biomedical application of research and engineering on therapies/Pharmcueticals. It was not until I worked in the industry for a while that I realized I wanted to be in clinical medicine.

Other employment, Besides Biomedical engineer, Scribe, and Medical Assistant includes bartending and admin work in college.

I hope to get some love from MDs especially private.

Would it be worth it to do a SMP for academic enhancement? If I took 15 more credits in Science and got 3.6 minimum would I be more competitive?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Nothing prevented me If I am being honest, I just was on a different path. I was more interest in the biomedical application of research and engineering on therapies/Pharmcueticals. It was not until I worked in the industry for a while that I realized I wanted to be in clinical medicine.

Other employment, Besides Biomedical engineer, Scribe, and Medical Assistant includes bartending and admin work in college.

I hope to get some love from MDs especially private.

Would it be worth it to do a SMP for academic enhancement? If I took 15 more credits in Science and got 3.6 minimum would I be more competitive?

Start with @Faha 's list and connect with admissions staff at those schools as well as students. See if they give you encouragement that you would be successful if you applied to their programs. Maybe some of them would value your time working in biotech and in your other positions. I do think all of them would value your community service, especially with the homeless clinics. How all that would fit in a way that I would believe you would succeed in their curricula and clinical opportunities, I would want to be sure about that fit with the schools I would be sending my money to for applications.

 

[KoreisSaysHi]

@Mr.Smile12 I am actually in the process of doing exactly that. I have set up one phone call and have 8-10 email addresses I am hoping to contact in the coming weeks.

@Mr.Smile12 @Goro Would you suggest more DIY Classes or a SMP.

I am going to take a shot this upcoming application cycle but I am also planning to continue to strengthen my app and work as I do expect to get in.

 

[KoreisSaysHi]

@Mr.Smile12 Any recommendations on how to phrase my questions with the schools I speak to about my GPA?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

@Mr.Smile12 Any recommendations on how to phrase my questions with the schools I speak to about my GPA?

On your GPA question, you want to know how an applicant similar to your situation is evaluated for an interview and subsequently an offer. Treat this like an informational interview where you want to know about the process and how applicants like you have succeeded and have failed. You don't need to tell them everything about you; they won't/can't answer a WAMC without seeing your full application. (Frankly they shouldn't.)

What courses comprise your 3.5 PB GPA? I'd say you may want to continue doing it if it's your only option, but an SMP will give you high-risk high-reward, provided you choose the most affordable option with linkage conditions to a desired medical school.

Back to the non-clinical volunteering: you don't have to be a premed to be involved with community service, and many high schools and universities encourage community service days within the school year for students, staff, and faculty volunteers. The fact you have done none or nothing over the bare minimum in high school or college undergraduate is surprising.

 

[KoreisSaysHi]

For my PB GPA, I have taken EMT course (which I do not think counts as credit), Statistics, and Physiology/Human Biology.

I definitely did not do the bare minimum in high school, I was actually very involved but I did not think it was okay to bring this up from medical school applications even though did mean a lot in terms of who I am today as an adult and part of why I am choosing this career path. In college undergrad I got off track in more ways than one (immaturity played a factor in this), I was involved with Philatropic Fundraisers which I hesitate to count as non-clinical volunteering and I was involved with a food pantry through my fraternity but I really do not feel like it was worthwhile compared to the experience that I have now.