Help A Student Athlete Out

[UMLJumper14]

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[Moosepig]

Shadowing and Clincal Volunteering.

Do you get any time off this Christmas? If you could get in 50 hours of shadowing you could get that covered, then perhaps over the long term volunteer at a clinic etc. maybe 3-4 hours a week this year.

 

[UMLJumper14]

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[Moosepig]

Yeah I get a little bit of time off because classes end. Hopefully ill be able to fit in at least 30 hours. Thanks for the advice! Numbers are good enough for a top 50/100 school right?

Yeah the MCAT is certainly good enough for top 50-100 and GPA if you keep it up. ECs are a bit weak (as you obviously know) but you're working on that. But I mean honestly in my opinion once you get outside the top 30 or so a medical school is a medical school so don't worry about "top 100" so much as "does this school match what I want to do?"

 

[Nymphicus]

Use your offseason and summer/winter breaks to get shadowing and research (if you have enough time) in.

 

[ANATOMYgirl22]

I was also a student athlete and doing research during season and even in the off season was almost impossible. Do you have much time off in the summer? I would recommend trying to get in to a summer research program since you have good grades and would probably be competitive. Otherwise you could always take a year or two off to boost your EC's. Good luck!

 

[1cor1311]

Make sure and get a strong personal letter from your head coach. I heard adcoms always appreciate letters of rec from college coaches. he can write about your work ethic / determination / leadership / teamwork etc.

 

[UMLJumper14]

Thanks guys! I'm starting to get in contact with physicians so I can shadow them and hopefully I'll be able to boost my ECs.

 

[UMLJumper14]

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[Moosepig]

Are you kidding me!? That's a great MCAT!

I'm not 100% on the thesis thing but I can assume yes, don't apply to those schools.

 

[Muhlgrad11]

Hey everyone,

So I'm beginning to look at schools to apply to and I have a few questions:
1) On MSAR some schools say that a research thesis is required - does this mean I shouldn't bother applying to these schools because of my lack of a research thesis?

I'm just going off my memory which may very well be fried due to the current application cycle but the only place I saw any mention of research thesis requirements in the MSAR was within the school's curriculum...in other words you have to do one to graduate, not to be accepted.

 

[UMLJumper14]

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[red doctober]

Good GPA, great MCAT, D1 athlete... you're golden.

 

[Catalystik]

So I am a D1 student-athlete (bet you can guess what school from my name) who runs track. Here are my stats:

3.71 GPA
3.75 sGPA

35M MCAT (Sept 2012)

No Research

Very little EC's other than track (few volunteering and shadowing hours)

Graduating in Spring 2014 with a major in Biology and minor in Economics.

What should I focus on to make sure I am on the right path? I have limited time due to my sport and need to budget my time efficiently. Any Advice?

Shadowing and Clincal Volunteering.

Do you get any time off this Christmas? If you could get in 50 hours of shadowing you could get that covered, then perhaps over the long term volunteer at a clinic etc. maybe 3-4 hours a week this year.

Besides shadowing, which you can complete rapidly with long hours in a short time, you really, really need to get in clinical experience ot have a chance in the next cycle. If traditional clinic or hospital volunteer expectations are too rigid, ask your team physician if there is a Sport Injury clinic locally where you can help out. Or look further afield to skilled-level nursing homes, rehab center, hospice.

If you are truly just too busy to put that much more stress on your life, then I agree with

Otherwise you could always take a year or two off to boost your EC's.

 

[UMLJumper14]

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[Catalystik]

what defines "clinical exposure"?

There is passive clinical exposure, like shadowing, where you focus more on what the physician does and mainly watch them interacting with sick people (about 50 hours is the average listed). And there's active clinical experience, where you personally engage patients in some helpful way. For the latter, longevity counts more than total hours, but the average listed on applications is about 150 hours gained over 1.5 years. Of course, half of applicants have less than that. I recommend that you continue with this through your application year for the sake of update letters, Secondary essays, and interview conversations. What you get out of it is more important than the actual hours, as is how well you articulate this in essays and during interviews.

The two experiences you mentioned above can certainly be included on your application. Most would group the shadowing with the other shadowing acquired within a single entry.

How many hours did you spend at the children's hospital visiting kids? When did you start this?

 

[phikapdoctor]

So I am a D1 student-athlete (bet you can guess what school from my name) who runs track. Here are my stats:

3.71 GPA
3.75 sGPA

35M MCAT (Sept 2012)

No Research

Very little EC's other than track (few volunteering and shadowing hours)

Graduating in Spring 2014 with a major in Biology and minor in Economics.

What should I focus on to make sure I am on the right path? I have limited time due to my sport and need to budget my time efficiently. Any Advice?

Just a heads up your going to be pretty easy to identify. Your name says you go to UMass Lowell, and jump there. So unless your whole triple jump, high, long jump is applying for med school you are not going to be anonymous at all.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN Mobile app please excuse punctuation and spelling

 

[UMLJumper14]

Just a heads up your going to be pretty easy to identify. Your name says you go to UMass Lowell, and jump there. So unless your whole triple jump, high, long jump is applying for med school you are not going to be anonymous at all.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN Mobile app please excuse punctuation and spelling

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[UMLJumper14]

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[Catalystik]

It would be advisable to add a second, more-formal volunteer gig in a clinical environment for 3-4 hours weekly.