Help for Boosting Resume and Experience

[studentpremedcynthia]

Hello,
I just finished my sophomore year of undergraduate currently with a 3.6 cGPA. My experience so far includes:
720+ hours of medical scribing in an ED
100 hours research with two small research projects both environmental, unpublished
50 hours volunteering with a botanical center
(I am also a college cheerleader and a part of several campus organizations such as biology club and environmental club).

This summer I am looking to boost my resume by doing multiple volunteering opportunities (that still allow me to volunteer with COVID) such as hospice centers, food banks, and underserved populations. I was thinking about also being a crisis hotline volunteer because this would be something that is more available on my own time. I will also continue to scribe.
Next school year I have a laboratory proctoring (TA) position waiting for me, as well as a research project (within psychology). I will also be sitting in on other research projects as a volunteer to collect data and things of that nature. I will continue to work as a medical scribe until I go into medical School.

I need help with adding experience to my resume. Currently, my only clinical experience is working as a medical scribe, which I love doing. I will have no change at shadowing hours this summer because of COVID, so I was wondering if there was any other steps I should be taking to enhance my resume for my medical school application come next summer. I currently feel as if I do not, or will not, have enough experience to set me apart from other applicants, or I have nothing that will diversify me when comparing my application to hundreds of others.
If anyone has any advice on things I can do to enhance my application and resume, I would greatly appreciate it!

Thank you, Cynthia

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[KnightDoc]

Hello,
I just finished my sophomore year of undergraduate currently with a 3.6 cGPA. My experience so far includes:
720+ hours of medical scribing in an ED
100 hours research with two small research projects both environmental, unpublished
50 hours volunteering with a botanical center
(I am also a college cheerleader and a part of several campus organizations such as biology club and environmental club).

This summer I am looking to boost my resume by doing multiple volunteering opportunities (that still allow me to volunteer with COVID) such as hospice centers, food banks, and underserved populations. I was thinking about also being a crisis hotline volunteer because this would be something that is more available on my own time. I will also continue to scribe.
Next school year I have a laboratory proctoring (TA) position waiting for me, as well as a research project (within psychology). I will also be sitting in on other research projects as a volunteer to collect data and things of that nature. I will continue to work as a medical scribe until I go into medical School.

I need help with adding experience to my resume. Currently, my only clinical experience is working as a medical scribe, which I love doing. I will have no change at shadowing hours this summer because of COVID, so I was wondering if there was any other steps I should be taking to enhance my resume for my medical school application come next summer. I currently feel as if I do not, or will not, have enough experience to set me apart from other applicants, or I have nothing that will diversify me when comparing my application to hundreds of others.
If anyone has any advice on things I can do to enhance my application and resume, I would greatly appreciate it!

Thank you, Cynthia

You honestly seem to be fine in this area, other than the shadowing, which you are going to have to figure out before next May. Holistic review means an application is not all about grades and MCAT, but those really are the two most important things. Cheerleader is unique and pretty interesting (Division I by any chance? The bigger the school, the more impressed people seem to be with the time commitment and achievement!), and you have a nice assortment of other activities. Your GPA is decent but not outstanding. The biggest thing you can do to enhance your application is do really well in class next year, and then knock the MCAT out of the park. Good luck!!!

 

[TragicalDrFaust]

I agree with the above poster about focusing on strengthening GPA and scoring well on the MCAT. I recommend finding one or two volunteer opportunities that you’re passionate about and which may produce leadership opportunities. It will help your application to have ECs that you can write and talk about in a meaningful way. When deciding if an opportunity is worth your time, think about things that could push you and make you grow. Also think about if the activity is congruent with the values and personality you hope to convey in your personal statement. For example, I realized this cycle that I kept saying I wanted to go into a service oriented field in essays but my application truthfully doesn’t have a lot of work with underserved populations. Had I been thinking more about the application process from day one, I would have looked for more work with marginalized populations.

As far as clinical experience, the amount of scribing you have is above average. I would also look for 50+ hours of shadowing in diverse specialties. Good luck!