Help!!

[water29]

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Suppose I have everything (high gpa and MCAT, wide range of extracurriculars) except clinical volunteering. I did do a lot in high school, but had bad experiences and did not want to waste time again if the program were not good. I did some physician shadowing, but mostly worked in a research lab. How badly would my chances be affected by not having medical volunteering? I'm applying this cycle.

 

[FattySlug]

Why don't you post your whole app (GPA, MCAT and ECs) so people can have a better picture of where you stand?

I think missing medical volunteer will hurt your chances at schools who focus on primary care as opposed to research. A friend of mine (4.0, 36MCAT, heavy research w 3 papers but not much volunteer) got rejected for all Cali schools except USC but got in 3 other MD-PhD programs. I am not sure it was because of that lack of medical volunteer but he told me if given a chance he would have focused more on volunteer.

 

[water29]

3.81 GPA, 3.79 sGPA, 35P MCAT

ECs: tutoring for 2 years, Chem lab TA, Alternative Spring Break, Research at two labs (one for 2 years and just starting one, but both are current), workshop leader, tennis, Relay for life, amnesty international, studying other cultures and languages and some physician shadowing. This past semester I was studying abroad in China.

Looking back, I do wish I had done more volunteering....