Honest Advice/constructive criticism

[Rolling_with_the_punches]

Good afternoon everyone, I just wanted to explain my current situation so that I can get more opinions and ideas for the future.

First off, I am 21 years old and I have 2 semesters left at UIC university of illinois at chicago.
My overall GPA is 3.62.
My community college GPA was 3.5 due to my freshman year and getting C's in anatomy & physiology 1 & 2. Needless to say, After I decided to pursue medical school, i retook these classes and obtained A's in both.
I have taken 46 credit hours at UIC and managed a 3.85 GPA. (thanks to taking physics 1 and homeostasis during the summer, Don't do the 4 week homeostasis it's brutal LOL)

My extra curriculars include time working as an EMT ( about 250+ hours but had to stop due to my previous shoulder injury weight lifting and I needed subsequent surgery to decompress my shoulders, I can honestly say my heavy lifting days are over, i only do moderate cardio and very light weight training)

I volunteer at a level 1 trauma center, in the emergency room. I have about 200 hours so far but i know the hours isn't what's important, it's the experience. I have witnessed many awe inspiring procedures including one where a neurosurgeon was operating directly in the ER after a patient was brought in from an MVA. I also dealt with a lot of less than thankful family members when asked to see their loved ones. I understand where they are coming from however.

I am also in the Medicina scholars program at my state schools medical school (UIC college of medicine). Here, each month i go to a 4 hour long seminar where Doctors talk to us about health disparities and problems in healthcare.

I also held a grocery store clerk position for 2 years while in my first two years in college where I was responsible for opening and closing the store and making sure everything was in order as well as satisfying every customer.
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The problem I face now is my next semester which I think will truly test me.
I will be taking
Physics 2 w/lab - 5 hours
Organic chemistry 2 - 4 hours
Genetics lecture - 3 hours
Genetics lab - 3 hours

While starting my brand new research position at my state medical school (UIC College of Medicine).
(My research involves the Ras initiative incase anyone was interested, I have no idea how I landed this position but I am grateful)

I recently just finished up my most recent semester with a 4.0
Ecology/Evolution (Believe it or not this was my hardest class)
Organic chemistry 1 (was one of top scorers in class)
Cell biology

I was wondering how am I doing with regards everything I have planned.
Any insight would be much appreciated thank you.

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[kyamh]

I think you are doing very well! Congratulations on your amazing record so far Your GPA has a great upward trend and you have a great shot at some of the best programs in the country! Here are my challenges to you:

1. Kick butt in that semester you have coming up and get A's. It won't be super easy, but it's also not awful since you are only taking 3 courses (while lab is time consuming and is a "course" in and of itself, I don't count it for the same mental effort since you're already learning the material for the course).

2. Get a 35+ on the MCAT to compensate a tiny bit for your slightly lower than average GPA at the top programs. You will do just fine with a 30+ but if you can push to a 35 you will be competitive everywhere.

3. Distinguish yourself in research in some way. Try and get a presentation/poster session/abstract out. Maybe at the end of the summer?

 

[Goro]

You're going great!

 

[Awesome Sauceome]

a 35+ and you are good... good lord.... way to make someone reach for something

 

[kyamh]

a 35+ and you are good... good lord.... way to make someone reach for something

I did say they are challenges

OP seems to have really great balance and is able to juggle a lot of things at once, I think he/she can do this!

 

[Bamfu]

OP is doing fantastic. At the end of the day, it's the MCAT though. More important even than getting As in all your classes in this upcoming semester is figuring out when/how you're going to prepare for MCAT. Start putting some serious thought into that. Otherwise, you're doing well above average in almost every aspect for acceptancees. I know that you'll see ******ed numbers of hours and ridiculous experiences and publications on these forums, but it's just not like that in most schools for most people. Yes I have classmates with Ph. Ds, Pharm D.'s, lots of research, a million research/volunteer hours, but the vast majority of us have mediocre to bad ECs and solid MCAT scores. I don't know of anyone with stupid awesome ECs and a bad MCAT.