MD & DO How am I doing?

[Shayla Flowere]

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Hi. I'm a first semester sophomore at a really small state school and I'm a little concerned about how I'm doing so far. Here are my stats:

2.97 GPA (had a very rough freshman year, working on raising my GPA) Currently looking at a 3.02 at the end of this semester and a 3.32 at the end of my sophomore year
Bio Pre-Med/ Journalism double major
Apart of the university honors program
Copy Editor and Staff writer at my school's newspaper (going to be doing this all 4 years)
about 50+ hours of volunteering at my school's art gallery (doing this all four years)
URM

I'm looking at getting more medical related volunteer hours, and I'm starting a gender studies research paper next semester. Also working to raise my GPA to about a 3.5 at application time. What should I be focusing on to improve my chances of getting in?

 

[JMilo]

You kind of dug yourself into a hole with your GPA, and will have to work hard to overcome this. You also need to kill the MCAT, but I'd imagine you'd be taking that in over a year, so you have some time.

Your ECs are weak. Work on getting clinical/clinical volunteering hours and shadowing. How do you know you want to be a physician if you haven't had these experiences. Also look into meaningful volunteering opportunities to show your altruism, or at least be able to defend why it is important to you. Volunteering at an art gallery is nice, but what is its significance to medicine, or your life? I would look at other peoples postings on WAMC to get an idea for what other people are doing, and what you should be pursuing. You have plenty of time, but you should get started right away.

 

[Shayla Flowere]

You kind of dug yourself into a hole with your GPA, and will have to work hard to overcome this. You also need to kill the MCAT, but I'd imagine you'd be taking that in over a year, so you have some time.

Your ECs are weak. Work on getting clinical/clinical volunteering hours and shadowing. How do you know you want to be a physician if you haven't had these experiences. Also look into meaningful volunteering opportunities to show your altruism, or at least be able to defend why it is important to you. Volunteering at an art gallery is nice, but what is its significance to medicine, or your life? I would look at other peoples postings on WAMC to get an idea for what other people are doing, and what you should be pursuing. You have plenty of time, but you should get started right away.

Thanks for your reply. I'm a little curious as to why you would say that the art gallery isn't a good volunteer position. I absolutely love art and every second I spend at the art gallery, the same can be said for my positions at my school newspaper...I feel like those positions reflect that. For what its worth I've volunteered there for almost a year now and hope to continue all four years.

 

[Terror Billy]

Thanks for your reply. I absolutely love art and every second I spend at the art gallery, the same can be said for my positions at my school newspaper...I feel like those positions reflect that. I've been volunteering at the same art gallery for almost two years now and plan on continuing to volunteer there all four years of college does that signify commitment? Where should I be GPA wise?

Your GPA to put it lightly at 2.97 would get you screened out of almost every medical school in the country. You need to raise that to at least a 3.4 for DO and 3.6+ for MD. You should be spending a lot more time on your coursework instead of at the art gallery at this point.

It's great to find that you are passionate about art and journalism, but if you don't start finding a passion for doing well in "pre-med" courses the door to med school will be slammed shut. You still have plenty of time to recover being a first semester sophomore, but I would immediately suggest finding the correct individuals/resources to help you study better.

**also not quite sure what "Honor Student" means

 

[JMilo]

Thanks for your reply. I'm a little curious as to why you would say that the art gallery isn't a good volunteer position. I absolutely love art and every second I spend at the art gallery, the same can be said for my positions at my school newspaper...I feel like those positions reflect that. For what its worth I've volunteered there for almost a year now and hope to continue all four years.

If you love doing it thats great! If you are interested in it, by all means do it. Volunteering is done to demonstrate selflessness and compassion for others, and if you think volunteering at an art gallery displays this, you're fine. If not, maybe do something supplemental, like volunteering at a hospital/nursing home/etc etc.

I also have to stress that you have NO clinical experience. Schools reject 4.0/520+ applicants who have no clinical experience, and your GPA is below 3. Your time is best spent by raising your GPA and gaining clinical hours, though your GPA is more important.

 

[edgerock24]

None of your EC's matter if your GPA is so low.

Get that GPA up. Don't focus on anything else unless you have time off from school, or your GPA is ~3.5+.