How can I improve my chances?

[betapop]

Hi everyone.

I'm currently a junior at a prestigious university in IL, majoring in chemistry, international studies and minoring in global health.

I am looking into med schools in the east coast mostly and perhaps some CA schools. My dream schools would be Columbia, NYU, UCSF, and Stanford. What are my chances right now at getting into each of these schools AND top 10 schools in general? I should also let you know that I will be staying at undergrad as a 5th year student to finish up my second major and a minor.

I am hoping to end my junior year with:
cGPA: 3.784
sGPA: 3.7

Freshman year cGPA: 3.718
Sophomore year cGPA: 3.812
Junior year cGPA: (hopefully) 3.784
There is a slight downward trend as I began taking 300-level science classes I aced orgo and physics, skipped gen chem, took 300-level chem courses, which I got a lot of B+'s in (I thought I was good at chem but apparently I'm not.. ). Bio is significantly hurting my GPA(B+'s), too, which is really frustrating cuz I put so much time into it.

If I completely ace my senior year and 5th year, I will end my UG with a cGPA of 3.874 and sGPA of 3.771

As of MCATs, I have not taken it yet, but I'm pretty confident that I can do pretty well on it. Let's say I target at around 35.

I have been volunteering at a clinic since last September and I plan on continuing it into my senior year.

I had done research since sophomore year for a year, but I stopped my spring semester of junior year because my GPA was going down because of it. I won a research grant but was not very productive in my research projects..

I'll be studying abroad this summer in Latin America to learn Spanish and do public health research (I won a grant for this).

My extracurriculars aren't groundbreaking. I'm in the exec of two cultural groups. I'm also in a rock band and we perform annually at a cultural show.

I can speak 4 languages fluently (I'm not from this country), and I am studying abroad in Asia next fall until winter and I hope to get some research done there, too (although it's only for a semester, so I will have to finish it up when I return).

So again, I would really like to know what my chances are at my dream schools (listed above) and what I should do to improve my chances at top 10 schools.



Thanks so much for your time!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Rzarecta]

Your chances are going to depend on your MCAT score, so it is hard to assess your chances. In terms of "top programs," you have a few things against you. Your GPA is solid (especially if you get a very strong MCAT score), but your ECs and research are mediocre. People at top programs are not only very gifted with brains (high stats) but also amazing ECs and decent research. If you really want those top programs you need to strengthen both.

In short, difficult to assess chances without MCAT.

 

[betapop]

Thanks so much for your advice!! I really appreciate it. I agree with you on the research part. It IS pretty weak. I'm gonna have to work on that somehow.. But thanks again!