How can I improve my EC's for MD (3.6 cGPA)?

[Garosen]

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Currently an undergraduate incoming junior.
Expected graduation: 2015
Major: Biology
cGPA: 3.64 (can get up to 3.7 if all goes as planned)
sGPA: 3.5 (again, may be able to raise this to a 3.6)
Haven't taken the MCAT yet. Realistic score expectation: 32-34.

Physician shadowing
- 20 hours of shadowing internal medicine doctors at UH.
- 20 hours of shadowing internal medicine doctor in NY during the summer (the physician I shadowed is a relative of mine).
- 2-week shadowing experience with Montefiore Vice President of Clinical Services and attending nurses. Earned CPR and AED certification.

Clinical volunteer activities
- Volunteering at The Weils (a nursing home center) for 2 years to present.
- 100+ hours of volunteering at Montefiore (rehabilitation/short-term care center).

Leadership Experience
- Launched and co-edited senior residents’ monthly newsletter that was well received by the residents at The Weils.
- Co-edited the quarterly volunteer newsletter at Montefiore.

Research
None yet. I applied for MetroHealth and Cleveland Clinic Research internships for summer 2013. I was not selected because I had not completed Genetics coursework (which I will be taking in Fall 2013).

Employment
- Working as Cleveland Clinic office assistant during summer 2013.


Not trying to get into top 10 schools. Realistically, Loyola, Georgetown, and New York Medical College are some of the schools I'm interested in applying for.

I've also been trying to join EMS at my school for the past year, but they kept closing or postponing classes. I'm hoping to try again for next year.

Im concerned that I wont have much time to work on my EC's further come the MCAT and applying for med school. Should I be worried? Thoughts/any tips to bolster my EC's further would be much appreciated. Thank you in advance.

 

[Meihua]

Why create a new thread that's pretty much the same as your old one...?

If EMS isn't a sure bet (i.e. if you're not positive you can take the EMT-B class in fall '13 and work consistently spring '14 through application season), you may want to look into other uses of your time...personally, if you're interested in research/ want that to be a part of your application, I feel like it would be a better use of your time to start working in a lab in the fall, since you already have a good chunk of clinical volunteering.

I'm not entirely sure what you mean by this:

Im concerned that I wont have much time to work on my EC's further come the MCAT and applying for med school.

At this point, you have roughly one year to work on your ECs (summer + fall + spring) - unless you plan on studying for your MCAT/ working on your applications months in advance, there shouldn't be too much time conflict...? Any activity that's not established by the time you start applying is going to look like you just crammed it in for the sake of having one more thing to list. Looking at your old thread, you're planning on taking the MCAT in summer 2014 before you apply - is there any reason you can't do it this summer? You could easily pair up studying for the MCAT with a good amount of volunteering or research, take the MCAT at the end of the summer, and then spend the school year focusing on grades + ECs without the specter of the MCAT hanging over your head.

 

[JacksonsDad]

You have a lot of options in NE Ohio to bolster your EC's.

CWRU has a lot of PT research positions, and periodically post temp/summer research positions (same goes for the VA in Cleveland).

Not sure how long you have been in your position at the Clinic, but you could transfer to a position in clinical/patient contact (Phlebotomy hires w/o experience and trains in, especially with in-house transfers)

Free Clinic of Greater Cleveland has volunteer opportunities also (It is on Euclid near Case).

Monte/Weils are good facilities. Have you looked at maybe trying to shadow at Menorah Park (right in front of Monte) as they have staff physicians that round daily?

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions or need other ideas. I live in NE Ohio and have worked at Case, the Clinic, as well as a couple of research labs , (and the next 2 weekends I will be at the free clinic) and I can give some details about the experiences at them.

 

[aspiring20]

Currently an undergraduate incoming junior.
Expected graduation: 2015
Major: Biology
cGPA: 3.64 (can get up to 3.7 if all goes as planned)
sGPA: 3.5 (again, may be able to raise this to a 3.6)
Haven't taken the MCAT yet. Realistic score expectation: 32-34.

Physician shadowing
- 20 hours of shadowing internal medicine doctors at UH.
- 20 hours of shadowing internal medicine doctor in NY during the summer (the physician I shadowed is a relative of mine).
- 2-week shadowing experience with Montefiore Vice President of Clinical Services and attending nurses. Earned CPR and AED certification.

Clinical volunteer activities
- Volunteering at The Weils (a nursing home center) for 2 years to present.
- 100+ hours of volunteering at Montefiore (rehabilitation/short-term care center).

Leadership Experience
- Launched and co-edited senior residents’ monthly newsletter that was well received by the residents at The Weils.
- Co-edited the quarterly volunteer newsletter at Montefiore.

Research
None yet. I applied for MetroHealth and Cleveland Clinic Research internships for summer 2013. I was not selected because I had not completed Genetics coursework (which I will be taking in Fall 2013).

Employment
- Working as Cleveland Clinic office assistant during summer 2013.


Not trying to get into top 10 schools. Realistically, Loyola, Georgetown, and New York Medical College are some of the schools I'm interested in applying for.

I've also been trying to join EMS at my school for the past year, but they kept closing or postponing classes. I'm hoping to try again for next year.

Im concerned that I wont have much time to work on my EC's further come the MCAT and applying for med school. Should I be worried? Thoughts/any tips to bolster my EC's further would be much appreciated. Thank you in advance.

your ECs look solid as is

 

[Garosen]

Thank you for all the responses.

I left out some key information by mistake. I will be taking both physics and calculus over the summer. By clearing my schedule from these heavy-duty classes, I'm hoping to have an easier time focusing on Genetics and Biochemistry as well as more time to study for the mcat during the year- which I am planning to take during Summer 2014.

Looking at your old thread, you're planning on taking the MCAT in summer 2014 before you apply - is there any reason you can't do it this summer?

This is also the reason why I can't take the mcat anytime soon- I haven't taken those two key courses yet.

Also, as you already know, physics and calculus are definitely going to consume most of my summer. Therefore, I won't have time to get involved with any research, which is what Im afraid my EC's are lacking the most.