How Competative Am I?

[whysoserious]

Hi All, I have read some of the forums posted by the SDN community over the years and must thank everyone for their insights and assistance with my preparation and anwering alot of the concerns and questions I have had over the years. I'm at the point now where it's time to apply and I am a bit nervous of how competative I will be in CA schools. I have an overall GPA of 3.45 with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and a BCPM GPA of 3.50. I scored a 33R on Apr08 MCAT with a 12ps, 11bs, 10vr. I've had about 8hrs/week of clinical volunteer and intern work over the 2006-2007 school year. Since then, I have volunteered on/off non-clinical opportunities. I have not had any real research experience. I am currently working as an receptionist/assistant for a psychiatrist at a private practice and have had opportunities to shadow evaluations and sessions. Any and all comments/advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advanced.

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[armybound]

Your GPA and MCAT are very solid for someone with a degree in engineering.

The biggest problem is your location. Californians have it really rough in admissions because there are so many people from CA trying to get admission across the country.

Do you have anything that really makes you unique? Your ethnicity, socioeconomic status, hobbies, family background, etc?

 

[whysoserious]

Not to go into my whole life story, my parents are refugees who fled Vn in the 1970's. My family has been considered in the low end of socio-economic status. I've had the opportunity to see the benefits of government assistance in healthcare, living expenses, and education. My older brother was born with Down Syndrome, so I've learned to alot of things independently.



I think that my experiences growing up in this environment have greatly impacted who I am and have made my personal statement to revolve around my family and experiences growing up. I have been working on my personal statement constantly trying to avoid it sounding like a sob story and make it a personal story of inspirations.

 

[armybound]

well, you definitely don't want to give the "poor pitiful me" side of the story, but those experiences are going to make you extremely unique as an applicant and I think will make you pretty competitive at several schools.

make sure you apply outside of CA to several schools. CA state schools are just way too competitive.

 

[whysoserious]

Thanks for the input!

 

[SketchLazy]

I think you are in a strong position to get accepted. You have an above average MCAT and your GPA is close to averages for people accepted. You might have a harder time here in California, but it all depends on how you put your application together from here on. Finding a way to string together your multiple experiences in clinical and non-clinical settings in the context of your adversities is important so that people reading your app will have a better understanding of your involvement in so many different activities. Once you put together a story that explains that, I think your chances for CA schools are good. Apply to UC Davis and UC Irvine because they aren't as research intensive as UCSD, UCSF, Stanford, and UCLA. If you can tolerate going to a Seventh Day Adventist school, look into Loma Linda. Even though CA is difficult, your chances outside of the state are great. The only caveat is that you will have to make it clear why you want to attend each school either in your secondary essays or during your interviews, or even both. Milk any and all ties you might have to a state/school. Good luck and apply early.