Medical How do I stack up as an applicant?

[Goro]

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Hi all,

I’m new here so if I’ve posted in the wrong place I’m sorry.

I wanted your opinion as to how I stack up as an applicant for med school. I completed my undergraduate degree in neuroscience with a 3.19 GPA (science was lower). I then did a masters in public health at a top ten and graduated with a 3.48. I have 2 years of undergraduate research experience with 1 publication and another 3 years of research experience at Harvard. I am also a director at a mental health non-profit based out of the #1 psychiatry department in the country. I have one chapter publication there and over 20 lectures and presentations that I’ve given. I have not yet taken the MCAT.

In undergrad I was diagnosed with a severe illness and two of my grandparents died, this is why my grades are so low. In my masters program I was assaulted twice and was dealing with severe PTSD. I feel like I could have done much better at school had these things not happened.

Do you think I have a shot at applying? What can I do to enhance my application?

Thanks!

Very sorry to hear of your woes. Do not go any further along this path until your mental health is at 100%

Read this:

• Goro's advice for pre-meds who need reinvention

 

[GoSpursGo]

It's essentially impossible to give you feedback without an MCAT score.

I would generally say that your GPA is very low and you would benefit from at least a year of DIY post-bacc courses. You may have good reasons for your prior performance, but you need to prove that you will be able to handle the academic rigors of medical school. That said, while it's tough to parse out exactly how impressive these achievements since your undergrad are without you giving greater detail--which I would not recommend doing--it is conceivable that you could score very well on the MCAT and stand a shot. The specifics of exactly what role you play and how it impacts patients are critically important.

The only other point I would say is that if you have done >20 lectures/presentations, why only one book chapter from your current position? If you're giving that many presentations then some number of those presentations really should be turned into publications to both fully demonstrate your productivity and to make it clear that these presentations are "legit."

Bottom line: I would strongly consider at least one year of post-bacc courses unless you crush the MCAT. In the meantime, consider publishing.

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

From a numbers standpoint, you will need a post-bac for your low GPA and a strong performance on the MCAT. It’s good that you did a masters, but unfortunately those courses are not used to determine if you can handle medical level courses.

How are your EC numbers for clinical and non-clinical volunteering?

I also agree with the above that you should maybe try and turn some of those projects into publications. That’s a lot of work you have done, but it doesn’t seem like a lot has really been continued to pubs (which is worth a ton more).

On top of all this, you need to be honest with yourself that you are 150% ready for the rigors of medical school with your illness that you presented. You don’t wanna get into medical school and realize you were not ready.

 

[AlteredScale]

Your ECs are strong. But agree with above that you’ll need to either participate in an SMP or PB to ensure that you can handle the curricular rigor of medical school.

When you are actually applying, try to avoid things like “top ten” and “#1 psychiatry dept in the country” In your application as those things rlly don’t matter for Med school as much as performance does.