How is my application looking? Where should I improve?

[Sneaky Sloth]

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Hi,

I am not sure how this forum works, but I am going into my third year at UCR as a Neuroscience major attempting to apply to an allopathic medical school. With the MCAT coming up this year, I wanted to post here and gain some last-minute pointers before I submitted my application this upcoming cycle.

My application thus far:
Cumulative GPA: 3.88
Science/Math GPA: 3.92
MCAT: will take it in the Spring (aiming for 512+)
Clinical experience: I am a medical scribe in the ED as of July 2019, so I will have about 10-11 months of ~ 8 hours a week under my belt before applying.
Research Experience: I have a research paper published with my name on it in the Journal of Environmental Science & and Engineering, however, I didn't do much in this lab (despite being there for a year), just some imaging, but they were kind enough to add me to the paper. I do also research in a Neuroscience lab (~1 year), where I do not have a publication for nor do I anticipate one (I will have a Senior Thesis though). But I participate heavily and understand the research much more clearly.
Community Service: I don't really have any long term clubs or commitments I am in, just small events I have done from time to time. However, I did recently join School on Wheels (tutoring homeless children) and plan to be here until matriculation into medical school. So about 6-8 months for about 2-3 hours a week.
Extracurriculars: Vice president of my social fraternity here on campus. University Honors. Tutored college kids. Planning to join my on-campus pre-med fraternity too.

This is, from what I understand, the bulk of my application. I plan to get a letter of rec from my Neuroscience lab professor, maybe my other lab professor, my English teacher whom I know very closely, one of the providers from my hospital that I scribe for, maybe my lead scribe at work. My school does not offer committee letters. Other than that, I am not sure, and I wanted to hear from you experienced folk how I sound so far and where I can improve on. I understand that this upcoming year will be tough with the MCAT and application, so I want to be as prepared as possible.

Thanks,

 

[Engrailed]

Hi,

I am not sure how this forum works, but I am going into my third year at UCR as a Neuroscience major attempting to apply to an allopathic medical school. With the MCAT coming up this year, I wanted to post here and gain some last-minute pointers before I submitted my application this upcoming cycle.

My application thus far:
Cumulative GPA: 3.88
Science/Math GPA: 3.92
MCAT: will take it in the Spring (aiming for 512+)
Clinical experience: I am a medical scribe in the ED as of July 2019, so I will have about 10-11 months of ~ 8 hours a week under my belt before applying.
Research Experience: I have a research paper published with my name on it in the Journal of Environmental Science & and Engineering, however, I didn't do much in this lab (despite being there for a year), just some imaging, but they were kind enough to add me to the paper. I do also research in a Neuroscience lab (~1 year), where I do not have a publication for nor do I anticipate one (I will have a Senior Thesis though). But I participate heavily and understand the research much more clearly.
Community Service: I don't really have any long term clubs or commitments I am in, just small events I have done from time to time. However, I did recently join School on Wheels (tutoring homeless children) and plan to be here until matriculation into medical school. So about 6-8 months for about 2-3 hours a week.
Extracurriculars: Vice president of my social fraternity here on campus. University Honors. Tutored college kids. Planning to join my on-campus pre-med fraternity too.

This is, from what I understand, the bulk of my application. I plan to get a letter of rec from my Neuroscience lab professor, maybe my other lab professor, my English teacher whom I know very closely, one of the providers from my hospital that I scribe for, maybe my lead scribe at work. My school does not offer committee letters. Other than that, I am not sure, and I wanted to hear from you experienced folk how I sound so far and where I can improve on. I understand that this upcoming year will be tough with the MCAT and application, so I want to be as prepared as possible.

Thanks,

Im not sure why no one has replied yet since your posting on Monday.
Just throwing my 2cents in here..
I would say it seems pretty solid.

Your school list/where you want to go is going to depend on your MCAT.
REsearch is always good, at least with the upper tier schools. They value it highly.
Not sure why your community service is so weak. Long term >>>> Short term projects. Ideally.
Do something that is actually meaningful to you, not just to check a box.
It will also give you something to talk about in your application, perhaps interviews etc
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[Catalystik]

Hi,

I am not sure how this forum works, but I am going into my third year at UCR as a Neuroscience major attempting to apply to an allopathic medical school. With the MCAT coming up this year, I wanted to post here and gain some last-minute pointers before I submitted my application this upcoming cycle.

My application thus far:
Cumulative GPA: 3.88
Science/Math GPA: 3.92
MCAT: will take it in the Spring (aiming for 512+)
Clinical experience: I am a medical scribe in the ED as of July 2019, so I will have about 10-11 months of ~ 8 hours a week under my belt before applying.
Research Experience: I have a research paper published with my name on it in the Journal of Environmental Science & and Engineering, however, I didn't do much in this lab (despite being there for a year), just some imaging, but they were kind enough to add me to the paper. I do also research in a Neuroscience lab (~1 year), where I do not have a publication for nor do I anticipate one (I will have a Senior Thesis though). But I participate heavily and understand the research much more clearly.
Community Service: I don't really have any long term clubs or commitments I am in, just small events I have done from time to time. However, I did recently join School on Wheels (tutoring homeless children) and plan to be here until matriculation into medical school. So about 6-8 months for about 2-3 hours a week.
Extracurriculars: Vice president of my social fraternity here on campus. University Honors. Tutored college kids. Planning to join my on-campus pre-med fraternity too.

This is, from what I understand, the bulk of my application. I plan to get a letter of rec from my Neuroscience lab professor, maybe my other lab professor, my English teacher whom I know very closely, one of the providers from my hospital that I scribe for, maybe my lead scribe at work. My school does not offer committee letters. Other than that, I am not sure, and I wanted to hear from you experienced folk how I sound so far and where I can improve on. I understand that this upcoming year will be tough with the MCAT and application, so I want to be as prepared as possible.

Thanks,

Even though you're a scribe, many med schools will expect to see some dedicated physician shadowing hours where you see what their whole day is like. This shouldn't be hard for you to come by considering your contacts at work.

 

[Sneaky Sloth]

Im not sure why no one has replied yet since your posting on Monday.
Just throwing my 2cents in here..
I would say it seems pretty solid.

Your school list/where you want to go is going to depend on your MCAT.
REsearch is always good, at least with the upper tier schools. They value it highly.
Not sure why your community service is so weak. Long term >>>> Short term projects. Ideally.
Do something that is actually meaningful to you, not just to check a box.
It will also give you something to talk about in your application, perhaps interviews etc
--

Hi,

thanks for replying! I definitely need to up those hours and I am going to try when school starts so I can be involved in clubs/organizations that do a lot of service. I guess in my first two years I didn't really understand its value and rather I dedicated most of my time to improving my grades and having fun, really. Oops.

 

[Sneaky Sloth]

Agreed, you need to up those nonclinical volunteering hours.

One thing to note, really think about joining that premed fraternity especially if it’s just about putting it on your resume. Fraternities can be time consuming and costly sometimes.

On the flip side, idk what a premed fraternity does but some fraternities do consistent volunteering so that may work out for you.

I think I could afford it financially, but you're right, at this point, I am not sure what they could offer for me. I have to rush and find out. Maybe they do weekly community service activities, not sure.

 

[Sneaky Sloth]

In general, I have done some community service events during my college career thus far. But they were not consistent events or apart of a community service organization. For example, for my social fraternity, we went around downtown Riverside to give food for the homeless.

Are a few events like these worth sneaking into my application?

 

[Sneaky Sloth]

Even though you're a scribe, many med schools will expect to see some dedicated physician shadowing hours where you see what their whole day is like. This shouldn't be hard for you to come by considering your contacts at work.

A lot of people have been telling me this. I just think that it is so weird that medical schools want to see shadowing on top of scribing since they overlap a lot anyway.

The part that I understand, however, is the exposure to different specialties (e.g. internal medicine/neurology). I was planning to talk to these docs at my hospital and see if I could shadow them for a few days. Does that sound beneficial? Where would shadowing go under an application?

 

[bluepeony]

A lot of people have been telling me this. I just think that it is so weird that medical schools want to see shadowing on top of scribing since they overlap a lot anyway.

The part that I understand, however, is the exposure to different specialties (e.g. internal medicine/neurology). I was planning to talk to these docs at my hospital and see if I could shadow them for a few days. Does that sound beneficial? Where would shadowing go under an application?

Shadowing is its own category.

 

[Catalystik]

A lot of people have been telling me this. I just think that it is so weird that medical schools want to see shadowing on top of scribing since they overlap a lot anyway.

The part that I understand, however, is the exposure to different specialties (e.g. internal medicine/neurology). I was planning to talk to these docs at my hospital and see if I could shadow them for a few days. Does that sound beneficial?

Yes, primary care docs are a good choice. Office-based (longitudinal care) experience is desirable. Some neurologist do primary care for their patients, too.

 

[Catalystik]

In general, I have done some community service events during my college career thus far. But they were not consistent events or apart of a community service organization. For example, for my social fraternity, we went around downtown Riverside to give food for the homeless.

Are a few events like these worth sneaking into my application?

It's possible to create an entry named, "Short-Term Community Service," where you group multiple activities. How many hours does this add up to? Do you have a Contact who could validate the hours?

 

[Sneaky Sloth]

It's possible to create an entry named, "Short-Term Community Service," where you group multiple activities. How many hours does this add up to? Do you have a Contact who could validate the hours?

Maybe like 10-15 hours?
No, no contact either 🙁

 

[Catalystik]

Maybe like 10-15 hours?
No, no contact either 🙁

In that case, I wouldn't bother. It would look too sparse. Sorry.

 

[Sneaky Sloth]

In that case, I wouldn't bother. It would look too sparse. Sorry.

that's what i thought