I honestly want to know your opinion on my chances

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LizzyBeth2282

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So I need to clarify. I know my stats aren't great thats why I applied to so few schools.

So I was born in the poorest country in (I think the world) or at least the western hemisphere. I was adopted at 3 and homeschooled my way through. My parents caught pretty early on that I was a smart kid. I learned to read by listening to my mom teach my siblings at 5 years old. Realize that I was speaking a different language for 3 out of the 5 years alive. Anyway my parents let me "skip" grades and do course work for classes above my age range. I skipped 2 grades. I always scored well on the standardized tests that were required to be taken.
This led me to graduate high school at 16. I was accepted to a community college in the honors program before i graduated.l. I did community college for a year 3.93 GPA and my biology teacher told me not to waste my time in a community college and go to a 4 year university.
So i did this and man was it tough. I was 17 years old, a sophmore in college and naive as can be. My first semester I kind of slacked off. I still got accepted into the honors program at the school tho. While I was in college I did alot of work in underserved communities as well volunteer oppurtunites and was in the leadership board of 2 clubs, one being the pre-health club.
Last summer I was accepted to an undergraduate research program at an Ivy League school. Mind you, the only research I had done was the basic bio labs and stuff. It was a life changing experience for me and I got to present at Mayo Clinic!
I ended up graduating undergraduate at 20 years old with a 3.53, a science gpa of 3.34...
I was offered a research job at the Ivy league school and that's what I'm doing right now for my gap year.
So then I did something so stupid and I hate myself for it. I decided that I would study for the MCAT after graduation and before i started working. Roughly 6 weeks of study time. My undergrad school kind of sucks at informing you about how brutal the test actually is. I got my results back and was crushed with a 497. I did average or better than average in everything but C/P (never been my strong suit).
I applied to 11 schools because I know my chances are low and I'm not wasting my money. I got rejected from 3 and withdrew from 4 because (again, I don't want to waste my money). I have 5 schools that I completed my application for. 3 of them prescreen the Primary. I haven't had any interviews yet but that may be because I didn't get verified till the end of August. I had 6 letters of recommendation. 1 strong letter from an Ivy league that I work at MD, 1 strong premed committee letter which interviewed me. 2 from science professors that I had a great relationship with and took many classes with. And 2 from the volunteer programs that I did for 3 years. In my gap year I am know shadowing my PI who is a doctor and I'm volunteering in the PICU unit at this Ivy league associated hospital....
Last bit of information that I don't think is that important but people seem to think is, I'm URM

Alright so give me your honest opinion. What are my chances for these 4 safety and 1 reach school that I applied to?

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Haitian? If so, the HBCs should be on your list, as well as your state school.

Your MCAT score is a risk factor for failing out of med school and/or failing Boards. You'd be auto-reject at my school, but there are some med schools (MD and DO) that will take a chance on you. You do have a compelling story, after all.

What schools did you apply to? PM if needed.
 
Why didn't you wait to retake the MCAT and apply next year? That would have saved you a whole cycles' worth of money
 
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So I need to clarify. I know my stats aren't great thats why I applied to so few schools.

So I was born in the poorest country in (I think the world) or at least the western hemisphere. I was adopted at 3 and homeschooled my way through. My parents caught pretty early on that I was a smart kid. I learned to read by listening to my mom teach my siblings at 5 years old. Realize that I was speaking a different language for 3 out of the 5 years alive. Anyway my parents let me "skip" grades and do course work for classes above my age range. I skipped 2 grades. I always scored well on the standardized tests that were required to be taken.
This led me to graduate high school at 16. I was accepted to a community college in the honors program before i graduated.l. I did community college for a year 3.93 GPA and my biology teacher told me not to waste my time in a community college and go to a 4 year university.
So i did this and man was it tough. I was 17 years old, a sophmore in college and naive as can be. My first semester I kind of slacked off. I still got accepted into the honors program at the school tho. While I was in college I did alot of work in underserved communities as well volunteer oppurtunites and was in the leadership board of 2 clubs, one being the pre-health club.
Last summer I was accepted to an undergraduate research program at an Ivy League school. Mind you, the only research I had done was the basic bio labs and stuff. It was a life changing experience for me and I got to present at Mayo Clinic!
I ended up graduating undergraduate at 20 years old with a 3.53, a science gpa of 3.34...
I was offered a research job at the Ivy league school and that's what I'm doing right now for my gap year.
So then I did something so stupid and I hate myself for it. I decided that I would study for the MCAT after graduation and before i started working. Roughly 6 weeks of study time. My undergrad school kind of sucks at informing you about how brutal the test actually is. I got my results back and was crushed with a 497. I did average or better than average in everything but C/P (never been my strong suit).
I applied to 11 schools because I know my chances are low and I'm not wasting my money. I got rejected from 3 and withdrew from 4 because (again, I don't want to waste my money). I have 5 schools that I completed my application for. 3 of them prescreen the Primary. I haven't had any interviews yet but that may be because I didn't get verified till the end of August. I had 6 letters of recommendation. 1 strong letter from an Ivy league that I work at MD, 1 strong premed committee letter which interviewed me. 2 from science professors that I had a great relationship with and took many classes with. And 2 from the volunteer programs that I did for 3 years. In my gap year I am know shadowing my PI who is a doctor and I'm volunteering in the PICU unit at this Ivy league associated hospital....
Last bit of information that I don't think is that important but people seem to think is, I'm URM

Alright so give me your honest opinion. What are my chances for these 4 safety and 1 reach school that I applied to?



Honestly a 497 is still too low for a URM. You are very late in the cycle and you haven’t heard back from schools. That is a sign. Retake the mcat and plan to be a reapplicant. Saying this as a fellow URM.
 
Honestly a 497 is still too low for a URM. You are very late in the cycle and you haven’t heard back from schools. That is a sign. Retake the mcat and plan to be a reapplicant. Saying this as a fellow URM.
It's not that I haven't heard back. I've recieved word from all the schools that my application is under review. For one school it's going to the admissions committee this week. And another my application is behind a billion others. And yeah I know my MCAT sucks... if I hear no news then I'm obviously reapplying
 
Why didn't you wait to retake the MCAT and apply next year? That would have saved you a whole cycles' worth of money
Because I wasn't educated. No one in my immediate or extended family has pursued medicine so I've been on my own for this process. Nkt to mention my undergraduate schools premed faculty is a joke. It wasn't until my senior year that my PREMED advisor told me the classes I needed to take in order to fulfill the pre requisites. Thankfully I had researched what I needed before then and took classes against his advice because I "didn't need them" classes like physics and calculus. But yeah it was mostly lack of understanding the process that got me here. I'm learning everything ad I go so it's so stressful. Thays why I withdrew from half
 
It's not that I haven't heard back. I've recieved word from all the schools that my application is under review. For one school it's going to the admissions committee this week. And another my application is behind a billion others. And yeah I know my MCAT sucks... if I hear no news then I'm obviously reapplying


Fair enough. But I am telling to plan for reapplying. Start restudying for the mcat.
 
Why do you have 6 LORs if you have a committee letter? Agree with above. With your story, URM status, and a strong MCAT retake, you are a much better MD candidate for the next cycle.
 
Because I wasn't educated. No one in my immediate or extended family has pursued medicine so I've been on my own for this process. Nkt to mention my undergraduate schools premed faculty is a joke. It wasn't until my senior year that my PREMED advisor told me the classes I needed to take in order to fulfill the pre requisites. Thankfully I had researched what I needed before then and took classes against his advice because I "didn't need them" classes like physics and calculus. But yeah it was mostly lack of understanding the process that got me here. I'm learning everything ad I go so it's so stressful. Thays why I withdrew from half

Wow, I'm really sorry that that was the situation :/ Honestly I wouldn't have been much more educated if it weren't for SDN. Good luck to you! You have a very unique background and I know schools would want you if you get the MCAT to prove it.
 
Totally understand your struggle. I am also learning this process as I go along. The good news is if you have kids, they can learn from your struggle and experiences so that they will not have to struggle navigating higher education and all of the hoops you have to jump through to matriculate into professional schools.
 
Wow, I'm really sorry that that was the situation :/ Honestly I wouldn't have been much more educated if it weren't for SDN. Good luck to you! You have a very unique background and I know schools would want you if you get the MCAT to prove it.
Thank you. Thats super encouraging :D
 
Just chiming in to say I’m rooting for you, go slay the MCAT and don’t forget to post all your acceptances this time next year!


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Totally understand your struggle. I am also learning this process as I go along. The good news is if you have kids, they can learn from your struggle and experiences so that they will not have to struggle navigating higher education and all of the hoops you have to jump through to matriculate into professional schools.
Yes I will definitely guide them however I hope they don't choose this path. It's so stressful
 
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Just chiming in to say I’m rooting for you, go slay the MCAT and don’t forget to post all your acceptances this time next year!


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Thank you!!!! I shall!!!!
 
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First step is to learn your lesson and become more down to earth
 
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I'm curious as to why you withdrew from schools you didn't hear back from yet. I wouldn't have expected you to get much love, but what was there to lose by leaving your applications open?
Because knowing ke I woukd have wasted my money and applied. But the ultimate reason I withdrew for one was because they required a semester of statistics (thanks premed advisor), another was my dream school that I honestly have no shot of getting in to even with a killer MCAT. Another school was my state school that has very high requirements... I guess I only withdrew from 3 hahaha can't think of the 4th one for the life of me
 
I ended up graduating undergraduate at 20 years old with a 3.53, a science gpa of 3.34

I got my results back and was crushed with a 497. I did average or better than average in everything but C/P (never been my strong suit)

Last bit of information that I don't think is that important but people seem to think is, I'm URM

cGPA 3.5, sGPA 3.3, 497 MCAT... if you weren't URM, your chance of an MD acceptance is less than 5%. Being URM, your chance stands at about 26%. You are well mistaken regarding the importance of your URM status, very much to your benefit.

Just know that being URM, if you can get your MCAT up to 500-504, your chance of acceptance goes all the way up to over 70% with your GPA.
 
cGPA 3.5, sGPA 3.3, 497 MCAT... if you weren't URM, your chance of an MD acceptance is less than 5%. Being URM, your chance stands at about 26%. You are well mistaken regarding the importance of your URM status, very much to your benefit.

Just know that being URM, if you can get your MCAT up to 500-504, your chance of acceptance goes all the way up to over 70% with your GPA.
Alright thanks... It just sucks because I want to be accepted because I am good enough not because I'm black :/
 
And stop blaming your premed advisors. A common theme on SDN is the less than adequate premed advising in many undergrad schools. Yet , interestingly, students everyday, every year figure it out and get accepted. You have to be proactive. As you prepare for your MCAT retake, investigate the program where application fees are paid for. This should help you out. And your state schools are always your best chance for some love unless you are from some inlucky states. Did you apply to the HBCs? Where did you apply and why did you seemingly apply without a MCAT score?

How are your ECs other than the research aspect?
 
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And stop blaming your premed advisors. A common theme on SDN is the less than adequate premed advising in many undergrad schools. Yet , interestingly, students everyday, every year figure it out and get accepted. You have to be proactive. As you prepare for your MCAT retake, investigate the program where application fees are paid for. This should help you out. And your state schools are always your best chance for some love unless you are from some inlucky states. Did you apply to the HBCs? Where did you apply and why did you seemingly apply without a MCAT score?

How are your ECs other than the research aspect?
I'm not totally blaming my premed advisors but they did contribute to my central problem of not knowing what to do. I should have Google and seen how hard the MCAT was and I didn't until it was too late and that is all my fault I take full responsibility for that. But if a school is gonna claim a premed advising status then they should at least know something about the premed track. I would apply but I'm not entirely sure if I qualify. I'm living on my own not with my parents and I make about 30K. I don't know if I'm from an unlucky state. Is MA an unlucky state? I know the schools are hard to get in to. I did apply to HBCS and I applied according to my MCAT score with the exception of 2 reach schools. I looked at the minimum MCAT they would accept and applied to those. My ECS are volunteering at at risk elementary schools in medically and educationally undeserved communites for 3 years. All through High school I did church volunteer work. I've done volunteer work in 2 3rd world countries and 1 semi 3rd world country. I did big brother big sister for 3 years. I will have done about 8 months of volunteer at the hospital by July 2018. And I will have done 8 months if shadowing. Also I had a leadership role for the prehealth club and honors club. I know there's more but I can't think of it rn
 
cGPA 3.5, sGPA 3.3, 497 MCAT... if you weren't URM, your chance of an MD acceptance is less than 5%. Being URM, your chance stands at about 26%. You are well mistaken regarding the importance of your URM status, very much to your benefit.

Just know that being URM, if you can get your MCAT up to 500-504, your chance of acceptance goes all the way up to over 70% with your GPA.

I think the disparity in acceptance rate is likely due to some schools accepting high amounts of URM applicants (Howard, Merryhouse, etc)
 
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I think the disparity in acceptance rate is likely due to some schools accepting high amounts of URM applicants (Howard, Merryhouse, etc)


Agreed, You will be hard pressed to see many people of any demographic getting in with the low mcat/gpa combo.
 
So you applied without clinical and shadowing experience? If that’s the case that’s a problem. Also high school stuff doesn’t count unless you continue it into college. What did you do on your international trips? Who ran them? It is usually better to do your ECs in America.
 
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