Interested in some SMP advice

[igb22]

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Hey Guys! I've learned so much from this site and was wondering if anyone wanted to offer their two sense in regards to my situation.

So I attend an ivy league school and honestly wasn't prepared for the pace. I grew up with my 3 siblings and my father. My father was laid off my freshman year so my 2 other siblings and I had to work to keep the house afloat. He was diagnosed with cancer January 09 and passed away that May. My siblings and I have been under incredible stress and my grades took a major dip as I tried to look for clinical trials for my dad, work 20 hours, and attend to a full course load. I decided not to apply straight and have instead looked into SMP programs.

My stats are :
21 AA female, 22 by graduation
low income
First generation college student
History of Science and Health Policy
Top 3 Ivy
ugpa : 3.33 (with recent grades) concentration gpa 3.69 sgpa: 3.0 (couple of C+'s from freshman and sophmore year- A's and 2 B+'s onward)
MCAT: first try 32R second try (Apr 10) 38 S (13 B 13 V 12 P) (Sep 10)


Volunteer in hospital : 2.5 years as of now- working with low income newborn mothers to apply for resources like WIC and section 8 housing.
Research 1 year- racial psychology no pub
Shadowing - 100+ hours
President of large black student organization on campus
Work 20 hours weekly
Ran City African American Arts Festival 09-10
Lots of other volunteering - esp summer programs

Do I have a chance at the following SMPs🙁 I just sent in my apps to each of these)
Gtown SMP
GEMS
RFU
BU MAMS
Tufts
UCin
except-
Drexel IMS or DPMS (still deciding here haven't finished application)

What do you guys think?
Thanks in advance!

 

[biodreamer]

My 2 "cents" is that you have a great chance getting in to all those SMPs. 3.3 is competitive enough to get in. In fact, it seems like a great option for you. As long as you do well in the program and rock the MCATs you should be looking at a good hand full of acceptances.

Best of luck!

 

[DrMidlife]

I'm sorry to hear about your father.

I think that you've underestimated your chances. With that amazing MCAT score, and a not-that-bad GPA from an Ivy League school, and URM status with a compelling back story, you will probably do just fine applying to med school this coming June.

But I appreciate that you want to maximize your chances.

I think you can broaden your scope for choosing a program. I think programs like GEMS are a better idea than doing an SMP. I also think you should try for the SMP-like programs at Johns Hopkins, Mt. Sinai, Dartmouth etc., which are less about academic enhancement and more about real grad work - I think you could make some great contacts at such a program. I made a list (stickied at the top of the forum, called "GPA Enhancement...", rather aged) that might be helpful, as will the postbac list on AAMC.

I think an SMP would be overkill for you.

Best of luck to you.

 

[igb22]

Thanks for the replies! I really appreciate it. DrMidlife, thanks for the lists. They are really helpful. But for clarification, how would an SMP be overkill in your opinion?

 

[Bernoull]

Hey Guys! I've learned so much from this site and was wondering if anyone wanted to offer their two sense in regards to my situation.

So I attend an ivy league school and honestly wasn't prepared for the pace. I grew up with my 3 siblings and my father. My father was laid off my freshman year so my 2 other siblings and I had to work to keep the house afloat. He was diagnosed with cancer January 09 and passed away that May. My siblings and I have been under incredible stress and my grades took a major dip as I tried to look for clinical trials for my dad, work 20 hours, and attend to a full course load. I decided not to apply straight and have instead looked into SMP programs.

My stats are :
21 AA female, 22 by graduation
low income
First generation college student
History of Science and Health Policy
Top 3 Ivy
ugpa : 3.33 (with recent grades) concentration gpa 3.69 sgpa: 3.0 (couple of C+'s from freshman and sophmore year- A's and 2 B+'s onward)
MCAT: first try 32R second try (Apr 10) 38 S (13 B 13 V 12 P) (Sep 10)


Volunteer in hospital : 2.5 years as of now- working with low income newborn mothers to apply for resources like WIC and section 8 housing.
Research 1 year- racial psychology no pub
Shadowing - 100+ hours
President of large black student organization on campus
Work 20 hours weekly
Ran City African American Arts Festival 09-10
Lots of other volunteering - esp summer programs

Do I have a chance at the following SMPs🙁 I just sent in my apps to each of these)
Gtown SMP
GEMS
RFU
BU MAMS
Tufts
UCin
except-
Drexel IMS or DPMS (still deciding here haven't finished application)

What do you guys think?
Thanks in advance!

Do urself a favor and apply to med sch and NOT SMP! You can easily get multiple acceptances, just include some mid-tier/low-tier schools for good measure. Again, pls pls pls don't apply SMP, u don't need to! SMP has a lot of inherent risks (it's do or die proposition essentially)...

gdluck

 

[DrMidlife]

Thanks for the replies! I really appreciate it. DrMidlife, thanks for the lists. They are really helpful. But for clarification, how would an SMP be overkill in your opinion?

An SMP is expensive - it'll add another $50k to your student debt. Don't spend it unless you have to.

An SMP is risky - it's most of the first year of med school as an audition for med school. You have to be above average, compared to the med students, in most or all of your classes, to benefit from doing an SMP. By contrast, the first year med students can be average without losing anything.

An SMP is the last thing you do to try to get into med school when all other avenues have been used up.

I recommend that you should put a great deal of effort into securing solid letters of recommendation, and that you should make sure to get adult supervision on your essays. With your stats, your story, and a well-packaged early application to maybe 25 schools, I would expect you to get into med school on your first app cycle.

How to get solid letters of recommendation:
1. Assume every professor is a candidate. Try to get 4 (3 science, one not). Assume you need to have all your letters in hand by June.
2. Make yourself known by asking smart, brief, concise questions in class and/or during office hours.
3. Set up an account for letters at Interfolio or AMCAS etc.
4. Approach the professor with a package in hand: package contains a picture of you, a draft of your essay, maybe your transcript, and a letter to the professor that reminds him/her of your accomplishments in his/her class(es), includes instructions for submitting the letter to AMCAS/Interfolio/etc, sets timeline expectations, and shows your contact info. You may not need the package yet on first approach. I suggest using a brightly colored 9x12 envelope that is difficult to lose and is well-labeled.
5. Ask the professor if they can write you a strong positive letter of recommendation.
6. Pay close attention to how they react: if they meet your eye and immediately agree, this is good. If they do not meet your eye, or if they do not immediately agree, that's not good. If they want to sit down and talk with you about it, this is good. (If so, offer to buy them coffee or whatnot.)
7. When you get a good "yes", then politely, respectfully follow up. Send a reminder a week before you expect the letter to be sent. When the letter shows up at your letter service, send a hand-written thank you note. When you are accepted, send a copy of your acceptance letter and another thank you note.
8. If you have trouble getting a professor to do the work, be persistent, be polite, be respectful, and have a backup plan (get more letters than you need).

Recommenders sometimes make great reviewers for your essay. Make sure to ask for their feedback on it.

Also find some older, meaner faculty to review your essay. You're not done getting review until you get some broad negative feedback, such as "you sound like a 13 year old" or "are you getting paid by the adverb?!?".

Best of luck to you.

 

[igb22]

Thanks for the advice everyone.

 

[Manbearpig11]

I dont know if you would be competitive with those statistics and ECs.... Maybe you should try some of the carribean medical schools? hopefully you will be able to get into one that is accredited here in America though. What about retaking the MCAT maybe a few points higher would make you more competitive to some of the lower tier American Medical Schools.