Hello,
I recently received an interview invite. For the past three pre-med years, this school has always been the dream school.
I am a 39-year old caucasian male. Fresh-of-the-boat immigrant from Poland who came to the US 14 years ago. English is my second language. I am a permanent resident. Father of three kids, one with "semi-special" needs (diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, but before DGS-5 it'd have been Asperger Syndrome).
My MCAT is a 513 and is really unbalanced. 132/124/130/127.
My GPA spread is as follows:
View attachment 279917
I have a Ph.D. in mathematics and have been working as a mathematics professor, got early tenure. I published 19 papers in good to average journals, 5 single-authored, have had two individual grants.
I have been volunteering for the past 3.5 years at a local nursing home organizing a bingo game for residents every weekend. Each time it's about 75-90 minutes and it totals to about 300 hours. I volunteered for two years in the local ER for a total of 339 hours and started working there in July 2018 as a unit assistant (secretary) and tech. The hours are now in the ~2500 range. I believe that I have lots of direct patient contact experience as a tech. I am ACLS certified and participated in a number of codes in the ER, ICU, and other parts of the hospital. Worked a lot of shifts as a tech on other floors in the hospital as well (post-surgical, medical, rehab). Experience in 1-on-1 sitting of suicidal patients.
As far as shadowing goes - 15 hours. 5 with an MD hospitalist, 5 with a DO hospitalist, 5 with a family physician DO.
Language skills: English (fluent?), German (native-like), Polish (native), French (advanced), Russian (basic), Spanish (beginner - currently learning, right now it's good enough for basic communication with ER patients and their assessment).
I lived in-state for 3 years, my wife is from the area and we frequently go back there as our whole family lives there.
Clearly, there was something in the application that caught the adcom's attention.
The ultimate questions are - is there anything I can do between now and my interview that would boost my chances for an acceptance? Would you offer any advice on how to prepare besides mock-interviews and practicing MMI q&a?
Any advice would be sincerely appreciated as I am still genuinely humbled and shocked by the interview invitation.
