Likelihood of Interview Invites?

[acer370915]

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Hello,

I was initially an undergraduate with plans to follow the PhD route. I switched to medicine maybe a year ago and have been trying to get myself together in time to apply to Texas medical schools (MD) this upcoming cycle. I am interested in knowing where I stand for potential interview invites (in your opinions).

5 years undergrad w/ major in Biochemistry and Biophysics, minor in Chemistry. Overall GPA 3.7 and science GPA ~3.6.

EC's: 1 summer internship at the Stanford Linear Accelerator. 2 summer internships at the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab (Planetary Protection). 1 publication through NASA. One semester undergraduate lab research in microbiology. I also am a certified physics teacher for high school (1 full semester of student teaching).

Work: Worked as a medical scribe for 2 years. Currently working in a memory care facility (leading activities with the residents, working in the kitchen, helping residents eat, etc.).

Volunteering: ~120 hours volunteering in the ER and surgery waiting room. I just started at-home hospice volunteering and will continue with that next semester. I'm slotted for surgical shadowing next semester as well (observing about 3 surgeries per month from January to May).

MCAT: Took MCAT last year but will retake this year. Last year, without much studying, I received a 510 with percentile ranks as follows: Chemical and Physical Foundations (43rd percentile), CARS (100th percentile), Biological and Biochemical Foundations (64th percentile), and Psychological (81st percentile). I am retaking the MCAT to level out my scores.

Weaknesses: Received a D in organic chemistry II last semester (my lowest grade ever and a complete contrast to my usual grades of A's or high B's). No good explanation---I will retake the class this spring and will try very hard to get an A in the course.

I am looking for likelihood of II's. I would also love advice on how to improve my application. Any advice is appreciated!

 

[smileyfacegirl27]

I don't believe retaking the MCAT when you have a 510 is very wise, as most people don't improve and some actually do worse, plus the MCAT is not a "use the higher of the two scores" or "superscore" type of situation. It might be good for you to get the perspective of an adcom on retaking. Also just checking - are you a Texas resident trying to apply to Texas schools or are you out of state? Most Texas schools reserve 90% of seats for Texas residents.

 

[chaim123]

don't believe retaking the MCAT when you have a 510 is very wise

This might be a special case. They admit to not studying, and bombed Chem phys. Especially being a Texas applicant, that means they need to be competitive for Texas schools, as it is unlikely they will be admitted out of state.

 

[Lomology]

This might be a special case. They admit to not studying, and bombed Chem phys. Especially being a Texas applicant, that means they need to be competitive for Texas schools, as it is unlikely they will be admitted out of state.

It's really hard to say. I'm in a similar situation in that I basically bombed CARS (123, total 509) and hold 7 interviews and so far an acceptance in Texas. That being said, I am also URM with a lot of volunteering in a medically underserved area. It might be worth putting their app in for a cycle before risking a retake especially since I'm assuming they'll have even more volunteering by the time they apply.

 

[Goro]

Hello,

I was initially an undergraduate with plans to follow the PhD route. I switched to medicine maybe a year ago and have been trying to get myself together in time to apply to Texas medical schools (MD) this upcoming cycle. I am interested in knowing where I stand for potential interview invites (in your opinions).

5 years undergrad w/ major in Biochemistry and Biophysics, minor in Chemistry. Overall GPA 3.7 and science GPA ~3.6.

EC's: 1 summer internship at the Stanford Linear Accelerator. 2 summer internships at the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab (Planetary Protection). 1 publication through NASA. One semester undergraduate lab research in microbiology. I also am a certified physics teacher for high school (1 full semester of student teaching).

Work: Worked as a medical scribe for 2 years. Currently working in a memory care facility (leading activities with the residents, working in the kitchen, helping residents eat, etc.).

Volunteering: ~120 hours volunteering in the ER and surgery waiting room. I just started at-home hospice volunteering and will continue with that next semester. I'm slotted for surgical shadowing next semester as well (observing about 3 surgeries per month from January to May).

MCAT: Took MCAT last year but will retake this year. Last year, without much studying, I received a 510 with percentile ranks as follows: Chemical and Physical Foundations (43rd percentile), CARS (100th percentile), Biological and Biochemical Foundations (64th percentile), and Psychological (81st percentile). I am retaking the MCAT to level out my scores.

Weaknesses: Received a D in organic chemistry II last semester (my lowest grade ever and a complete contrast to my usual grades of A's or high B's). No good explanation---I will retake the class this spring and will try very hard to get an A in the course.

I am looking for likelihood of II's. I would also love advice on how to improve my application. Any advice is appreciated!

I am going to be blunt; you are being very foolish to retake a perfectly fine MCAT. The idea that you need to level out your scores" is delusional.

You need some non-clinical volunteering but otherwise your app looks fine.

I suggest these schools:
Rochester (maybe)
U Toledo
U VM
Miami
Tufts
George Washington
Georgetown
SLU
Albany
Rush
Rosy Franklin
NYMC
MCW
VCU
EVMS
Wayne State
Wake Forest
Netter
Jefferson
Temple
Drexel
Creighton
Tulane
Loyola
Uniformed Services University/Hebert (just be aware of the military service commitment)
Oakland-B
Seton Hall
Nova MD
CUSM IF you're from CA
Your state school.
Any DO program. I can't recommend Touro-NY, Nova, Wm Carey, LUCOM, for different reasons. MSUCOM? Read up on Larry Nasser and you decide. LMU has an accreditation warning, which concerns me.

 

[acer370915]

Thanks for the replies so far!

Yes, I am a TX resident applying to TX medical schools. I was going to retake the MCAT not because I thought my overall score was bad, but because of how poorly I did on the Chem and Physical Foundations section. Because I needed time to squeeze in some more community/volunteering work anyways, I thought I could also use that time to better prepare for the MCAT. Is it really that foolish to retake?

 

[climbrunskirepeat]

Thanks for the replies so far!

Yes, I am a TX resident applying to TX medical schools. I was going to retake the MCAT not because I thought my overall score was bad, but because of how poorly I did on the Chem and Physical Foundations section. Because I needed time to squeeze in some more community/volunteering work anyways, I thought I could also use that time to better prepare for the MCAT. Is it really that foolish to retake?

Try to find out if the med schools you plan to apply to screen sub-125s or anything else. Probably best to do some searching before calling. Just be careful about retaking, you have to know you're absolutely going to do better or else it could be rough.

 

[Tchotchke]

I am concerned about your retaking. You should definitely correct your profile with things that are guaranteed to work in your favor, like more volunteer hours. Did you apply to UNT?
You can start to restudy for MCAT if you insist. It is imperative that you do practice tests. That is where the improvements come from. You could quietly sign up for a new date after youve done a couple of practice tests. Should you need to reapply you will want to have a better Bio section. And at least a 125/6 on chem/phys. Well done on CARS, try to keep that up. Look in to the next step practice tests.

 

[MyOdyssey]

Thanks for the replies so far!

Yes, I am a TX resident applying to TX medical schools. I was going to retake the MCAT not because I thought my overall score was bad, but because of how poorly I did on the Chem and Physical Foundations section. Because I needed time to squeeze in some more community/volunteering work anyways, I thought I could also use that time to better prepare for the MCAT. Is it really that foolish to retake?

The biggest risk on a retake for you - with your perfect CARS score on the first attempt -- will be a lower CARS score on your second attempt. That might net out any improvement on your physics/chemistry score that you obtain on your second attempt.

Were you getting perfect CARS scores on the practice exams prior to your first MCAT? How were you able to pull off a perfect CARS score on your first MCAT?

 

[Arturiase]

Imo cars is very much innate compared to other sections, assuming you got a 132 on cars you wont go below 129 probably. Assuming you got 124 on chem and maybe 126 on bio there is a significant area to improve there (especially consider you said you half assed that last time), just wouldn't do it if you arent seeing any major improvements on practice tests.