Hi Everyone, long time lurker and I am excited to finally post as I am filling out the AMCAS application. For a little background, I am a non-traditional applicant. Graduated with my first degree in Biology from UF in 2010. My grades were sub par to say the least with a 3.0 science and cumulative GPA. I served 6.5 years active duty as an Officer in the Navy after UF and then I got out and devoted myself full time to matriculating into medical school. When I got out, I joined the Navy reserves to continue my service and applied to USF to do a post-bac. This past December I graduated with a second bachelors degree in Cell and Molecular Biology. Since UF I have something like 42 extra credits under my built with all As and have received a graduating student excellence award and was on the dean's list two times for my post-bac. My science and cumulative GPAs are now a 3.22 (I know still low but definite strong upward trend).
I had a question on people's thoughts on consistency in your ECs. I have about 75 hours of shadowing during my first degree back in 2009-2010, but no new shadowing since then. I completed 300 hours of clinical patient centered volunteering while on active duty in a 5 month time frame in the summer and fall of 2016. Obviously I know how important medical experiences are to schools and I know that all of my experiences have proved to me that I want to be a doctor, but as you can see the medical experiences are not over a long continued time frame. I do have many other ECs that have been continuous such as working as a research assistant for over a year, mentoring an at risk youth in an underserved area, I created with my wife and continue to run a scholarship for at risk youth (3 years), as well as continued Naval service. Do you think that my other ECs can make up for my medical ECs in the sense that they can show I can commit?
Thanks for all of your advice!
I had a question on people's thoughts on consistency in your ECs. I have about 75 hours of shadowing during my first degree back in 2009-2010, but no new shadowing since then. I completed 300 hours of clinical patient centered volunteering while on active duty in a 5 month time frame in the summer and fall of 2016. Obviously I know how important medical experiences are to schools and I know that all of my experiences have proved to me that I want to be a doctor, but as you can see the medical experiences are not over a long continued time frame. I do have many other ECs that have been continuous such as working as a research assistant for over a year, mentoring an at risk youth in an underserved area, I created with my wife and continue to run a scholarship for at risk youth (3 years), as well as continued Naval service. Do you think that my other ECs can make up for my medical ECs in the sense that they can show I can commit?
Thanks for all of your advice!
