Hi everyone! I'm a new member who's planning to apply in the 2019 cycle but I'm just curious on what are my chances because I'm considering retaking my MCAT.
My profile: immigrant Asian American in California with significant low socioeconomic status
My stats: cGPA 3.84, sGPA 3.81. Undergrad school: California community college transfer to top public university known for its competitiveness and stressful environment, graduated with departmental honors.
MCAT 514 130/128/129/127. LizzyM: 71.40
My research: 1 year of research at UCSF, worked with top MD in the field and another MD-PhD who is not clinically active, got LOR from both. I also wrote my honors thesis and presented my poster for my major's honors program based from my research in this lab. Currently doing full-time research for 1 year using CRISPR at Cambridge University toward my MPhil.
Volunteer experience: 150 hours clinical volunteering worked with underserved populations; 20 hours nonclinical volunteering at community health fair
Shadowing and clinical experience: 20 hours ophthalmology surgery, 50 hours primary care in geriatric, 20 hours general surgery from a DO, 20 hours neurology; audited and observed 2 weeks of microsurgery courses for Ophthalmology residents; also went on 2 trips for 1 week each to Latin American countries to work in free community clinics with local doctors and also participate in public health projects. I actually got to directly interact with the patients and performed many clinical examinations on them and took part in diagnosing and prescribing medications.
Leadership experience: Supplemental instructor for general and organic chemistry at my community college for 1 year, clinical workshop officer in a premed organization at my university for 1 year.
Current school list: UCSF, UCLA, UCSD, UW, University of Michigan, UNC Chapel Hill, University of Wisconsin, University of Virginia. I expect to have 30-40 schools on my list.
I know it's a long shot but I also want to apply to higher ranked private medical schools but I acknowledge that there are many other applicants to these schools that have better GPA and MCAT scores than me.
I personally was also happy and disappointed at my MCAT score because my FL scores were constantly 515-518. However, I know that 514 is a good score and there's a risk of scoring lower the next time. I feel that I did not have enough time to study for the P/S section because I was working almost full-time in my research lab and so I didn't really have the chance to memorize and understand the vocabularies. I usually score 131-132 in B/B on the FL's and so I'm also a bit disappointed at my 129. I'm planning to retake the MCAT in January so I have a few months to prep myself for P/S and refresh my memory for the other sections. On the other hand, my CARS is much higher than I expected and I'm afraid that I won't be able to do so well on the next one.
What are you guys' thoughts on my chances to those schools? Should I also consider retaking the MCAT?
Sorry for making the post too long. Cheers!
My profile: immigrant Asian American in California with significant low socioeconomic status
My stats: cGPA 3.84, sGPA 3.81. Undergrad school: California community college transfer to top public university known for its competitiveness and stressful environment, graduated with departmental honors.
MCAT 514 130/128/129/127. LizzyM: 71.40
My research: 1 year of research at UCSF, worked with top MD in the field and another MD-PhD who is not clinically active, got LOR from both. I also wrote my honors thesis and presented my poster for my major's honors program based from my research in this lab. Currently doing full-time research for 1 year using CRISPR at Cambridge University toward my MPhil.
Volunteer experience: 150 hours clinical volunteering worked with underserved populations; 20 hours nonclinical volunteering at community health fair
Shadowing and clinical experience: 20 hours ophthalmology surgery, 50 hours primary care in geriatric, 20 hours general surgery from a DO, 20 hours neurology; audited and observed 2 weeks of microsurgery courses for Ophthalmology residents; also went on 2 trips for 1 week each to Latin American countries to work in free community clinics with local doctors and also participate in public health projects. I actually got to directly interact with the patients and performed many clinical examinations on them and took part in diagnosing and prescribing medications.
Leadership experience: Supplemental instructor for general and organic chemistry at my community college for 1 year, clinical workshop officer in a premed organization at my university for 1 year.
Current school list: UCSF, UCLA, UCSD, UW, University of Michigan, UNC Chapel Hill, University of Wisconsin, University of Virginia. I expect to have 30-40 schools on my list.
I know it's a long shot but I also want to apply to higher ranked private medical schools but I acknowledge that there are many other applicants to these schools that have better GPA and MCAT scores than me.
I personally was also happy and disappointed at my MCAT score because my FL scores were constantly 515-518. However, I know that 514 is a good score and there's a risk of scoring lower the next time. I feel that I did not have enough time to study for the P/S section because I was working almost full-time in my research lab and so I didn't really have the chance to memorize and understand the vocabularies. I usually score 131-132 in B/B on the FL's and so I'm also a bit disappointed at my 129. I'm planning to retake the MCAT in January so I have a few months to prep myself for P/S and refresh my memory for the other sections. On the other hand, my CARS is much higher than I expected and I'm afraid that I won't be able to do so well on the next one.
What are you guys' thoughts on my chances to those schools? Should I also consider retaking the MCAT?
Sorry for making the post too long. Cheers!
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