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I’m a 4th year undergrad graduating this May with double STEM majors (Biochem, Neuro) hailing from a large state school in the Southeastern US. My GPA is a 3.9 (probably will either stay or go up slightly at the end of this year) and my MCAT is a 518. I’m ORM, but from a rural area. I’m new here, but I hope that's high enough to get one A in the future. I have 1 little publication, no presentations or anything. However, I’m working hard on it in a lab rn. I’m going to try to write my senior thesis; let’s see how that goes. I just started working as a CNA a few months ago, but I have past volunteering experience (around 300-40 hours total combined). I’ve shadowed 1 doctor and 1 CRNA for a total of 120 ish hours. I have 5 recommenders (potentially 7 if I take a gap year). All I had good relationships with.
Now cutting to the chase. I finished my secondaries less than a week ago, and now I am finally coming to terms with the fact that I may not get into a medical school this cycle after denying it for so long. Honestly, I’m disgusted at myself at my procrastination - I had nearly a 3-month turnaround time for my secondaries. Yes, it was due to the stress of this current semester and depression from dealing with the passing of my grandfather this spring and my father losing his job (he was the sole breadwinner for my family), but that doesn’t excuse laziness. At least I’m learning the ultimate lesson BEFORE med school. Although my dad recently got a job and that has helped me try to pull together the motivation to finish these applications, I honestly know I’m not going to get anything past a II. If I do get on a waitlist, and somehow off it this cycle, that would be a miracle from God.
However, the possibility of that happening is quite low, and I know God doesn’t reward procrastinators (maybe). I’ve come to personal terms with this and am now ready to take the next steps and learn the right lessons to ensure a better cycle next time. I have a few questions as well, and I just need someone to tell me if what I’m doing is the correct approach to this. My premed advisor is telling me to go to the Caribbean, but even I know that’s stupid, so I'm turning to SDN.
Now cutting to the chase. I finished my secondaries less than a week ago, and now I am finally coming to terms with the fact that I may not get into a medical school this cycle after denying it for so long. Honestly, I’m disgusted at myself at my procrastination - I had nearly a 3-month turnaround time for my secondaries. Yes, it was due to the stress of this current semester and depression from dealing with the passing of my grandfather this spring and my father losing his job (he was the sole breadwinner for my family), but that doesn’t excuse laziness. At least I’m learning the ultimate lesson BEFORE med school. Although my dad recently got a job and that has helped me try to pull together the motivation to finish these applications, I honestly know I’m not going to get anything past a II. If I do get on a waitlist, and somehow off it this cycle, that would be a miracle from God.
However, the possibility of that happening is quite low, and I know God doesn’t reward procrastinators (maybe). I’ve come to personal terms with this and am now ready to take the next steps and learn the right lessons to ensure a better cycle next time. I have a few questions as well, and I just need someone to tell me if what I’m doing is the correct approach to this. My premed advisor is telling me to go to the Caribbean, but even I know that’s stupid, so I'm turning to SDN.
- Apply the DAY AMCAS allows me to submit (I submitted my primary in late July). And apply ALL my secondaries WITHIN two weeks of receiving them by prewriting them in advance.
- During this fall, spring, and summer semester, I hope to accumulate at least 350-450 hours as a CNA at a large hospital. I have already had some great interactions with patients that I feel can be used in my essays.
- Can I use the same “spark” I originally wrote about in my primary application essays? The anecdotes have changed but the original experience that introduced me to medicine has not.
- Should I take 1 or 2 post bacc classes (like Biostats and Virology) from my Uni in the summer to show medical schools that I’m not slacking?
- If I follow this program, given my stats/ecs, could I expect an acceptance by December or January of next year? Should I do an SMP/1-yr masters, or should I focus on research and clinical experience/volunteering? (and just get 1 or 2 creds post-bacc)?