Need SMP Advice

[kn0wTall]

I am looking for few suggestions on what I should do. Here are two options that I am thinking of:

1) Apply for SMPs right now for the program starting Fall 2012 and then apply to med schools while in SMP (to start Fall 2013)

2) Apply for Med schools starting June 2012 (to start Fall 2013) and in the mean time also apply for SMPs next year as a back up for med schools

My background:

UC Berkeley'2010: Major- Molecular and Cell Biology, GPA: 3.54
MCAT: Taken 3 times- 27 (VR 7, BS 10, PS 10), 26 (VR 6, BS 11, PS 9), 27 (VR 8, BS 9, PS 10)
Taking MCAT again in March 2012. (I took first MCAT in Sept 2009)
Hospital Volunteering +100 hours
Emergency Medicine Physician Shadowing: ~300 hours
Leadership position in a premed student run group at Stanford for ~3 years
Undergrad research experience of 2 years
Working as research assistant at Stanford since graduation
5 oral presentation of research
2 poster presentations
Will hopefully have a manuscript submitted to a scientific journal in next 6 months

For fun: I have been playing an instrument for 14 years and I volunteered to teach this instrument to local kids as weekend sessions for 2 years during college.

What do you guys think of my background/ stats in general? Is my application competitive enough for SMPs? Any advice will be helpful.

Thank you all

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[DrMidlife]

I suggest that if you don't have compelling evidence that you'll break 31 on your next MCAT retake, don't retake until you have that compelling evidence. Your full collection of scores is made available to med schools, and it looks like you're making a career out of the MCAT.

If you can get into an SMP like EVMS or Cincinnati with your stats, you could reasonably expect those programs to usher you into the host med school, without a better-than-average MCAT score.

But if you do an SMP like Georgetown or Boston, where you have to go peddle your wares to other med schools, you still need a better MCAT score to have a reasonable expectation of an acceptance. In particular, if you want to do Gtown and get into a UC, which isn't uncommon, a strong SMP transcript wouldn't get you very far with a sub-30 MCAT. Too much competition.

Best of luck to you.

 

[kn0wTall]

Thanks a bunch for the reply! Any idea on how competitive my application would be for Cincinnati or EVMS SMPs?

 

[QQm]

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