Need some help! Mass Resident...

[Kelso9]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hi All,

So this is my first time visiting this forum and I thought I would give it a shot because I'm in need of some help! I will be applying for medical school this cycle for Fall 2013. I'm a 22 year old white female, I graduated last spring with a biology degree and a 3.82 GPA from a small, private school in NC. My hometown is in Massachusetts and I currently work full-time as a research assistant at a large teaching hospital in Boston (affiliated with Harvard Med). I received a 31O on the MCAT (12 Bio/ 10 Verbal/ 9 Phys). Physical sciences was low because I took gen chem at a nearby college in high school so it has been a long time (planning to audit).
-Undergrad physics research for 2 years
-Community service fraternity member for 3 years
-2 month internship at Mass General with a gynecologic oncologist (about 200 hrs)
-20 hrs shadowing an emergency room doc at Brigham
-Tutored disadvantaged youth afterschool for a semester
-Coached a youth basketball team for a semester
-Member of several honor societies
-Strong interest in oncology (mother was diagnosed with cancer in 2009- took one semester off to go home and be with her so I have a couple community college classes)
-Coached my high school's field hockey team for a season while I was home with my mother
-Health assistant at Johns Hopkins CTY program for a summer

I'm looking for some help with a list of schools basically. My parents don't know much about this process at all/ don't have time to help me since they're busy with other things.
List:
UMASS
Boston University
Tufts
Harvard (?)
University of Vermont (mom's undergrad)
Wake Forest
University of Miami
University of Pittsburgh (dad's medical school - dad is internal medicine physician; dad's mother was also internal medicine doc and went to UCLA)

This is all I have so far! I really have no idea how many to apply to and which schools to consider. I would like to stay on the East coast so that I can be close to my family 🙂
Thanks in advance!

 

[aSagacious]

A few more to consider:

U North Carolina
Virginia Commonwealth
Virginia Tech
East Virginia
Med U South Carolina
U South Carolina
Penn St
SUNYs (Stony Brook, Downstate, Buffalo, Upstate)
Maryland

 

[Catalystik]

Hi All,

So this is my first time visiting this forum and I thought I would give it a shot because I'm in need of some help! I will be applying for medical school this cycle for Fall 2013. I'm a 22 year old white female, I graduated last spring with a biology degree and a 3.82 GPA from a small, private school in NC. My hometown is in Massachusetts and I currently work full-time as a research assistant at a large teaching hospital in Boston (affiliated with Harvard Med). I received a 31O on the MCAT (12 Bio/ 10 Verbal/ 9 Phys). Physical sciences was low because I took gen chem at a nearby college in high school so it has been a long time (planning to audit).
-Undergrad physics research for 2 years
-Community service fraternity member for 3 years
-2 month internship at Mass General with a gynecologic oncologist (about 200 hrs)
-20 hrs shadowing an emergency room doc at Brigham
-Tutored disadvantaged youth afterschool for a semester
-Coached a youth basketball team for a semester
-Member of several honor societies
-Strong interest in oncology (mother was diagnosed with cancer in 2009- took one semester off to go home and be with her so I have a couple community college classes)
-Coached my high school's field hockey team for a season while I was home with my mother
-Health assistant at Johns Hopkins CTY program for a summer

I'm looking for some help with a list of schools basically. My parents don't know much about this process at all/ don't have time to help me since they're busy with other things.
List:
UMASS
Boston University
Tufts
Harvard (?)
University of Vermont (mom's undergrad)
Wake Forest
University of Miami
University of Pittsburgh (dad's medical school - dad is internal medicine physician; dad's mother was also internal medicine doc and went to UCLA)

This is all I have so far! I really have no idea how many to apply to and which schools to consider. I would like to stay on the East coast so that I can be close to my family 🙂
Thanks in advance!

For some more ideas,
download this google.doc spreadsheet data (an SDN collaborative effort from 5/11), so you can fill in your own stats, and it will tell you for which US med schools you're competitive. Next look at the in-state matriculation data before you do further research on each school for "fit," removing any from your list that take more than 85% in-state students: https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AmKVGWwobG5GdEx2MjlBTDE0bXFXNGFZczZqYTZKb2c&hl=en_US#gid=0

I'm seeing about 5 months of clinical experience listed. Does your research involve interaction with patients? If not, do you have plans to beef up your clinical experience?

 

[Kelso9]

Thank you for the advice! Yes, I believe my clinical experience comes out to about 5 months. I will be starting a volunteer program at an emergency department in Boston in April and I plan to start looking for a more clinical job within the next couple of months since my job right now has very little people interaction. How much clinical experience is usually recommended? I did a lot of volunteering in college but not much related to health care because I really wasn't sure what I wanted to do after college until this past year. I kind of just volunteered for things that I was interested in (my school also wasn't near any large teaching hospitals) such as Habitat for Humanity, the "What's in a Doctor's Bag?" teaching program where I educated youth about visiting the doctor, and tutoring programs. I also raised a lot of money for the American Cancer Society and completed a half marathon as part of their Determination team.

 

[Catalystik]

I believe my clinical experience comes out to about 5 months. I will be starting a volunteer program at an emergency department in Boston in April and I plan to start looking for a more clinical job within the next couple of months since my job right now has very little people interaction. How much clinical experience is usually recommended?

I really wasn't sure what I wanted to do after college until this past year.

Few med schools post a suggested period of time. About 1.5 years is the average listed. Number of hours is less relevant than a prolonged experience. What you get out of it is more important than number of hours. But some adcomms will want to see evidence that you've considered medicine as a career over a prolonged period. So I recommend that you remain involved in a clinical venue through the application year, letting schools know via update letter (where permitted), in Secondary essays, and during interview conversations, in the hopes of swaying the "bean counters" positively in considering your file. Also, don't submit until after you start a position, as future plans can't be entered into the AMCAS Experiences section.