Hi guys! Thanks for taking the time to read this and providing any input if you choose to do so!
I'm a 23 year old, ORM currently in an in-state SMP. My undergraduate stats are cGPA 3.29 and sGPA 2.9 (? not sure, will try to find out for sure soon). I had some trouble freshman year, and it really shows, but I have a pretty strong upward trend. My MCAT was a 502. I applied to the cycle of 2018 not knowing much information and with a terrible school list, too. Don't remember everything about the schools, but obviously things didn't pan out and I was stuck with my next option.
I applied to an in-state SMP knowing that my stats were low and was accepted anyways. They accepted me in March of 2018 and required me to do about 100-150 healthcare volunteer hours and 100-150 non-healthcare volunteer hours. I was in a service fraternity during undergrad which got me a lot of volunteer hours, but they didn't count that as volunteering for some reason. I also had an amazing healthcare internship for 2 summers during undergrad. I worked in a research lab during undergrad, as well. I had pretty good LORs with one of them being exceptional. Overall, strong ECs.
I've really proven myself during this SMP with a current mid-year GPA of 3.8. This cycle, I only applied to my SMP's medical school for linkage reasons. I interviewed and thought it went well but still got hit with a fat R. I'm still trying to figure out why since I was told that getting A's and B's in the SMP, doing well on the interview, and doing all the volunteer hours they requested would get me in. Maybe they didn't like the fact that my volunteering wasn't super long term. Maybe it was still my low GPAs and MCAT bringing my application down. Any thoughts on what the reason could have been for the R? I honestly feel kind of played by them since I did everything they asked and still got the short end of the stick.
Anyways, I'm stuck in a weird phase now. I plan on finishing up the program since there's only a little over 2 months left and I'll finish with a Master's. I plan on taking a year off of school and working in some research-related job or maybe as a scribe or EMT or something else healthcare related. I also plan on expanding my volunteering by having something consistent throughout the whole year to show that I can do long term and be committed to volunteering. I would also plan on retaking my MCAT during this year since it's basically expired and also very low.
I'm wondering if choosing this path of becoming a doctor is unattainable for me or not. I have other careers in mind, but this one is something that I've dreamed of. I would reapply for 2021 and will be 25 at the time of possible acceptance. I plan on going MD and DO this cycle as well as applying more broad and within my limits. Technically, this would only be my second application cycle if you don't count 2019 for the one SMP school (or would it still count as my third? not sure). I also think that my low undergrad stats are really bringing me down, and I'm not too sure if I can recover with those hanging over my name. Any thoughts on what the future holds for me? Am I fighting a fight I can't win? Thanks for everything!
