No one in my family is a doctor: they can't help! Please give me your advice.

[catzzz88]

Please help me. No one in my family is a doctor and no one has any idea as to how to complete this process. I am trying to use as many resources as possible to do this correctly. I am applying this year and am working 50 hours per week and studying for the MCAT at the same time now so I can't really add extra-curriculers anytime soon. Any advice is welcome!

Academics:
I am 24 and I went to Bryn Mawr College.
Year, BCPM GPA, AO GPA, Total GPA
Fresh.--3.00, 3.23, 3.00
Soph.--3.82, 3.85, 3.83
Junior--3.78, 3.85, 3.81
Senior--4.00, 3.70, 3.85
cGPA--3.65, 3.66, 3.65
Graduate--3.75 (2 classes at Harvard Extension)
Supplemental hours: P/F Pass: 7 P/F Fail: 0 AP: 6 CLEP: 0

Research:
Nature -- 2011 (7th author out of like 50 authors, 1st author was my boss)
Epigenetics -- 2009 (one of 7 equally contrib. authors, including PI as last name)
Acta Chiropterologica -- 2008 (2nd/4 authors, I designed the experiment)
Plus 3 other published abstracts in Developmental Biology (2008), and Virginia Journal of Science (2008, 2004)
Plus lots of lab work to go with these (obviously).

Clinic:
Shadowed doctors in US ~50 hours (hem-onc, oncology, derm-onc)
Volunteered at Hospital of University of Pennsylvania ~ 100 hours
Study abroad - Danish Institute of Study (DIS) Medical Practice and Policy (lots of shadowing in other countries, learning about health care, took human health and disease class taught by two physicians, learned to insert IVs on each other haha, CPR, etc.)
I am weak here.

Leadership:
Founder/President of Ski/Snowboard Club at BMC for 4 years -- lots of organizing
Organized lots of independent fundraisers for various charities and health organizations (ex: over $3,000 for Haiti Earthquake victims, blood drives, etc.)
Lots more--mostly independent.

Extra info:
CA resident, originally from VA
No MCAT yet, but I expect a 32-35
Proficient (not fluent) in Spanish
Applying as economically disadvantaged.

My School List so far:
Pennsylvania
Stanford
UC San Francisco
Chicago-Pritzker
Columbia
UCLA-Geffen
UC San Diego
Case Western
Virginia
NYU
Rochester
Einstein
UC Davis
Tufts
Jefferson
Virginia Comm.

I have low budget for applications so I cut out many schools that had over 10,000 applicants, only accept OOS, etc. I also focused on research-heavy schools thinking that they will appreciate my research background. Jefferson and Rochester have strong ties to BMC undergrad and post-bac (according to my health committee advisor) so I threw them in. Any schools that especially appreciate: research, URM, leadership? Any that I should throw out?

Thanks!

Best,
C

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[1TB4RKSB4CK]

Are you doing MD/PhD?
I would wait till you get your MCAT then start tossing top tiers and adding some middles in.
So far, your list is good and those pubs would be great. Not many have pubs going into med school, especially in the journals of your caliber.

 

[catzzz88]

Are you doing MD/PhD?
I would wait till you get your MCAT then start tossing top tiers and adding some middles in.
So far, your list is good and those pubs would be great. Not many have pubs going into med school, especially in the journals of your caliber.

No MD/PhD for me. Just MD.

Thanks for the comments!

 

[catzzz88]

Any more comments on my school list?

Suggestions for schools to add or remove?

 

[Mazdave]

Depending on your MCAT, your research would make you a good fit for Pitt.

BTW, I also did MPP at DIS -- best semester ever!

 

[catzzz88]

Depending on your MCAT, your research would make you a good fit for Pitt.

BTW, I also did MPP at DIS -- best semester ever!

Why do you say that? Based on what I see, Pitt isn't ranked for research by USWR.

Yeah DIS was pretty amazing, huh?

-C

 

[aSagacious]

Your grades are good (and the upward trend helps) but your list is VERY top-heavy so it will probably fall towards the middle of the pack at most of these schools.

 

[Mazdave]

Why do you say that? Based on what I see, Pitt isn't ranked for research by USWR.

Yeah DIS was pretty amazing, huh?

-C

Check again -- Pitt came in at #15 for 2012 and is somewhere in the top ten for NIH funding. N=1, but a good MCAT plus research got me an interview at Pitt even with a lower GPA.

Also, to echo Saggy, you will probably want to add some more schools that are lower stats-wise. If you search there are a bunch of threads about OOS schools that are friendly to CA applicants. Without an MCAT score it's hard for anyone to be more specific.

My DIS experiences came up in almost all of my interviews, and I definitely felt like they gave me a good background on a number of issues, particularly the public health stuff.

 

[Jamie561]

Your list is top heavy for your gpa. I'd wait till you have an mcat under your belt

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[catzzz88]

YEah ... thanks for the advice. I am banking on a good MCAT for sure... but I also work a lot so I can only study 2-3 hours per day. There is no way that I can get above a 35 with this amount of studying...