JackGamache
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Hi everyone! Hoping to get some help as a non-trad applicant gauging my competitiveness. Have some more context below, but as an initial TLDR, I was an econ major for 11 of my 12 semesters, with internships done and potential return offers lined up (really was committed to this line of work up to this point), before switching to healthcare (pre-PA) for a number of reasons. Took an extra year to get clinical experience and complete pre-reqs, but during my second year of continuing with experience and saving money for apps, I became drawn to medicine. Confirmed that this was indeed the route I wanted to go, prepped for and took mcat, and here we are! All pertinent info hopefully found below.
GPA (AMCAS):
● cGPA: 3.82 (upward trend / "Nike swoosh;" 4.0 last like 50 credits hours)
● sGPA: 3.81 (same upward trend)
MCAT:
● First attempt: 512 (130/126/127/129)
Average was around 515 and B/B let me down on test day relative to FL, frustrating but not planning on a retake.
State of Residence:
● Massachusetts
Ethnicity:
● White male
Undergraduate Institution:
● UMass Amherst (5 years; extra year to complete prerequisites)
Clinical Experience (paid + volunteer):
● ~4,500-5,000 combined hours as a Patient Care Technician at Beth Israel and CNA at local memory care nursing home
(summer after senior year, then part time through my fifth year, then full time for the two years since)
Research Experience:
● None (again due to change; however may be looking into position during post-application gap year to get some exposure)
Shadowing:
● ~40 hours shadowing a PA (geriatrics, nursing home setting)
● Currently shadowing with an ED physician and referred to his peer (hope to have another ~40 by June; ~20 more in anticipated hours)
Non-Clinical Volunteering:
● ~200 hours as an academic tutor/mentor for underserved youth (~100 anticipated)
● ~250 hours music volunteer with our Alzheimer's patients (self-initiated with coworker in coordination with our activities department)
● Food pantry with American red cross (50 hours completed; anticipated ~200 more during application cycle)
Other Extracurriculars:
● Community Service Chair for Marketing Club (1 year)
● Bass player in a band; performed regularly (thousands of hours)
● Sales internship (~600 hours)
● Preschool teacher (2500 hours; done during summers from high school up to Junior year and also part time during Covid remote year)
Honors/Awards:
N/A
Additional:
Some of this will reiterate what was said above, but I am a relatively nontraditional applicant. I am completely self-supporting, working primarily night shifts to support myself while completing my lingering prerequisites at a local community-college and continuing to build the remainder of my app. This leads to the couple of concerns that remain for me. First, in part because of my flipped hours, I have had limited interaction with physicians beyond the shadowing and fear I may not have a super strong physician letter of recommendation. At least not one who can speak to my clinical ability or research capacity beyond observorship. I will have two letters from nurse managers / direct supervisors, but still definitely something to highlight.
Second, again because of my work demands, physics 2 and orgo 2 could only be completed at nearby community college, with physics 2 being online. There was quite literally no feasible in person option, as I could not afford the only in person, 5-credit, option at a nearby (still over an hour commute) 4 year program. I have reached out already to those who have case-by-case procedures for some of my prereqs, and have gotten green lights from all those listed, but still not sure how much this impacts my competitiveness as well. Finally, I talked about my upward trend, which happened after my sophomore year and especially after my switch to pre-pa and then pre-med, but unfortunately calc 1 and 2 were taken my freshman year and are both C's. I know some schools are picky about cutoffs for retaking, but just want to list this out nonetheless. Alright that should be all!
School list:
UMass
Thomas Jefferson
Drexel
Hackensack
Temple
Rosalind Franklin
Tulane
St. Louis
Wake forest
Quinnipiac
Tufts
Georgetown
Geisel
Case western
Cincinnati
Emory
UVM
Rutgers (WJ)
VCU
Creighton
Western Michigan
Albany
SUNY downstate
UNECOM
NYITCOM
GPA (AMCAS):
● cGPA: 3.82 (upward trend / "Nike swoosh;" 4.0 last like 50 credits hours)
● sGPA: 3.81 (same upward trend)
MCAT:
● First attempt: 512 (130/126/127/129)
Average was around 515 and B/B let me down on test day relative to FL, frustrating but not planning on a retake.
State of Residence:
● Massachusetts
Ethnicity:
● White male
Undergraduate Institution:
● UMass Amherst (5 years; extra year to complete prerequisites)
Clinical Experience (paid + volunteer):
● ~4,500-5,000 combined hours as a Patient Care Technician at Beth Israel and CNA at local memory care nursing home
(summer after senior year, then part time through my fifth year, then full time for the two years since)
Research Experience:
● None (again due to change; however may be looking into position during post-application gap year to get some exposure)
Shadowing:
● ~40 hours shadowing a PA (geriatrics, nursing home setting)
● Currently shadowing with an ED physician and referred to his peer (hope to have another ~40 by June; ~20 more in anticipated hours)
Non-Clinical Volunteering:
● ~200 hours as an academic tutor/mentor for underserved youth (~100 anticipated)
● ~250 hours music volunteer with our Alzheimer's patients (self-initiated with coworker in coordination with our activities department)
● Food pantry with American red cross (50 hours completed; anticipated ~200 more during application cycle)
Other Extracurriculars:
● Community Service Chair for Marketing Club (1 year)
● Bass player in a band; performed regularly (thousands of hours)
● Sales internship (~600 hours)
● Preschool teacher (2500 hours; done during summers from high school up to Junior year and also part time during Covid remote year)
Honors/Awards:
N/A
Additional:
Some of this will reiterate what was said above, but I am a relatively nontraditional applicant. I am completely self-supporting, working primarily night shifts to support myself while completing my lingering prerequisites at a local community-college and continuing to build the remainder of my app. This leads to the couple of concerns that remain for me. First, in part because of my flipped hours, I have had limited interaction with physicians beyond the shadowing and fear I may not have a super strong physician letter of recommendation. At least not one who can speak to my clinical ability or research capacity beyond observorship. I will have two letters from nurse managers / direct supervisors, but still definitely something to highlight.
Second, again because of my work demands, physics 2 and orgo 2 could only be completed at nearby community college, with physics 2 being online. There was quite literally no feasible in person option, as I could not afford the only in person, 5-credit, option at a nearby (still over an hour commute) 4 year program. I have reached out already to those who have case-by-case procedures for some of my prereqs, and have gotten green lights from all those listed, but still not sure how much this impacts my competitiveness as well. Finally, I talked about my upward trend, which happened after my sophomore year and especially after my switch to pre-pa and then pre-med, but unfortunately calc 1 and 2 were taken my freshman year and are both C's. I know some schools are picky about cutoffs for retaking, but just want to list this out nonetheless. Alright that should be all!
School list:
UMass
Thomas Jefferson
Drexel
Hackensack
Temple
Rosalind Franklin
Tulane
St. Louis
Wake forest
Quinnipiac
Tufts
Georgetown
Geisel
Case western
Cincinnati
Emory
UVM
Rutgers (WJ)
VCU
Creighton
Western Michigan
Albany
SUNY downstate
UNECOM
NYITCOM
