Odd situation - How do I look?

[Str1der]

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My freshman year of College was rough. Due to personal circumstances I was not able to make the grades I wanted. Ended the year with around a 3.0. After Freshman year and starting that summer, I was able to fix everything and made a 4.0 in every semester from there on out. I am now going to be a senior and am sitting with a 3.7 school GPA while I'm averaging around a 3.6 with my application GPA due to a dropped and re-taken course that doesn't show with my school but does for my application.

I live in Texas and am only applying to Texas schools via the TMDSAS and AAMCAS (for Baylor). As for my personal credentials:

Biomedical Sciences Major at Texas A&M

Academic Recognition

• Texas A&M Dean's Honor Roll for a year (take 15 hours minimum/semester and score above a 3.75 GPA)
• Alpha Epsilon Delta Honor Society (pre health honor society)

College Leadership

• Officer of Biomedical Sciences Association (pre-health club at school, 2 years as officer, around 212 hours so far, will continue to be one as a senior)
• Baptist Student Ministry Journey Group Leader (only Sophomore could do this, mentored Freshman, around 216 hours total)

Research Activities

• IBD and IBS Research in Children at Baylor College of Medicine (Interned with a doctor last summer, around 300 hours, continuing to do so this summer)

Participated in around 5 different healthcare related activities over college totalling around 660 hours. This includes paid and volunteer, 4 of which were only volunteer. This includes the internship and officer position.

Participated in 3 non-health related Community Service Activities, doing so every year of college, totally 3 years so far. Around 260 hours. This includes my freshman mentoring position.


Employment

• Intern at Soler Inc. summer before Freshman year. Worked 30 hours a week for a gas liaison to Mexico.
• Intern at Baylor College of Medicine to a specific Doctor last summer and continuing to do so this summer. Work 35 hours a week through either research or shadowing certain procedures and clinical rounds.

Every activity I plan to continue in to my Senior year and will have done them all consecutively over four years.

I was registered to take the MCAT in this past January. I'd taken a Kaplan prep course over the Christmas break and was prepared for it,scoring 28+ each time. Due to an error I was unable to take the exam and was forced to register and take it on April 9. Since this was nearly 3 months later and I was in one of the hardest semesters ever, I did not have time to study for the exam at all. I ended up making a 23. Knowing that this score was unacceptable, I am now registered to take the MCAT July 6 (earliest I could get). I've been spending ample time studying since summer began and am taking offical AAMC Practice Exams, always scoring 28+. I feel certain that I can score a 30 or higher on the real exam. So,to sum it up:


School GPA -3.7
Application GPA - 3.59 ~ 3.6

First (Baaaad and unprepared) MCAT- 23
Second MCAT - 28+, most likely atleast a 30. PS and BS average around 9, VR averages around an 11 or 12.

Everything combined, how do I look? I know taking the MCAT in July is not ideal, so can I expect that to severely negatively affect me if I do score in the ideal range I'd like? My applications are already complete and submitted and I am nearly done with my secondary applications as well. For both TMDSAS and AAMCAS my Letters of Rec and Transcript have already been recieved. The only thing both are waiting on is an updated MCAT score.

I didn't want to list every specific activity so I just summarized. I just want to get a feel of what I can expect with my story, grades (going from a 3.0 to always making a 4.0 from there on out), involvement, leadership, research, shadowing, employment, and MCAT situation (23 due to going 3 months without studying to hopefully atleast a 30 when taking it July 6).

I know this post has been a bit long winded but I wanted to put everything down and lay out my situation as clearly as possible. Thank you all for your time!

 

[V5RED]

I am sorry, but I cannot tell what part of that is an odd situation.

This is not a flame, I am just curious which part is supposed to be unusual.

 

[Whatyousay]

Your ECs are fine. If you can get a 30 on your retake, you should have have an opportunity with at least a few Texas schools.

The A&M HPO office should have a list of the stats of A&M graduates who matriculated in-state.

 

[Str1der]

I am sorry, but I cannot tell what part of that is an odd situation.

This is not a flame, I am just curious which part is supposed to be unusual.

I guess I didn't clarify it too clearly. Maybe it's not "odd", but I'm curious about the rough Freshman year being fixed by a perfect Sophomore and Junior year, putting me at around a 3.58, almost 3.6 cGPA as well as an MCAT being taken July 6. When all is said and done, my entire application will be submitted around August 10th.

All of this combined (including my credentials and ECs), can I reasonably expect some good results? I originally planned to have my application completed by July 20th, so I'm a bit worried about what August 10th might do to my chances.

 

[BMEN]

Have you gotten a chance to talk to Karen about your app and situation?

 

[Str1der]

Have you gotten a chance to talk to Karen about your app and situation?

I actually called her this morning. Originally she had told me that though my Freshman year was a bit rough, the fact that I had made 4.0's the remainder of the semesters would look good, showing that I'd seen a problem and fixed it early on. This morning I called to talk to her about a recent situation that had popped up. She mentioned that taking the MCAT July 6th means that I'm not getting fully looked at till around August 10th. She couldn't give me any specific numbers as to how this might affect me, just that it wasn't obviously an ideal situation. As long as I pulled off around a 30 I'd still most likely be fine.

Just wasn't sure how to take that. "Most likely" has never boded will with me. 😛

 

[BMEN]

That would be my concern. Schools start reviewing apps starting in July here in Texas, so not having that MCAT might slow you down from being fully reviewed until you take it.

If you were able to get a 30, and keep your GPA going up, you'd be at the average for some Texas Schools which is good.