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😀 I've been looking all over the place for some advice on my admissions chances considering the following:
I am 27 year old, white male, hoping to apply during the next cycle (2006-2007). I earned a BS in Biological Sciences from a lesser known state school with a 3.61 (AMCAS) GPA, then a post-bacc BS in Biochemistry from the University of Washington (3.00 GPA) averaging 15-18 credits all of upper-division (300, most 440 level courses) for one year which was interrupted in the middle (I had to withdraw) when I had kidney failure this last summer.
At my first school I did research in x-ray crystallography my senior year resulting in an award from the university faculty and 2 publications (on seperate projects on which I had extraordinary responsibility and independence). I volunteered for about a year and a half at the local emergency room, was a waiter, a house manager of an interfaith organization (though I am an atheist), peer tutor, organic chem peer leader, teaching assistant.
Currently, I am graduating in December from UW and my EC are as a Hospice volunteer, Mensa member (and soon to be community outreach), King County Democrats, and will soon shadow a family physician and try kayaking (so I look relatively well-rounded).
I took the MCAT after my senior year at WSU (12P, 10B, 12V, 34R), but my fiancee had gotten an opportunity in Seattle, so I decided to finish my BIOC degree there, which would have taken only 2 quarters (I am also a carpenter and helped my parents finish their retirement home during the autumn quarter) had it not been for my illness (which will, I imagine, be a part of my personal statement). This year, I simply did not have the money to seriously participate in the cylce so I post-poned it another year. So as you can see, though my motivation for medicine has not waned, I may have some explaining to do.
So why, you may ask, is my litany of stereotypical pre-med experiences unique? Because, in addition to all this, I was not able to attend college right after high-school. I came from a monumentally dysfuntional (drugs, alcohol, violence) home and I moved out on my own half-way through my senior year and could not afford to pay for school myself (my parents never planned to help and would not cosign for loans). Thoughout high school, I avoided drugs and alcohol myself, but afterwards, I started partying it up (alcohol and pot). Long story short, though my pot and alcohol use for the two years after high school was typical of, say, a normal (though unstudious) college freshman. I did, however, receive in those two years: 2 DUIs, 2MIPs, 2 possession of marijuana and paraphenalia charges. (Both DUIs were under the legal limit, but I was under 21 so you get DUI anyway). I was put on deferral for the last charges (DUI and marijuana at once, 1998) and they were dismissed recently after I completed outpatient treatment (in 1999) and submitted to over five years of probation (not parole, they were all misdemeanors) and random urinalyses (all clean, something like 15 total). It has been nearly 8 years since my last charge (after I stopped f*$#ing around, I saved up and started college). Also, I can get a letter from both my treatment counselor and probation officer attesting to how much they friggin' love me and how much I contributed to my group/how successful my recovery was/how much potential I have.
In light of all this (and I apoligize for those who have slogged through this) I would like intelligent opinions on several things:
1) The obvious: are my charges simply too much? I know those on this message board who have overcome DUIs, disorderly conducts, cheating, etc., but as is obvious mine are substantial and involve a drug (the use of which is obviously not conducive to being a doc).
2) I have decided to keep my personal statement focused on the positive and to address the infractions (and of course all I learned from them and my journey out of mediocrity) in my secondaries, when they ask for info re. any offenses (and volunteer the info on apps which do not ask explicitly, garnering points, hopefully, for candor). Opinions on this strategy?
3) I came from a relatively poor (by American standards) family (30-35K average growing up with 8 kids) and we got food stamps, cheese, etc. (and I worked since 13 helping pay for my expenses), so I know I qualify for disavantaged status by those measures, but what are your opinions about addressing social dysfunction in the disadvantaged portion of the AMCAS app? As I mentioned, my childhood was filled with chaos, violence, instability and alcohol abuse by my mom and marijuana abuse by my dad (and sometimes cocaine). My mom was sent to the hospital in our ~1500 person town several times and domestic violence reported in our local newspaper, so it was pretty ****ty to come to school sometimes. In addition, my only "blood" brother committed suicide (I was 13, he 15) when I started high school (a direct result of depression over our family life/inability to protect my mother as his note reported). While I don't want to go into dramatic, lurid detail, I think these things are relevent to disadvantage (psychological) and perhaps bring into relief my accomplishments (as well as my failures). I do not, however, want to sound as if I am excusing my behavior in the two years after high school by my childhood, however, so I would welcome opinions about such. This is all further complicated by the fact that it was his death that originally spurred my desire to be a doctor (a response to my helplessness, most likely, though my motivation has matured substantially since then).
4) Finally, I withdrew from two courses spring semester of my junior year and got a C+ and D+ in Orgo II and Orgo II Lab, the only two courses I took. I retook both later and got As. I became an atheist that quarter and I simply was in the process of shifting my worldview (including the death of two brothers) to adjust and was a little depressed (I had taken classes during summer the prior three years in addition to the normal school year and was also a little burnt out). I followed this up with a good senior year (when I did research and was a teaching assistant) but I also had to withdraw from a class spring semester called "Medicine as a Career" taught by my pre-med advisor (though I did attend every lecture) b/c I was unable, with my research responsibilities (trying to finish by graduation), to participate in a substantial volunteer experience that quarter (I have a great rec from my advisor, regardless; he understood). I also had to withdraw from Orgo Lab II last fall at UW (it was an accident, I had dropped all classes but that one before the deadline but needed a signature I simply forgot, so it was recorded as a W instead of as me simply not attending that quarter). During spring quarter, I had to withdraw from one of my five upper level science courses to keep up and finally, as I mentioned, I had to withdraw during summer this year, extending my education into this fall (and the start of a sixth year) to finish. All told, that is 7 Ws over 5 semesters/quarters. Is this impossible to explain away? Will I ever even get a chance? I have ended college this semester with 18 credits of upper level science (and medical history) with a GPA of 3.7 (projected based upon 1/2 way point).
BTW
My AMCAS GPA is 3.50 and MCATs are 34R.
Anyhow, thanks for your patience and I appreciate any personal experiences/advice you can offer. 😀
I am 27 year old, white male, hoping to apply during the next cycle (2006-2007). I earned a BS in Biological Sciences from a lesser known state school with a 3.61 (AMCAS) GPA, then a post-bacc BS in Biochemistry from the University of Washington (3.00 GPA) averaging 15-18 credits all of upper-division (300, most 440 level courses) for one year which was interrupted in the middle (I had to withdraw) when I had kidney failure this last summer.
At my first school I did research in x-ray crystallography my senior year resulting in an award from the university faculty and 2 publications (on seperate projects on which I had extraordinary responsibility and independence). I volunteered for about a year and a half at the local emergency room, was a waiter, a house manager of an interfaith organization (though I am an atheist), peer tutor, organic chem peer leader, teaching assistant.
Currently, I am graduating in December from UW and my EC are as a Hospice volunteer, Mensa member (and soon to be community outreach), King County Democrats, and will soon shadow a family physician and try kayaking (so I look relatively well-rounded).
I took the MCAT after my senior year at WSU (12P, 10B, 12V, 34R), but my fiancee had gotten an opportunity in Seattle, so I decided to finish my BIOC degree there, which would have taken only 2 quarters (I am also a carpenter and helped my parents finish their retirement home during the autumn quarter) had it not been for my illness (which will, I imagine, be a part of my personal statement). This year, I simply did not have the money to seriously participate in the cylce so I post-poned it another year. So as you can see, though my motivation for medicine has not waned, I may have some explaining to do.
So why, you may ask, is my litany of stereotypical pre-med experiences unique? Because, in addition to all this, I was not able to attend college right after high-school. I came from a monumentally dysfuntional (drugs, alcohol, violence) home and I moved out on my own half-way through my senior year and could not afford to pay for school myself (my parents never planned to help and would not cosign for loans). Thoughout high school, I avoided drugs and alcohol myself, but afterwards, I started partying it up (alcohol and pot). Long story short, though my pot and alcohol use for the two years after high school was typical of, say, a normal (though unstudious) college freshman. I did, however, receive in those two years: 2 DUIs, 2MIPs, 2 possession of marijuana and paraphenalia charges. (Both DUIs were under the legal limit, but I was under 21 so you get DUI anyway). I was put on deferral for the last charges (DUI and marijuana at once, 1998) and they were dismissed recently after I completed outpatient treatment (in 1999) and submitted to over five years of probation (not parole, they were all misdemeanors) and random urinalyses (all clean, something like 15 total). It has been nearly 8 years since my last charge (after I stopped f*$#ing around, I saved up and started college). Also, I can get a letter from both my treatment counselor and probation officer attesting to how much they friggin' love me and how much I contributed to my group/how successful my recovery was/how much potential I have.
In light of all this (and I apoligize for those who have slogged through this) I would like intelligent opinions on several things:
1) The obvious: are my charges simply too much? I know those on this message board who have overcome DUIs, disorderly conducts, cheating, etc., but as is obvious mine are substantial and involve a drug (the use of which is obviously not conducive to being a doc).
2) I have decided to keep my personal statement focused on the positive and to address the infractions (and of course all I learned from them and my journey out of mediocrity) in my secondaries, when they ask for info re. any offenses (and volunteer the info on apps which do not ask explicitly, garnering points, hopefully, for candor). Opinions on this strategy?
3) I came from a relatively poor (by American standards) family (30-35K average growing up with 8 kids) and we got food stamps, cheese, etc. (and I worked since 13 helping pay for my expenses), so I know I qualify for disavantaged status by those measures, but what are your opinions about addressing social dysfunction in the disadvantaged portion of the AMCAS app? As I mentioned, my childhood was filled with chaos, violence, instability and alcohol abuse by my mom and marijuana abuse by my dad (and sometimes cocaine). My mom was sent to the hospital in our ~1500 person town several times and domestic violence reported in our local newspaper, so it was pretty ****ty to come to school sometimes. In addition, my only "blood" brother committed suicide (I was 13, he 15) when I started high school (a direct result of depression over our family life/inability to protect my mother as his note reported). While I don't want to go into dramatic, lurid detail, I think these things are relevent to disadvantage (psychological) and perhaps bring into relief my accomplishments (as well as my failures). I do not, however, want to sound as if I am excusing my behavior in the two years after high school by my childhood, however, so I would welcome opinions about such. This is all further complicated by the fact that it was his death that originally spurred my desire to be a doctor (a response to my helplessness, most likely, though my motivation has matured substantially since then).
4) Finally, I withdrew from two courses spring semester of my junior year and got a C+ and D+ in Orgo II and Orgo II Lab, the only two courses I took. I retook both later and got As. I became an atheist that quarter and I simply was in the process of shifting my worldview (including the death of two brothers) to adjust and was a little depressed (I had taken classes during summer the prior three years in addition to the normal school year and was also a little burnt out). I followed this up with a good senior year (when I did research and was a teaching assistant) but I also had to withdraw from a class spring semester called "Medicine as a Career" taught by my pre-med advisor (though I did attend every lecture) b/c I was unable, with my research responsibilities (trying to finish by graduation), to participate in a substantial volunteer experience that quarter (I have a great rec from my advisor, regardless; he understood). I also had to withdraw from Orgo Lab II last fall at UW (it was an accident, I had dropped all classes but that one before the deadline but needed a signature I simply forgot, so it was recorded as a W instead of as me simply not attending that quarter). During spring quarter, I had to withdraw from one of my five upper level science courses to keep up and finally, as I mentioned, I had to withdraw during summer this year, extending my education into this fall (and the start of a sixth year) to finish. All told, that is 7 Ws over 5 semesters/quarters. Is this impossible to explain away? Will I ever even get a chance? I have ended college this semester with 18 credits of upper level science (and medical history) with a GPA of 3.7 (projected based upon 1/2 way point).
BTW
My AMCAS GPA is 3.50 and MCATs are 34R.
Anyhow, thanks for your patience and I appreciate any personal experiences/advice you can offer. 😀
