Please, give a brutally honest assessment of me so I can better understand my next steps?

[BlueDreams9k]

Think I need an emphasis on, BRUTALLY honest reality check. I don’t have anyone else to blame in my situation — but that’s okay! Because realizing I’m responsible for the consequences of my own actions is ironically giving me a lot of hope for the future! I doubt this is a unique case but long story short I am/was very unmlvited in undergrad, sloth personified. Didn’t have a strong reason to be pre med other than family incentives if chosen. I’m a senior now, graduating this semester, I’ve got like 50-60 cumulative hours to my name in volunteering and research.

How do I “fix” my situation? I know this is a super loaded question .. but I look at other threads on here and there are applicants being rejected with 5x my hours, double my GPA, far more ECs than me. I can’t blame anyone besides myself. This path was kinda “handed” to me and instead of making the most I kinda just silently floated on by trying to maintain just passing grades. The blunt of my reality only hit recently so I’d like to use the moment of clarity after I’ve just taken my mcat to step back, reasses, and plan intelligently.

I’m a senior at UPitt. I have subpar acad (3.4 (I believe sGPA 3.2) w/ a 510 (very recent though open to a retake)). Terrible ECs only notable one was about 50 hours at a research lab but the work wasn’t memorable (microscope imagining and desk work) and no pubs yet. I think I just need a realistic reality check on what you’d do if you were somehow put in my situation. I’d like to educate myself on the whole MCAT process. There’s so many acronyms in here that I should know the meaning of but don’t. I don’t know what speciality I want .. and in terms of interests don’t have any experience to name any confidently. What I mean by that is something palpable that you could explain in an interview, for example. I know some people who have stem cell interests because of papers they read or pathology because of what they’ve studied or a program they were in. I picked a neuroscience major because I liked the brain, haha.

I should have used my undergraduate experience to discover this. So this question is more just embarrassing than anything. But I genuinely want to feel like I earned my place to wherever I go. I guess TLDR how should I go about my next approaches to med school. I have all the stickied posts open that I plan to read after writing this. Obviously there’s a laundry list of factors to a school from obviously having their desired gpa/mcat range to the cost to MD / DO (which I concerningly don’t understand the full difference between yet nor which I want) … just looking for people to give me some specific pointers for my situation. If it helps money isn’t tight, I’d prefer to go to a “better” school but I think my primary concern is understanding what to look for first (why choose one school over another) rather than chasing artificial ratings or a specific certification for personal ego without understanding truly what I’m doing. Open to anything postbacc, gpa repair, retakes, intensive programs, what to start applying for after graduation. I know ER and Research are big things to focus on I think. Just looking for the most efficient steps from where I am right now. I’m confisdering investing in one of those personalized pre med tutors but considering how late I’m in to this and that most of them do serious MCAT review packaging in their pricing (which I don’t think I need) I don’t think it’s a good idea.

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[Mr.Smile12]

First. Can you fill out a WAMC profile?

Second. Isolate the priority questions you want feedback on.

 

[Tomiee]

next steps after you graduate? Get more experiences (healthcare related, research, etc). If you want to do a post-bacc to improve your gpa that’s an option. Have you shadowed any doctors?

Personally, I kinda felt the same way as you when I graduated college (mainly due to covid) and I felt doing a masters, research and scribing would tie my application in a nice bow. In my opinion, you need more experience in general to feel confident.

Also, are you interested in medicine? or is familial pressure the driving reason? You have to want to do this because YOU want to.

 

[Hollow Knight]

It sounds like you know what to do and just haven’t done it yet. So go start doing it. Take a gap year and get some kind of clinical job. Shadow. Volunteer. Study for your MCAT and crush it. Do research and try to get pubs.

Checking boxes isn’t enough to get in anymore, there are just way too many qualified people. Maybe takes you a year or two to build up the necessary activities. That’s completely fine. Most med students start at 24 or 25 or beyond now anyways, very few go straight through

 

[forthejoy5]

I'm just a lowly first-time trad applicant (9 IIs [interview invites] but no As [acceptances] quite yet) so I hope I'm not overstepping by replying.. but I'd recommend reflecting a bit on why you want to be a doctor. There are plenty of ways to make your family proud, make a respectable salary, help people, work in science, etc outside of medicine, so I would look at what specifically draws you to medicine as opposed to other fields.

Intrinsic motivation is more effective than extrinsic motivation. Meaning, if you do something because you love it, it's going to be far more motivating than doing something because you are seeking external rewards or validation from others. Becoming a doctor or even getting into medical school is a very strenuous process. It requires legitimate motivations for wanting to be a doctor, without which most people will either not succeed or will be miserable (and in significant debt) when they finally get what they thought they wanted.

I would recommend getting direct interaction with patients as soon as possible whether in a volunteer position or otherwise. This is a big way to confirm that medicine is right for you. Also, shadowing is important to gain more insight into the day-to-day life of a doctor. If you do not find the patient interactions or clinical environment fulfilling or rewarding after you try multiple settings/specialties for a while, I'd reconsider being premed. This would absolve you from having to do "premed things."

Alternatively, if the interactions are fulfilling to you, a) look for research and non-clinical volunteering opportunities that genuinely interest you and b) take a gap year and find a clinical job providing direct patient care.

Have you had any jobs or other extracurriculars outside of volunteering/clinical stuff/research? This can sometimes help your application and be useful in determining what career path you might take.

Make sure not to take on so many extracurriculars that your GPA tanks this last semester. Finish strong, you got this.

The adcom members/physicians/med students' replies take infinite precedence over mine. Just humbly offering my take. Good luck on your journey 🙂