Please Help me decide whether to apply this year cycle or not.

[ICUatUCI]

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Hey guys, I just joined SDN. I went to UCI. I was supposed to graduate in June 2011, but I finished 2 quarters early. cGPA: 3.86. BCPM GPA: 3.95. My freshman year grades didn't look very good but since then I picked it up. From January to April, I was studying for the MCAT and doing research. I just took the MCAT on April 16th. I thought it was different/hard. I took all AAMC practice tests. I got 27 six times and 28 two times. I didn't really do any EC during undergrad. I started (around 01/2011) doing research at my school as a volunteer for 15 hours per week. I know thats nothing compare to most of the applicants.

Now that I'm finish with the MCAT (hopefully I don't have to take it again. I was hoping for 30 but I don't think I will get that), I'm going to start doing more ECs. I have an appointment at nearby hospital on May 1st. If I get in, I'm thinking of volunteering there twice a week. I'm also thinking of joining Red Cross and volunteer there twice a week. I would like to shadow a physician. Also, if I do ok on mcat, I will apply for a positionr as a notetake for students with disability at my school to get more community service.

1. I just want to know let say if I get around 30 on MCAT, should I even consider applying this year? I would really love to get in by Fall 2012. I know my chances are very low since I have basically no ECs, but I'm going to try to do all the things that I said above during the time that I have before I submit my application. If I don't get a high MCAT score, I think I will just wait for next year cycle.

2. What do you guys think about doing community service at Red Cross?

3. What about a volunteer as a notetaker? I know is not hospital related but is a community service and do you guys that that would help my resume?

4. What schools should I be looking for?

Thanks so much

 

[Robinson Crusoe]

Just doing those things isn't enough. You need to do them for a long time. Those activities are what is going to convince med school admissions that you have tested the waters enough to convince yourself that medicine is right for you. Don't apply this cycle and get medical experience for the next year no matter what MCAT you get.

 

[ICUatUCI]

Just doing those things isn't enough. You need to do them for a long time. Those activities are what is going to convince med school admissions that you have tested the waters enough to convince yourself that medicine is right for you. Don't apply this cycle and get medical experience for the next year no matter what MCAT you get.

Thanks for your advice. Should i do like a postbac during that year off or so? i feel like i don't need to boost my gpa but would postbac help me become a better candidate? Thanks again.

 

[rHinO1]

Do NOT apply this year and, do NOT do a post-bacc (your GPA is fine).

You absolutely need to get some more ECs before you apply. At a minimum, you need to get some clinical experience. Since you are short on volunteering, then you should gain your clinical experience through volunteer work. That way, you kill two birds with one stone. Start looking for opportunities now, I'm sure UCI has some kind of advisor/program to point you in the right direction.

Your research will help when you eventually apply, so try to keep that up too. However, the research is less important than the clinical/volunteer work.

During your year off, before you apply, study more for your MCAT. If you get a 30+, then that's great. But, since you didn't score that high on your practice tests, you probably didn't on the real thing either. A 28 on the MCAT might be adequate for DO schools, but it probably won't be enough for most MD schools.

Take another year, and improve your app before you apply. This process is too stressful and expensive to do it twice!

 

[aSagacious]

Do NOT apply this year and, do NOT do a post-bacc (your GPA is fine).

You absolutely need to get some more ECs before you apply. At a minimum, you need to get some clinical experience. Since you are short on volunteering, then you should gain your clinical experience through volunteer work. That way, you kill two birds with one stone. Start looking for opportunities now, I'm sure UCI has some kind of advisor/program to point you in the right direction.

Your research will help when you eventually apply, so try to keep that up too. However, the research is less important than the clinical/volunteer work.

During your year off, before you apply, study more for your MCAT. If you get a 30+, then that's great. But, since you didn't score that high on your practice tests, you probably didn't on the real thing either. A 28 on the MCAT might be adequate for DO schools, but it probably won't be enough for most MD schools.

Take another year, and improve your app before you apply. This process is too stressful and expensive to do it twice!

+1. In order of priorities: MCAT >> Clinical experience > Other ECs

 

[medicalmatins]

+1. In order of priorities: MCAT >> Clinical experience > Other ECs

This seems like good advice to me. I was surprised by a lower-than-I-thought MCAT. I got 35s and 36s on the AAMC practice tests, then a 29 on the real MCAT (a year ago, April 10). I think it was four years of clinical experience and ECs, plus a solid GPA (3.98), that allowed my acceptance (w00t!). No one even asked the "application weakness question" during my interviews, although I was expecting it.

 

[Shakespeare37]

+1. In order of priorities: Mcat >> clinical experience > other ecs

+2
Or is it just +1 again? I'm still a NOOB 🙄

 

[alphasyn]

i'd say do not rush to apply this year, you realli need to build on your ECs and clinical experience, do not let the admission people to think you are trying to fit in all the activities just to get that them on the application. remember, quality is more important than quantity.

also, lets see what your mcat turns out, if lower than a 30...consider a retake if scores are imbalance.

 

[ICUatUCI]

Do NOT apply this year and, do NOT do a post-bacc (your GPA is fine).

You absolutely need to get some more ECs before you apply. At a minimum, you need to get some clinical experience. Since you are short on volunteering, then you should gain your clinical experience through volunteer work. That way, you kill two birds with one stone. Start looking for opportunities now, I'm sure UCI has some kind of advisor/program to point you in the right direction.

Your research will help when you eventually apply, so try to keep that up too. However, the research is less important than the clinical/volunteer work.

During your year off, before you apply, study more for your MCAT. If you get a 30+, then that's great. But, since you didn't score that high on your practice tests, you probably didn't on the real thing either. A 28 on the MCAT might be adequate for DO schools, but it probably won't be enough for most MD schools.

Take another year, and improve your app before you apply. This process is too stressful and expensive to do it twice!

Thank you for all the input everyone. I really appreciated. I will go talk to an advisor at my school today. Since you said i shouldn't do a postbac, and if i don't apply this year, the earliest i would get into med school would be fall of 2013. Should i take some classes at community college or something while doing ECs? or should i just do volunteering and do more EC during those 2 years off and no school? If the latter one then, would it be ok for me to get a part time job while doing volunteering at like cvs, ralphs, etc. I don't think i would be able to get a full time bio related job since i have a volunteer research that is like 15 hrs a week.

Thanks again everyone

 

[theWUbear]

He brings up a good point. The academic record is fantastic, but he will have two years with no class. Will that be criticized?

OP: this goes against what most people are saying (and I happen to agree with them), but to give you all the options: I also have below-average clinical experience (though more than you). In a couple weeks I found a emergency department volunteer program and pushed through the paperwork; I will be eligible to start it Friday and I am going to put in shifts ASAP so i get some in before applying this cycle. if you can find something, and your mcat turns out fine, maybe you want to dedicate your summer to it, apply after you start it (so you can put it on AMCAS), and have a lot of hours logged by the time interviews roll around?

 

[courtnes]

Actually, OP, I'd suggest finding a job (FT or even PT) as a clinical research coordinator. Most positions require a two year commitment so you'd be set there, it'd get you tons of clinical experience AND you'd still have time to do volunteer work that interests you (both clinical and non-clinical.) Just save up your vacation time and use it during year 2 for your interviews.

You'd also be able to squeeze in an MCAT retake if this one came out poorly.

 

[rHinO1]

Thank you for all the input everyone. I really appreciated. I will go talk to an advisor at my school today. Since you said i shouldn't do a postbac, and if i don't apply this year, the earliest i would get into med school would be fall of 2013. Should i take some classes at community college or something while doing ECs? or should i just do volunteering and do more EC during those 2 years off and no school? If the latter one then, would it be ok for me to get a part time job while doing volunteering at like cvs, ralphs, etc. I don't think i would be able to get a full time bio related job since i have a volunteer research that is like 15 hrs a week.

Thanks again everyone

I know waiting until 2013 sounds like a long time, but you will find that the next year will pass by very quickly. You really don't have any reason to take any more classes, unless you need to knock out pre-reqs (some schools require stats & biochem in addition to the typical pre-reqs). Nobody will care you didn't take classes after you graduated. Your GPA is good, so nobody will question your academic abilities.

Get a part-time job, save some money for your apps, or maybe save up to travel if you can. After your applications, traveling, buying a new suit, etc... you can expect to spend thousands.

The reality is that you should have asked more about ECs earlier. The people who are applying this cycle have all the ECs that you've been advised to get. Sure, if you have the money, and your MCAT comes back outstanding, then you could roll the dice and try to apply. However, you still need to write your PS and get LOR... this is what your peers that are applying this cycle are already doing.

If you had SOME clinical exposure (or at least some lined up to start), and SOME long term ECs, then maybe it would be a possibility to apply this cycle. I think most of us would still advise you to strengthen your app, but with what you have now... I don't think you should even consider applying. Remember, AMCAS has 15 slots available to enter ECs, and so far, from what you said you only have 1 space filled (research). You don't need to fill them all, but you definitely need more than 1, especially if you want to stay in CA.

He brings up a good point. The academic record is fantastic, but he will have two years with no class. Will that be criticized?

OP: this goes against what most people are saying (and I happen to agree with them), but to give you all the options: I also have below-average clinical experience (though more than you). In a couple weeks I found a emergency department volunteer program and pushed through the paperwork; I will be eligible to start it Friday and I am going to put in shifts ASAP so i get some in before applying this cycle. if you can find something, and your mcat turns out fine, maybe you want to dedicate your summer to it, apply after you start it (so you can put it on AMCAS), and have a lot of hours logged by the time interviews roll around?

2 years without classes probably won't be noticed, but a lack of ECs definitely will.

 

[ICUatUCI]

Actually, OP, I'd suggest finding a job (FT or even PT) as a clinical research coordinator. Most positions require a two year commitment so you'd be set there, it'd get you tons of clinical experience AND you'd still have time to do volunteer work that interests you (both clinical and non-clinical.) Just save up your vacation time and use it during year 2 for your interviews.

You'd also be able to squeeze in an MCAT retake if this one came out poorly.

Thanks again everyone. "courtnes" sorry to ask u a dumb question. What is FT and PT stands for? Sorry i'm pretty stupide.. Is PT stands for physical therapist?

 

[obgyny]

Thanks again everyone. "courtnes" sorry to ask u a dumb question. What is FT and PT stands for? Sorry i'm pretty stupide.. Is PT stands for physical therapist?

PT = part-time
FT = full-time

 

[obgyny]

This seems like good advice to me. I was surprised by a lower-than-I-thought MCAT. I got 35s and 36s on the AAMC practice tests, then a 29 on the real MCAT (a year ago, April 10). I think it was four years of clinical experience and ECs, plus a solid GPA (3.98), that allowed my acceptance (w00t!). No one even asked the "application weakness question" during my interviews, although I was expecting it.

Same here... I was getting an average of 33 of my practice tests... but got a 28 on the real thing 🙁. But I still applied with that score and got into my top choice... UCI med school 🙂. But I had a great GPA (3.99 cGPA / 4.0sGPA) and a lot of significant ECs and life experiences that I believe made up for my MCAT score.

My MDapps profile has a summary of my ECs: http://www.mdapplicants.com/profile.php?id=18708

OP, as others have said, your lack of ECs would be a huge problem. It would definitely be worth it to wait and work on them. I had a lot of ECs in college, but not a lot of clinical experience. I decided to take 2 years off in-between undergrad and medical school for financial reasons, but I also took that time to get more experiences. I think it helped my application a LOT!

GL !

PS: zot! zot! 😛

<--UCI alumni

 

[ICUatUCI]

GL !

PS: zot! zot! 😛

<--UCI alumni

Thanks bpost. zot zot zot. haha

 

[ICUatUCI]

that's crazy bpost, u basicaly have a 4.0 gpa, i will work on my EC in this upcoing two yr or so n will apply to uci for sure. hopefully i might c you 🙂.

Thanks again everyone