Please Rate my Post Bac Chances

[PostBacKid]

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[dstu2011]

is that the 1600 SAT scale?

 

[PostBacKid]

Yes that's 1400 out of 1600.

 

[zencake]

In regards to your last question: it's not too late in the cycle, I don't think the classes max out until the spring usually (or at least February) - but I'd imagine many seats have been filled already.

Your GPA certainly is high enough. I think what might really be important in your case though is how strong your reason/motivation is for wanting to do medicine (at this time). Correct me if I'm wrong, your clinical volunteering/shadowing experience doesn't seem to be too extensive. However, I'm sure you have good reasons, so make a powerful case.

I was accepted (to Goucher and JHU) a few weeks ago with a 3.7 GPA from a top-10, 1500+ SAT, good EC's and OK shadowing experience, but essentially no clinical volunteering experience. However, I had a good reason that was well-supported by other, personal experiences.

 

[PostBacKid]

Thanks so much Zencake. That is also my biggest concern (lack of recent medical experience). Would a good enough reason for this be that I work a 100+ hrs/week job that requires travel out of town (sometimes out of the country) 4 days a week? I did not include this in my application (I was hoping to say it during the interview). But it seems like this could even prevent them from interviewing me so is it worth putting it in the application?

I did do a summer program my last summer in college that involved shadowing 4 doctors in Mexico. Plus I have 2 siblings that are physicians and have allowed me to shadow them a few times (though not consistently). I wrote my personal statement about my Mexico experience but I haven't mentioned anything about the shadowing since it was not consistent- do you think I should?

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[prolixity29]

Your GPA is strong, and your SAT score should be sufficient.
B+ in Bio won't hurt you, especially if you went to a top 10 school.

I agree with zencake that the most important factor is your motivation for going. I had very weak experiences but my story was compelling and the interview went well.

 

[zencake]

My shadowing experiences weren't too consistent either, about once a week or so for a couple months at a time. For shadowing, I don't think it's necessarily consistency (or sheer number of hours) that's important - it's what you got out of it. Did shadowing these guys make you want to become a doctor even more, and did you learn something? If shadowing your brothers or the docs in Mexico were interesting for you and contributed to why you want to pursue medicine, then I would definitely talk about it.

What I meant by "reasons" in the earlier post was "your reason(s) for wanting to pursue a career in medicine" - and not your reason for not volunteering this past year. You have to make a very strong case for why you want to become a doctor, and usually they look for some concrete work/volunteer/shadowing/personal experiences that show you know what you're getting into.

It's probably ok that you didn't volunteer this past year due to your job, but you have to be able to convince people that you have good reasons for wanting to do medicine (aside from money/prestige/etc. that are kind of a given). These post-bacc programs are similar to med schools in that they select people who seem to have strong enough motivation and interest in the field to be able to finish out their medical training and become practicing physicians.

Also, if you're busy/traveling, you can interview by phone or Skype - doesn't have to be in person. I did mine from halfway across the world.