- Joined
- May 29, 2018
- Messages
- 43
- Reaction score
- 36
Hi all,
Bit of a comeback(?)/reinvention(?)/career changer(?)/WAMC(?) all in one. Quite a long post – there is a TLDR at the bottom!
Undergrad:
Went to my state school and didn’t do well. I had some significant hardships with a recovering drug addict/alcoholic father and a continuously relapsing mother from high school until my junior year of college. My undergrad performance went as follows:
Fall 2012 Term: 2.58
Spring 2013 Term: 3.00
Fall 2013 Term: 3.15
Spring 2014 Term: 3.16
Fall 2014 Term: 2.72
Spring 2015 Term: 3.27
Fall 2015 Term: 3.68*
Spring 2016 Term: 3.80*
Undergrad Cumulative: 3.14; Undergrad Science: ~3.09
*I joined an undergraduate research laboratory and also presented my findings at our universities’ undergraduate research conference
Also note: In Fall 2014 I received a “C-“ in Organic Chemistry I; in Spring 2015 I received a “B+” in Organic Chemistry II, - I imagine this may preclude me from applying to any institutions that require “1 year” of Organic Chemistry because they require a “C” or better grade to fulfill that prerequisite.
Post-Undergrad:
After graduation I worked for a pharmaceutical company as a quality control consultant on a stage 2 non-inferiority clinical trial. I worked with them for about seven months under my contract (it was decent money to keep afloat!) while simultaneously pursuing my EMT-B certification because I was super-interested in EMS and emergency medicine. Right after I received my NREMT and BLS certifications – I also received a job offer from a Harvard/MGH lab to join as a Research Technologist. I decided to put the EMS tract on hold, and I moved to Boston. I spent two years in research and I co-authored nine publications (e.g. Nature, Anesthesiology, Anesthesia & Analgesia, etc.), with another manuscript currently in peer-review. I was never higher than third-author, so I don’t know how much weight these publications hold.
I thought about potentially pursuing a PhD. Toward the middle of my second year at the lab – I went on a vacation to a foreign country and received a severe infection that required me to fly back to the United States for treatment where I had a stint in the ICU. This re-energized my interest in medicine, and is the topic of my personal statement.
Graduate:
I left my Harvard/MGH lab and enrolled in one of the better-known SMP programs *cough*BUMAMS*cough* to see if I was prepared for medical school. After two years, I graduated with my master’s of science this past May with a gGPA: 3.63 (I believe the sgGPA: is also 3.63) and my graduate thesis (conducted under my previous Harvard/MGH lab) received a letter grade of “A’.
Post-Graduate:
During late October of 2019, I began working per-diem evening/night shift as a medical technologist in clinical microbiology in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine for one of the major hospitals in Boston, while also working on my master’s thesis. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit – I increased my hours - and have since been hired-on as a full-time medical technologist in clinical microbiology and molecular diagnostics. Over the past few months – I have directly tested thousands of patients across multiple platforms for SARS-CoV-2, as well as performing my regular duties with mycobacterium tuberculosis testing, RAPID Gram Stains, RAPID HIV testing, RAPID blood testing, GI-Panels, Meningitis-Panels, and a host of other testing for infectious diseases.
Other EC’s:
Took the MCAT three times, the first time was so that I could apply to MAMS. Studied pretty much the same way for the first two – and did poorly– but changed my study methodology from content review to just heavy practicing for my third take:
03/24/2016: 501 (122/127/128/124)
06/15/2019: 503 (127/126/126/124)
06/27/2020: 512 (127/126/129/130)
Letters:
BOLDED – Schools where I think I may get some in-state/regional love. I was born/raised in NH but I have lived/worked/studied in MA for the past ~4 years.
Allopathic:
BU
Georgetown
Drexel
Albany
Tufts
Tulane
Miami
Case Western
Duke
UCSF
Columbia
Dartmouth
George Washington
New York Medical College
Vanderbilt
Mount Sinai (Icahn)
Hofstra
Stony Brook
Harvard
Rush
Wayne State
Rosalind Franklin
Loyola
Cincinnati
EVMS
Temple
Wash. U
Virginia
Northwestern
Saint Louis
UMASS
Stanford
Michigan
Columbia
Duke
USF
John Hopkins
Yale
Chicago
Jefferson
Mayo
California Northstate
Creighton
Michigan State
Oakland Beaumont
Quinnipiac
Rochester
Wright State
Central Michigan
Osteopathic:
Oklahoma State
Michigan State
Ohio
PCOM
AZCOM
CCOM
Des Moines
Rowan
Kansas City
NYITCOM
UNECOM
Rocky Vista
TLDR:
uGPA: 3.14
usGPA: 3.09
smpGPA: 3.63
MCAT: 501 -> 503 -> 512
LizzyM: 68.30
Okay EC’s / 9 pubs / good letters. 27 and non-URM
Any and all advice is appreciated – particularly and lower-tier MD schools you might think I could be in range for.
-RC
Bit of a comeback(?)/reinvention(?)/career changer(?)/WAMC(?) all in one. Quite a long post – there is a TLDR at the bottom!
Undergrad:
Went to my state school and didn’t do well. I had some significant hardships with a recovering drug addict/alcoholic father and a continuously relapsing mother from high school until my junior year of college. My undergrad performance went as follows:
Fall 2012 Term: 2.58
Spring 2013 Term: 3.00
Fall 2013 Term: 3.15
Spring 2014 Term: 3.16
Fall 2014 Term: 2.72
Spring 2015 Term: 3.27
Fall 2015 Term: 3.68*
Spring 2016 Term: 3.80*
Undergrad Cumulative: 3.14; Undergrad Science: ~3.09
*I joined an undergraduate research laboratory and also presented my findings at our universities’ undergraduate research conference
Also note: In Fall 2014 I received a “C-“ in Organic Chemistry I; in Spring 2015 I received a “B+” in Organic Chemistry II, - I imagine this may preclude me from applying to any institutions that require “1 year” of Organic Chemistry because they require a “C” or better grade to fulfill that prerequisite.
Post-Undergrad:
After graduation I worked for a pharmaceutical company as a quality control consultant on a stage 2 non-inferiority clinical trial. I worked with them for about seven months under my contract (it was decent money to keep afloat!) while simultaneously pursuing my EMT-B certification because I was super-interested in EMS and emergency medicine. Right after I received my NREMT and BLS certifications – I also received a job offer from a Harvard/MGH lab to join as a Research Technologist. I decided to put the EMS tract on hold, and I moved to Boston. I spent two years in research and I co-authored nine publications (e.g. Nature, Anesthesiology, Anesthesia & Analgesia, etc.), with another manuscript currently in peer-review. I was never higher than third-author, so I don’t know how much weight these publications hold.
I thought about potentially pursuing a PhD. Toward the middle of my second year at the lab – I went on a vacation to a foreign country and received a severe infection that required me to fly back to the United States for treatment where I had a stint in the ICU. This re-energized my interest in medicine, and is the topic of my personal statement.
Graduate:
I left my Harvard/MGH lab and enrolled in one of the better-known SMP programs *cough*BUMAMS*cough* to see if I was prepared for medical school. After two years, I graduated with my master’s of science this past May with a gGPA: 3.63 (I believe the sgGPA: is also 3.63) and my graduate thesis (conducted under my previous Harvard/MGH lab) received a letter grade of “A’.
Post-Graduate:
During late October of 2019, I began working per-diem evening/night shift as a medical technologist in clinical microbiology in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine for one of the major hospitals in Boston, while also working on my master’s thesis. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit – I increased my hours - and have since been hired-on as a full-time medical technologist in clinical microbiology and molecular diagnostics. Over the past few months – I have directly tested thousands of patients across multiple platforms for SARS-CoV-2, as well as performing my regular duties with mycobacterium tuberculosis testing, RAPID Gram Stains, RAPID HIV testing, RAPID blood testing, GI-Panels, Meningitis-Panels, and a host of other testing for infectious diseases.
Other EC’s:
- Since 2011 I have been an active member of an ALS research fund that has raised over $335,000 to directly support ALS research at an unnamed medical school. In 2016 I was promoted to an official committee member. This past year I created our first website so that we can increase the life-span of our fund, and potentially reach a new demographic.
- I worked part-time throughout high school and college at a maternity store for five years (from 2010-2015)
- I spent my undergrad sophomore year summer in the Bakken oil fields as a Non-Destructive Testing Engineer Level 1 in order to help pay for my college tuition.
- >40 hours Physician Shadowing
- EMT-B and BLS certification. I never utilized it – but I included it anyway because it taught me a lot about the EMS system and emergency medicine – and there were multiple clinical rotations that had direct patient care.
Took the MCAT three times, the first time was so that I could apply to MAMS. Studied pretty much the same way for the first two – and did poorly– but changed my study methodology from content review to just heavy practicing for my third take:
03/24/2016: 501 (122/127/128/124)
06/15/2019: 503 (127/126/126/124)
06/27/2020: 512 (127/126/129/130)
Letters:
- Committee Letter from BU MAMS
- Letter from my previous PI who is very high up at MGH and HMS.
- Letter from my current department Chief
BOLDED – Schools where I think I may get some in-state/regional love. I was born/raised in NH but I have lived/worked/studied in MA for the past ~4 years.
Allopathic:
BU
Georgetown
Drexel
Albany
Tufts
Tulane
Miami
Case Western
Duke
UCSF
Columbia
Dartmouth
George Washington
New York Medical College
Vanderbilt
Mount Sinai (Icahn)
Hofstra
Stony Brook
Harvard
Rush
Wayne State
Rosalind Franklin
Loyola
Cincinnati
EVMS
Temple
Wash. U
Virginia
Northwestern
Saint Louis
UMASS
Stanford
Michigan
Columbia
Duke
USF
John Hopkins
Yale
Chicago
Jefferson
Mayo
California Northstate
Creighton
Michigan State
Oakland Beaumont
Quinnipiac
Rochester
Wright State
Central Michigan
Osteopathic:
Oklahoma State
Michigan State
Ohio
PCOM
AZCOM
CCOM
Des Moines
Rowan
Kansas City
NYITCOM
UNECOM
Rocky Vista
TLDR:
uGPA: 3.14
usGPA: 3.09
smpGPA: 3.63
MCAT: 501 -> 503 -> 512
LizzyM: 68.30
Okay EC’s / 9 pubs / good letters. 27 and non-URM
Any and all advice is appreciated – particularly and lower-tier MD schools you might think I could be in range for.
-RC
