BadAtPreMed
New Member
- Joined
- May 1, 2022
- Messages
- 3
- Reaction score
- 0
Hey there! I'm a non-trad student and I've spent the past few years working to reinvent myself. Unfortunately, I took way too many BCPM units in undergrad for me to pull my GPA up any further (184 units total). Since my stats are so low, I have absolutely no idea how to build a school list for myself, so I'd like some help figuring out where to apply! I'm also open to any advice or critique. Thanks for reading!
1. cGPA and sGPA as calculated by AMCAS or AACOMAS - strong upward trend after an extremely rough first 2 years
cGPA: 3.14
- freshman: 2.5
- sophomore: 2.49
- junior: 3.18
- senior: 3.55
- super-senior (1 extra semester): 3.59
- post bacc (DIY 20 units, 7 classes): 3.96
sGPA: 3.04
- freshman: 2.02
- sophomore: 2.47
- junior: 3.21
- senior: 3.47
- super-senior: 3.52
- post bacc: 3.95
2. MCAT score(s) and breakdown - retook once because of poor CARS score
1st attempt: 508 (129, 124, 127, 128)
2nd attempt: 513 (128, 130, 128, 127)
3. State of residence or country of citizenship (if non-US)
CA
4. Ethnicity and/or race
ORM
5. Undergraduate institution or category
UC Berkeley, originally was in the College of Chemistry until I switched out to Letters and Sciences and the College of Natural Resources
- BA: Molecular and Cell Biology - Biochemistry and Molecular Biology emphasis
- BS: Nutritional Sciences - Toxicology
Post-bacc at UC Berkeley Extension - took 20 units here (their formal post-bacc program is about 22 or 23 units)
6. Clinical experience (volunteer and non-volunteer)
- Clinical volunteer in the local hospital's postpartum department - 400+ hours
- Medical mission trip to Peru (with a club on campus that I helped lead) - 50+ hours
7. Research experience and productivity
- Worked for 1 semester as a research assistant on a microbio project (300+ hours)
- Currently working in a UCSF lab (4000+ hours, 3 publications as first or second author in high-impact journals, 5+ as a third or associated author) - more papers to come since I'm leading my own study involving cardiac dysfunction in a mouse model and continuing to collaborate with other labs
8. Shadowing experience and specialties represented
- Anesthesiology, general surgery, orthopedic surgery - 80+ hours
- Family medicine - 30+ hours
9. Non-clinical volunteering
- Counselor for a mental wellness hotline - 30 hours (recently started)
10. Other extracurricular activities (including athletics, military service, gap year activities, leadership, teaching, etc)
- High school private tutor - 100+ hours
- Founding and executive member of a chemistry club on campus, also served as outreach chair, treasurer, and financial advisor - 200+ hours
- Financial and workshop coordinator of a medical club - 100+ hours
- Founded an e-shadowing club and worked with doctors to create case studies to simulate the shadowing experience - 30+ hours
- Co-leader and alumni advisor of a network that I built by working with a national educational organization
- Note-taker for the Disabled Students Program (paid)
11. Anything else not listed you think might be important
- Not sure if I should mention this at all, but my first 2 years were plagued with poor mental health (family and financial reasons) and nonexistent study strategies.
- Also not sure if these will help: strong LORs from post-bacc professors, UCSF PI, UCSF MD, and from UCSD MD/PhD
Current school list: basically almost all CA MD/DO schools atm, not sure where else to apply given my stats
- MD: Kaiser, California University of Science and Medicine, USC, Stanford, UCD, UCI, UCLA, UCR, UCSD, UCSF (all reaches?)
- DO: Touro, Western, California Health Sciences University
1. cGPA and sGPA as calculated by AMCAS or AACOMAS - strong upward trend after an extremely rough first 2 years
cGPA: 3.14
- freshman: 2.5
- sophomore: 2.49
- junior: 3.18
- senior: 3.55
- super-senior (1 extra semester): 3.59
- post bacc (DIY 20 units, 7 classes): 3.96
sGPA: 3.04
- freshman: 2.02
- sophomore: 2.47
- junior: 3.21
- senior: 3.47
- super-senior: 3.52
- post bacc: 3.95
2. MCAT score(s) and breakdown - retook once because of poor CARS score
1st attempt: 508 (129, 124, 127, 128)
2nd attempt: 513 (128, 130, 128, 127)
3. State of residence or country of citizenship (if non-US)
CA
4. Ethnicity and/or race
ORM
5. Undergraduate institution or category
UC Berkeley, originally was in the College of Chemistry until I switched out to Letters and Sciences and the College of Natural Resources
- BA: Molecular and Cell Biology - Biochemistry and Molecular Biology emphasis
- BS: Nutritional Sciences - Toxicology
Post-bacc at UC Berkeley Extension - took 20 units here (their formal post-bacc program is about 22 or 23 units)
6. Clinical experience (volunteer and non-volunteer)
- Clinical volunteer in the local hospital's postpartum department - 400+ hours
- Medical mission trip to Peru (with a club on campus that I helped lead) - 50+ hours
7. Research experience and productivity
- Worked for 1 semester as a research assistant on a microbio project (300+ hours)
- Currently working in a UCSF lab (4000+ hours, 3 publications as first or second author in high-impact journals, 5+ as a third or associated author) - more papers to come since I'm leading my own study involving cardiac dysfunction in a mouse model and continuing to collaborate with other labs
8. Shadowing experience and specialties represented
- Anesthesiology, general surgery, orthopedic surgery - 80+ hours
- Family medicine - 30+ hours
9. Non-clinical volunteering
- Counselor for a mental wellness hotline - 30 hours (recently started)
10. Other extracurricular activities (including athletics, military service, gap year activities, leadership, teaching, etc)
- High school private tutor - 100+ hours
- Founding and executive member of a chemistry club on campus, also served as outreach chair, treasurer, and financial advisor - 200+ hours
- Financial and workshop coordinator of a medical club - 100+ hours
- Founded an e-shadowing club and worked with doctors to create case studies to simulate the shadowing experience - 30+ hours
- Co-leader and alumni advisor of a network that I built by working with a national educational organization
- Note-taker for the Disabled Students Program (paid)
11. Anything else not listed you think might be important
- Not sure if I should mention this at all, but my first 2 years were plagued with poor mental health (family and financial reasons) and nonexistent study strategies.
- Also not sure if these will help: strong LORs from post-bacc professors, UCSF PI, UCSF MD, and from UCSD MD/PhD
Current school list: basically almost all CA MD/DO schools atm, not sure where else to apply given my stats
- MD: Kaiser, California University of Science and Medicine, USC, Stanford, UCD, UCI, UCLA, UCR, UCSD, UCSF (all reaches?)
- DO: Touro, Western, California Health Sciences University
Last edited:
