Should I apply this cycle? I would appreciate any comments/tips

[RelifeUser]

I'm a current senior, considering whether to apply this cycle or next cycle. I'm leaning towards next cycle. I do feel like my stats/ECs are ready for this cycle though.

cGPA/sGPA (basically equal): 3.83, hoping to be 3.85 by end of this semester. Taking easy classes this semester, and my GPA average after first semester have been ~3.9. Also, my grades are a little weird.... 3 B+ first semester then basically all As after first semester.... until I took 3 upper level biology classes - 2 of which I got a flat B and the other I got an A in (biochemistry). Does getting those 2 Bs look poorly on me? They're in neurobiology and molecular biology. I'm hoping to do well on the B/B MCAT to make up for that.

Volunteering:
-270 hours of nonclinical (of which ~100 are from tutoring),
-170 hours at clinic, 300 hours as camp counselor for children with diagnoses (3 overnight weeks)
This comes out to be ~730 hours volunteering. Most of this was before COVID hit though... I haven't done much since.

Others:
-College tutor at school's tutor program.

Leadership:
-President of a service club (~50-70 members)
-Prayer leader & Small Group Leader for a Christian ministry

Research:
-Not very substantial. ~5 months in two different labs. I didn't have a great experience, but still curious about the process.


My friends think I have a solid shot for mid/low tier schools and I think so too. I'm just a little bit hesitant and nervous, and I want to give full attention towards MCAT/application.

My choices--
Option 1: Apply this cycle. One gap year.
-I will be taking the MCAT this late April. A little rushed in terms of studying for it
-I have to write essays while studying for the MCAT
-Also worried about one of my LOR.... I asked him for a LOR for something different and he said, "I can provide you with one. It'll be short but positive." What should I think about that? I came to class and asked questions during/after class out of my passion for the subject.

Option 2: Apply next cycle. Two gap year.
-I have more time to study for the MCAT -- I'll be taking it mid summer then. I'm aiming for 520+; I have strong analytical skills but I struggle in reading comprehension. Nervous about the CARS section!
-Gives me more time to work on my application + find more meaningful experiences.
-I hope to get a position at the NIH IRTA program to give me a solid background in research-- only problem is, this isn't guaranteed. I didn't enjoy wet lab experience I had in my last lab but I have always been curious as to what research is exactly like. Looking at my PS that I used two years ago for an early assurance program, I talked about my desire and frustration towards Alzheimer's disease (but more geared towards treating patients). This had me contemplating that I may want to potentially do light research work on the side.
-Be more competitive for top medical school, keeping options open for competitive specialties (e.g. orthopedic surgery).

Concerns for two gap years:
-Switching to 2 years of research commitment when all my ECs are speaking altruism/volunteering. I've learned a LOT from volunteering and it's my strength in my ECs. It feels doing two years of research may make it seem like I've lost "focus."
-Worst case, I may not even be able to find any research opportunities.
-Is it frowned upon to take additional gap year when I'm already ready?

Few other opportunities:
-I have an opportunity to work as a MA at a local derm clinic. Should I take up on that? I can do either part or full time.
-EMT volunteering at a local fire department. They'll be training me, around 30-50 hr monthly commitment.
^Worried about managing MCAT/school studying with these.


Thanks in advance!

EDIT: I have 60 hours of shadowing under an internal medicine (a bit of pediatric) physician at an urgent care. However, that was 3 years ago.

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[EdgeTrimmer]

Take MCAT only if you are getting your target score consistently in FL tests. Without MCAT tough to decide on when to apply.

 

[TakotsuboOkazaki]

Take MCAT only if you are getting you are target score consistently in FL tests. Without MCAT tough to decide on when to apply.

Agree.

GPA is strong, you have a few things to talk about in the app otherwise.

Do whatever you can to nail the MCAT. If medical school is your goal, your timeline should really be built around making the best attempt you can at the test.

Best of luck.

 

[GreenDuck12]

Based on the tenor of your post, it seems like you favor taking an additional gap year. As all things, this is entirely up to you. Your GPA is solid but without an MCAT score, one can only guess as to how competitive your application is. A couple things stand out to me: low clinical hours, lack of shadowing, and truncated timeline to prepare for MCAT and personal statements. Could you feasibly prepare your application for this year and be a competitive applicant? Certainly. Would a gap year make you a weaker applicant? Certainly not. The MCAT is the real wild card here. If you're consistently scoring within your target range then you should take it. If you are outside of that range then you need some additional time. Your concerns about reading comprehension give me pause as that is a huge part of the MCAT beyond CARS.


Concerns for two gap years:
-Switching to 2 years of research commitment when all my ECs are speaking altruism/volunteering. I've learned a LOT from volunteering and it's my strength in my ECs. It feels doing two years of research may make it seem like I've lost "focus."
This entirely depends on how you want to frame your application. Having a wide variety of experiences isn't bad but recognize that you can continue with volunteering while engaging in research.

-Worst case, I may not even be able to find any research opportunities.
Entirely possible given the pandemic

-Is it frowned upon to take additional gap year when I'm already ready?
No program is going to turn you away because they think you were ready to apply earlier. Programs can and frequently do turn down applicants that they perceive are not ready at the time.

 

[JimKimSlim]

I prefer slow and steady, and additional gap year won’t hurt. In fact, most matriculants take two gap years, so you’re not gonna be “behind.” I think @KnightDoc can share his insight on this.

 

[candbgirl]

Do you have any shadowing?
Don’t take the MCAT until you are ready. You should be scoring at or above your target goal on a series of FL practice tests. Until you have a score nobody can really predict anything. Can you tell us what your 170 hours of nonclinical volunteering was about? How about your 170 hours at a clinic involved? Your work at the camp might be better suited for nonclinical volunteering(was it volunteering?).
Don’t rush the MCAT or filling out the AMCAS or writing all of your secondaries. You only want to apply one time with the best possible application.

 

[RelifeUser]

Do you have any shadowing?
Don’t take the MCAT until you are ready. You should be scoring at or above your target goal on a series of FL practice tests. Until you have a score nobody can really predict anything. Can you tell us what your 170 hours of nonclinical volunteering was about? How about your 170 hours at a clinic involved? Your work at the camp might be better suited for nonclinical volunteering(was it volunteering?).
Don’t rush the MCAT or filling out the AMCAS or writing all of your secondaries. You only want to apply one time with the best possible application.

I forgot to mention that I have 60 hours of shadowing from one physician (mainly internal medicine but also does pediatric) at an urgent care, but that was three years ago. I definitely need to get more. I was thinking of doing the eShadowing but I wasn't sure how much of a weight it'll have. Since I did shadowing under a primary care physician, should I look into specialized physicians?

I volunteered at the clinic as a medical assistant, working under a nurse. It was a low-income clinic so I was working with a registered nurse and nurse practitioner. At first, I would split up the work with one of the nurse and learn to take vitals and document patients' information. Later, she had me go see patients alone in the room (Is that legal...?).

The camp was MDA (muscular dystrophy) camp and it was volunteering. I heard some people claim it to be clinical hours and still get into medical school. Should I not count it as clinical? We knew the children's diagnoses beforehand and had to be attentive to it throughout the week, and made sure they got their medications from the doctors during certain times.

The other 170 hours of nonclinical are all scattered volunteer activities that I did through my service organization, CKI. CKI has a partnership with many different service organizations and I went to multiple of them. Not sure how good that is necessarily....

Based on the tenor of your post, it seems like you favor taking an additional gap year. As all things, this is entirely up to you. Your GPA is solid but without an MCAT score, one can only guess as to how competitive your application is. A couple things stand out to me: low clinical hours, lack of shadowing, and truncated timeline to prepare for MCAT and personal statements. Could you feasibly prepare your application for this year and be a competitive applicant? Certainly. Would a gap year make you a weaker applicant? Certainly not. The MCAT is the real wild card here. If you're consistently scoring within your target range then you should take it. If you are outside of that range then you need some additional time. Your concerns about reading comprehension give me pause as that is a huge part of the MCAT beyond CARS.


Concerns for two gap years:
-Switching to 2 years of research commitment when all my ECs are speaking altruism/volunteering. I've learned a LOT from volunteering and it's my strength in my ECs. It feels doing two years of research may make it seem like I've lost "focus."
This entirely depends on how you want to frame your application. Having a wide variety of experiences isn't bad but recognize that you can continue with volunteering while engaging in research.

-Worst case, I may not even be able to find any research opportunities.
Entirely possible given the pandemic

-Is it frowned upon to take additional gap year when I'm already ready?
No program is going to turn you away because they think you were ready to apply earlier. Programs can and frequently do turn down applicants that they perceive are not ready at the time.

Would you say I still have low clinical hours even with the 60 shadowing hours? I was also hoping the camp counselor experience would be categorized as "somewhat clinical."

 

[candbgirl]

Clinical experiences are separate and different from shadowing. The 60 hours you had 3 years ago are fine. If you could update that it might be nice but you don’t need to shadow a specialist unless you really want to.
I was a volunteer at MDA camp for years. I suppose I can see you thinking it was clinical but IMO I think it is more non clinical. If you did what I did you were like the arms and legs of the kid you were assigned to. You made the camp experience fun and memorable despite the physical limitations of the person. You seem hesitant to talk about what your nonclinical volunteering is. The purpose of nonclinical volunteering is to focus on the unserved/underserved in your community. To help people less fortunate than yourself, to show your altruism. You need to get out of your comfort zone and interact with people very unlike yourself. To help make their lives better. I have no idea what you did with your service organization. Maybe you did focus on the unserved/underserved but remember that medicine is a service profession.

 

[RelifeUser]

Clinical experiences are separate and different from shadowing. The 60 hours you had 3 years ago are fine. If you could update that it might be nice but you don’t need to shadow a specialist unless you really want to.
I was a volunteer at MDA camp for years. I suppose I can see you thinking it was clinical but IMO I think it is more non clinical. If you did what I did you were like the arms and legs of the kid you were assigned to. You made the camp experience fun and memorable despite the physical limitations of the person. You seem hesitant to talk about what your nonclinical volunteering is. The purpose of nonclinical volunteering is to focus on the unserved/underserved in your community. To help people less fortunate than yourself, to show your altruism. You need to get out of your comfort zone and interact with people very unlike yourself. To help make their lives better. I have no idea what you did with your service organization. Maybe you did focus on the unserved/underserved but remember that medicine is a service profession.

My apologies, I didn't know you wanted me to list a few of the things that I did with the club.
Few of the things I did involved Habitat for Humanity (organizing the store, even had the opportunity to go to a building site and help build a house), spending time and helping events with the ARC (people with intellectual and developmental disabilities), working with a service club at a middle school, and other local organizations that may need volunteers for nearby events. There were many range of projects that we engaged in. Some were towards helping the unfortunate communities, while others weren't as much. I'll definitely keep that in mind though as I continue to do volunteering.

 

[Banco]

Your GPA is great and your activities are solid. But do not neglect the MCAT - if you feel rushed, take it later. You don't need to be writing essays during your MCAT studying though, you'll have all of May to do that.

Either way if you do well on the MCAT I think you're ready to apply, but don't rush that exam until you're hitting a good score consistently. This should be your priority. Don't add more activities until you are done with this thing.

With regards to the LOR, do not take the "it'll be short but positive" unless you have no choice at all. You should always ask for a strong LOR.