Should I even apply this cycle?

[UCSDMember]

Hi everyone,

I am wondering if I should even apply this cycle, as I don't feel that my stats are competitive. I have yet to take the MCAT. I am signed up for a date in late May but am finding it difficult to find time to study while being a full time student and working. I only have a couple of months until the MCAT and am considering holding it off until the summer, when I will have more time to study for it.

I was thinking about applying for a SMP instead of to med school this cycle because I don't want to spend a lot of money on applications if my chances are slim to none. I'd rather be prepared. But SMPs look extremely expensive and I don't know if it would be worth it for me.

Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks in advance for any input!

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[deleted346323]

Really can't say without an MCAT score. I would advise you not to take it if you're not ready though. The practice tests AAMC puts out are usually a good rough indicator of what you will score on test day.

 

[BRIAN1986]

As someone who went through the application process this past year, I advise you to wait a year if you haven't taken your MCAT yet.

One of the keys to success in the medical school application process is timing. Get your primary in early, and your secondaries in as soon as you can. Most med schools won't even look at your application until they have your MCAT score, even if it is verified. In your case, that means that schools may not see your application until September, and by then, many people may already be done with their secondaries and awaiting interviews.

Additionally, you said that you were going to try to get all A's this coming school year. If you were to apply in this cycle, schools would not see your grades at all from either semester. You could tell them in interviews that you're improving, but there's no way for them

to actually know.

 

[Catalystik]

Hi everyone,

I am wondering if I should even apply this cycle, as I don't feel that my stats are competitive. I have yet to take the MCAT. I am signed up for a date in late May but am finding it difficult to find time to study while being a full time student and working. I only have a couple of months until the MCAT and am considering holding it off until the summer, when I will have more time to study for it. Currently, this is what I have:

3.3 GPA (overall and science, pretty much the same..)

- I did poorly in some classes during my 2nd and 3rd year but for the last few quarters I have gotten 4.0's (taking all upper division biology courses). I have become a completely different person with a stronger work ethic and have become much more focused on my career this past year. I'm not sure if this upward trend is enough for me to be competitive, though.

100 hours of volunteering in the ER
1-2 years work experience in a research laboratory
Currently shadowing an MD specializing in Rheumatology
Was a TA for a biology class

I was thinking about applying for a SMP instead of to med school this cycle because I don't want to spend a lot of money on applications if my chances are slim to none. I'd rather be prepared. But SMPs look extremely expensive and I don't know if it would be worth it for me.

Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks in advance for any input!

I'd suggest that you plan on another 1-2 years of GPA repair before you apply. The new timeline would give you plenty of time to prepare for the MCAT with less stress. And also time to beef up your experiences. Your clinical experience is still on the light side. And you don't mention any nonmedical community service or leadership. The research looks fine, though. You've got some shadowing started (try to include a primary care doc, too), and the teaching experience will be helpful.

Maybe you'd want to figure out how an additional year of 4.0 grades would affect your GPAs. Also figure out what two more years would do, before deciding if an expensive SMP would be more efficient:
AMCAS GPA calculator: a modifiable version/also calc BCPM:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=590424

If you're in a hurry, you might also check into applying to DO med schools which are more lenient about stats.