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I'm a sophomore (although I wont graduate for another three years) computer science/bioinfotmatics major and I'm seriously considering whether or not to drop the pre-med track. I'm genuinely interested in becoming a doctor, and I'm fascinated with pathology and radiology. However, I'm starting to doubt that my GPA is good enough to get me into an MD program that I'd be interested in.
I've been playing around with some GPA calculators and acceptance chance calcs (LizzyM and one from SDN) and it's really worrying me. Obviously I don't know what my grades will be like in the future, but to my best guess, my cumulative GPA will be around a 3.4-3.5, but my science GPA will be down at a 3.3. I haven't gotten any C's, but I am a perpetual B+ student.
However, I'm confident with my ECs. Just doing some basic napkin math, I should end up with around 300-500 hours of clinical volunteering experience (assuming I start next semester), over 100 hours of shadowing, and over 250 hours of non-clinical volunteering. I should also end up with over 500 (my math says 800, but I'll round down a bit) of research experience at a genomics laboratory on campus (doing bioinformatics computer work and wet lab work). I have previously done work with a professor at my university's space science center and am listed as a co-author in one of his publications. I'll also have non-medicine related experience like several CS/engineering internships and clubs. Last summer, I interned at an aerospace startup (I was a mechanical engineering major back then), and I'm looking into internships this year. I would prefer a medical-related CS internship, medical summer program, or an internship abroad, but at the very least I will have an unrelated CS internship. I am also a member of a semi-prestigious student-run angel investing group/class on campus, which I expect to take a leadership position in for the next few years.
I'm not a URM, a CA resident, and my essay writing skills are pretty mediocre. I might be interested in DO schools, but my primary interest are MD schools. I haven't done much research into DO schools and I'm curious if they're still good options for students who want to focus on radiology or pathology. At this point I don't think I'm interested in doing a post-bacc or SMP (since I could be working in CS at that point rather than paying for school).
I imagine that my chances of getting in will come down to my MCAT score. I'm generally a good test-taker, but I don't want to preemptively guess what my score will be.
If it matters, I'm thinking the schools I'm thinking I'm interested in are, after doing very little research outside of school location and their selectiveness (yes, I know that many of these would be huge reach schools for my stats): USC-Keck, Rochester, Dartmouth, Einstein, Hofstra, MCW, Stony Brook, Vermont, OHSU, Wisconsin, Quinnipiac, Wake Forest, Tufts, Georgetown, Brown, BU, Drexel, and Rosalind Franklin. Obviously, with more research I can better trim down my list, but if the overall consensus is that I won't get into any of those schools, then I'll probably end up dropping the premed track.
I've been playing around with some GPA calculators and acceptance chance calcs (LizzyM and one from SDN) and it's really worrying me. Obviously I don't know what my grades will be like in the future, but to my best guess, my cumulative GPA will be around a 3.4-3.5, but my science GPA will be down at a 3.3. I haven't gotten any C's, but I am a perpetual B+ student.
However, I'm confident with my ECs. Just doing some basic napkin math, I should end up with around 300-500 hours of clinical volunteering experience (assuming I start next semester), over 100 hours of shadowing, and over 250 hours of non-clinical volunteering. I should also end up with over 500 (my math says 800, but I'll round down a bit) of research experience at a genomics laboratory on campus (doing bioinformatics computer work and wet lab work). I have previously done work with a professor at my university's space science center and am listed as a co-author in one of his publications. I'll also have non-medicine related experience like several CS/engineering internships and clubs. Last summer, I interned at an aerospace startup (I was a mechanical engineering major back then), and I'm looking into internships this year. I would prefer a medical-related CS internship, medical summer program, or an internship abroad, but at the very least I will have an unrelated CS internship. I am also a member of a semi-prestigious student-run angel investing group/class on campus, which I expect to take a leadership position in for the next few years.
I'm not a URM, a CA resident, and my essay writing skills are pretty mediocre. I might be interested in DO schools, but my primary interest are MD schools. I haven't done much research into DO schools and I'm curious if they're still good options for students who want to focus on radiology or pathology. At this point I don't think I'm interested in doing a post-bacc or SMP (since I could be working in CS at that point rather than paying for school).
I imagine that my chances of getting in will come down to my MCAT score. I'm generally a good test-taker, but I don't want to preemptively guess what my score will be.
If it matters, I'm thinking the schools I'm thinking I'm interested in are, after doing very little research outside of school location and their selectiveness (yes, I know that many of these would be huge reach schools for my stats): USC-Keck, Rochester, Dartmouth, Einstein, Hofstra, MCW, Stony Brook, Vermont, OHSU, Wisconsin, Quinnipiac, Wake Forest, Tufts, Georgetown, Brown, BU, Drexel, and Rosalind Franklin. Obviously, with more research I can better trim down my list, but if the overall consensus is that I won't get into any of those schools, then I'll probably end up dropping the premed track.
