- Year in school- Sr. Private, liberal arts college
- Country/state of residence- IL
- Schools to which you are applying- U of I at Rockford, rush, southern Illinois, Creighton, Rosalind franklin, Des Moines, any other suggestions?
- Cumulative GPA- 3.5
- Science GPA-3.3
- MCAT Scores- haven't taken. Although I will have 6 months to study
- Research – include any abstracts/posters/publications and how you were credited (eg. First author, senior author, etc)- none yet. But will start this semester until winter
- Volunteering (clinical) – hospice care- I will have a year and a half worth by the time I apply
- Physician shadowing – starting to shadow a pediatrics PA, will also shadow multiple MDs at my local hospital over the summer
- Non-clinical volunteering- activities volunteer at nursing homes- 2 years
- Extracurricular activities- d3 athlete, pre-health society member
- Employment history- residential assistant (direct support professional) for people who have mental disabilities- 2 years
- Immediate family members in medicine? (y/n) N
- Specialty of interest- no idea
- Interest in rural health (y/n) Y
So do I stand a chance at MD or DO?
- Thread starter allied32
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MCAT is a huge part of the application... and without it I would say you have a pretty average application. A great MCAT score (33+) could really make the difference for lower-tier MD schools. You would be fine for DO assuming a score around 26+.
Is there anything I could do to try to boost my app? I will also have great LoRs. I just want to have my app stand out and a be a little less average. Thanks for your response!
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No problem!
Being IS in Illinois is a pretty good place to be, and you have a decent chance at Illinois schools with a mid-30s MCAT.
I called your application average for the following reasons:
- no research yet
- no MCAT yet
- no physician shadowing yet
- decent MD GPA depending on MCAT
So once you start ticking off some of those boxes and have a more complete application, I'd say you're in a decent place pending MCAT.
My suggestions as to other schools would depend on your MCAT. You might want to consider investing in the MSAR to give yourself a good guide once you get that score back.
Being IS in Illinois is a pretty good place to be, and you have a decent chance at Illinois schools with a mid-30s MCAT.
I called your application average for the following reasons:
- no research yet
- no MCAT yet
- no physician shadowing yet
- decent MD GPA depending on MCAT
So once you start ticking off some of those boxes and have a more complete application, I'd say you're in a decent place pending MCAT.
My suggestions as to other schools would depend on your MCAT. You might want to consider investing in the MSAR to give yourself a good guide once you get that score back.
No problem!
Being IS in Illinois is a pretty good place to be, and you have a decent chance at Illinois schools with a mid-30s MCAT.
I called your application average for the following reasons:
- no research yet
- no MCAT yet
- no physician shadowing yet
- decent MD GPA depending on MCAT
So once you start ticking off some of those boxes and have a more complete application, I'd say you're in a decent place pending MCAT.
My suggestions as to other schools would depend on your MCAT. You might want to consider investing in the MSAR to give yourself a good guide once you get that score back.
Honestly my top school is U of I at rockford, but if I don't get accepted it's not that big of a deal. Im jist not sure how much they put a focus on research since i have none right now. Even though I am a senior I have to take an extra fall semester so I'm not actually planning on taking the MCAT until next year and after I finish physics and biochem. I've taken a practice exam and my stats have been decent with not having taken all of the courses. That's why I added saying I will have research and more volunteer hours and hands on experience.
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U of I:
72% of accepted applicants had non-medical community service.
88% of accepted applicants had medical volunteering.
88% of accepted applicants had research experience.
While that doesn't tell you how much they value research, it is a part of most successful applications.
72% of accepted applicants had non-medical community service.
88% of accepted applicants had medical volunteering.
88% of accepted applicants had research experience.
While that doesn't tell you how much they value research, it is a part of most successful applications.
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I was looking for information on that but couldn't find anything. Thanks for all your help!
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Skip SIU if you're not from the southern part of IL.
I was also told they prefer people from rural Illinois which I am from so I still feel like that is going to be helpful.
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Where do you live in IL? General consensus is that if you live south of I80 you are fine for SIU! If not don't bother applying. What about Loyola? You listed Creighton so look at Loyola and even St. Louis(SLU).
I talked with one of the ladies there and I know people from my area who have been accepted so I figured I would give it a shot anyway. My town is literally right above I80. And okay, I was just trying to find schools that are more focused on the person overall rather than GPA since mine is a little below average. But thank you!
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No harm in applying. I've always thought the I80 rule was meant to exclude Chicago and the surrounding counties anyway! Good luck!
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Your best shot would be to apply to the RMED program concurrently with U of I. That app is due in december and is not electronic. Definitely put that on your to-do list when applying.
