Strengthening my application

[Full metal alchemist]

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Hey everyone. I wanted to let you know some of my stats and would want to know what can I do even further to strengthen my application.

Year: 3rd year Junior Standing
GPA: 3.93
Have not taken MCAT yet.
On average I take about 14 credits a semester and take summer classes and also will have taken one January class(intensive).

Work(probably not so significant but can explain why I didn't do anything else in one of my summers): Between part and full time at a grocery store for around three months in the summer.

Extracurriculars:

1) I volunteer at the hospital for about 4 hours on average a week. Currently I am at about 115 hours.
2) I work in a research lab at my school and have been doing so for about a year.
3) This winter I plan to volunteer at the food pantry and continue to do this during any time I am home. I anticipate I will get a little over a hundred hours here in total before I apply.
4) I plan to volunteer for four hours weekly or biweekly next semester with a club. I hope to try to get more involved in this club.

I plan to get certified as an EMT-B over the summer and work full time during a gap year(possibly 2) with my certification and volunteer at a community clinic during the school year and gap year. I think I can attain around 1000-1300 total hands on clinical hours which I'm happy about. A lot of these hours I hope to serve underserved populations.

I also am planning to finally get involved in extracurriculars next semester. I actually have no idea what would be a good thing to do though.

I anticipate I will be able to get good letters of rec as well.

 

[RunawayGrape]

You're definitely on the right track. Great GPA. Despite having a ton of clinical hours, you could benefit from shadowing a couple docs from two or three different specialties. This could purely be done for your own benefit, just to check out what they do, but I'm sure adcoms appreciate applicants who have seen docs at work. Doesn't have to be a ton of hours--just a day or two with each will probably be enough.

At this point, the MCAT should be your biggest priority. If you score 517+, you'll be competitive at just about every school in the country. Otherwise, 510+ should be your goal. The MCAT is going to make or break your application, and the road to med school is littered with high-GPA/low-MCAT applicants, so take it seriously!

And as for extracurriculars next semester, just do something fun. You already have all the relevant boxes checked off, so show the adcoms you're not just a pre-med robot. Do some art, make some music, play sports--whatever it is that you enjoy.

 

[Catalystik]

Hey everyone. I wanted to let you know some of my stats and would want to know what can I do even further to strengthen my application.

Year: 3rd year Junior Standing
GPA: 3.93
Have not taken MCAT yet.
On average I take about 14 credits a semester and take summer classes and also will have taken one January class(intensive).

Work(probably not so significant but can explain why I didn't do anything else in one of my summers): Between part and full time at a grocery store for around three months in the summer.

Extracurriculars:

1) I volunteer at the hospital for about 4 hours on average a week. Currently I am at about 115 hours.
2) I work in a research lab at my school and have been doing so for about a year.
3) This winter I plan to volunteer at the food pantry and continue to do this during any time I am home. I anticipate I will get a little over a hundred hours here in total before I apply.
4) I plan to volunteer for four hours weekly or biweekly next semester with a club. I hope to try to get more involved in this club.

I plan to get certified as an EMT-B over the summer and work full time during a gap year(possibly 2) with my certification and volunteer at a community clinic during the school year and gap year. I think I can attain around 1000-1300 total hands on clinical hours which I'm happy about. A lot of these hours I hope to serve underserved populations.

I also am planning to finally get involved in extracurriculars next semester. I actually have no idea what would be a good thing to do though.

I anticipate I will be able to get good letters of rec as well.

Besides physician shadowing and hobbies/artistic endeavors, if an opportunity comes along, you might consider adding a peer leadership or teaching (mentoring, coaching, TA, tutor) gig.

 

[CyrilFiggis]

If possible, use the EMT-B to get an ER tech position. Nothing wrong with pre-hospital care, but you'll have more beneficial experiences in-hospital rather than just holding wall.

 

[doctorbob23]

I definitely think you need to work on ur clinical experiences..that's probably one of the most common reasons an applicant is turned down behind low mcat/gpa. Save the food pantry stuff and try becoming a scribe/cna

 

[Gilakend]

If possible, use the EMT-B to get an ER tech position. Nothing wrong with pre-hospital care, but you'll have more beneficial experiences in-hospital rather than just holding wall.

100% agree as an EMT that is not an ER tech (actively looking for positions!). Much better environment in my opinion, plus you get to do a lot cooler stuff like IVs, blood draws, 12 - leads. As compared to pre-hospital where it's almost exclusively transports, which is not as fun.


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[Full metal alchemist]

I definitely think you need to work on ur clinical experiences..that's probably one of the most common reasons an applicant is turned down behind low mcat/gpa. Save the food pantry stuff and try becoming a scribe/cna

Wouldn't the EMT-B and doing work as a ER tech or EMT for around 1000 hours during a gap year in addition to hospital volunteering be considered enough?