Three Year Graduation Question Again

[ardyvarty111]

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OK so I know there's an current open thread thats actively criticizing this guy's decision to graduate from his undergrad school in 3 years then apply to med school.

The problem with me is...I'm graduating in 3 years too after coming in with 30 AP credits, except I'm applying THIS summer for 2014. Should I add another year? Here's my stats:

Major: Civil Engineering
GPA: 3.76
MCAT: 38
200 hours hospital volunteer
50 hours shadowing
4 Leadership roles (2 club officers, RA, peer adviser)
Tutor for chem, physics, bio
1 year research in infectious diseases (not published)
summer internship at engineering company (this summer)
Finished all pre-reqs (bio, chem, ochem..etc) except for 2 OChem labs

I'm applying to: Columbia, JHU, Penn, UPitt, Duke, Emory, NYU, Brown

Should I just apply or should I wait another year and add some more stuff to my application?

 

[kac714]

i say apply but add some lower tier schools just in case...add your state schools for sure.

 

[GoSpursGo]

For you, since you already have the GPA/MCAT thing down and seem to have done most of the other expected ECs, I don't see any reason why not to apply if you don't think you'll miss that year of college life. My chief reason for advising against that plan of action in the other guy's thread is that I think it's hard to PLAN to do all of that since I think a lot of people seem to burn out by doing that, but you seem to have done fine 🙂 The only thing I would definitely do is add another 10 or so mid-tiers to your application. Your application is great, but almost all of those schools you're thinking of applying to are top schools which will be hard for anyone to get into, even with great stats like yours. 8 schools is very low.

Also, I'm going to move this thread over to the "What are my Chances" subforum 🙂

 

[indiasfinest]

Hey,
I am that guy that the other forum is about and I think you got a great shot. I'm aiming for some curriculars like you...
3.7+ GPA
35+ MCAT
200+ volunteer
50+ shadow
2 years research
tutor?

Good luck to you.
I think three years is the right decision, BTW.

 

[WashMe]

Your school choices suck, but you should definitely apply and will get in for c/o 2014. I had a higher GPA and MCAT and pretty good ECs (ton of research) and I really struggled because of aiming too high with my schools (and I only sent out 8 apps early, then 3 in December). I got into 1 school off a WL, but that was lucky. You should apply to at least 12-15 schools, and don't just go by US News when picking your schools; you'll run into a lot of competition that way. Look into actual curricula then make your decision, and apply to reaches, reasonable schools, and several back-ups. You'll be fine with your stats and EC's, and it will help that you are not a standard pre-med/bio/chem major.

 

[GoSpursGo]

Your school choices suck, but you should definitely apply and will get in for c/o 2014. I had a higher GPA and MCAT and pretty good ECs (ton of research) and I really struggled because of aiming too high with my schools (and I only sent out 8 apps early, then 3 in December). I got into 1 school off a WL, but that was lucky. You should apply to at least 12-15 schools, and don't just go by US News when picking your schools; you'll run into a lot of competition that way. Look into actual curricula then make your decision, and apply to reaches, reasonable schools, and several back-ups. You'll be fine with your stats and EC's, and it will help that you are not a standard pre-med/bio/chem major.

No offense, but if I recall correctly you basically had no volunteering/shadowing when you applied, while he has fulfilled both of those unspoken pre-reqs. I definitely think he should add another 10 mid tiers, but I think he stands a reasonable shot at even the top schools in the country.

 

[Stratego]

OP, your stats are great and your ECs are as expected. Save money. Graduate early.

 

[WashMe]

No offense, but if I recall correctly you basically had no volunteering/shadowing when you applied, while he has fulfilled both of those unspoken pre-reqs. I definitely think he should add another 10 mid tiers, but I think he stands a reasonable shot at even the top schools in the country.

I had ~ 20 hrs shadowing and I had little volunteering. But... I also had a 3.95 GPA/ 3.94 BCPM with a higher MCAT and a 2nd author pub and a ton of other good research experience in several labs. The OP's GPA is low for the schools he/she indicated. I'm not saying the OP doesn't have a chance at top schools; I think most would agree that it is dumb to only apply to such competitive schools. That's all I was saying.