to apply or not to apply

[jai87]

major: molecular and cell biology
cumulativeGPA: 3.62 scienceGPA:3.53
MCAT:
8/08 32 PS:11 V:10 BS:11 writing:O
4/09 30 PS:10 V:10 BS:10 writing: P (i thought i would do a lot better this time around but i guess i was wrong. i was going through a lot of emotional distress during the month of april. is this drop going to significantly affect the way the look at my application?)

no research experience but worked at a lab for 2 years
lots of community service(both medical and non medical)
lots of involvment with my fellowship(leadership positions)
summer missions trip to uganda
acapella group/band for 2 years

LORs should be good. not GGGGREAT. but good.

self-proclaimed disavantaged group socioeconomically: had to work 15+hours per week since freshman year to support myself and a part of my earnings also went to support my family as well.

i am a CA resident and my first choices would be to stay in california: UCLA, UCI, USC, UCD... (i think stanford and UCSF is waaay out of my league).

so the question is, should i apply this year? or should i wait another year... i guess just doing more hospital volunteering and possibly research. ahhhh so conflicted~

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[Stratego]

I think you have enough of a chance that applying this year is reasonable. I would not have confidence you´d get into a CA school, but who knows. Apply broadly though.

 

[JJMrK]

I think you'll get in somewhere, but maybe not a CA school. Why did you retake a 32?

 

[jai87]

I think you'll get in somewhere, but maybe not a CA school. Why did you retake a 32?

i had been getting mid 30s on my diag and i thought i could do a lot better. I wanted my MCAT score to be a strong point for me. but.... yyyyyea..... that went down the drain...

so i should apply boardly? i really really want to stay in california...

anyone else?

 

[JJMrK]

i had been getting mid 30s on my diag and i thought i could do a lot better. I wanted my MCAT score to be a strong point for me. but.... yyyyyea..... that went down the drain...

so i should apply boardly? i really really want to stay in california...

anyone else?

Yes, you need to apply broadly. Your GPA is average and your most recent MCAT is below average.

 

[jai87]

Yes, you need to apply broadly. Your GPA is average and your most recent MCAT is below average.

do you think i should retake my MCAT? hmmm
should i wait another year and do some research to make up for the academic weakness of my GPA and MCAT score?