Undergraduate Timline?

[lno1999]

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Hi guys! I just wanted to get some advice as to what other people would do in my situation because I’m kind of at a loss as to what would be my best path.
I just finished up my third semester of undergrad and am extremely happy with where my GPA is at after 72 hours. In three semesters, I’ve gotten approximately 300 hours in my research lab, and am working on getting a second author on a paper in lab right now. After this upcoming semester, all of my prereqs will be done, and this upcoming summer my PI asked me to work full time in lab. So far I have about 15 hours of shadowing IM, 40 hours of non-clinical volunteering, and no clinical volunteering. I also have a tutoring job and work around 150 hours a semester. The thing that is really bugging me is the timeline after this summer, and I have two options. I can...

1. Try to study for the MCAT during Fall 2020, take it January of 2021, and apply for that cycle. One thing that worries me about this is studying for the MCAT while taking classes, but my main issue is that I know I will be lacking on clinical experience like volunteering and shadowing.
2. My other option is to take the MCAT in summer of 2021, and take a gap year to work a clinical job and to shadow/gain more experience to put on my application. The only thing that worries me here is that it gives me more chances to lose my 4.0 before applying and I don’t know if the gap year would really be worth the extra clinical experience.

If anyone has any insight on what they would do, I would really appreciate it. I am also a Texas resident and will be applying to mainly Texas schools, but depending on my MCAT may apply to a few higher tier schools. Thanks a ton!

 

[deleted1001426]

Well your first step should be to change your profile pic if that’s a picture of you but as for your question, I could sit here and tell you about what I chose to do last year when I was in a somewhat similar situation but it really wouldn’t help you at all. it comes down to your personal capabilities. Plenty of people are able to manage studying for the mcat while in school or working full time in a clinical setting. Others need to take a gap year for dedicated study time. It’s up to you to determine what your specific needs are. The best thing you can do is figure out which group you fall into early and then take the mcat when you’re good and ready. To steal one of the adcoms analogies, medical school admissions is a marathon, not a sprint. If you feel that a gap year will be a benefit and enable you to maintain your grades+ succeed on the mcat then by all means take one.

Whatever you choose you will need more clinical experience, preferably sooner rather than later, not only for your app but to ensure that you actually want to do this. 15 hours of clinical experience is not nearly enough to decide if medicine is right for you and it would be a shame for you to go through the admissions process, only to find out that the rosy picture of medicine which tv shows and public perception of the field painted, isn’t nearly as accurate as you though

 

[Med Ed]

Hi guys! I just wanted to get some advice as to what other people would do in my situation because I’m kind of at a loss as to what would be my best path.
I just finished up my third semester of undergrad and am extremely happy with where my GPA is at after 72 hours. In three semesters, I’ve gotten approximately 300 hours in my research lab, and am working on getting a second author on a paper in lab right now. After this upcoming semester, all of my prereqs will be done, and this upcoming summer my PI asked me to work full time in lab. So far I have about 15 hours of shadowing IM, 40 hours of non-clinical volunteering, and no clinical volunteering. I also have a tutoring job and work around 150 hours a semester. The thing that is really bugging me is the timeline after this summer, and I have two options. I can...

1. Try to study for the MCAT during Fall 2020, take it January of 2021, and apply for that cycle. One thing that worries me about this is studying for the MCAT while taking classes, but my main issue is that I know I will be lacking on clinical experience like volunteering and shadowing.
2. My other option is to take the MCAT in summer of 2021, and take a gap year to work a clinical job and to shadow/gain more experience to put on my application. The only thing that worries me here is that it gives me more chances to lose my 4.0 before applying and I don’t know if the gap year would really be worth the extra clinical experience.

If anyone has any insight on what they would do, I would really appreciate it. I am also a Texas resident and will be applying to mainly Texas schools, but depending on my MCAT may apply to a few higher tier schools. Thanks a ton!

Your biggest weakness is volunteering. Forty hours will get your app tossed in the trash regardless of your MCAT.

 

[Goro]

Your biggest weakness is volunteering. Forty hours will get your app tossed in the trash regardless of your MCAT.

Too little shadowing hours as well.

 

[lno1999]

Your biggest weakness is volunteering. Forty hours will get your app tossed in the trash regardless of your MCAT.

Too little shadowing hours as well.

Just to clarify, I have at minimum 18 months before I will be applying (option one). I came into college as pre-dent, and after accumulating 60 dental shadowing hours my freshman year realized it wasn’t for me. I’ll probably have around 65-75 shadowing hours and 80-100 clinical volunteering hours before applying.

Whatever you choose you will need more clinical experience, preferably sooner rather than later, not only for your app but to ensure that you actually want to do this. 15 hours of clinical experience is not nearly enough to decide if medicine is right for you and it would be a shame for you to go through the admissions process, only to find out that the rosy picture of medicine which tv shows and public perception of the field painted, isn’t nearly as accurate as you though

I have immediate family in medicine and I’m aware it isn’t an easy path. Like I said above, I originally thought I was going predent, and quickly realized after 60+ DDS shadowing hours and 50+ clinical dental volunteering that Dentistry was not my interest because I was bored the entire time.

 

[Goro]

Just to clarify, I have at minimum 18 months before I will be applying (option one). I came into college as pre-dent, and after accumulating 60 dental shadowing hours my freshman year realized it wasn’t for me. I’ll probably have around 65-75 shadowing hours and 80-100 clinical volunteering hours before applying.



I have immediate family in medicine and I’m aware it isn’t an easy path. Like I said above, I originally thought I was going predent, and quickly realized after 60+ DDS shadowing hours and 50+ clinical dental volunteering that Dentistry was not my interest because I was bored the entire time.

80-100 clinical volunteering hours before applying.

Still lethal. Apply when you have the best possible app, even if it means skipping a cycle. Projected hours (at time of application) don't count.

 

[Med Ed]

Just to clarify, I have at minimum 18 months before I will be applying (option one). I came into college as pre-dent, and after accumulating 60 dental shadowing hours my freshman year realized it wasn’t for me. I’ll probably have around 65-75 shadowing hours and 80-100 clinical volunteering hours before applying.

Let's sum up your application right now:

GPA: 4.0
MCAT: TBD
Research: 300 hours, should have second author publication
Work, non-clinical: 150 hours tutoring
Volunteering, non-clinical: 40 hours
Shadowing: 15 hours
Volunteering, clinical: 0 hours

You have some things going for you (GPA, possible publication, some work experience), but you need to understand that you will be up against other applicants with hundreds of hours of volunteering on top of strong metrics. If you spend the next 18 months getting volunteering hours, a little more clinical exposure, and post a solid MCAT then you're in a very good position. If your application remains this unbalanced then you're either dead or facing extremely limited options.

 

[Seihai]

Your MCAT score (assuming you round out all your other ECs) will be the major limiting factor in your application cycle. Since you don't actually have a score yet, it's really hard to determine what else you could do to improve your application beyond just getting as high a score as you can.