- Joined
- Oct 16, 2017
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Thanks in advance for reading!
Not URM. Currently a senior at a NYC private undergrad. Taking a gap year.
521 MCAT (132/128/131/130)
cGPA: ~3.9
sGPA: ~3.95 (I'm a chemistry major/math minor, received As in all my prereqs and chem major courses, just a couple A-s in upper level math classes).
EC:
1) My hobby which I spend about 15-20 hours per week practicing/doing. I'm involved in several clubs throughout the city where I volunteer as a teacher (~2 hours/week for 4 years by the time I apply). I'm currently working to organize trips to schools in less fortunate parts of the city with my school club to teach them. I also currently hold 1 world record, will likely break more by the time I apply.
2) Work Experience: I've worked ~20 hours per week throughout my past 2 years of undergrad and >40 hours/week during each summer. This makes it quite hard to do lots of other things. I worked at a Dairy Queen all throughout high school and into my first summer after freshman year. Then my sophomore summer I started working at a coffee shop in NYC (this was an amazing experience) and I continued this job throughout my junior year of college. This past summer I started working as a scribe at a hospital system in NYC (also an amazing experience, get to work with many doctors and PAs, see their interviewing style and MDM style, and a diverse array of patients as I work at several hospitals in different parts of the city). I'm planning on either continuing this job into my gap year or possibly finding a paid clinical research position.
3) Research: I'd say I probably have a couple hundred hours in a couple different labs. I just could not find my correct fit here. I did not like bench work very much, I find it super boring and monotonous, but this may be because I was working in the wrong labs. I truly think I would like clinical research more and will likely look for an opportunity during my gap year.
4) Academic clubs: Chemistry honor society (have some tutoring here). Chemistry club. Math club.
5) Miscellaneous hobbies that are not as time consuming as 1. Calisthenics/bouldering - about 6 hours/week. Origami. Typing (I can type >150 wpm)
My essays should be great, I have some interesting stories/experiences and I believe I can convey my absolute want to become a surgeon pretty well. My recs should be decent.
As you can see, I have no clinical volunteering or shadowing (yet, I'll try to get some during my gap year). I'm hoping my scribing will make up for that. Will it? I'm also wondering if adcoms will understand how little time I have after work/hobby/school is accounted for or if they will just see the holes in my activities? I'm also worried about my current lack of good research leading to pubs/posters/etc.
For these reasons, I'm really unsure about where to apply. I will definitely apply to most of the schools in New York (NYU, Columbia, Cornell, Icahn, Einstein, Albany, Downstate, etc), Penn, UChicago, JHU, PItt, UPenn, Duke, Yale, UNC, UVA, Mayo, Georgetown, Rutgers. Any other recommendations (especially for lower tier/safeties) or list changes? Thanks!
Not URM. Currently a senior at a NYC private undergrad. Taking a gap year.
521 MCAT (132/128/131/130)
cGPA: ~3.9
sGPA: ~3.95 (I'm a chemistry major/math minor, received As in all my prereqs and chem major courses, just a couple A-s in upper level math classes).
EC:
1) My hobby which I spend about 15-20 hours per week practicing/doing. I'm involved in several clubs throughout the city where I volunteer as a teacher (~2 hours/week for 4 years by the time I apply). I'm currently working to organize trips to schools in less fortunate parts of the city with my school club to teach them. I also currently hold 1 world record, will likely break more by the time I apply.
2) Work Experience: I've worked ~20 hours per week throughout my past 2 years of undergrad and >40 hours/week during each summer. This makes it quite hard to do lots of other things. I worked at a Dairy Queen all throughout high school and into my first summer after freshman year. Then my sophomore summer I started working at a coffee shop in NYC (this was an amazing experience) and I continued this job throughout my junior year of college. This past summer I started working as a scribe at a hospital system in NYC (also an amazing experience, get to work with many doctors and PAs, see their interviewing style and MDM style, and a diverse array of patients as I work at several hospitals in different parts of the city). I'm planning on either continuing this job into my gap year or possibly finding a paid clinical research position.
3) Research: I'd say I probably have a couple hundred hours in a couple different labs. I just could not find my correct fit here. I did not like bench work very much, I find it super boring and monotonous, but this may be because I was working in the wrong labs. I truly think I would like clinical research more and will likely look for an opportunity during my gap year.
4) Academic clubs: Chemistry honor society (have some tutoring here). Chemistry club. Math club.
5) Miscellaneous hobbies that are not as time consuming as 1. Calisthenics/bouldering - about 6 hours/week. Origami. Typing (I can type >150 wpm)
My essays should be great, I have some interesting stories/experiences and I believe I can convey my absolute want to become a surgeon pretty well. My recs should be decent.
As you can see, I have no clinical volunteering or shadowing (yet, I'll try to get some during my gap year). I'm hoping my scribing will make up for that. Will it? I'm also wondering if adcoms will understand how little time I have after work/hobby/school is accounted for or if they will just see the holes in my activities? I'm also worried about my current lack of good research leading to pubs/posters/etc.
For these reasons, I'm really unsure about where to apply. I will definitely apply to most of the schools in New York (NYU, Columbia, Cornell, Icahn, Einstein, Albany, Downstate, etc), Penn, UChicago, JHU, PItt, UPenn, Duke, Yale, UNC, UVA, Mayo, Georgetown, Rutgers. Any other recommendations (especially for lower tier/safeties) or list changes? Thanks!
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