Veteran with weak ECs

[psycho_hexane]

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Hi everyone,

As the title indicates I'm a veteran who is hoping to apply for the upcoming cycle. Pertinent stats are a 3.7 cGPA and a 3.95 sGPA with a very strong upward trend(3.97 for my last 60 credits).
MCAT will be taken in May.

Besides being a veteran my ECs are pretty lacking. I started volunteering in September for 4 hours a week and will continue to do so, but besides a smattering of volunteering while in the military that's the only volunteer experience I have.

No real bench research experience, but my volunteer position consists of enrolling people in a scientific study and collecting DNA samples. Not sure if that'll count as real research though.

I also work as a chemistry TA and before that I tutored for general biology.

For clinical experience I worked as an emt for 5 months after the military. I have also shadowed for 20 hours so far.

Assuming I can get a 510 or better on the mcat will my ECs be sufficient to be competitive?

Thank you in advance for all your feedback.

 

[doc05]

Sounds like you need more clinical experience

 

[907914]

Hi everyone,

As the title indicates I'm a veteran who is hoping to apply for the upcoming cycle. Pertinent stats are a 3.7 cGPA and a 3.95 sGPA with a very strong upward trend(3.97 for my last 60 credits).
MCAT will be taken in May.

Besides being a veteran my ECs are pretty lacking. I started volunteering in September for 4 hours a week and will continue to do so, but besides a smattering of volunteering while in the military that's the only volunteer experience I have.

No real bench research experience, but my volunteer position consists of enrolling people in a scientific study and collecting DNA samples. Not sure if that'll count as real research though.

I also work as a chemistry TA and before that I tutored for general biology.

For clinical experience I worked as an emt for 5 months after the military. I have also shadowed for 20 hours so far.

Assuming I can get a 510 or better on the mcat will my ECs be sufficient to be competitive?

Thank you in advance for all your feedback.

I would expand the clinical volunteering a smidge, but really veteran might make up for a lack of other ECs at a lot of schools. No better service than "Willing to die for my country" in the view of ADCOMS. You should still expand the clinical volunteering and not bank on the vet status, but other than that your ECs are fairly cookie cutter (Vet status aside) and your GPA is good. You should be just fine with a 510+ if you aply broadly (20-25 schools with 10% top tier, 25% reach (>10th percentile), 50% target (25th percentile < you < 90th percentile), and 25% low yield schools
.
You will notice that adds up to 110%, and thats because vets give 110% *Hooah/Hoorah/Hooyah/Hail Hydra (Coast guard). Seriously though, only 15% low yield.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

So you got a good answer there, but I’m gonna ahead and move this to non-trad. There are a lot of vets and military in this forum who can maybe give you help specific to your sitch (being a vet), as things can be a little different.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

So I’ll say that you’re on a great track. There are definitely some areas to work on, but you’re on your way.

For non-clinical volunteering, keep doing what you’re doing. Those hours are important, and the more the better. Your military service will actually count a little toward this even though it’s paid since you volunteered to serve your country. So many schools will give you a little leeway on the hours because you’re a vet. That said, keep at it because they will want to see you volunteering now that you’re not active.

For clinical experience, are you still working as an EMT? How many hours of that do you have? Clinical experience is important, and some adcoms view emt experience as being a glorified cab driver. Not saying I agree, but there it is. Did you get any clinical experience in the military?

Don’t worry about research unless you want to go to a research powerhouse school, in which case you’re already way behind the 8 ball.

Your stats are very good. If you can get a 510+ as the poster above me said, you will have no problem.

When you’re ready to apply, come back here and talk about your individual experiences, particularly in the military. You can use that experience to really sell your leadership, teamwork, adaptability, etc.

 

[esob]

I know of a vet who is attending a top medical school who had pretty much zero community service hrs. He also had a smokin MCAT and GPA though and was prior medical service in the military, so he had lots of paid clinical work and a few hrs of shadowing. You don't really need research but I would suggest 25-50 hrs of shadowing and definitely some clinical volunteer service. I was part of the "We honor veterans" hospice program and got asked about it on pretty much every interview. If you are interested, you can go to their site and see if there is a local hospice provider near you that is part of the program. It's a really awesome opportunity to help the veteran community and I've met many amazing people over the last 3 years in the program. WHV Partner Directory | We Honor Veterans

 

[BC_89]

I can only echo what others have stated. Though the exception and not the norm, vets I’ve seen with little volunteer had exceptional GPAs and a good MCAT (on top of being what you’d call a medical assistant while deployed).

I say if you rack up the clinical exposure and do well for the MCAT, your veteran status may and will be the tie-breaker assuming all else the same or on greater ground.