WAMC: 3.32 GPA/508 MCAT, No luck anywhere :( not even any II

[melkhouly1]

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BCPM GPA (sGPA?): 3.55

cGPA (overall): 3.32

MCAT: 508 (129/123/129/127), taken 3 times, this is the most recent score.

State of Res: Canadian, Alberta Resident

Ethnicity: Arab (disadvantaged?)

Undergrad: BSc Honors Physiology, University of Alberta, 2022

Clinical Experience: volunteered in a psych hospital for 6 months, and a bit of clinical research. Hospital volunteer totalled to approx 40 hours

Research Experience: Volunteer Research, unpublished, 1 year experience.

Shadowing Experience: None

Non Clinical Volunteering:

1. Volunteer tutoring students in HS and University in subjects such as Chemistry, Math, Biology, etc.
2. Muslims Student Association leadership experience as a club executive, hosted an environment in HS where students could come and freely and safely practice their religion in an enclosed space. Also held weekly "Jummah" prayers, enabling students to fulfill religious obligations still while attending school (where normally to attend Jummah you would need to go to a mosque in the middle of the school day)
3. Key Club Volunteering, Executive Leader of the club in HS, helped organize volunteer/leadership opportunities for students and contributed to well known community initiative like Helping Hampers and Ronald McDonald house
4. Volunteer Initiative for a Palestine Protest in Summer 2021, to help raise community awareness about current issues in Palestine. Was involved in organizing the car route, time, day, and leading the cars around the city. Lots of community involvement and engagement.

Other EC's:

1. Starbucks Employment (2017-present), Able to make alot of connections with my customers and enhance their visit to the coffee shop, creating what is known as "the third place", which essentially describes another "home" that the customer can enjoy.
2. Recreational Soccer league, I dropped soccer when I was young, but I wanted to rekindle my passion for the sport so I signed up with my friends to be placed in a team with people we didn't know, but we grew together and became more cohesive. Overall, we continued playing together in other leagues due to team chemistry.
3. Paid Employment, Mosque Summer Camp, 1 month contract (x2), Full time. Just typical summer camp, but also incorporated a religious aspect to the camp and connect the kids with their religion.

Other awards: Some entrance scholarships, AP scholarships, Jason Lang scholarship, not too much though.

Other comments: Self identified as a disadvantaged applicant, speaking to my immigration to Canada, financial struggles growing up, parental divorce, etc.

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I'm really lost on my application, I know there are some aspects that need to be worked on that I'm actively improving at the moment. This includes:
1. Re-entering research, hopefully publishing this time.
2. Looking for clinical experience more as a scribe (virtual)
3. Looking to complete an MPH degree (course-based), to both help with my GPA and my overall academic merit.

Not sure what to do after this, I think it may be that my writing is lacklustre and I can't really give a good impression of who I am as a person through my writing, but I'm unsure. I would appreciate any input anyone has on my app. I can even show my personal statement possibly to those interested, and get a clearer idea of where I'm lacking.

 

[Faha]

What were your other MCAT scores ? Which schools did you apply to?

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

You need to apply DO if you didn’t already

 

[Nontrad_FL_LGBT]

DO schools are more appropriate given what you've shared so far. Your chances of MD are slim with a 508 after 3 tries, esp with your GPA and extracurriculars.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Refugee status makes you disadvantaged, but being a Canadian resident doesn't really help you.

Canadian med schools behave towards high stats performers. US schools could average your multiple MCAT scores so if 508 is your best and third attempt, you will need to pause before taking the MCAT again.

Where is the school list? You must apply to friendly DO schools and the HBCU programs. Being in Canada, you could see about applying to Australia, England, or Ireland but be informed sbout your ultimate goal on where you want to practice.

 

[BlatantPlatitude]

Apply DO and reflect on if you have a cohesive "narrative". Don't think of it like checking the right boxes, don't do activities that you are going to have 0 true passion writing about.

 

[candbgirl]

So 3 of your 4 “nonclinical volunteer activities” are from high school and are very much
in your comfort zone?

No shadowing? I know it’s tough for Canadian students to get shadowing but other Canadian students manage to fulfill this expectation.

Why are you interested in a MPH?

What are your other MCAT scores?

Where did you apply? Did you apply to any Canadian schools?

What aspects of your application are you working on that you think will improve your application? I think it’s the three things you listed but I’m not sure. Actually none of those will help much. You have gaping holes in your activities sections and your GPA is too low for MD and pretty low for DO. International students are expected to be rockstars. Forget about the research. You shouldn’t be applying to research heavy schools anyway.

If you really want to go to medical school you have to slow down, go back to the drawing boards and figure out your journey to medicine and how you got there and why you took the journey. I think you might be right about your writing but until you have built a comprehensive application and can tie everything together you won’t know.

Good luck as you move forward.

 

[mike-sheree]

MPH, in and of itself, isn’t going to be a significant boost. The GPA obtained there won’t hold any water. If you have the time and money (and interest), an MHA can be extremely useful, particularly if you are considering rads, gas, path, er.( hospital based). Excellent route to getting “inside” with hospital admin.💵 But like with MPH, don’t expect the GPA to be a medical school admit bonus.
And I completely agree that the D.O. suggestions above.