WAMC? 3.38 GPA 520 MCAT

[BigBirdTheThird]

Hey, so I'm gearing up to apply soon, so I figured I should ask here to see if I have a shot lol. My GPA is kinda terrible so do not hesitate to be brutally honest to me

1. GPAs
   1. cGPA: 3.38
   2. sGPA: 3.37
2. MCAT
   1. 520 (129/130/130/131)
3. State
   1. TX
4. Ethnicity
   1. ORM
5. Clinical experience/Volunteering
   1. Volunteering through org (500 hrs); not clinical
   2. Medical Scribe (180 hrs)
   3. Clinical research lab my freshman year (120 hours)
6. Research experience/pubs
   1. Alzheimer's research (1500+ hours) - 4 pubs, 1 thesis, and a couple presentations; I'm part of the honors program at my college for research.
7. Shadowing experience
   1. Shadowed a sports med and family med (~60 hrs)
8. Other extracurricular activities/awards
   1. Student Council for 2 years; had officer positions and got a couple awards from the university for some leadership things
   2. Coordinator for a thing for my church
   3. Leadership position in a volunteering org

I know my GPA and clinical hours are really bad, I'm hoping to get a good amount more of clinical experience in the next couple of months, but my GPA is probably gonna be around what it is now.

Thanks a ton for the advice!

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[Mr.Smile12]

A year by year GPA trend would be helpful. No community service?

 

[wysdoc]

@BigBirdTheThird that's a fantastic MCAT score!

As a Texan your most likely chances will be in Texas, but the lower GPA is going to hold you back at most of TMDSAS MD schools.
However, if you have an upward trend year-to year, or some outside problem that would explain a semester or two of low grades, you could get some consideration anyhow.

No upward trend? Could you take some upper division Bio classes to show you can handle the academics? While it won't budge your GPA much, it will show that you've still "got it". Courses like Genetics, Microbiology, Physiology.

If you want to apply this spring, also apply to DO schools through AACOMAS. I think you will get some interest.

 

[SWR1913]

Do Texas schools want to see recent classroom work if you"ve been out of school a while?

 

[BigBirdTheThird]

@BigBirdTheThird that's a fantastic MCAT score!

As a Texan your most likely chances will be in Texas, but the lower GPA is going to hold you back at most of TMDSAS MD schools.
However, if you have an upward trend year-to year, or some outside problem that would explain a semester or two of low grades, you could get some consideration anyhow.

No upward trend? Could you take some upper division Bio classes to show you can handle the academics? While it won't budge your GPA much, it will show that you've still "got it". Courses like Genetics, Microbiology, Physiology.

If you want to apply this spring, also apply to DO schools through AACOMAS. I think you will get some interest.

Thanks for the kind words about the MCAT!

So in terms of upward trend it is kind of there, my last 48 hours of coursework is a 3.79, and I do have one more semester left to apply so hopefully that can maybe mean something if I do well. My big mistake was I did dual credit coursework in high school and whenever COVID hit and the world shut down, 17 year old, senioritis me thought it would be a great idea to completely kick back and relax so I ended up coming into college with a ton of C's and a few B's. After that I averaged something around a 3.3-3.4 until the past 48 credit hours. Had a few medical scares within the family, which hindered my ability somewhat, but I also did not have the correct mentality when it came to academics at the time.

I am taking genetics and physiology next semester, so hopefully I can do well on that.

At the end of the day, I want to practice medicine, and while my preferred choice is an MD school, I would be content with DO.

Thank you so much for your comment!

 

[BigBirdTheThird]

A year by year GPA trend would be helpful. No community service?

I just posted a reply explaining a bit about this so I'll copy and paste what I put there:

"So in terms of upward trend it is kind of there, my last 48 hours of coursework is a 3.79, and I do have one more semester left to apply so hopefully that can maybe mean something if I do well. My big mistake was I did dual credit coursework in high school and whenever COVID hit and the world shut down, 17 year old, senioritis me thought it would be a great idea to completely kick back and relax so I ended up coming into college with a ton of C's and a few B's. After that I averaged something around a 3.3-3.4 until the past 48 credit hours. Had a few medical scares within the family, which hindered my ability somewhat, but I also did not have the correct mentality when it came to academics at the time."

So I do volunteering through my organizations, none of which is clinical. The type of volunteering varies weekly, and I plan to get some shadowing done next semester as well as volunteer at a clinic for clinical experience. That's pretty much it though in terms of my application changing from now. Do you think I have a shot?

 

[BigBirdTheThird]

Do Texas schools want to see recent classroom work if you"ve been out of school a while?

I'm definitely no expert, but I guess it would depend on how far out you've been out of school.

 

[wysdoc]

Thanks for the kind words about the MCAT!

So in terms of upward trend it is kind of there, my last 48 hours of coursework is a 3.79, and I do have one more semester left to apply so hopefully that can maybe mean something if I do well. My big mistake was I did dual credit coursework in high school and whenever COVID hit and the world shut down, 17 year old, senioritis me thought it would be a great idea to completely kick back and relax so I ended up coming into college with a ton of C's and a few B's. After that I averaged something around a 3.3-3.4 until the past 48 credit hours. Had a few medical scares within the family, which hindered my ability somewhat, but I also did not have the correct mentality when it came to academics at the time.

I am taking genetics and physiology next semester, so hopefully I can do well on that.

At the end of the day, I want to practice medicine, and while my preferred choice is an MD school, I would be content with DO.

Thank you so much for your comment!

Apply on TMDSAS to all the schools, write a nice essay when asked about stumbling blocks about maturing in college, and pick maybe 8-10 DO schools you like

 

[BigBirdTheThird]

Apply on TMDSAS to all the schools, write a nice essay when asked about stumbling blocks about maturing in college, and pick maybe 8-10 DO schools you like

Will do! Thank you for your time!

 

[Walruss]

What advice would you give to a similar profile, but isnt from Texas and is instead from Arizona?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

So I do volunteering through my organizations, none of which is clinical. The type of volunteering varies weekly, and I plan to get some shadowing done next semester as well as volunteer at a clinic for clinical experience. That's pretty much it though in terms of my application changing from now. Do you think I have a shot?

I don't really know based on this description. Again, it is your prerogative to disclose what you want without breaching privacy, but you won't have that benefit with your application or a review. But if you did odds and ends for 500 hours, I don't know how it plays to a committee without specifics. I only get a sense of box checking.

 

[a_distant_dream]

To follow up to @Mr.Smile12 , the amount of patient interaction in your roles seems very limited. Something like transport or hospice volunteering might help you improve that. Your research experience is really impressive and I'd bet money that "why not PhD" will be a very common question you encounter on the interview trail.

 

[BigBirdTheThird]

I don't really know based on this description. Again, it is your prerogative to disclose what you want without breaching privacy, but you won't have that benefit with your application or a review. But if you did odds and ends for 500 hours, I don't know how it plays to a committee without specifics. I only get a sense of box checking.

Sorry for not clarifying! Unfortunately, it is exactly what you mentioned; odds and ends weekly. Varies between making clothes/blankets to give to and volunteering at homeless shelters, park cleanups, walking dogs at the animal shelter, campus cleanups, those sorts of things.

I have just signed up to volunteer at a hospice.

 

[BigBirdTheThird]

To follow up to @Mr.Smile12 , the amount of patient interaction in your roles seems very limited. Something like transport or hospice volunteering might help you improve that. Your research experience is really impressive and I'd bet money that "why not PhD" will be a very common question you encounter on the interview trail.

Hi thanks for the advice! I actually just signed up for hospice volunteering a couple days ago. And thank you for the note about that interview question!