Hello everyone.
Other Employment:
- College chemistry stockroom for two years (300 hours)
- College lab assistant for a semester (100 hours)
Other relevant information: ORM (Asian), disadvantaged status, first-generation student (no parents completed college and are not from America); Single parent-family (parent cannot speak English) with father (sole income source of family) disappeared suddenly during high school and received no financial aid or even a word from him. Lost our home the week after I flew abroad to college and was homeless for two years (although I had a dorm and could attend thanks to scholarships and financial aid, nearly a full ride). Lost almost all of our belongings. I worked two full jobs during first two years of college to send money to family. I could not focus on college during that time at all, could not socialize, and almost dropped out to return to family. Luckily after securing government aid, we had a home to live in and my grades started increasing until the end (even got in to dean's list), but it was not enough. To prove to myself (and others) that I could handle medical school, I spent one year at a formal post-bac program taking 36 credits (32 credits being science courses mimicking medical school curriculum) and managed to get 4.0. I shared most of this information in personal statement, briefly.
School list:
Vermont
Quinnipiac
New York Medical College
Albany
Seton Hall
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Penn State
George Washington
NOVA MD
TCU-UNT
Creighton
Loyola
Rosalind Franklin
Medical College Wisconsin
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
Wake Forest
St. Louis
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
Jefferson
Tulane
What are my chances? How does my school list look? Any more to add or take out? Should I retake my MCAT (soon on August 1 or later)?
Thank you in advance.
- State/Country of Residence: Hawaii/USA
- Year in School: 2018 graduate from top 15 liberal arts college known for grade deflation
- Undergraduate Major(s)/Minor(s): Major- Biochemistry
- Cumulative GPA: 3.50 sGPA: 3.33 (very high upward trend explained below and looks like "Nike swoosh", includes post-bac); Formal post-bac: 36 credits (32 science), 4.0 cGPA/4.0 sGPA
- MCAT Score(s): 499 (June 2018) -> 498 (July 2018; bad advising)-> 508 (129, 126, 126, 127) took at June 27th 2020; Side question: My average across the four AAMC FLs was 518, but I couldn’t adapt to the new times well and ran out of time on both CARS and BB, which I usually scored around 128 and 130 (and nerves/anxiety). My retake is scheduled for August 1, which gives me around 2.5 weeks to study. I feel that I know exactly what the issue is, and it is timing, not content gaps. Would you recommend I go through with the retake or focus on secondaries?
- Research Experience: 3000 hours in total; published in college neuroscience journal, 5 posters (one for all science faculty and another for a campus symposium), designed a neuroscience research and had it approved by faculty and administration
- Clinical Experience (paid or volunteer):
- 250 hours of physician shadowing/observation (rec letter)
- 350 hours of paid clinical employment
- 350 hours of medical volunteering at ER
- Non-Clinical Volunteering:
- 300 hours teaching/notetaking for disadvantaged students
- Other Extracurricular Activities:
- Leadership: 600 hours teaching/tutoring three classes at my post-bac program; designed lab procedures, conducted review sessions, recorded lessons, TA for labs, edited class lectures
- Leadership: Korean club voted community communications leader
- College radio DJ for 4 years
- Leadership: Co-president of cultural language exchange club
- Leadership: Designated student mentor for new students for a year
Other Employment:
- College chemistry stockroom for two years (300 hours)
- College lab assistant for a semester (100 hours)
Other relevant information: ORM (Asian), disadvantaged status, first-generation student (no parents completed college and are not from America); Single parent-family (parent cannot speak English) with father (sole income source of family) disappeared suddenly during high school and received no financial aid or even a word from him. Lost our home the week after I flew abroad to college and was homeless for two years (although I had a dorm and could attend thanks to scholarships and financial aid, nearly a full ride). Lost almost all of our belongings. I worked two full jobs during first two years of college to send money to family. I could not focus on college during that time at all, could not socialize, and almost dropped out to return to family. Luckily after securing government aid, we had a home to live in and my grades started increasing until the end (even got in to dean's list), but it was not enough. To prove to myself (and others) that I could handle medical school, I spent one year at a formal post-bac program taking 36 credits (32 credits being science courses mimicking medical school curriculum) and managed to get 4.0. I shared most of this information in personal statement, briefly.
School list:
Vermont
Quinnipiac
New York Medical College
Albany
Seton Hall
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Penn State
George Washington
NOVA MD
TCU-UNT
Creighton
Loyola
Rosalind Franklin
Medical College Wisconsin
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
Wake Forest
St. Louis
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
Jefferson
Tulane
What are my chances? How does my school list look? Any more to add or take out? Should I retake my MCAT (soon on August 1 or later)?
Thank you in advance.
