Edited for some privacy ~~
Hello, looking for some advice. C in Chem grades across all four years brought GPA down, with no upward trend.
I believe there are a few issues with my overall app. I bolded things that may be red flags due to being started recently or other issues.
General major issues include no long-term commitments or continuous activity. I am applying this cycle. I recognize that waiting for another cycle may make me far more competitive, and I would like to hear if anyone feels strongly that I should wait and why. I am applying both DO and MD.
Due to my abysmal grades in chemistry, I thought I wasn’t right for a career in medicine. As a result, especially because Covid limited job fairs and other such opportunities, I took a contracted job offer from a previous internship from study abroad to work as a graphic designer, which flowed neatly from my college part-time job as a graphic design consultant (>1000 hrs). I worked there from September 2020 to September 2021.
In October 2021, I set up a Youtube channel and quickly grew. As a result, I was invited to join an events startup as a producer and asset creator and created animated video graphics and helped run events. I moved to where the organization was based to continue growing it, but company fell into the red quickly after I joined and no one was receiving salaries. I then supported myself by teaching toddlers survival swimming. In June 2022, after leaving the game events startup, I found a job that home tutored a neurodivergent elementary schooler with delayed reading and math skills. I taught him music and remedial reading/writing/mathematics and cursive. Through the child's family, I joined a mortgage company they were starting in August 2022, and it was only me and the broker trying to get loans approved. The broker was overwhelmed and couldn’t train me properly, so much of my early work was really criticized. They ended up not wanting to pay me for any of my work (if you would like more detail on this I can post a follow up comment) and since there was no signed contract for employment, I ended up not getting paid at all (should I put this as an unpaid internship?) (I was close with this family so it was a rough situation for me to go after them for payment).
After almost 1.5 years of limited income, I was quite burned out, so I joined a friend’s admissions consulting startup part-time only in Feb 2023 and did some light marketing and admissions consulting work. After some interpersonal issues arose, I had to leave that company (amicably) in May 2023. I started considering medicine again because I missed the intellectual challenge that science provides. My parents were super happy to hear that (the stereotype is very real with my family) and pushed me to take the break in employment to prepare for the MCAT. I took three months from June to August doing nothing but studying because I knew if I were going to pursue this I had to give some proof that I could do medical school, since my GPA would not be doing me any favors.
I jumped right into certified nursing aide school right after that from September to October to try and get some clinical exposure regardless of whether I had done well on the MCAT or not, because I wanted to be sure medicine was right for me. By the end of the two-month course, while we were doing clinicals, my score arrived, which, along with the amazing experience of being part of a healthcare team taking care of patients, cemented my determination to do medicine.
While attending the CNA course, from Sept to November, I also got a volunteer opportunity at a hospice as an office assistant. I could not meet patients due to unreliable transportation (I was using an electric bike and couldn’t travel more than 20 miles round trip, and anything above 10 miles one way would take me 45 minutes). I was able to place weekly calls to caregivers to check in on them, though, and attended weekly meetings with the doctors to hear about the patient population. The bulk of my work actually ended up being tasks like improving the nurse supply room, stocking, and bereavement art for families that had lost their loved ones that year. I spent 97 hours total at that hospice. Interestingly, both the hospice and the CNA school were run by women. After my brutal experiences in my previous startups, the camaraderie, support, and encouragement from these women-led spaces were really welcoming and I felt motivated to reenter the workforce. Considering my past experience with domestic violence, I realized I really wanted to keep working with women (it turns out that many of the other women I worked with also experienced relationship violence or sexual abuse, and we really connected with and supported one another). So uplifting other women and working with a female/female-identifying population is what I am aiming for and what I am trying to center my app around, but the issue is that I feel like my experiences don’t have the longevity or adequate amount of time to prove that this is what I want to do.
After feeling motivated to find real employment, I applied to CNA positions and especially applied to a women's hospital and got a position caring for neonates. I am super happy to be there and enjoy the work since it is working directly with the population I am invested in. I moved there in December and took some time to settle in and get my ducks in a row, so I only just started on pre-medical activities such as community service this past February. I also applied to work at a women’s homeless shelter here and was just approved to join their list of volunteers, so that activity is starting, but only now.
I guess generally, I am worried that my experiences will look rushed and ingenious to an admissions committee due to ramping up only now, in March of 2024, when I will be submitting my app in June. I would love to hear the opinions and criticisms of those who are experienced with applications here.
I am also worried about fulfilling the science recommendation letter requirement. It has been three years since I saw a professor, let alone a science one. Due to qualms over cost and poor planning, I could only take a course this summer, so I could ask a professor then. But wouldn’t the letters need to be sent out with my application in June? Or can I wait until after I send out my application to send letters of recommendation? I am confusing myself with all the answers I am seeing on Reddit. I did get a prof from my undergrad to agree to a letter, but they said it would not be very personal or specific. Should I refrain from using their letter?
Thanks in advance. I really appreciate any input, so please speak freely!
Hello, looking for some advice. C in Chem grades across all four years brought GPA down, with no upward trend.
I believe there are a few issues with my overall app. I bolded things that may be red flags due to being started recently or other issues.
General major issues include no long-term commitments or continuous activity. I am applying this cycle. I recognize that waiting for another cycle may make me far more competitive, and I would like to hear if anyone feels strongly that I should wait and why. I am applying both DO and MD.
- 3.598 or 3.612 cGPA if including dual enrollment credit (from high school), 3.075 or 3.260 sGPA with dual enrollment
- 519 MCAT, one attempt, 128/128/128/131
- State of Residence AL
- ORM
- T10 Undergrad
- Clinical experience (volunteer and non-volunteer) - 440 hours as of 3/1/24
- Nurse Assistant/PCT in a neonatal unit - 307 hours as of March, 600 hours by application submit, December 2023 - current - not too much interaction with patients because they are nonverbal babies, if that is an issue; I do interact with lots of parents and grandparents, and go the extra mile with getting items for them if they need it; I also interact with fellows and residents, all who are very willing to answer my questions and are incredibly kind; I shadow rounds when I finish my work tasks and see some pretty niche cases.
- Hospice Office Volunteer - 97 hours, Sept-Nov 2023 - I had no transportation (I used a bike), so I did not see any patients. I attended IDG meetings and was able to ask social workers about their careers (interested b/c psych adjacent); I stocked materials and called care centers and caregivers weekly to provide support (if needed refills or supplies); I painted small art pieces for grieving families. Maybe this is not clinical experience?
- Hospital Volunteer, Aug 2018-Jan 2019 - 40 hours, little patient interaction due to it being ambulatory surgery, just helped check in pts and provide compassionate company to waiting family members, walked lost patients to correct wing of hospital, showed family to debriefing rooms after surgery
- Research experience and productivity - 450 hours
- Biology lab 2017-mid 2018, 200 (probably more) hours, did basic bench stuff, was acknowledged in one paper for contributions to sorting Meta-cyc visual data using Adobe Illustrator
- Clinical Psych lab, 250 hours, we were researching a new DSM diagnosis so lots of groundwork stuff was being done that I was able to witness; worked a lot with neuro department; got to participate in discussions for new research and potential avenues to explore, mostly helped clean data and check Redcap logic tree for survey inconsistencies
- Shadowing experience and specialties represented - 44 hours w/o IM hours
- Scheduled for ob-gyn 12 hours in April
- Geriatrics, 12 hours, Fall 2019
- Pediatric Neuro-opthalmologist, 20 hours, Summer 2019
- Internal Medicine, 10 hours, summer before undergrad (2017) so probably cannot include?
- Can I include time spent on rounds with the Neonatal team where I work? ~4 hours, have also requested to shadow the neonatal attending
- Pending schedule with DO physician
- Non-clinical volunteering - 120 hours w/o service learning
- Local Soup Kitchen - 20 hours, Feb 2023-current
- Music at retirement homes, food drive concerts -100 hours, through my college choir
- Tutoring and Classroom Assisting - 20 hours, through a service learning requirement as part of a class, Jan - May 2019 (can I include this?)
- Other extracurricular activities (including athletics, military service, gap year activities, leadership, teaching, etc)
- University ECs:
- Choir; photographer and student conductor, 2017-2021, restarted choir activities by joining hospital employee choir Feb 2023, ~500 hours
- Acapella group 2017-2019, left and created a new group Spring 2019-Spring 2020 open to anyone with no auditions; group ended due to Covid. I gave free private singing lessons during this time to help with club members' singing, ~200 hours
- Student Gov Senator, 2017-19
- Dorm Council Secretary, 2018-2019 transitioned to President due to pres moving dorms in 2019, President 2019 until Covid in 2020, ~100 hrs
- Chem 101 Tutor (HAHA!!) and Physics (mechanics) tutor, 2019, ~ probably 15 hours?
- Graphic Design lab consultant and lab manager, 2018-2021, >1000 hours
- Gap Year Activities: Please see paragraphs below.
- University ECs:
- Relevant honors or awards
- One 2k scholarship from undergrad institution, must be applied for, to someone who has made a valuable contribution in Asian Studies
- Anything else not listed you think might be important
- Possible need to report administrative action:
- Victim of relationship violence at uni; the perpetrator was in some of my science classes which affected my studies and definitely lead to low self-esteem in Chem. University placed a non-contact order between us.
- Possible need to report administrative action:
Due to my abysmal grades in chemistry, I thought I wasn’t right for a career in medicine. As a result, especially because Covid limited job fairs and other such opportunities, I took a contracted job offer from a previous internship from study abroad to work as a graphic designer, which flowed neatly from my college part-time job as a graphic design consultant (>1000 hrs). I worked there from September 2020 to September 2021.
In October 2021, I set up a Youtube channel and quickly grew. As a result, I was invited to join an events startup as a producer and asset creator and created animated video graphics and helped run events. I moved to where the organization was based to continue growing it, but company fell into the red quickly after I joined and no one was receiving salaries. I then supported myself by teaching toddlers survival swimming. In June 2022, after leaving the game events startup, I found a job that home tutored a neurodivergent elementary schooler with delayed reading and math skills. I taught him music and remedial reading/writing/mathematics and cursive. Through the child's family, I joined a mortgage company they were starting in August 2022, and it was only me and the broker trying to get loans approved. The broker was overwhelmed and couldn’t train me properly, so much of my early work was really criticized. They ended up not wanting to pay me for any of my work (if you would like more detail on this I can post a follow up comment) and since there was no signed contract for employment, I ended up not getting paid at all (should I put this as an unpaid internship?) (I was close with this family so it was a rough situation for me to go after them for payment).
After almost 1.5 years of limited income, I was quite burned out, so I joined a friend’s admissions consulting startup part-time only in Feb 2023 and did some light marketing and admissions consulting work. After some interpersonal issues arose, I had to leave that company (amicably) in May 2023. I started considering medicine again because I missed the intellectual challenge that science provides. My parents were super happy to hear that (the stereotype is very real with my family) and pushed me to take the break in employment to prepare for the MCAT. I took three months from June to August doing nothing but studying because I knew if I were going to pursue this I had to give some proof that I could do medical school, since my GPA would not be doing me any favors.
I jumped right into certified nursing aide school right after that from September to October to try and get some clinical exposure regardless of whether I had done well on the MCAT or not, because I wanted to be sure medicine was right for me. By the end of the two-month course, while we were doing clinicals, my score arrived, which, along with the amazing experience of being part of a healthcare team taking care of patients, cemented my determination to do medicine.
While attending the CNA course, from Sept to November, I also got a volunteer opportunity at a hospice as an office assistant. I could not meet patients due to unreliable transportation (I was using an electric bike and couldn’t travel more than 20 miles round trip, and anything above 10 miles one way would take me 45 minutes). I was able to place weekly calls to caregivers to check in on them, though, and attended weekly meetings with the doctors to hear about the patient population. The bulk of my work actually ended up being tasks like improving the nurse supply room, stocking, and bereavement art for families that had lost their loved ones that year. I spent 97 hours total at that hospice. Interestingly, both the hospice and the CNA school were run by women. After my brutal experiences in my previous startups, the camaraderie, support, and encouragement from these women-led spaces were really welcoming and I felt motivated to reenter the workforce. Considering my past experience with domestic violence, I realized I really wanted to keep working with women (it turns out that many of the other women I worked with also experienced relationship violence or sexual abuse, and we really connected with and supported one another). So uplifting other women and working with a female/female-identifying population is what I am aiming for and what I am trying to center my app around, but the issue is that I feel like my experiences don’t have the longevity or adequate amount of time to prove that this is what I want to do.
After feeling motivated to find real employment, I applied to CNA positions and especially applied to a women's hospital and got a position caring for neonates. I am super happy to be there and enjoy the work since it is working directly with the population I am invested in. I moved there in December and took some time to settle in and get my ducks in a row, so I only just started on pre-medical activities such as community service this past February. I also applied to work at a women’s homeless shelter here and was just approved to join their list of volunteers, so that activity is starting, but only now.
I guess generally, I am worried that my experiences will look rushed and ingenious to an admissions committee due to ramping up only now, in March of 2024, when I will be submitting my app in June. I would love to hear the opinions and criticisms of those who are experienced with applications here.
I am also worried about fulfilling the science recommendation letter requirement. It has been three years since I saw a professor, let alone a science one. Due to qualms over cost and poor planning, I could only take a course this summer, so I could ask a professor then. But wouldn’t the letters need to be sent out with my application in June? Or can I wait until after I send out my application to send letters of recommendation? I am confusing myself with all the answers I am seeing on Reddit. I did get a prof from my undergrad to agree to a letter, but they said it would not be very personal or specific. Should I refrain from using their letter?
Thanks in advance. I really appreciate any input, so please speak freely!
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