MD deleted for privacy

[thetimegoeson]

deleted for privacy. got doxxed by a close friend

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[candbgirl]

Why are you retaking the MCAT? Between building your activities and restudying for the MCAT, you might want to take a Gap year. You only want to apply one time with the best application possible. You have lots of work to do to be your best application wise. Seriously think about taking a Gap year.

 

[thetimegoeson]

Why are you retaking the MCAT? Between building your activities and restudying for the MCAT, you might want to take a Gap year. You only want to apply one time with the best application possible. You have lots of work to do to be your best application wise. Seriously think about taking a Gap year.

I felt that my GPA is low compared to other applicants and thought that I needed a higher MCAT score to be more competitive. I can't raise my GPA anymore since I've just graduated and so... I guess MCAT is the only part where I can improve the stats..?
Also, on the part that I have lots of work to do, could you please elaborate a little bit more on what aspects I should improve?
Although I will be working full-time, there's still about 6 more months until the application cycle starts, so I am dedicated to do whatever I can to make myself more competent!

 

[Faha]

I suggest these schools with your stats:
Eastern Virginia
Virginia Commonwealth
Virginia Tech
UVA
West Virginia
George Washington
Wake Forest
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Penn State
Seton Hall
Vermont
Quinnipiac
New York Medical College
Albany
NOVA MD
TCU-UNT
Medical College Wisconsin
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
If you score 515+ on the MCAT you may be able to add more MD schools.

 

[thetimegoeson]

I suggest these schools with your stats:
Eastern Virginia
Virginia Commonwealth
Virginia Tech
UVA
West Virginia
George Washington
Wake Forest
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Penn State
Seton Hall
Vermont
Quinnipiac
New York Medical College
Albany
NOVA MD
TCU-UNT
Medical College Wisconsin
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
If you score 515+ on the MCAT you may be able to add more MD schools.

Thank you for your response!
I was just wondering since a lot of people mention that you need about 200+ hours for both clinical and non-clinical volunteering, would my volunteer hours be a red flag (Clinical - 150 hours, non-clinical - maybe 100 by the time I apply)?

 

[candbgirl]

Unless you are consistently scoring at or above your target MCAT goal on several,FL practice tests it can be risky retaking. How were your practice scores before you took the MCAT the first time? It’s not as easy to raise your MCAT score as people think. Additionally you need around 200+ hours of nonclinical volunteering to the unserved/underserved in your community. Medicine is a service profession and ADCOMS want to see service to those less fortunate and those very unlike than yourself. Find a way to show your altruism. Your clinical experiences should be okay if the new job at the derm clinic develops as you predict. Be tween your hospital volunteering and your job that looks okay. Do you have shadowing or is that projected?

 

[candbgirl]

Thank you for your response!
I was just wondering since a lot of people mention that you need about 200+ hours for both clinical and non-clinical volunteering, would my volunteer hours be a red flag (Clinical - 150 hours, non-clinical - maybe 100 by the time I apply)?

Your clinical experiences will be fine if your new job develops as you predict. Between the volunteering and the job you will be okay clinically.
You really need to get busy with nonclinical volunteering.

 

[thetimegoeson]

Unless you are consistently scoring at or above your target MCAT goal on several,FL practice tests it can be risky retaking. How were your practice scores before you took the MCAT the first time? It’s not as easy to raise your MCAT score as people think. Additionally you need around 200+ hours of nonclinical volunteering to the unserved/underserved in your community. Medicine is a service profession and ADCOMS want to see service to those less fortunate and those very unlike than yourself. Find a way to show your altruism. Your clinical experiences should be okay if the new job at the derm clinic develops as you predict. Be tween your hospital volunteering and your job that looks okay. Do you have shadowing or is that projected?

My MCAT score was actually the mid-range of what I would get on FLs. Depending on content/condition, I did have variations that ranged from 508~515ish. I was hoping to retake the test and raise it up to 515+. I know that it's going to be really difficult working full-time with a commute time of 2.5 hours in total. That probably leaves me with approximately 4 hours per day on the weekdays to study for the MCAT. But like I mentioned above, for the next 4~5 months, I am going to be fully devoted in solely improving my application so..... let's see how that goes.
The shadowing hours are projections. I have already made arrangements with doctors for shadowing in May (since I am thinking of taking the MCAT in April)
Also thank you so much for your advice on non-clinical volunteering. I will definitely get more busy with that aspect! (Although it is extremely hard to find non-clinical volunteering opportunities nowadays due to COVID19 sadly)