WAMC: CA Resident. GPA: 3.88, sGPA: 3.81. MCAT: 512. OOS School List Help

[DrivingDoctor]

• Graduated December 2017 from San Diego State University
• California resident. Ethnicity: Mexican
• GPA: 3.88, sGPA: 3.81
• MCAT: 512 (128/125/128/131)
• Clinical Volunteering:
  • -200 hours at a Sharp Healthcare out patient center where I worked directly with patients and nurses. By the time interviews come around I will have close to 300 hours. 1x/week for almost 2 years.
• Physician Shadowing:

-36 hours/ Ophthalmologist (my current goal specialty)

-8 hours/ primary care. Going to shadow more this summer

-18 hours/ ENT

• Non-clinical volunteering:

-80 hours Coaching Corps (Coached youth basketball teams in underserved communities)

-20 hours or more from community services through various college organizations

• ECs: -hip hop dance team (freshman-Junior year).

-Campus christian club (2 semesters)

-Snowboard club (1 semester)

-health and nutrition club (1 semester)

- pre-medical club (1 semester)

- self employed chemistry tutor in college (1 semester)

• Employment:

-Target. Full time sophmore year summer, part time while in school full time

-Valet attendant. Full time in winter and summer, 3 days a week while in school full time (junior year)

-5 diamond Resort where I work as a valet attendant, chauffeur, and golf coordinator. Full time in winter and summer, 3 days a week while in school full time. (Junior and senior year and current)

• Great LOR from general manager of the hotel I currently work at, Ophthalmologist, 2 biology professors, and nurse from where I volunteer. 1 probably decent humanities LOR
• Extra Thoughts: My biggest area of concern in the 125 on the CARS MCAT and no research experience. As for CARS, well what can I say haha. I do not want to take that test again. As for research, I personally felt I was not able to do any research in undergraduate with working 3 days a week and trying to keep a good GPA. In my gap year I worked to save up money so I could take 3 months off and study for the MCAT. I will be looking for a research job in the coming months incase of having to apply again next cycle. I am very personable and have great social skills so I am pretty confident in myself that if I get an interview I will have a high chance of being accepted.
• 
  
• School list: 26 schools total

-All California State Schools (my mcat is below most of the UC schools, but I am told I should apply anyways)

• Private In State

-California University of Science and Medicine

-Kaiser Permanente

-Loma Linda

-USC Keck SOM

• Private OOS

-Medical college of Wisconsin

-Albany

-Quinnipiac

-GWU

-Georgetown

-Hackensack - Seton Hall

-Loyola

-NYMC

-Nova

-Rush

-Saint Louis

-Tulane

-Tufts

-Wake Forest

-Penn State

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[Faha]

Are you fluent in Spanish ?

 

[DrivingDoctor]

Are you fluent in Spanish ?

Unfortunately not. Even though my parents are both mexican they do not speak it. Ive taken many classes through highschool and one in college and use it occasionally at work or volunteering, but still far from fluent

 

[gyngyn]

Unfortunately not. Even though my parents are both mexican they do not speak it. Ive taken many classes through highschool and one in college and use it occasionally at work or volunteering, but still far from fluent

Get to work!
If that is you in the avatar, remember to protect your on line anonymity.

Are you a devout Christian? Do you ever consume alcohol or plan to have sex outside of marriage?

 

[Faha]

You should receive several interviews from your list. You could add these schools.
Miami
TCU-UNT
Creighton
Rosalind Franklin
Oakland Beaumont

 

[DrivingDoctor]

Get to work!
If that is you in the avatar, remember to protect your on line anonymity.

Are you a devout Christian? Do you ever consume alcohol or plan to have sex outside of marriage?

Yeah I actually just picked up a little book this week on spanish medical terms that I thought would be handy haha. I am fairly big on my faith, I definitely wouldn't have made it this far in my pre-medical journey without God and tons of prayer, but I still enjoy alcohol socially and what not. If you are alluding to the ideals of schools such as Loma Linda then I know what their rules are and such. Loma Linda is literally a 15 minute drive from where I grew up so that is why I am applying there.

 

[DrivingDoctor]

You should receive several interviews from your list. You could add these schools.
Miami
TCU-UNT
Creighton
Rosalind Franklin
Oakland Beaumont

Thank you for your feedback! Yes, I was considering a few of the schools that you mention, but I am trying to keep my list around 25 for money sake. Also, the schools you mentioned are public so I didn't know if I had a better chance at an OOS public even if they are bigger class sizes or should just stick with OOS private schools. Thoughts?

 

[mchammer]

Are you a devout Christian? Do you ever consume alcohol or plan to have sex outside of marriage?

Does Loma Linda (or another other medical school) make it a condition for their students to abstain from alcohol consumption or premarital sex?

 

[Faha]

Thank you for your feedback! Yes, I was considering a few of the schools that you mention, but I am trying to keep my list around 25 for money sake. Also, the schools you mentioned are public so I didn't know if I had a better chance at an OOS public even if they are bigger class sizes or should just stick with OOS private schools. Thoughts?

Rosalind Franklin and TCU-UNT are in cities with large Mexican American patient populations and the Miami area has a large Hispanic population.

 

[Goro]

• Graduated December 2017 from San Diego State University
• California resident. Ethnicity: Mexican
• GPA: 3.88, sGPA: 3.81
• MCAT: 512 (128/125/128/131)
• Clinical Volunteering:
  • -200 hours at a Sharp Healthcare out patient center where I worked directly with patients and nurses. By the time interviews come around I will have close to 300 hours. 1x/week for almost 2 years.
• Physician Shadowing:

-36 hours/ Ophthalmologist (my current goal specialty)

-8 hours/ primary care. Going to shadow more this summer

-18 hours/ ENT

• Non-clinical volunteering:

-80 hours Coaching Corps (Coached youth basketball teams in underserved communities)

-20 hours or more from community services through various college organizations

• ECs: -hip hop dance team (freshman-Junior year).

-Campus christian club (2 semesters)

-Snowboard club (1 semester)

-health and nutrition club (1 semester)

- pre-medical club (1 semester)

- self employed chemistry tutor in college (1 semester)

• Employment:

-Target. Full time sophmore year summer, part time while in school full time

-Valet attendant. Full time in winter and summer, 3 days a week while in school full time (junior year)

-5 diamond Resort where I work as a valet attendant, chauffeur, and golf coordinator. Full time in winter and summer, 3 days a week while in school full time. (Junior and senior year and current)

• Great LOR from general manager of the hotel I currently work at, Ophthalmologist, 2 biology professors, and nurse from where I volunteer. 1 probably decent humanities LOR
• Extra Thoughts: My biggest area of concern in the 125 on the CARS MCAT and no research experience. As for CARS, well what can I say haha. I do not want to take that test again. As for research, I personally felt I was not able to do any research in undergraduate with working 3 days a week and trying to keep a good GPA. In my gap year I worked to save up money so I could take 3 months off and study for the MCAT. I will be looking for a research job in the coming months incase of having to apply again next cycle. I am very personable and have great social skills so I am pretty confident in myself that if I get an interview I will have a high chance of being accepted.
• 
  
• School list: 26 schools total

-All California State Schools (my mcat is below most of the UC schools, but I am told I should apply anyways)

• Private In State

-California University of Science and Medicine

-Kaiser Permanente

-Loma Linda

-USC Keck SOM

• Private OOS

-Medical college of Wisconsin

-Albany

-Quinnipiac

-GWU

-Georgetown

-Hackensack - Seton Hall

-Loyola

-NYMC

-Nova

-Rush

-Saint Louis

-Tulane

-Tufts

-Wake Forest

-Penn State

Aim a bit higher:
All UCs
Albert Einstein
Hofstra
Ohio State
Pitt
U Cincy
USF Morsani
Dartmouth
Rochester
USC/Keck
Emory
Jefferson
Miami
SLU
Tufts
U IA
U VM
U MI

 

[Phoebus Apollo]

I’d just like to say I’m very impressed by how high you’ve kept your GPA while working a lot.

 

[DrivingDoctor]

Rosalind Franklin and TCU-UNT are in cities with large Mexican American patient populations and the Miami area has a large Hispanic population.

So are you suggesting that because I am Hispanic that I would have a better chance at those places?

 

[DrivingDoctor]

Aim a bit higher:
All UCs
Albert Einstein
Hofstra
Ohio State
Pitt
U Cincy
USF Morsani
Dartmouth
Rochester
USC/Keck
Emory
Jefferson
Miami
SLU
Tufts
U IA
U VM
U MI

For some schools that you suggested me to add, their average MCAT scores are slightly higher than mine and as most schools incoming classes have about 95% students that have had research/lab experience. Do you think that even though I have no formal research/lab experience I could still have a decent shot at such schools?

 

[DrivingDoctor]

I’d just like to say I’m very impressed by how high you’ve kept your GPA while working a lot.

Thank you very much! Lets, just say that my last 2 years at SDSU were not very fun haha. I went out maybe twice a semester. I will say that I still didn't have the strain that some students had in which they had to completely pay for everything. My parents helped me out a lot, but I still took care of books, rent, and everyday necessities for the last two years.

 

[Goro]

For some schools that you suggested me to add, their average MCAT scores are slightly higher than mine and as most schools incoming classes have about 95% students that have had research/lab experience. Do you think that even though I have no formal research/lab experience I could still have a decent shot at such schools?

We need URM doctors, hence being of Mexican ethnicity adds to your stats, much to the dismay of the hyperacheivers.

 

[Dr panda]

Do you ever consume alcohol or plan to have sex outside of marriage?

Is it important for med schools nowadays?

 

[DrivingDoctor]

We need URM doctors, hence being of Mexican ethnicity adds to your stats, much to the dismay of the hyperacheivers.

I figured my heritage would help me a bit, but I didn't know how much. I like to stand on my achievements rather than rely on something that was out of my hands, but I will take any help I can get to get into medical school! Haha.

 

[Faha]

So are you suggesting that because I am Hispanic that I would have a better chance at those places?

Yes

 

[DrivingDoctor]

Yes

I cant apply to TCU-UNT because they require a physiology course and I never took one, but the others I will definitely take a second look at. Thank you!

 

[gyngyn]

Is it important for med schools nowadays?

Only for Loma Linda.

 

[gyngyn]

Does Loma Linda (or another other medical school) make it a condition for their students to abstain from alcohol consumption or premarital sex?

Yes.

 

[Dr panda]

Yes.

How can they ever figure this out? I mean it is theoretically possible for girls, but for boys?
Do they make students pass alcohol test every day they enter the classroom?

 

[DrivingDoctor]

How can they ever figure this out? I mean it is theoretically possible for girls, but for boys?
Do they make students pass alcohol test every day they enter the classroom?

I don't think its that strict. But I am pretty sure that's why their incoming class stats are relatively low (MCAT 509), not because it isn't a good school, but because it doesn't fit with a lot of people's views. I believe there is a mandatory chapel once a week and also bible classes on top of the medical curriculum.

 

[DrivingDoctor]

We need URM doctors, hence being of Mexican ethnicity adds to your stats, much to the dismay of the hyperacheivers.

One more question, on MSAR it lists the breakdown of accepted MCAT section scores. For schools in which it shows that the lowest accepted matriculant CARS score was 126 (mine is 125), should I still apply there?

 

[Goro]

One more question, on MSAR it lists the breakdown of accepted MCAT section scores. For schools in which it shows that the lowest accepted matriculant CARS score was 126 (mine is 125), should I still apply there?

Yes.

 

[Phoebus Apollo]

I figured my heritage would help me a bit, but I didn't know how much. I like to stand on my achievements rather than rely on something that was out of my hands, but I will take any help I can get to get into medical school! Haha.

You will be 100% standing on your own achievements. First of all, your app is solid without being URM. Second, many applicants with GPAs and MCATs like yours had everything paid for them and almost nothing to worry about except for school. That doesn’t mean they didn’t earn what they got. That just means that what many URM and low SES students accomplish is incredibly impressive. Although some URM students are very financially priviledged, it is safe to assume that many if not most contend with more hurdles than the average applicant.

Not to mention, our medical community NEEDS doctors that represent more kinds of patients than the straight white upper SES patient. Being properly represented helps people get the care they need.

In short: don’t worry about not earning anything. You’re good.

 

[gyngyn]

Does Loma Linda (or another other medical school) make it a condition for their students to abstain from alcohol consumption or premarital sex?

Yes.