- Joined
- Feb 10, 2021
- Messages
- 43
- Reaction score
- 19
A short intro about you, where you are from, any previous application results, the school/s you are interested in, your current career interests.
Hi! Non-traditional first year applying, graduated in 2018. 26 y/o female in NYC:
I went to an engineering school and majored in Biomolecular Science in NYC, then went straight into biomedical science research after undegrad. I live in NYC and worked as a research technician for 3 years and now am a research specialist (~1 year). While working full-time, I also have a part-time job as a ER vet assistant and I want to go into emergency medicine and also veterinary/biomedical research. Top choice is Cornell because it's my IS and also an amazing school for research and their SA/LA hospital is so cool for ER work!
Cumulative GPA: 3.605
science GPA: 3.525
last 45: 3.82
Any degrees achieved: BS Biomolecular Science
GRE results: not taken
Veterinary Experience:
- 520 hours at emergency clinic as vet assistant (~100 was volunteer, then they hired me to work part-time outside my job)
- 40 hours volunteer at GP clinic
- 8 hours shadowing lab animal veterinarian
Animal Experience:
- 12 hours volunteer side-walker at therapeutic horse riding organization
- 42 hours volunteer at cat/dog shelter
- 20 hours volunteer at wildlife rescue clinic
Research Experience:
- ~5300 hours (3 years) as research technician in malaria lab
- ~1800 hours (1 year) as research specialist in vaccine lab (with lab animal work)
- 48 hours undergrad research on tardigrades for course credit
- 700 hours summer undergrad research on building 3D model of skeletal muscle
- ~240 hours volunteer research assistant at another medical school while in undergrad
Awards/scholarships:
- 2 first author research publications, 2 publications in review (not first-author), 1 accepted publication (not first-author)
- graduated cum laude
- Dean's list (3 semesters)
- University honors scholar's award
Extracurriculars:
- E-board for student mentorship club in undergrad
- Club member for pre-med/biomedical club in undergrad
- Veterinary BLS + ALS certified
- C-14 certificate of fitness for chemical laboratory
Employment:
- research technician (3 years)
- research specialist (1 year)
- work study for undergrad bio program (volunteer + 1 semester)
- teaching assistant in undergrad (2 semesters)
- research coordinator for undergrad program (summer)
- bio 2 course coordinator for undergrad program (2 semesters)
- office assistant for undergrad program (1 semester + summer)
LORs
- Principle investigator (PI - head of lab) from my research tech job
- PI from my current job
- Veterinarian who I worked with most at my ER
- CEO of ER clinic i work at (also veterinarian)
- Undergrad professor who was the director of my program (did research with, worked closely with, took courses with, worked for)
- Undergrad professor of my program (did research with, worked closely with, took courses with, worked for)
School list
- Cornell (top choice, IS)
- UPenn
- Tufts
- NC State (will need to take animal nutrition)
- LIU
- UF
- CSU
Summarize any concerns you have
1. Are my vet / animal hours too low / not diverse enough for Cornell? What about GPA?
1A. I've had zero luck getting into any avian/exotic or equine or LA or zoo medicine clinics near NYC.
2. Many of these activities/extracurriculars were years ago and I didn't keep track of exact hours. Should I just estimate based on 35 hour/week etc?
3. How do you suggest inputting publications into VMCAS? The AAVMC director suggested I submit them and also all my research work separately as experiences but it is difficult to split the time and not "double dip" for the hours between my jobs. For example, I have other admin duties in my specialist position but also do research. Would it be better if I were to split the position and say x# of hours is research specialist - admin duties and y# hours is research specialist - research?? I don't know the exact split so this would be really difficult but I'm not sure where else I would describe my research in-depth?
Thanks so much in advance!
Hi! Non-traditional first year applying, graduated in 2018. 26 y/o female in NYC:
I went to an engineering school and majored in Biomolecular Science in NYC, then went straight into biomedical science research after undegrad. I live in NYC and worked as a research technician for 3 years and now am a research specialist (~1 year). While working full-time, I also have a part-time job as a ER vet assistant and I want to go into emergency medicine and also veterinary/biomedical research. Top choice is Cornell because it's my IS and also an amazing school for research and their SA/LA hospital is so cool for ER work!
Cumulative GPA: 3.605
science GPA: 3.525
last 45: 3.82
Any degrees achieved: BS Biomolecular Science
GRE results: not taken
Veterinary Experience:
- 520 hours at emergency clinic as vet assistant (~100 was volunteer, then they hired me to work part-time outside my job)
- 40 hours volunteer at GP clinic
- 8 hours shadowing lab animal veterinarian
Animal Experience:
- 12 hours volunteer side-walker at therapeutic horse riding organization
- 42 hours volunteer at cat/dog shelter
- 20 hours volunteer at wildlife rescue clinic
Research Experience:
- ~5300 hours (3 years) as research technician in malaria lab
- ~1800 hours (1 year) as research specialist in vaccine lab (with lab animal work)
- 48 hours undergrad research on tardigrades for course credit
- 700 hours summer undergrad research on building 3D model of skeletal muscle
- ~240 hours volunteer research assistant at another medical school while in undergrad
Awards/scholarships:
- 2 first author research publications, 2 publications in review (not first-author), 1 accepted publication (not first-author)
- graduated cum laude
- Dean's list (3 semesters)
- University honors scholar's award
Extracurriculars:
- E-board for student mentorship club in undergrad
- Club member for pre-med/biomedical club in undergrad
- Veterinary BLS + ALS certified
- C-14 certificate of fitness for chemical laboratory
Employment:
- research technician (3 years)
- research specialist (1 year)
- work study for undergrad bio program (volunteer + 1 semester)
- teaching assistant in undergrad (2 semesters)
- research coordinator for undergrad program (summer)
- bio 2 course coordinator for undergrad program (2 semesters)
- office assistant for undergrad program (1 semester + summer)
LORs
- Principle investigator (PI - head of lab) from my research tech job
- PI from my current job
- Veterinarian who I worked with most at my ER
- CEO of ER clinic i work at (also veterinarian)
- Undergrad professor who was the director of my program (did research with, worked closely with, took courses with, worked for)
- Undergrad professor of my program (did research with, worked closely with, took courses with, worked for)
School list
- Cornell (top choice, IS)
- UPenn
- Tufts
- NC State (will need to take animal nutrition)
- LIU
- UF
- CSU
Summarize any concerns you have
1. Are my vet / animal hours too low / not diverse enough for Cornell? What about GPA?
1A. I've had zero luck getting into any avian/exotic or equine or LA or zoo medicine clinics near NYC.
2. Many of these activities/extracurriculars were years ago and I didn't keep track of exact hours. Should I just estimate based on 35 hour/week etc?
3. How do you suggest inputting publications into VMCAS? The AAVMC director suggested I submit them and also all my research work separately as experiences but it is difficult to split the time and not "double dip" for the hours between my jobs. For example, I have other admin duties in my specialist position but also do research. Would it be better if I were to split the position and say x# of hours is research specialist - admin duties and y# hours is research specialist - research?? I don't know the exact split so this would be really difficult but I'm not sure where else I would describe my research in-depth?
Thanks so much in advance!
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