WAMC ORM/3.87 sGPA/3.9 cGPA/Postbacc 3.9 GPA

[premed995]

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1. 3.9 cGPA, 3.87 sGPA

2. MCAT score(s) and breakdown: waiting for results; FLs were 518, 519, 521, 522, 525

3. NC resident

4. Race: Asian female

5. Undergraduate institution or category: T-10 Private

6. 3 Gap years, Nontraditional, 1 of 3 years spent completing Premedical Postbaccalaureate program (career changer, not gpa booster)

7. Clinical experience: 2100 hrs Clinical Research Coordinator almost daily patient interaction, 250 hrs total clinical volunteering - hospice, nursing home, hospital

8. Research experience and productivity: 1300 hrs clinical research, 320 hrs undergrad research (undergrad research assistant), no posters/publications

9. Shadowing experience and specialties represented: 100 hrs (surgery, internist, neurologist, pediatrician) strong interest in pediatrics

10. Non-clinical volunteering: 300 hrs camp counselor for 3 years (camp for kids whose parent(s) have cancer diagnosis), 100 hrs soup kitchen/homeless shelter

11. Other extracurricular activities:
250 hrs Undergrad TA
Flute - hobby & have been tutoring for 7 yrs, have been playing for 16 yrs
church leadership

12. Relevant honors or awards: Dean's list with distinction & Dean’s list

13. Personal Statement: Story of my journey to medicine as a nontrad; personal loss leading to interest in psychology, which led to involvement in camp as counselor, and later a major medical episode that happened to myself & observation of specific pt interaction during physician shadowing. Reflections on these experiences.

Please advise on strengthening my application. Although I have ~400 hrs total of non-clinical volunteering now, I feel like I don’t have enough non-clinical volunteering that med schools look for (things like soup kitchen, homeless shelter). I saw people saying you should have 150+ hrs minimum of non-clinical volunteering and preferably several hundreds to have a chance at top schools. Would you recommend I try to get more soup kitchen volunteering in? If so how much more? Will it hurt my chances if I submit my app now? I don't know how much longer I should delay submitting my app since it's already June.

Any advice is appreciated! Thanks🙂

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Welcome to the forums.

Yes, you should have at least 150 hours of service orientation activities (food distribution, shelter volunteer, job/tax preparation, legal support, transportation services, or housing rehabilitation) so your file does not get screened out at most schools. If you have a high MCAT score and want to play in the high-metrics pool for brand-name schools, you should have at least 250 hours to keep pace. You are better served with more in this category. Tutoring/teaching/mentoring is on practically every premed application as is research (which doesn't matter as much). You should show activities that allow you to be comfortable around uncomfortable people, especially those who are sick and suffering.

Things I don't understand completely: why you did a postbac when your undergrad GPA was a 3.9. I also don't get a sense of your purpose as a physician from your PS description (which is just an autobiography).

I also presume you have access to strong prehealth advising and may have a committee letter. It is remarkable you only have "church leadership" and nothing mentioned about campus involvement (other than being a TA).

 

[premed995]

Welcome to the forums.

Yes, you should have at least 150 hours of service orientation activities (food distribution, shelter volunteer, job/tax preparation, legal support, transportation services, or housing rehabilitation) so your file does not get screened out at most schools. If you have a high MCAT score and want to play in the high-metrics pool for brand-name schools, you should have at least 250 hours to keep pace. You are better served with more in this category. Tutoring/teaching/mentoring is on practically every premed application as is research (which doesn't matter as much). You should show activities that allow you to be comfortable around uncomfortable people, especially those who are sick and suffering.

Things I don't understand completely: why you did a postbac when your undergrad GPA was a 3.9. I also don't get a sense of your purpose as a physician from your PS description (which is just an autobiography).

I also presume you have access to strong prehealth advising and may have a committee letter. It is remarkable you only have "church leadership" and nothing mentioned about campus involvement (other than being a TA).

The postbac was a career changer postbac, not a gpa booster program! I wasn't premed as an undergrad, so I am getting a committee letter from my postbac program. I was involved in a student club and our school's orchestra, but didn't mention those above. The camp I referred to was also affiliated with our school (I was involved in our school's chapter).

Regarding non-clinical volunteering, do you think it would be worth submitting a few weeks later to get more non-clinical hours in?

Thanks for the advice!

 

[Faha]

You would benefit from another 50+ hours of non clinical volunteering (soup kitchen/homeless shelter) before you submit your application since some schools screen at 150 hours. Post your MCAT score here when available.

 

[premed995]

You would benefit from another 50+ hours of non clinical volunteering (soup kitchen/homeless shelter) before you submit your application since some schools screen at 150 hours. Post your MCAT score here when available.

Thank you for your advice! I will post my MCAT score when it is released.