I am a senior at an upper tier public university with a Biology and Spanish double major. cGPA is 3.63 and MCAT 505 (but i'm retaking it in May, hope to do much better because the first time I studied, my practice exams were ~507). I think my science gpa is ~3.4
I have extensive research background (~1000 hours) with a couple presentations (2 independent projects, one will probably be published in the far future). I am doing a undergrad thesis for my Spanish major to graduate with honors. I TAed for multiple bio classes, was on a club sport for three years. Shadowed diff docs for ~70 hours. The only volunteer experience I have is translating Spanish at a clinic for the underserved, where I get a ton of patient-contact because I do intakes. I hope to have about 200 hours if I apply this June. In my personal statement, I talk about wanting to help the healthcare disparity that affects Latino people in the US.
I was planning on applying to lower tier schools like GW, Tulane, Loyola, Drexel, PSU, Geisinger (im a PA resident) etc but am unsure if I should take two gap years in order to get non-clinical volunteerism and more shadowing. Do I have any chance at these schools? I plan on working as a medical assistant in my gap year.
Also, is my heavy research and light volunteerism a disadvantage for these schools? Do I even have a chance at top 40 schools as a research-heavy applicant with a low gpa?
I have extensive research background (~1000 hours) with a couple presentations (2 independent projects, one will probably be published in the far future). I am doing a undergrad thesis for my Spanish major to graduate with honors. I TAed for multiple bio classes, was on a club sport for three years. Shadowed diff docs for ~70 hours. The only volunteer experience I have is translating Spanish at a clinic for the underserved, where I get a ton of patient-contact because I do intakes. I hope to have about 200 hours if I apply this June. In my personal statement, I talk about wanting to help the healthcare disparity that affects Latino people in the US.
I was planning on applying to lower tier schools like GW, Tulane, Loyola, Drexel, PSU, Geisinger (im a PA resident) etc but am unsure if I should take two gap years in order to get non-clinical volunteerism and more shadowing. Do I have any chance at these schools? I plan on working as a medical assistant in my gap year.
Also, is my heavy research and light volunteerism a disadvantage for these schools? Do I even have a chance at top 40 schools as a research-heavy applicant with a low gpa?
