Could anyone provide insight as to what my chances are for getting into WesternCOMP late in the application cycle? I will likely not be "complete" until late October.
-taking the MCAT 8/5, sorry to have only an approximation, but I'm predicting a 28-31 based on practice.
-AACOMAS sGPA 3.59, cGPA 3.50
-1 year full-time research experience, under an NP for the most part
-1 1/2 years full-time AmeriCorp volunteer at community health center (where I also shadowed an MD and a PA for a few months each, but only one day a week so I don't think this is significant)
-plans to start shadowing a DO next month and to take biochemistry
Your application, if the MCAT comes back solid, should be decent. Obviously, the higher your MCAT, the better your chances. I don't know how MCAT scores are averaging this cycle so I can't give you a target range on what's acceptable, but maybe somebody else in the thread can.
1 day/week volunteering is probably okay since you did it for a relatively long time, but, if you're not too busy this year more cannot hurt you. Don't think that volunteer opportunities have to be medically-related or involve clinical time - that sort of experience will be covered by your shadowing hours. It's totally fine to do something that you're passionate about. Plus, it'll give you something to talk about during interviews that's not related to medicine. Yes, that can be important. Personal example - I love food, so I did deep prep and cooked at a soup kitchen every Sunday for a year. It was awesome.
Shadowing - how much are you getting? The general consensus is that a week's worth is good. If you can't get a week from the DO you're going to shadow, expand - shadow other specialties and other doctors (shadowing MDs is find too, so long as you have the DO shadowing opportunity down). If you have time, do as much as you can. There's always more to see, so it might be good for personal growth.
Finally - don't give up. I didn't think I had what it took to get into WCOMP and ended up mailing in my secondary in late November. I got an interview invite after the new year rolled around, interviewed in February during the final interview day, and got an acceptance in March (I think... feels like a lifetime ago). A surprisingly large number of people from my interview group got accepted.