I am an ORM female studying Biomedical Engineering at a well-known, top-5 Engineering school. I will be applying next cycle (entering class of 2022) after taking a Gap year, so I would like some advice on schools to shoot for (Ideally I would love to be in a top-20 such as CWRU/Cleveland clinic, Yale, Emory, Umich, OSU, etc are what I am shooting for since I have heard they are more forgiving on lower GPAs.) I didn't decide until less than a year ago that medical school was my path, which is why I have a lower gpa from before, but I worked hard to improve it after my decision.
1. cGPA: ~ 3.7 and sGPA: ~3.66 (3.5-->3.0-->3.7-->4.0). I think this is considered an upward trend
2. MCAT: 523
3. State of residency: GA
4. Undergraduate institution: well-known, top-5 Engineering school
5. Clinical experience: Volunteered with local Children's Hospital ~200 hours as part of Children's Miracle Network. Had direct patient contact and was the Family-Relations Coordinator where I helped organize a Miracle-Week Charity Volleyball tournament for the Miracle Families and Halloween Trick-or_treating around greek-row. 50 of those hours are teaching STEM-activities and outreach to patients in the Children's Hospital. Also a COVID-19 Crisis line responder for a free clinic targeted towards underserved populations in my urban city (just 25 so far, but expected to increase over time)
6. Research experience: Research starting from Freshman Year, 2 in undergraduate research lab with my own independent project for which I was awarded a PURA award (presidents undergrad research award for my proposal) but had to decline funding due to logistics of lab availability. Then switched to do 2 years in Clinical research at local hospital with a cardiologist. Will have at least 2 pubs where I will be first author, 1-2 poster/abstracts
7. Shadowing: Curently only at 40 hours of cardiology shadowing. Hope to improve this, but how many is good to shoot for? Corona has obviously hurt a low of people's ability to shadow. I have also been accepted to a fully-funded 3-week medical brigade in which I will be shadowing and treating as a medical-assistant to the underserved people of the Dominican republic. The program sees at least 80 patients a day for 3 weeks.
8. Non-clinical volunteering: Developed activities related to STEM that tackled state education standards and volunteered/tutored with local public schools, mainly low-income and undeserved populations (50 hours) Also volunteered for Fighting-hunger related organizations by packaging meals for the food insecure.
9. Other extracurriculars: Vice President of Academic Outreach for sorority- helped and facilitated Scholarship Improvement plans for those struggling academically while providing academic and career related advice/events, bringing us to one of the highest GPAs of a greek chapter; Helped to start a free Homeless-Shelter for students on campus (currently being expanded for COVID relief) that aids in guidance towards social-workers, food banks, and free healthcare; President of the Student Advocacy Board; Campus Tour Guide; Student Government Health and Well-being committee (1 year)
10. Relevant honors/awards: PURA (research award); Deans List/Faculty Honors; At the final round for fellowship for a world-renowned non-profit to advance leadership and my Homeless-Shelter initiative, high probability of getting accepted.
11. Anything Else- Enjoy blogging, dancing, and outdoor-excursions/hiking
Obviously don't have letters of recc together since I am not applying this cycle, but I know I can get at least two good ones from my research advisor, and from hopefully a high-up engineering department member from my work on the Student Advocacy board.
Do I have a shot at any ivy-leagues or top 20s? I know my GPA is on the lower side of their ranges due to my late decision to become a doctor, but I tried to make up for it with upward trends, a good MCAT, and my ECs. If these aren't a possibility, what schools should I shoot for? I always have been passionate about affordable healthcare, technology/medical devices, and research.
1. cGPA: ~ 3.7 and sGPA: ~3.66 (3.5-->3.0-->3.7-->4.0). I think this is considered an upward trend
2. MCAT: 523
3. State of residency: GA
4. Undergraduate institution: well-known, top-5 Engineering school
5. Clinical experience: Volunteered with local Children's Hospital ~200 hours as part of Children's Miracle Network. Had direct patient contact and was the Family-Relations Coordinator where I helped organize a Miracle-Week Charity Volleyball tournament for the Miracle Families and Halloween Trick-or_treating around greek-row. 50 of those hours are teaching STEM-activities and outreach to patients in the Children's Hospital. Also a COVID-19 Crisis line responder for a free clinic targeted towards underserved populations in my urban city (just 25 so far, but expected to increase over time)
6. Research experience: Research starting from Freshman Year, 2 in undergraduate research lab with my own independent project for which I was awarded a PURA award (presidents undergrad research award for my proposal) but had to decline funding due to logistics of lab availability. Then switched to do 2 years in Clinical research at local hospital with a cardiologist. Will have at least 2 pubs where I will be first author, 1-2 poster/abstracts
7. Shadowing: Curently only at 40 hours of cardiology shadowing. Hope to improve this, but how many is good to shoot for? Corona has obviously hurt a low of people's ability to shadow. I have also been accepted to a fully-funded 3-week medical brigade in which I will be shadowing and treating as a medical-assistant to the underserved people of the Dominican republic. The program sees at least 80 patients a day for 3 weeks.
8. Non-clinical volunteering: Developed activities related to STEM that tackled state education standards and volunteered/tutored with local public schools, mainly low-income and undeserved populations (50 hours) Also volunteered for Fighting-hunger related organizations by packaging meals for the food insecure.
9. Other extracurriculars: Vice President of Academic Outreach for sorority- helped and facilitated Scholarship Improvement plans for those struggling academically while providing academic and career related advice/events, bringing us to one of the highest GPAs of a greek chapter; Helped to start a free Homeless-Shelter for students on campus (currently being expanded for COVID relief) that aids in guidance towards social-workers, food banks, and free healthcare; President of the Student Advocacy Board; Campus Tour Guide; Student Government Health and Well-being committee (1 year)
10. Relevant honors/awards: PURA (research award); Deans List/Faculty Honors; At the final round for fellowship for a world-renowned non-profit to advance leadership and my Homeless-Shelter initiative, high probability of getting accepted.
11. Anything Else- Enjoy blogging, dancing, and outdoor-excursions/hiking
Obviously don't have letters of recc together since I am not applying this cycle, but I know I can get at least two good ones from my research advisor, and from hopefully a high-up engineering department member from my work on the Student Advocacy board.
Do I have a shot at any ivy-leagues or top 20s? I know my GPA is on the lower side of their ranges due to my late decision to become a doctor, but I tried to make up for it with upward trends, a good MCAT, and my ECs. If these aren't a possibility, what schools should I shoot for? I always have been passionate about affordable healthcare, technology/medical devices, and research.
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