what are my chances for admission / what to do with a gap year?

[cerulean]

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I'm a junior and recently decided to pursue the med school route. I was wondering if anyone could give me an honest idea of what my chances are for admission to any med schools as well as any advice for maximizing my chances w/ the time I have left (especially regarding what to do during a gap year).

I'm a biomedical engineering major with a 3.7 overall GPA and ~3.6 science GPA. I haven't taken the MCAT yet but plan to this August.

Research experience in 3 labs (nothing too impressive).

ECs:
-lots of community service and other social justice related activities

Since I'm not taking the MCAT until August, I won't be able to apply to schools my senior year w/o being at a disadvantage; plus, I'd prefer to take a gap year anyway to do some things I'd like to do before heading into another 4 years of school & to take my time applying.

With the gap year, I had a few options in mind (in addition to some short-term international volunteer work, if possible):
-research
-master's degree in public health
-master's degree in biomedical engineering

I have a strong interest in public health (though I really like biomaterials research too), so either one of the master's degrees sounds appealing. However, I'd rather not pay full out of state tuition for a year, especially since I wouldn't intend for the master's degree to be my terminal degree.

Please offer any input and advice that you might have. Thanks!

 

[Stephanieukmed]

I'm a junior at the University of Michigan and recently decided to pursue the med school route. I was wondering if anyone could give me an honest idea of what my chances are for admission to any med schools as well as any advice for maximizing my chances w/ the time I have left (especially regarding what to do during a gap year).

I'm a biomedical engineering major with a 3.676 overall GPA and ~3.4-3.5 major/science GPA (I'm hoping I can boost it a over the next 3 semesters I have left; 1 semester left this year and the 2 semesters next year). I haven't taken the MCAT yet but plan to this August.

Research experience:
-1 year part time in an internal medicine lab
-2 months full time one summer in a biomaterials engineering lab
-8 weeks this summer at NIH in a malaria research lab

ECs:
-part of the planning team that's putting on a human rights health conference (with speakers from the UN, PIH, and Harvard public health/law profs)
-co-site led an alternative spring break trip to do volunteer work with a labor rights group
-member of the university community service center's advisory board
-member of an engineering for community team that did design work for water pumps in Niger
-service coordinator on the leadership team of a Christian student organization

other stuff:
-interned part time for two summers at the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless (advocacy non-profit org)
-interned for two summers in high school at the NASA Glenn Research Center (microgravity combustion science research & industrial hygiene work)

Since I'm not taking the MCAT until August, I won't be able to apply to schools my senior year w/o being at a disadvantage; plus, I'd prefer to take a gap year anyway to do some things I'd like to do before heading into another 4 years of school & to take my time applying.

With the gap year, I had a few options in mind (in addition to some short-term international volunteer work, if possible):
-research (hopefully at NIH if this summer goes well)
-master's degree in public health (since Mich has a 5 year bachelors/masters degree program with the school of public health, though I'd need to apply for the program this semester if I want to do it)
-master's degree in biomedical engineering (also a 5 year bachelors/masters program, though a lot of double-counted classes w/ my current curriculum mean that I could decide as late as the summer after my senior year/graduation to do the program)

I have a strong interest in public health (though I really like biomaterials research too), so either one of the master's degrees sounds appealing. However, I'd rather not pay full out of state tuition for a year, especially since I wouldn't intend for the master's degree to be my terminal degree.

Please offer any input and advice that you might have. Thanks!

If you are from Ohio you are totally in because in Ohio you have 7 medical schools to choose from. Also, your grades are awesome (I got in with way worse).
As for the MCAT, I took it in August of my senior year, and it worked out fine. I got into medical school that same year, and didn't need a gap year.

If you are really set on taking a year off, I would recommend getting your LORs (letters of recommendation) before you graduate because the more time that elapses between when you graduate and when you apply the harder it is going to be for people to remember you well enough to write a good letter.

Hope that helps.

 

[Wolfgang12345]

I would also get CLINICAL EXPERIENCE. I am applying right now, and have volunteered in the surgery ward of a very large level I trauma center in a poor community for 16 months - and all I keep getting asked is "so why don't you have any clinical experience?" Seriously... your stuff looks a little similar to mine, good grades in a science field, research, and I have a Masters of Science - so that's what I would do in your shoes: get some experience talking with and preferably giving some sort of medical aid to as many live humans as possible.

Good luck

 

[Law2Doc]

I would also get CLINICAL EXPERIENCE. I am applying right now, and have volunteered in the surgery ward of a very large level I trauma center in a poor community for 16 months - and all I keep getting asked is "so why don't you have any clinical experience?" Seriously... your stuff looks a little similar to mine, good grades in a science field, research, and I have a Masters of Science - so that's what I would do in your shoes: get some experience talking with and preferably giving some sort of medical aid to as many live humans as possible.

Good luck

Agreed - that part stuck out like a sore thumb to me too when reading the OP's accomplishments. To the OP: NIH research will be a bad use of your already research adequate background. I wouldn't do either of the graduate degrees you suggest if your goal is just to make yourself more competitive for med school, but if you have a latent interest, then fine. But very few schools will touch you without adequate clinical experience/exposure. By clinical, that means having worked with patients, doctors and observed the interreltionship between the two. The point is (a) to have you show that at some level, you know what you are getting yourself into in medicine, and (b) to demonstrate an interest in the practice of medicine. Most people do some volunteering (ER is most popular), shadowing or some form of healthcare related employment (EMT, Phlebotamist, etc) to demonstrate clinical experience. It might help you decide if you are really interested in this route, but at any rate, the adcoms are going to expect this and consider it a failing if you haven't.

 

[star22]

Agreed - that part stuck out like a sore thumb to me too when reading the OP's accomplishments. To the OP: NIH research will be a bad use of your already research adequate background. I wouldn't do either of the graduate degrees you suggest if your goal is just to make yourself more competitive for med school, but if you have a latent interest, then fine. But very few schools will touch you without adequate clinical experience/exposure. By clinical, that means having worked with patients, doctors and observed the interreltionship between the two. The point is (a) to have you show that at some level, you know what you are getting yourself into in medicine, and (b) to demonstrate an interest in the practice of medicine. Most people do some volunteering (ER is most popular), shadowing or some form of healthcare related employment (EMT, Phlebotamist, etc) to demonstrate clinical experience. It might help you decide if you are really interested in this route, but at any rate, the adcoms are going to expect this and consider it a failing if you haven't.

I also agree. My application is pretty research oriented too, but I have spent ~one year volunteering in the hospital and ~30hrs shadowing a physician, yet I have been told I should still try to find more clinical opportunities. So far I only have 4 waitlists spots, so if things don't work out for me this year, that is exactly the approach I am going to take.

 

[cerulean]

Thanks for all the input

In terms of clinical experience, can anyone give me a good idea of how much would be a sufficient level?

In the past, I volunteered at the University of Michigan Health System (at the main hospital in the general vascular surgery unit and neurointensive care unit) for one semester for 4 hrs/week. However, that work was mostly restocking cabinets and such and not really much of a learning experience. I also shadowed a pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon for one day during my freshman year and got a huge thrill out of watching open-heart surgery on a one-year-old baby with a heart about 3-4 cm in diameter.

I know I will need a LOT more clinical experience and was just wondering what suggestions people had on finding meaningful clinical experiences. If possible, I don't think I'd want to volunteer at U of M's hospital again because the experiences didn't seem that educational. The EMT route suggested by people seemed interesting, but more time than I'd want to invest in order to get clinical experience (especially with the training needed beforehand).

If I shadowed a doctor for 2-4 weeks full time this summer or found an international medical-work-focused volunteer opportunity for 2-3 months next summer, do you think that would be sufficient clinical experience? I don't want to underestimate how much clinical experience I should get, but at the same time, I'd like to maximize the time that I put in (in terms of what I learn and maybe what I could contribute).

Thanks.

 

[happydays]

talk to peggy. She's the pre-med academic (as well as everything else) advisor. She has walk-in hours in the SLC (alcove 2?) on thursdays from 2-4pm (i think).

 

[disque71]

do ok(27ish) on your mcat and your are set