What are my chances for DO or MD

[mikepremed1987]

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[gyngyn]

Those "mission" trips are neutral at best.
Your service in addition enough evidence that you know what you are getting into will be strong EC's. Keep your grades up and don't take the MCAT until you are scoring above the median for your state schools.

 

[Goro]

And many thanks for your service to our country. Semper Fi!

 

[Catalystik]

Hey good evening,

I have been working for awhile towards medical school and have gotten a little discouraged. It's just the time commitment and stress it puts on my family. I am married with 2 kids and money is tight so the longer I am in school the harder things are. Let me go through my situation and then post my stats

Story:
I was in the Marine Corps for 5 years and planned on staying for the full 20. My son was born around the 3rd year I was in and he had a lot of medical problems. Suffice to say he spent the first couple months having multiple heart surgeries and receiving a pacemaker. While I was staying in the hospital I met some amazing people who forever changed my life. After that experience I knew that I wanted to work in medicine. I got out of the military and started back at a CC. Previously I had graduated in the bottom 10% of my high school class and had essentially failed or done poor in my first couple semesters in college. Then came the military and now i'm back full circle. I have been going to school for about 2 years now and transferred to one of the top colleges in my area. I will be able to apply to med school next year and I hope to start fall 2016.

Issues:
The biggest issue for me is the lack of extra-curricular's. Right now I go to school during the day, my wife goes to school at night part-time and works on the weekends. Its pretty difficult to get much in but I hope to have at least built up 30-40 hours of shadowing and around the same volunteering hours helping students at a local middle school.

My grades have gotten a lot better but the first couple semesters I did poor. My GPA is a 3.7 with grade replacement but around a 3.3-3.4 without. So really how well can a story and grades balance out my lack of extra stuff? I have gotten really discouraged because the students around me have done a ton of things they can put on their application. Some of these guys have a thousand hours of shadowing, multiple mission trips to other countries and all kinds of clubs, parents are doctors etc. I am starting to feel like I don't have a chance and need to rethink my plans. It may sound stupid but how much weight is given to this stuff?


GPA- 3.7 (with replacement) around 3.3-3.4 (w/o replacement)
I have made an A in all my pre-req's (only two left to take, currently in orgo 1) also every semester I have taken since I got out of the military (last 5) I made a 4.0 and the president/deans list.


Please let me know what you guys think about the lack of extra curricular activities and what I can do to beef up my application.

Thanks

The students around you don't have 5 years in the military (which is looked upon as altruistic) with its associated leadership, teaching opportunities, and added years of maturity. I agree with @gyngyn that besides shadowing, the main activity you'd need to work on is gaining clinical experience interacting with sick and injured folks if you didn't do this as part of your military job. In all other respects, you are ahead of the game, EC-wise. So, not to worry.