What are my chances of VA-Allopathic - HELP PLEASE

[gwupremed]

My overall GPA is/will be ~3.65 my Science GPA is ~3.4 (I got Bs in Gen Chem, B- in Phys I and C+ in orgo I but I retook Orgo I and got an A-). I am a Bio major with a minor in religion. I have straight As in all my Biology classes however.

I havent taken the MCAT yet but Im really nervous

My ECs are Dance Team (outside of school), private tutoring, one club i started with my firends to hep the homeless and I had a leadership in it but it was disbanded after one year (should i include that in the app), some clubs but no leadership, peer advisor, undergrad TA for Histology lab. My only clinical experience are my jobs i worked as a Medical Assistant for 3 different urgent cares for a period of 2.5 years

However I did WORK ALOT through all 4 years of undergrad to pay off my student loans. I also held a managerial position at one of my jobs (does that count as leadership?)

Some explanatory stuff: I commuted to and from school all 4 years (school was ~45 miles away, I took public transport which took me 1-1.5 hrs one way) This took away from school involvement opportunities for me . My uncle passed away during my sophomore year and I have 2 Withdrawals as a results (In BIO and Physics II).

I want to apply this summer (end of my senior year). I am in the process of starting an chapter for Unite for Sight at my school (have submitted the application and been accepted to do so). I am also planning on working full time with 2 jobs during the gap year and I have applied to AMERICORP as well for the gap year.

I know this is a lot of INFO but any help you could give me would be great!

Im sure I stand out but in which way..not sure?

Als

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[Catalystik]

Median acceptee stats for VA schools are EVMS 3.6/31, UVa 3.8/34, VCU 3.7/30, so depending on your MCAT your could have a decent shot at all three.

Your clinical experience is excellent. If it included some shadowing, you'd want to make that clear in your description, but regardless, try to shadow two other types of doc. You have leadership, with maybe more to come if you get your Unite for Sight chapter up and running before you submit, and yes, the management position can be listed here as well, or under Employment. You have something to list for teaching. You don't mention research, but your consistent involvement with your job throughout school can make that understandable. You could list dance team under Artistic Endeavors, or Hobbies, or Sports, depending on what you really do.

I think your application will be very nice. Apply more broadly than just your state schools. Once you have your MCAT score you can decide where.

 

[J ROD]

really depends on the MCAT.....everything else is good.

 

[gwupremed]

Thank you both for your answers. My only problem is that I will potentially be submitting my AMCAS "blind" meaning w/o my MCAT scores. I plan on taking the MCAT in Late June early July so I don't know..what do you all think?

Oh btw, I do have a year of research experience with my Neurobiology professor and he is one of my LORs. As is my Histology professor I am TA-ing for.

 

[J ROD]

Personally, I wanted to make sure I could get a high enough MCAT score before I applied. I am not a great standardized testtaker so I knew the MCAT was going to be my hurdle.

But, if you normally do well on them, I dont see a problem. I know many folks that did and it worked out fine.

It is just alot of money to invest and then lose if the MCAT is weak and you cant get the money back.

Somewhat risky....but not too bad.

 

[Catalystik]

You could submit your application listing only one school, just to get the verification done, then add more schools when the score comes back, depending on your competitiveness (or not) to be more fiscally conservative. Newly added schools get the entire application within a day, and it costs the same as it would have if you'd put the schools in before submission.

 

[flip26]

Your low sgpa and below avg cgpa will definitely hurt you at UVA, but it should not be a deal killer at EVMS or VCU assuming you score 30+ on the MCAT.

Don't forget the new VA Tech med school, VTC - it may have been just for this first year, but they appear to have been very lenient on applicant GPA and MCAT...

One additional thought on UVA: the early interview is key to acceptance, and an early app is key to the interview invite, so if you don't take the MCAT until July, your app will be behind the curve at UVA. I know that it doesn't seem like it should matter much, but you should spend some time reading the UVA thread. To get a September/early October interview at UVA, you need to be "complete" with them in early July in order to get an interview invite in early August...all I am saying here is that to get the best possible chance of an interview and acceptance at UVA, you should be complete with them in mid July (seems like I submitted the secondary around July 10, and got the interview invite on August 3, interviewed in mid September, and got accepted October 15)...

Good luck.