What are my Chances?????

[SheHasManHands]

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I'm 25 years old, white male, Born in U.S

Year in school: Graduated December 2013

Country/state of residence: Currently SC moving to PA/NY for new job hopefully (establish residency)

Major: BS Biochemistry, BA Economics

Schools to which you are applying:
Weill Medical( Reach)
University of Pittsburgh (Reach)
Temple
SUNY Upstate
SUNY Downstate
Albany
University of Rochester
NYU


(Just beginning my list, Open to suggestions for schools that are good fit in either PA or NY. From what I understand my list should be ~15 schools, and I know i need some less tough ones in there too)

Cumulative GPA: 3.7

Science GPA: 3.5

MCAT Scores: 513 (127,129,129,128)

Research: Virtually none outside of a few days of some very interesting neuromonitoring studies on innovative pedicle screws being tested on pigs, which I don't think I'm supposed to talk about... All of this work was done through my current job (Intraoperative neuromonitoring technologist)

Extracurricular activities: Admittedly weak here as well: Unfortunately used to be partying :'( but also intramural/pick up sports - Soccer, Basketball, Tennis. Nothing too impressive here... Do board games count???? I play a mean game of settlers of catan!

Employment history: Intraoperative neuromonitoring technologist - college grad - present (~3 years)

My job is a little obscure so I'll try to briefly explain it: Basically I monitor the integrity of the nervous system during basic spinal fusions, as well as more advanced surgical procedures including removal of intramedullary tumors and craniotomies. This requires efficient communication with patients, surgeons, OR personnel, and online neurologists/professional overseers. Basically I'm a specialized tech that knows where to stick needles during surgeries to make sure nothing too traumatic happened to the spinal cord during the procedure.

In college I was a handyman during summers and coordinated a group of guys in various oddjobs (painting, landscaping, etc.) in our entrapreneurish group called "four strong men" - On a side note, I think I'll keep this on my resume forever, I get positive feedback about the name all the time, even if it is a little childish.

I had various non serious jobs since I was 14 up through college, not sure if these little hustles of mine are even worth mentioning...

Immediate family members in medicine? No

Specialty of interest: Family Medicine, Psychiatry, Neurology, Mostly unsure, Definitely NOT surgery - Would like to learn a lot more in school!

Shadowing experience: Never Shadowed, though I do work with surgeons/Anesthesiologists/Neurologists all the time as I go in to monitor daily.

Graduate degrees: No

Interest in rural health: Yes, but right now I need to focus on work and applications, gotta pay those bills!

 

[Faha]

If you are currently a South Carolina resident apply to all the South Carolina schools since that is where your best chances are. You could also try schools in the northeast such as:
Hofstra
New York Medical
Einstein
Albany
Rochester
Quinnipiac
Penn State
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
GW
Georgetown
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia

 

[SheHasManHands]

If you are currently a South Carolina resident apply to all the South Carolina schools since that is where your best chances are. You could also try schools in the northeast such as:
Hofstra
New York Medical
Einstein
Albany
Rochester
Quinnipiac
Penn State
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
GW
Georgetown
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia

Thanks for responding! I'm going to try to relocate and work in Pennsylvania/New York (originally from New York) relatively soon, work for a year, and aim to matriculate next fall after I've re-establish residency. That said, I'm more interested in areas in the NE, Pennsylvania specifically. I'll definitely look into the schools you mentioned though, and thanks again!!!!!

 

[Faha]

If you plan to matriculate next fall you need to apply in the next 2 weeks. Or are you planning to apply next fall and matriculate in the fall of 2018?

 

[SheHasManHands]

If you plan to matriculate next fall you need to apply in the next 2 weeks. Or are you planning to apply next fall and matriculate in the fall of 2018?

Wait, if I want to matriculate in the fall of 2017, over a year from now, I need to apply within the next two weeks??? That seems a little crazy

 

[gyngyn]

Wait, if I want to matriculate in the fall of 2017, over a year from now, I need to apply within the next two weeks??? That seems a little crazy

At a minimum, you should already have submitted an AMCAS application since you have your scores. We've already received over 4,000 secondaries for the class entering in Fall 2017...

 

[SheHasManHands]

Damn. I just got my scores recently. Wasn't aware of of the time constraint! Ah well, one more year of work won't hurt and it'll give me the time to give this search the time and attention it most assuredly requires. Thanks so much for the information!

 

[anonymoose1640]

You should also seriously research each state's requirements for establishing residency. Not all states will allow you to claim that you're a resident for tuition purposes if you've only lived there for a year or two.

Here are some important dates for the 2017-2018 cycle that you should keep in mind:
If you're going to apply next year, you should submit your primary application (AMCAS) in the beginning of June 2017 (the service is accessible starting in May), you will be verified by July, you will submit secondaries by the end of July and be marked complete then too. You'll receive invitations to interview anywhere from July 2017 - April 2018 depending on the school. The first day you can find out about an acceptance is Oct. 15, 2017. The day that you need to choose one school and only one school is April 30, 2018. You will matriculate to a school usually around August 1, 2018.

If you were to apply for entry in August 2017, you'd need to apply ASAP. It takes ~1 month for your primary application to be verified, so you'd start receiving and completing secondaries at the end of August, you'd (hopefully) be complete everywhere by Labor Day and you'd receive invitations to interview anywhere from Sept 2016 to April 2017. I definitely don't recommend doing this option since the application takes a very long time to complete and because a late application can sometimes have a negative impact on the number of acceptances you receive.

Also, you should talk to your undergrad's pre-health committee or office to see if they have a committee letter that you need to apply to. You should also reach out to old professors because you will need letters of recommendation. The most stringent LOR requirements I've seen is: 2 science letters, 1 non-science, all research PIs, so you should strive for those letters at a minimum to ensure you meet every schools requirements.

Hope that helps, good luck!

p.s. if that's you in your avatar, I recommend changing the pic to maintain your anonymity.

 

[SheHasManHands]

You should also seriously research each state's requirements for establishing residency. Not all states will allow you to claim that you're a resident for tuition purposes if you've only lived there for a year or two.

Here are some important dates for the 2017-2018 cycle that you should keep in mind:
If you're going to apply next year, you should submit your primary application (AMCAS) in the beginning of June 2017 (the service is accessible starting in May), you will be verified by July, you will submit secondaries by the end of July and be marked complete then too. You'll receive invitations to interview anywhere from July 2017 - April 2018 depending on the school. The first day you can find out about an acceptance is Oct. 15, 2017. The day that you need to choose one school and only one school is April 30, 2018. You will matriculate to a school usually around August 1, 2018.

If you were to apply for entry in August 2017, you'd need to apply ASAP. It takes ~1 month for your primary application to be verified, so you'd start receiving and completing secondaries at the end of August, you'd (hopefully) be complete everywhere by Labor Day and you'd receive invitations to interview anywhere from Sept 2016 to April 2017. I definitely don't recommend doing this option since the application takes a very long time to complete and because a late application can sometimes have a negative impact on the number of acceptances you receive.

Also, you should talk to your undergrad's pre-health committee or office to see if they have a committee letter that you need to apply to. You should also reach out to old professors because you will need letters of recommendation. The most stringent LOR requirements I've seen is: 2 science letters, 1 non-science, all research PIs, so you should strive for those letters at a minimum to ensure you meet every schools requirements.

Hope that helps, good luck!

p.s. if that's you in your avatar, I recommend changing the pic to maintain your anonymity.

Ahhhh yes thanks so much!!! I'm learning so much tonight! I'm definitely not going to rush an application so I'll be going for the next round and doing it right. And yes I'll change the pic, haha, I suppose anonymity is key here. Thank you for guiding this lost little puppy.