What are my chances?

[thatoneguy3]

Hey everyone! I was wondering if anyone would be able to give me some kind of support on whether or not I can actually make it into medical school at some point. I did not end up applying for this cycle due to not doing well on the MCAT (for a second time), but everything else is ready to go once next cycle opens up. I am a first gen, Puerto Rican, Illinois resident who graduated from UW Madison with a 3.4 gpa overall (I never actually sat down and calculated sGPA but I think its around 3.25-3.3), 497 MCAT. I did do a lot of volunteering and shadowing during undergrad, ranging from about 160 hours at a hospital, 100 hours tutoring 4th and 5th graders in math and reading, pre medical societies, habitat for humanity, 2 years of lab research (one year I technically count as an internship because it was through the hospital and that is what paperwork I had to fill out before), A LOT of shadowing hours in the PICU and department of neurology (I shadowed a MD and a DO and both agreed to write me a letter), worked as a caregiver at a memory care facility for two years (full time in the summers) and in my time off I am currently scribing.

As far as strengths go I think my activities put me in good shape and advising told me my activity statements/personal statement are good to go. Letters of rec I feel like should be fine, GPA isn't completely terrible for low tier MD and DO, but my MCAT is what scares me. I originally took it in January, got the score back then hit the books again w/ a private tutor, but still got the same score even though I was making progress with the AAMC materials and other stuff. It just kind of stinks that I would do better/way better on certain practice tests I've taken and then do bad on the real thing.

 

[workaholic181]

Hey everyone! I was wondering if anyone would be able to give me some kind of support on whether or not I can actually make it into medical school at some point. I did not end up applying for this cycle due to not doing well on the MCAT (for a second time), but everything else is ready to go once next cycle opens up. I am a first gen, Puerto Rican, Illinois resident who graduated from UW Madison with a 3.4 gpa overall (I never actually sat down and calculated sGPA but I think its around 3.25-3.3), 497 MCAT. I did do a lot of volunteering and shadowing during undergrad, ranging from about 160 hours at a hospital, 100 hours tutoring 4th and 5th graders in math and reading, pre medical societies, habitat for humanity, 2 years of lab research (one year I technically count as an internship because it was through the hospital and that is what paperwork I had to fill out before), A LOT of shadowing hours in the PICU and department of neurology (I shadowed a MD and a DO and both agreed to write me a letter), worked as a caregiver at a memory care facility for two years (full time in the summers) and in my time off I am currently scribing.

As far as strengths go I think my activities put me in good shape and advising told me my activity statements/personal statement are good to go. Letters of rec I feel like should be fine, GPA isn't completely terrible for low tier MD and DO, but my MCAT is what scares me. I originally took it in January, got the score back then hit the books again w/ a private tutor, but still got the same score even though I was making progress with the AAMC materials and other stuff. It just kind of stinks that I would do better/way better on certain practice tests I've taken and then do bad on the real thing.

Sounds like you might have test taking anxiety. You're gong to retake next winter, right?

I don't think lower tier MD is in play for you anymore, unless on your next MCAT you scored really high, like 515 range.. which frankly is unlikely to happen. You tested twice and scored well below 50 percentile each time. That makes an MD acceptance at this point really unlikely. Your GPAs are also pretty poor for all MD. Your ECs are fine but not spectacular.

That said you still have a shot at DO if you can get your MCAT over 500. Shoot for a 505 at least.

 

[thatoneguy3]

Sounds like you might have test taking anxiety. You're gong to retake next winter, right?

I don't think lower tier MD is in play for you anymore, unless on your next MCAT you scored really high, like 515 range.. which frankly is unlikely to happen. You tested twice and scored well below 50 percentile each time. That makes an MD acceptance at this point really unlikely. Your GPAs are also pretty poor for all MD. Your ECs are fine but not spectacular.

That said you still have a shot at DO if you can get your MCAT over 500. Shoot for a 505 at least.

Next winter is the plan! I almost wanted to sign up immediately after my second test but decided against it because I did not think much would change in 10 days. I figured since I graduated I would not have to worry as much about other school work, so that might help me focus more on MCAT stuff. My big concern with studying now is that I want to dive back into my prep stuff, but I'm afraid that if I look at a question I'll just know it off of photographic memory as opposed to actually knowing what the answer is. So far I've been trying to re-read some text books for content and example problems (it's been helping) and might dive back into taking practice tests again in October. Any tips on coping with test anxiety?

 

[gyngyn]

The median MCAT scores for the 3 Puerto Rican schools that consider mainlanders are: UCC, 495; SJB, 496 and Ponce, 495.

 

[thatoneguy3]

The median MCAT scores for the 3 Puerto Rican schools that consider mainlanders are: UCC, 495; SJB, 496 and Ponce, 495.

That does give me some comfort, but my big concern is if I were to go to a Puerto Rican school I would have a hard time coming back to the US, which would mean I just tanked everything. Ideally I'd like to at least shoot for a 510 (that was my goal to start so however realistic it is at this point I'd like to go for it) so maybe I could stay in the US for school.

 

[gyngyn]

That does give me some comfort, but my big concern is if I were to go to a Puerto Rican school I would have a hard time coming back to the US, which would mean I just tanked everything. Ideally I'd like to at least shoot for a 510 (that was my goal to start so however realistic it is at this point I'd like to go for it) so maybe I could stay in the US for school.

They are LCME accredited US MD schools.

 

[workaholic181]

Next winter is the plan! I almost wanted to sign up immediately after my second test but decided against it because I did not think much would change in 10 days. I figured since I graduated I would not have to worry as much about other school work, so that might help me focus more on MCAT stuff. My big concern with studying now is that I want to dive back into my prep stuff, but I'm afraid that if I look at a question I'll just know it off of photographic memory as opposed to actually knowing what the answer is. So far I've been trying to re-read some text books for content and example problems (it's been helping) and might dive back into taking practice tests again in October. Any tips on coping with test anxiety?

Gyngyn as usual makes a good point; those PR med schools are definitely in play for you.

Tough to give you MCAT advice without having an appreciation for how you prepped last time. If you haven't taken a class, maybe that would help.. again I cant really advise you without knowing more about how you studied the first two times.

I also didnt mean to be overly harsh in my first post; you absolutely can still be a physician, I think it's just more realistic to be focused on DO (and PR) schools at this point.

 

[thatoneguy3]

Gyngyn as usual makes a good point; those PR med schools are definitely in play for you.

Tough to give you MCAT advice without having an appreciation for how you prepped last time. If you haven't taken a class, maybe that would help.. again I cant really advise you without knowing more about how you studied the first two times.

I also didnt mean to be overly harsh in my first post; you absolutely can still be a physician, I think it's just more realistic to be focused on DO (and PR) schools at this point.

No worries! I didn't think you went over the top or anything, I kind of figured my best shot would be DO and I do not have any issues with going that route anyways. I was going to apply to about 20 DO schools and maybe around 10-15 MD school (I can't remember which ones, I just would go to the calculator stuff, Lizzy, etc. and put in my info w/ my "ideal" MCAT and pick schools that fit where it says target). I've wanted to work in pediatrics since I was a little kid, and I have no problem jumping through hoops, its just I wish I could get started sooner rather than later.