BrunoMarsFan
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- Mar 4, 2025
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Hi, I'm trying to understand where the weaknesses in my application are and any other insight that I could do to improve it. This will also be my first application cycle, so I appreciate any advice anyone has for me!
1. cGPA and sGPA (calculated using the AMCAS/AACOMAS Undergrad GPA Calculator from the r/premed subreddit)
2. MCAT Score Breakdown (all attempts)
3. State of residence or country of citizenship (if non-US)
4. Gender and Ethnicity and/or race
5. Undergraduate institution or category
6. Clinical experience (volunteer and non-volunteer)
7. Research experience and productivity
8. Shadowing experience and specialties represented
9. Non-clinical volunteering
10. Other extracurricular activities (including athletics, military service, gap year activities, leadership, teaching, etc.)
11. Relevant honors or awards
12. Anything else not listed you think might be important
List of Schools (staying in California would be nice, but I'm not strict on that preference):
- CHSU-COM
- LMU-DCOM
- WVSOM
- Noorda-COM
- UNE-COM
- AZCOM
- PNWU-COM
- BCOM
- UIWSOM
- ARCOM
- WCUCOM
- ACOM
- UP-KYCOM
- NYITCOM
- PCOM
If any further context or clarification is needed, please let me know! Thank you to anyone who can provide any advice or insight into what I should be focusing on!
1. cGPA and sGPA (calculated using the AMCAS/AACOMAS Undergrad GPA Calculator from the r/premed subreddit)
- cGPA: 3.35
- sGPA: 3.31
- For anyone curious, my AMCAS sGPA is a 3.22.
2. MCAT Score Breakdown (all attempts)
- 8/02/2024: 495 (123/125/124/123)
- 5/23/2025: 500 (124/125/124/127)
3. State of residence or country of citizenship (if non-US)
- California (CA)
4. Gender and Ethnicity and/or race
- Asian (Filipino/Chinese)
5. Undergraduate institution or category
- University of California - Riverside
- Major: Biology
- Certificate: B.S. Biological Sciences
6. Clinical experience (volunteer and non-volunteer)
- Ophthalmic Technician (Hands-on patient care, operating medical machinery, scribing for the doctors)
- Compensated full-time for over the last 2 years, so about 3500-4000 hours or so.
- I am also currently applying to volunteer at my local VA where I'll be tasked with a variety of direct and indirect patient care activities.
7. Research experience and productivity
- No non-academic research experience. The only research I've done was part of a Dynamic Genome class (10 weeks) that focused on independent procedures. No papers were publicized.
8. Shadowing experience and specialties represented
- 64 hours between 2 doctors (8 hours/week, 5 weeks each): Pediatrician and Anesthesiologist, both MD.
9. Non-clinical volunteering
- ~350 hours: Volunteering as part of Key Club when I was a high school student (High School Club focused on Volunteer Opportunities)
- ~30 hours: Meal prepping for meals to be home delivered for individuals who are unable to shop and cook for themselves and who live alone.
10. Other extracurricular activities (including athletics, military service, gap year activities, leadership, teaching, etc.)
- Just hobbies:
- Playing Piano since I was 4 y/o.
- Playing Soccer since I was 6 y/o.
11. Relevant honors or awards
- I made the Dean's Honor List for 4 different quarters during Undergrad.
12. Anything else not listed you think might be important
- I had a terrible Freshman year (got an F in one of my Calculus classes, which plummeted my GPA), and had a pretty decent upwards trend afterwards.
- (sGPA: 2.78 -> 3.13 -> 3.13 -> 3.3)
- LORs:
- Ophthalmologist: I worked directly under him for the last 2 years. I feel confident it's a strong letter.
- Anesthesiologist: That I shadowed under as listed above.
- Pediatrician: That I shadowed under as listed above.
- 2 STEM Professors: One of them I feel decent about, the other I feel a little more confident it'll be strong. However, it has been 2-3 years since I was last in their classes.
List of Schools (staying in California would be nice, but I'm not strict on that preference):
- CHSU-COM
- LMU-DCOM
- WVSOM
- Noorda-COM
- UNE-COM
- AZCOM
- PNWU-COM
- BCOM
- UIWSOM
- ARCOM
- WCUCOM
- ACOM
- UP-KYCOM
- NYITCOM
- PCOM
If any further context or clarification is needed, please let me know! Thank you to anyone who can provide any advice or insight into what I should be focusing on!
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