What are my chances?

[mjd5136]

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I know this has been beaten to death, but I would really appreciate some criticism. I am a ME major at Penn State with a 3.3 GPA. I'm in a MCAT review course and as of now my practice MCAT scores are around 30. I'll have 2 summers of volunteering in an ER by graduation, and I am currently involved in research in the ME department that has a biological slant towards it, plus shadowing a physician. I am going to be in undergrad for 5 years, as my engineering schedule was not very accomodating towards med school prereqs. By graduation I am planning on my GPA being around 3.5, as this is the average growth during these years. Anyone have any idea of my chances? I feel that I have never been given a straight answer. Also, would having low grades in prereq's such as physics(C in electricity and magnetism) hurt me even if my later coursework went into much deeper detail into these subjects and I performed well?

Thank you

 

[Mobius1985]

A GPA of 3.5 in Mechanical Engineering is pretty good. With an MCAT of 32+, you have a pretty good chance at an acceptance, assuming all other elements of your application are in good shape. You have started the research, so that's good. You are shadowing a doc; 8-40 hours of this would be fine for each of 2-3 specialties. My concern is that you'll only have two summers of clinical experience by the time you graduate and applywhen most have 1.5-2.0 years on their application. If at all possible, try to find the time for just 2-4 hours every other week during the school year to do something clinically oriented. Could you maybe volunteer to help a challenged student who needs help with tasks of daily living? If you have no ther time, consider waiting an additional year before applying.

For more specific information about MCAT scores and chances of acceptance with various stat combos, look at this grid showing the chance of acceptance over the last three years: http://www.aamc.org/data/facts/2008/mcatgpa-grid-3yrs-app-accpt.htm

 

[Stratego]

At most schools you'll make up for a C in a prerequisite course if you got a higher grade in a later course of the series or in an upper-level course in that subject.