What are my chances

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willdoh

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20. Asian.
GPA: 3.75
BMCP: 3.8~3.9 ish
MCAT: N/A
Department Tutoring for Freshmen Bio Course ~1 yr
Hospital volunteering (around 200hr by the time of application I'm guessing)
Research for ~2 yrs by the time of application

I'm currently a sophomore at UCSB.
I want to know where I stand, especially schools that are in CA (USC or Loma Linda).
I'm a CA native so I'd like to stay in my home state if possible, but I wouldn't mind going out of state either if that's the only option.

I know MCAT is still a huge stumbling block and I know my GPA is still variable since I'm only a sophomore still.

What can I do to improve my chances at CA schools? How to improve my ECs?

Thanks in advance
 
20. Asian.
GPA: 3.75
BMCP: 3.8~3.9 ish
MCAT: N/A
Department Tutoring for Freshmen Bio Course ~1 yr
Hospital volunteering (around 200hr by the time of application I'm guessing)
Research for ~2 yrs by the time of application

-GPA/science-GPA is solid, just keep it at that level or higher. You being just a soph, you're going to start getting to harder science classes soon, I'm assuming, so junior year GPA will be important.
-Tutoring is cool, but won't really push your app.
-Hospital volunteering is good if you're doing something other than just stocking shelves and stuff. Hopefully you have good stories, or can show how it affirmed your interest in med school, etc.
-Research is always a good thing, especially for CA schools, you should try and publish though, especially if you been there that long.
-MCAT is indeed a huge deal, as you said, especially for CA schools. I'd say if you get 33, you can definitely get in at one of them, maybe a little lower for Loma Linda (and possibly USC, but it's pretty competitive there too). But as of now there's nothing that REALLY makes your application pop out, so you need to make sure you stay solid with that MCAT score and keep the gpa up. Try and publish, that'd be a nice feather in your cap. Good luck.
 
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