What are my chances?

[JeremyB]

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Hi everyone, I just signed up here to see what my chances at acceptance at medical school might be.

I am a Junior at Cornell Univeristy studying Biology. I started out my freshman year not sure what I wanted to do after school, and had a rough time in intro Chem so my GPA from that year is pretty low... (3.1). After freshman year I started shadowing doctors and ended up really loving that so I decided to go pre-med.
Here are my stats:
Sophomore year GPA:3.72 (I took orgo, genetics, anatomy, intro to neuroscience etc...)
My cumulative GPA is now 3.344 but I expect it to go up to about a 3.4 after this semester.
Extra curriculars:
Doctor shadowing (18 surgeries viewed: neurosurgery, cardiac surgery, and dental surgery).
I am an executive board member of a medically oriented club.
I have worked in a lab for 3 semesters at Cornell, and worked in a lab at Hopkins hospital (Cardiology) this past summer (co-author on a publication).

I have yet to take the MCAT, but I'd appreciate any feedback! Im worried about my low GPA...

Thanks!

 

[Catalystik]

Hi everyone, I just signed up here to see what my chances at acceptance might be.

I am from Maryland and really hope to be accepted at University of Maryland School of Medicine.
I am a Junior at Cornell Univeristy studying Biology with a concentration in Neuroscience. I started out my freshman year not sure what I wanted to do after school, and had a rough time in intro Chem so my GPA from that year is pretty low... (3.1). After freshman year I started shadowing doctors and ended up really loving that so I decided to go pre-med.
Here are my stats:
Sophomore year GPA:3.72 (I took orgo, genetics, anatomy, intro to neuroscience etc...)
My cumulative GPA is now 3.344 but I expect it to go up to about a 3.4 after this semester.
Extra curriculars:
Doctor shadowing (18 surgeries viewed: neurosurgery, cardiac surgery, and dental surgery).
I am an executive board member of Cornell Global Medical Brigades (We go on medical relief trips to Honduras every summer).
I have worked in a lab for 3 semesters at Cornell, and worked in a lab at Hopkins hospital (Cardiology) this past summer (co-author on a publication).
Other things:
I speak 4 languages (Spanish, French, German, and English), and my parents are South American (Hispanic I guess...)

I have yet to take the MCAT, but I'd appreciate any feedback! Im worried about my low GPA...

Thanks!

I'd be worried about the low GPA, too. I suggest you delay applying to med schools until after senior year, at least, so as to have the maximal GPA repair prior to submitting your application. So far, you're doing a great job of turning things around.

Of course we can't predict your chances without an MCAT score and a projected final cGPA, but if you look at sector9's sticky at the top of this forum and scroll down to the Latino graph, you can see projected chances with a variety of GPA/MCAT scenarios.

As far as your ECs go, shadowing during surgery isn't giving you much experience of patient-physician interaction. I suggest you shadow an office-based primary care doc too.

It looks like you have leadership, clinical experience abroad, and research so far. You will also need some US-based clinical experience, so strategize where you'll get that. It would be nice if you had some nonmedical community service that helps the poor on a weekly or twice monthly basis, here at home in the US. Teaching is another EC that strengthens the application. And don't forget hobbies. Having a publication is terrific, BTW.

Do all that and still maintain a near-perfect GPA, and your only other hurdles are getting glowing LORs and a decent MCAT score. Good Luck.

 

[JeremyB]

Thanks for the quick reply!
I forgot to mention that I am also tutoring for orgo through the University this and next semester.
In terms of the shadowing, I also had the opportunity to shadow the surgeons on non-operating days when they were doing consultations and office work, etc... So it wasnt just surgery.
Any other tips?
Thanks!

 

[Catalystik]

I forgot to mention that I am also tutoring for orgo through the University this and next semester. I was also offered a position as an undergraduate TA for my neuroscience class.

That sounds good.