What is my chance for an MD program?

[jets7911]

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I am a single mother to a 2-year-old, working 2 jobs to make ends meet, and attending school full time. I will be entering the application cycle this summer and am wondering if I have a chance. My stats are as follows:

25 year old female, non-URM, from Virginia, but is economically disadvantaged
First generation to attend college in my family
Work full time as a receptionist and part time as a scribe (~200 hours scribing so far)
Transferred from community college to one of the public ivies.
Biology Major/Biochem Minor, cGPA 3.6, sGPA 3.4, MCAT 506
I have not held any leadership position or volunteered during my undergrad because I always needed to work to help my family out financially. After I transferred and gave birth to my son (moved away from my family), I couldn't find the time to volunteer either because I am always busy watching my baby. I just can't afford child care in order to volunteer/shadow 🙁

My top choice is EVMS, however my stats are a bit too low. With my low GPA and MCAT, do I still have a chance at an MD program in the country? And if you think I do, please advise me which schools to apply to.

Also, please don't advice me to complete a post-bac program to increase my GPA. I have decided that this is as far as I am willing to go to achieve my dream. I live alone with my son, without any family around to support us, and it's been quite tough. I don't get any help from his unemployed father either, so I just can't afford to invest anymore into this dream on mine. If I don't get into med school, I will move on towards a career as a bio lab tech knowing that i've given my best shot. However, I will still really appreciate any input on my chances for an MD program. Thank you 🙂

 

[timephone]

Refer to this magical chart here: https://www.aamc.org/download/321508/data/factstablea23.pdf

In 2016-2017, 48.8% of applicants with your stats were accepted to med schools. Remember that every year only 40% of all applicants get in anywhere, so you're actually doing better than the average applicant in this regard.

Congratulations on all that you've achieved so far! I can't imagine how hard it is to care for a young child in addition to coursework and working. I think you've put yourself in the best possible position for applying to med schools, so you should take pride in that. At the same time, the application process is nerve-wracking even for the best applicants. Try to find a way to accept the good work you've done, and relax now that your destiny is out of your control and in the hands of the admissions committees. ;-)

You should absolutely consider applying to DO schools (especially VCOM in Blacksburg), because you can't rely on getting into your dream school. Attending a DO school will make you a doctor as surely as an MD school. You should apply broadly. Apply for financial assistance through the AAMC to make the applications more affordable. There are members on this board who can better advise on school choice, but also check out the LizzyM score calculator and try to select some schools from that.

I think that it would be good to focus your narrative on how hard you've had to work as a mother and a student. However, when you're attending school interviews you may want to carefully phrase your reasons for not volunteering. Try to turn a negative (e.g. "I didn't have the time to volunteer") to a positive (e.g. "I was focused on earning money for my family"). Schools don't want to hear that your family took time away. Because when you're in med school it will eat up all your time, and they don't want to hear that you didn't have time to do something. That's just my opinion, however. Perhaps while you're interviewing you could find a volunteering opportunity that allows you to bring your son with you? Doesn't even have to be clinical, maybe you could do a couple hours working as a cashier at a thrift store and your son could sit with you and play. And definitely mention this during interviews.

And even if a year from now you haven't been accepted anywhere, you're only 25 and you can still reapply in the future. Improving your MCAT score may be easier than improving your GPA, and you don't need to take classes to do it.

Good luck!

 

[zukunft195]

Apply to some DO programs, as well, in order to boost your odds of admission. Definitely add VCOM to your list; it's in Virginia.

 

[AnotherLawyer]

I am a single mother to a 2-year-old, working 2 jobs to make ends meet, and attending school full time. I will be entering the application cycle this summer and am wondering if I have a chance. My stats are as follows:

25 year old female, non-URM, from Virginia, but is economically disadvantaged
First generation to attend college in my family
Work full time as a receptionist and part time as a scribe (~200 hours scribing so far)
Transferred from community college to one of the public ivies.
Biology Major/Biochem Minor, cGPA 3.6, sGPA 3.4, MCAT 506
I have not held any leadership position or volunteered during my undergrad because I always needed to work to help my family out financially. After I transferred and gave birth to my son (moved away from my family), I couldn't find the time to volunteer either because I am always busy watching my baby. I just can't afford child care in order to volunteer/shadow 🙁

My top choice is EVMS, however my stats are a bit too low. With my low GPA and MCAT, do I still have a chance at an MD program in the country? And if you think I do, please advise me which schools to apply to.

Also, please don't advice me to complete a post-bac program to increase my GPA. I have decided that this is as far as I am willing to go to achieve my dream. I live alone with my son, without any family around to support us, and it's been quite tough. I don't get any help from his unemployed father either, so I just can't afford to invest anymore into this dream on mine. If I don't get into med school, I will move on towards a career as a bio lab tech knowing that i've given my best shot. However, I will still really appreciate any input on my chances for an MD program. Thank you 🙂

I think if you apply broadly to a well thought out list of schools you have a good shot, and an excellent shot if you include DO schools. I also want to say I tremendously respect your ability to do all this as a single parent.

 

[Goro]

I am a single mother to a 2-year-old, working 2 jobs to make ends meet, and attending school full time. I will be entering the application cycle this summer and am wondering if I have a chance. My stats are as follows:

25 year old female, non-URM, from Virginia, but is economically disadvantaged
First generation to attend college in my family
Work full time as a receptionist and part time as a scribe (~200 hours scribing so far)
Transferred from community college to one of the public ivies.
Biology Major/Biochem Minor, cGPA 3.6, sGPA 3.4, MCAT 506
I have not held any leadership position or volunteered during my undergrad because I always needed to work to help my family out financially. After I transferred and gave birth to my son (moved away from my family), I couldn't find the time to volunteer either because I am always busy watching my baby. I just can't afford child care in order to volunteer/shadow 🙁

My top choice is EVMS, however my stats are a bit too low. With my low GPA and MCAT, do I still have a chance at an MD program in the country? And if you think I do, please advise me which schools to apply to.

Also, please don't advice me to complete a post-bac program to increase my GPA. I have decided that this is as far as I am willing to go to achieve my dream. I live alone with my son, without any family around to support us, and it's been quite tough. I don't get any help from his unemployed father either, so I just can't afford to invest anymore into this dream on mine. If I don't get into med school, I will move on towards a career as a bio lab tech knowing that i've given my best shot. However, I will still really appreciate any input on my chances for an MD program. Thank you 🙂

For EVMS, you're at 25th %ile for GPAs and 10th%ile for MCAT. I consider that it's worth trying for.

Also suggest going for VCU, and U WV, but NOT Va Tech or UVA.

You're fine for any DO school. I can't recommend LUCOM or Touro NY.

 

[jets7911]

Refer to this magical chart here: https://www.aamc.org/download/321508/data/factstablea23.pdf

In 2016-2017, 48.8% of applicants with your stats were accepted to med schools. Remember that every year only 40% of all applicants get in anywhere, so you're actually doing better than the average applicant in this regard.

Congratulations on all that you've achieved so far! I can't imagine how hard it is to care for a young child in addition to coursework and working. I think you've put yourself in the best possible position for applying to med schools, so you should take pride in that. At the same time, the application process is nerve-wracking even for the best applicants. Try to find a way to accept the good work you've done, and relax now that your destiny is out of your control and in the hands of the admissions committees. ;-)

You should absolutely consider applying to DO schools (especially VCOM in Blacksburg), because you can't rely on getting into your dream school. Attending a DO school will make you a doctor as surely as an MD school. You should apply broadly. Apply for financial assistance through the AAMC to make the applications more affordable. There are members on this board who can better advise on school choice, but also check out the LizzyM score calculator and try to select some schools from that.

I think that it would be good to focus your narrative on how hard you've had to work as a mother and a student. However, when you're attending school interviews you may want to carefully phrase your reasons for not volunteering. Try to turn a negative (e.g. "I didn't have the time to volunteer") to a positive (e.g. "I was focused on earning money for my family"). Schools don't want to hear that your family took time away. Because when you're in med school it will eat up all your time, and they don't want to hear that you didn't have time to do something. That's just my opinion, however. Perhaps while you're interviewing you could find a volunteering opportunity that allows you to bring your son with you? Doesn't even have to be clinical, maybe you could do a couple hours working as a cashier at a thrift store and your son could sit with you and play. And definitely mention this during interviews.

And even if a year from now you haven't been accepted anywhere, you're only 25 and you can still reapply in the future. Improving your MCAT score may be easier than improving your GPA, and you don't need to take classes to do it.

Good luck!

Thank you very much for your advice! VCOM is definitely on my mind and I will make sure to look for volunteering opportunities that would allow my child to come with me.

 

[jets7911]

For EVMS, you're at 25th %ile for GPAs and 10th%ile for MCAT. I consider that it's worth trying for.

Also suggest going for VCU, and U WV, but NOT Va Tech or UVA.

You're fine for any DO school. I can't recommend LUCOM or Touro NY.

Thank you very much for your suggestion. Would you please let me know where you get the info regarding my percentile rank for EVMS? Is it MSAR?

 

[Goro]

Thank you very much for your suggestion. Would you please let me know where you get the info regarding my percentile rank for EVMS? Is it MSAR?

Yes, MSAR Online.

 

[reaction mechanisms]

All I can say is, you go girl! I know how difficult it is to struggle school, full time work, and a toddler. (Pre-med mom here too). The only thing I would advice as previously mentioned is to find some volunteer hours somehow. I recently started volunteering with an organization that picks up food donations from local businesses and delivers food packages to families and shelters and the kicker is, I can bring my toddler with me! Maybe there's a similar opportunity in your community.

IF for whatever reason you don't get accepted this cycle, it won't be the end of the world. Finish undergrad, take your gap year, work, and focus on EC's and volunteering and you'll be set for the next cycle.

Best of luck and congratulations on all of your hard work.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[esob]

So for people with a > 3.8 GPA and a > 93rd percentile MCAT, what are they doing so wrong that 13% of them still don't get in? I know it "varies" but it seems there must be some common mistake high GPA/high MCAT candidates must be making for such a significant number of them to not get accepted.

 

[BombsAway]

So for people with a > 3.8 GPA and a > 93rd percentile MCAT, what are they doing so wrong that 13% of them still don't get in? I know it "varies" but it seems there must be some common mistake high GPA/high MCAT candidates must be making for such a significant number of them to not get accepted.

That 13% = 83 people. Maybe 10 only apply to top schools and don't make the cut. Maybe 10 are study bots and forget to download a personality. 10 probably don't have any of the unwritten requirements. 10 could have legal trouble. 10 could have institutional actions. 10 had personal problems and withdrew their apps.... You start adding up all these very low likelihood scenarios and you can hit 80 people.

 

[jets7911]

For EVMS, you're at 25th %ile for GPAs and 10th%ile for MCAT. I consider that it's worth trying for.

Also suggest going for VCU, and U WV, but NOT Va Tech or UVA.

You're fine for any DO school. I can't recommend LUCOM or Touro NY.

Can you explain to me why you advised against Va Tech?

 

[Goro]

Can you explain to me why you advised against Va Tech?

Your MCAT score is < their 10th %ile. Small and quirky school. Are you from western/rural VA?

 

[jets7911]

Your MCAT score is < their 10th %ile. Small and quirky school. Are you from western/rural VA?

Oh thank you for that info, I don't have MSAR online. I am not from western/rural VA, I actually live right next to EVMS