What kind of schools should I be looking at, and how can I improve my chances?

[runningriot90]

Hey guys, so I kinda screwed around lack of motivation for most of college, and then after that I went through this kinda existential crisis to get over my slump an decided what's the point of school if you don't challenge yourself.

Tl;dr: ******ed decisions, bad luck, and a stubborn attitude have hurt my gpa considerably

cGPA: 3.31
sGPA: 3.24
MCAT: 38
Educational background: engineer at ivy league school... not sure if this makes any difference

Shadowing: I worked in an emergency dept. for a summer shadowing doctors, shadowed an opthamologist and a radiologist on alternating days for three weeks, do research with a surgeon for my year off so I get to watch his surgeries every two or so weeks. I also get to see him in the clinic and go to the meetings where they train residents with clinical cases.

Activities: standard nothing exciting going on there.

Should have four pretty solid letters of recommendation

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[411309]

my bad, i read this wrong. whats your state of residency?

 

[Lucky Louie]

There's such a huge disconnect between your MCAT and gpa. This will tell your schools that you really do have potential, but then something prevented you from doing as expected. Hopefully you have a good explanation to your "obstacles" when they ask. Good science-related ECs though.

I would suggest mid-to-lower tiers, really because of your gpa. Where is your residency? Your State U may be your best option.

 

[runningriot90]

I'm for new york, so I was definitely planning on applying to the SUNY schools

 

[MedPR]

Hey guys, so I kinda screwed around lack of motivation for most of college, and then after that I went through this kinda existential crisis to get over my slump an decided what's the point of school if you don't challenge yourself.

Tl;dr: ******ed decisions, bad luck, and a stubborn attitude have hurt my gpa considerably

cGPA: 3.31
sGPA: 3.24
MCAT: 38
Educational background: engineer at ivy league school... not sure if this makes any difference

Shadowing: I worked in an emergency dept. for a summer shadowing doctors, shadowed an opthamologist and a radiologist on alternating days for three weeks, do research with a surgeon for my year off so I get to watch his surgeries every two or so weeks. I also get to see him in the clinic and go to the meetings where they train residents with clinical cases.

Activities: standard nothing exciting going on there.

Should have four pretty solid letters of recommendation

I'm for new york, so I was definitely planning on applying to the SUNY schools

What ethnicity are you?

Though your GPA is pretty low for MD schools, I'm pretty sure your MCAT will make up for it. At the very least it'll get some ADCOMs interested and wondering what happened to your GPA since you are obviously intelligent and able to commit to studying for a standardized test.

I think you have a solid chance at any of the mid-tier schools. Consider adding Drexel, Temple, and Jefferson.

 

[pasiley]

Apply to a lot of private schools. Private schools like USC for example seem to take into account the undergrad institution and major. They seem to be more likely to overlook your GPA. Who knows though, your ivy education may cause any state school to over look it.


Do you have a state school in particular in mind? Sometimes they set up meetings and give people advice even if you haven't applied yet. The dean of admissions at my cousin's state school spent an hour with her going over what my cousin needed to do to get into the school. She was also a non-trad with a compelling story so maybe it is something only offered to those without a pre-med adviser.

If they tell you to work on your GPA. Have you taken any upper division bio courses? They could be used to bring up your GPA a little and give adcoms something to compare you to a typical pre-med.

I wish you the best of luck!

 

[Irish Football]

Do you have any volunteering? That's usually a pretty big deal. You say you "worked in an emergency room shadowing doctors." Well, was this volunteer "work" or just shadowing? There's a big difference.

 

[runningriot90]

I tutored in a detention facility for a summer and also tutored kids in low income areas for free my senior year. I also did service abroad trips, which was legit service, but only for a week every year, so it probably doesn't really count.