What kind of shot do i have?

[bumbel10]

Hey everybody, just kind of want to get some honest opinions on where I stand and what advice on what I lack or need to improve on in the following 4 months or so

cGPA: ~3.5
sGPA: ~3.4
Ohio resident
Upward trend: ~3.9 the last 50 hours
MCAT: Taking it july 6th

ECs/Volunteering/Shadowing
-Volunteered at a family physicians office taking vitals, BP, temps, pulse-ox readings etc for ~170 hours
-Shadowed a physician (DO) for ~150 hours kind of on the side while volunteering at the office
-Shadowed a PA ~35 hours (should I even include this? )
-Captain of Collegiate Varsity basketball team- 2 years
-Pre-med society, Psych club, Student Athlete Advisory Committee
-Member of Chi Alpha Sigma Honor Society and selected to Academic All-Conference team this past season
-Semester long independent study performing a deep shoulder dissection on human cadaver
-Front room supervisor at my place of work (Butcher Shop in my home town ) - 3 years
-Organized and ran summer bball camps for kids ages 11-14 and 15-18 at my high school the last 4 years
-Volunteered at Med Wish through the Pre med society - one day
-Volunteered at Nickelodeon's Day of of play hosted at my college - one day
-Camp fitch student counselor for 5th graders as a Jr and Sr while in high school - 3-4 days each (Should i include this even though it was during high school?)

LORs
-Pre-med advisor/ Science Professor
-Actual Academic advisor/ Science Professor
-Family physician (DO)
-Boss

I hope to get around a 3.7-3.9 this semester with 18 credit hours. So hopefully that will help a little. But at the beginning of summer i will continue to volunteer with my family physician along with doing a few hours a week at a retirement home while working. I am also taking a course later in March to become certified as a Phlebotomist.

So, realistically what are my chances for DO? MD? I know my MCAT is crucial to this, so what would be a baseline I would need for DO or MD? And please, any advice to strengthen my application is greatly appreciated!!

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[Stumpyman]

Your ECs generally look good, but there doesn't seem to be any research. GPA is kind of low, but the upward trend is great, and if you can score pretty high on the MCAT, you should be good.

But no one can give you a really good analysis until knowing your MCAT score.

 

[bumbel10]

Any numbers to shoot for on the MCAT for either MD or DO?

 

[Catalystik]

Any numbers to shoot for on the MCAT for either MD or DO?

Average MD acceptees had 3.67 cGPA/3.61 BCPM/MCAT 31.1. To compensate for your lower cGPA, aim for an MCAT score of 33. Your steep upward grade trend will help you out here, too.

Average matriculating DO student had 3.47/3.36/26.49.

MCAT: Taking it july 6th

This means an August release date and that would be late to submit an application, considering it will take 4-6 weeks to verify your trnscripts by then, so consider submitting without the MCAT score earlier in the cycle.

-Shadowed a PA ~35 hours (should I even include this? )

You can include it.

-Organized and ran summer bball camps for kids ages 11-14 and 15-18 at my high school the last 4 years
-Volunteered at Med Wish through the Pre med society - one day
-Volunteered at Nickelodeon's Day of of play hosted at my college - one day
-Camp fitch student counselor for 5th graders as a Jr and Sr while in high school - 3-4 days each (Should i include this even though it was during high school?)

Did you get paid for running the camp? If not, you have a good community service to list. (Regardless, use the activity to highlight your teaching and organizational skills.) Don't list an activity from when you were in HS, unless it continued into the college years.

The one day volunteering seems sorta desperate, but list it if you can bring it off as meanigful to you in some way. You'd have been better off with some consistent 1-2 hours a week with a local humanistic endeavor.

-Semester long independent study performing a deep shoulder dissection on human cadaver

For what purpose?

But at the beginning of summer i will continue to volunteer with my family physician along with doing a few hours a week at a retirement home while working.

Note that helping your family doc for free is volunteering, but it is not a community service. Helping at the retirement center would be a community service, whether you are involved with the sickest bed-bound clients or playing cards with retirees who are completely functional.

What work will you do?

 

[bumbel10]

=Catalystik;12231472]Average MD acceptees had 3.67 cGPA/3.61 BCPM/MCAT 31.1. To compensate for your lower cGPA, aim for an MCAT score of 33. Your steep upward grade trend will help you out here, too.

Average matriculating DO student had 3.47/3.36/26.49.

This means an August release date and that would be late to submit an application, considering it will take 4-6 weeks to verify your trnscripts by then, so consider submitting without the MCAT score earlier in the cycle.

Yea i planned on getting in everything, except my MCAT obviously, as early as possible. What exactly does getting everything else in do for me though if i am not considered complete?

Did you get paid for running the camp? If not, you have a good community service to list. (Regardless, use the activity to highlight your teaching and organizational skills.) Don't list an activity from when you were in HS, unless it continued into the college years.

I did not get paid.

For what purpose?

I have had shoulder surgery. So i wanted to gain a better understanding of the structure of the shoulder and its function. Plus i feel like that is a pretty interesting and unique experience for undergrad.

Note that helping your family doc for free is volunteering, but it is not a community service. Helping at the retirement center would be a community service, whether you are involved with the sickest bed-bound clients or playing cards with retirees who are completely functional.

If i were to be helping with patient transport or setting up activities, would that not be considered volunteering?

What work will you do?

I am the front room supervisor of a local butcher shop in my home town. So i will probably be working around 25-30 hours a week there.

Anything else I should really try and improve on? Advice on anything?

 

[Catalystik]

What exactly does getting everything else in do for me though if i am not considered complete?

2)I did not get paid.

3)If i were to be helping with patient transport or setting up activities, would that not be considered volunteering?

1) If you submit early and your transcripts are already verified, schools get your entire application within 24 hours of the time the MCAT score is released, rather than 4-6 weeks later if you wait to submit until you know your score.

2) This will make your application shine. You don't need those 1 days gigs at all.

3) Yes. It's community service and volunteering when you give time to the nursing home.


I have no other suggestions, except to keep your grades high this term. Let us know when your MCAT score somes back.

 

[bumbel10]

Thank you so much for the help. And i certainly will let you know when i have my scores.

 

[ccfman1991]

Hey everybody, just kind of want to get some honest opinions on where I stand and what advice on what I lack or need to improve on in the following 4 months or so

cGPA: ~3.5
sGPA: ~3.4
Ohio resident
Upward trend: ~3.9 the last 50 hours
MCAT: Taking it july 6th

ECs/Volunteering/Shadowing
-Volunteered at a family physicians office taking vitals, BP, temps, pulse-ox readings etc for ~170 hours
-Shadowed a physician (DO) for ~150 hours kind of on the side while volunteering at the office
-Shadowed a PA ~35 hours (should I even include this? )
-Captain of Collegiate Varsity basketball team- 2 years
-Pre-med society, Psych club, Student Athlete Advisory Committee
-Member of Chi Alpha Sigma Honor Society and selected to Academic All-Conference team this past season
-Semester long independent study performing a deep shoulder dissection on human cadaver
-Front room supervisor at my place of work (Butcher Shop in my home town ) - 3 years
-Organized and ran summer bball camps for kids ages 11-14 and 15-18 at my high school the last 4 years
-Volunteered at Med Wish through the Pre med society - one day
-Volunteered at Nickelodeon's Day of of play hosted at my college - one day
-Camp fitch student counselor for 5th graders as a Jr and Sr while in high school - 3-4 days each (Should i include this even though it was during high school?)

LORs
-Pre-med advisor/ Science Professor
-Actual Academic advisor/ Science Professor
-Family physician (DO)
-Boss

I hope to get around a 3.7-3.9 this semester with 18 credit hours. So hopefully that will help a little. But at the beginning of summer i will continue to volunteer with my family physician along with doing a few hours a week at a retirement home while working. I am also taking a course later in March to become certified as a Phlebotomist.

So, realistically what are my chances for DO? MD? I know my MCAT is crucial to this, so what would be a baseline I would need for DO or MD? And please, any advice to strengthen my application is greatly appreciated!!

Are you perhaps from twinsburg, Ohio? I remember my days in camp Fitch

 

[bumbel10]

Are you perhaps from twinsburg, Ohio? I remember my days in camp Fitch

Haha nope, around the youngstown area.