Young applicant. Need advice and some answers.

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JohnFe

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I graduated last year (2012) with a BS in Microbiology. I took a year off to see if I would really go for medical or pharmacy school. I weighed the pros and cons and concluded that I would go for medicine. Also, I have issues that made me hesitant on applying: my age (19), my GPA, and pre-pharm dilemma. Lastly, I applied to pharmacy schools this year and got denied! Things happen for a reason I guess. My ultimate goal is to become an Infectious Disease Doctor, Orthopedic or ER Doctor.

Anyway, I'm going to share some of my experiences to help me gauge my application. Your suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Personal:
Age - 20
Under Represented Minority

Education:
Pharmacy Technology Certificate - 2009
BS in Microbiology - 2012 (GPA: 3.40)
Clinical Laboratory Science Training (Will start in July 2013 and will end July 2014)

Work Experience:
Pharmacy Tech (600 hours)
Industrial Microbiologist in medical/pharmaceutical company (Current)

Volunteering:
Hospital Volunteer (330 hours)
HIV/AIDS Clinic (60 hours)
Sporadic Club/Org volunteer events (100+ hours)

Organizations:
Pre-Pharmacy Club (1 year)
Associated Student (6 months)
Honors Program (2 years)
Phi Theta Kappa (2 years)

Shadowing:
ER Doctor - ~15 hours
Orthopedic Doctor - ~15 hours

Research:
Microbiology/Genetics Research. No publications. (1.5 years)
________________________________

Okay now the questions.

1. Should I apply this upcoming cycle with these stats or should I wait for next cycle? (By that time I will be done with my Clinical Science training and be licensed)

2. If I work and train in the Clinical Lab, I will be working side by side with pathologists and physicians. Will this be sufficient in lieu of shadowing or should I just do shadowing?

3. With my experiences, is this sufficient enough to show my drive for medicine?

4. I can't really go back to school and improve my GPA. What other factors in med school application should I focus on besides GPA/MCAT?

5. I am studying for the MCAT. I'm usually a good test taker. What score should I target to increase my chances? When is the latest month I can take the MCAT for 2013-2014 cycle?

6. How badly will it hurt me that I have pharmacy experience? How can I tie it as to why I pursue medicine instead of pharmacy?

7. I want to stay in SoCal as much as possible. Do I have a chance at USC, UCI, UCR and UCLA? My top choice is UCI and USC. My cGPA is 3.40 :(
1) The only "stat" you mention is your cGPA. What is your BCPM GPA? Do you have an upward grade trend in the sciences?

2) I suggest you also formally shadow a primary care doc.

3) 4) What activities demonstrate your leadership, teamwork, and nonmedical community service that helps the poor? Teaching (TA, tutor, coach, mentor) is another activity that helps your application.

5) As I recall, the last MCAT date is usually in September. But if you take the test then, an October release date is very late to get full consideration from med schools, since many fewer interview spots remain available.

6a) Not at all, since you balance it with plenty of hospital time. b) That's for you to decide.

7) Let's see what your MCAT score and final activity lineup look like before predicting.
 
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An asset (I would consider it) that you have is that you've considered the pharmacy route, which shows that you've looked into other careers more than being an MD. (Of course it might mean more if your previous ambition were to be a dance instructor lol, but still I'd say its meaningful.)

Agree with Cat's comments-shadow some PCPs.

Okay, you might be skeptical about this, but you're YOUNG. Which means you have the opportunity to take your tiime and really study the best you can for the MCAT. (the only caveat being that the new mcat is coming out.) Take the MCAT and get a score that will offset your gpa... (if you can go 35+, great).

Having such extra time allows you to beef up your ECs too. more clinical and shadowing wouldn't hurt.
 
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1) The only "stat" you mention is your cGPA. What is your BCPM GPA? Do you have an upward grade trend in the sciences?

I have 3.55 BCPM GPA using the template. Actually, there is a downward trend in my GPA. My first 2 years I had 4.0 GPA. My senior hurt me really bad and I got 2.80 GPA. Something personal and life changing happened to me here. I didn't receive a D, F, withdraw or drop.

Downward trend is going to hurt you - that's enough of a drop that you should probably consider explaining the circumstances in/as an addendum to your personal statement.

2) I suggest you also formally shadow a primary care doc.

How important is this?
I can't comment on how important this is (I didn't do it, and neither did many of my friends who are in/got accepted to med school), but your total shadowing hours are low. 50-100 hours are numbers I see tossed around as the minimum.

3) 4) What activities demonstrate your leadership, teamwork, and nonmedical community service that helps the poor? Teaching (TA, tutor, coach, mentor) is another activity that helps your application.

I did some private tutoring for 3 years. Can I list that? I already signed up for community volunteers. Most of my volunteering are medical oriented ones.
Yes, private tutoring is great - you can classify it as a teaching activity on the AMCAS activities section.

I did some practice test with hasty reviewing and pulled a 28 (This was an MCAT review book from last year). I also saw that they are changing the MCAT format but I will look more into it.
If your MCAT score before serious studying/practice is 28, you can probably hit 35+. Of course, the new test will be a liability.

Lastly, would Clinical Laboratory Training and work experience count something significant? Will this be an asset for my application?
These are good, but will not be your saving grace. Focus on getting that MCAT score, doing some more shadowing, and proving your commitment to your community.
 
Lastly, would Clinical Laboratory Training and work experience count something significant? Will this be an asset for my application?

Well, is it? I think a common problem among applicants is that they don't know if it's significant. I'm not trying to be sarcastic or harsh, but it should be pretty obvious if it is significant to you. For example, getting EMT trained is often INsignificant, just because you were trained. However, if you worked as an EMT, it was probably very significant. You probably didn't know the long hours you'd have to pull, or the interesting personalities you'd encounter every shift. Those are the experiences and stories you can share in your personal statement, secondaries, and even your interviews. Basically...what can you REFLECT from it?

That being said, would I include stuff that you were just trained for, but never had any substantial work experience? sure! There's still stuff to reflect on it, and if that's the most meaningful thing you've ever done, then why not.

Okay, and in response to shadowing PCPs, and if it's important...two things to consider.
1. Shadowing PCPs are important because a lot of state schools and school around the US have primary care missions, and may be more forgiving if that is where you'd like to be in the future. However, you need to give a good assessment of that, through shadowing. In addition, it is an underserved field, and most people don't really know what in the world primary care is. It's good to understand what it is, and its not surprising to encounter a question about primary care, or healthcare economics (which often has someprimary care components in it) on your interviews.

2. You're not in any position to bargain with your GPA/MCAT liability. I had a sub 3.5 gpa, but I made it a MISSION to be ahead of the pack in most, if not all other areas of my application. The GPA/MCAT are big things to weed you out, so they need to see that everything else, is rockin. Shadowing PCPs is rather easy (IMO) compared to repairing a GPA/MCAT. Plus, shadowing gives you additional perspective on other fields you may not have considered. Do not understimate the fact that most people change their specialties over the course of medical school.

Last piece of advice I'd say is that you gotta think about the LONG run. Not just if you can get your app in, or not just so you can get a secondary...you gotta see how you and your accomplishments will play out in the interviews, etc etc. Yes, the big hurdle may be to submit the amcas, but then you havea string of events that all come at you at once that you gotta do well on.
 
be sure you dont use "pharmacy technology certificate" on your application... "pharmacy tech." means "technician"
 
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Sorry to be confusing, I just mean that "tech." is short for "technician," and not "technology"

right...?

I don't quite understand what you're trying to say. I got my certificate through ROP in high school and CA/nationally licensed as a pharm tech.

Anyway, Thank you guys for the advice! It is highly appreciated.

More questions:
Is it better to focus on one volunteer site or diversify? I really like volunteering at HIV/STD Clinic because it relates to infectious diseases (woot!). I basically provide sex education counseling etc. What other volunteer opportunities should I look into?
PS: I don't really have that much time. I work full time during the weekdays 8AM-5PM. I only have time during the weekends~

Thank you!!
 
Sorry to be confusing, I just mean that "tech." is short for "technician," and not "technology"

right...?

Okay thanks. I think they meant the same thing.

Also, Bump* !
 
To which underrepresented minority group do you belong, if you don't mind me asking? It can make a difference.
 
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