Chances/Application strengthening

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

<p>I have frequented this board for the past several years and have gained a lot of information but i have never posted, in fact never registered until just recently. I am coming close to application time as i am a junior at a top university. I am posting a chances thread as an opportunity to gain some constructive criticism so that i can use the little time i have left wisely. There are several medical schools that i would be interested in going to although the most prestigious is not necessary. In decreasing order i would like to go to:
Columbia
Cornell
UPenn
USC
UCLA
Yale
U of Hawaii at Manoa
Multiple SUNY schools
Aside from the top two, i would probably choose a cheaper public school than an expensive private or out of state school so most likely a SUNY.</p>

<p>Anyway, my profile is as follows:
White Male
Biochemistry Major
GPA: 3.801 BCPM: 3.792 Upward trend since freshman year
Taken Physics w/ Calc and Lab 1&2 as well as Microeconomics over the summer (A for everything)
35O PS 13 BS 12 VR 10
Volunteered in emergency room for two summer (~120hrs mildly clinical)
Volunteered in inner-city clinic for a year (~150hrs moderately clinical) and with inner city children for a year (~150hrs)
Study abroad in SA where i volunteered in a hospital (~100 hrs very clinical)
Study abroad in England, work study
Only 1 semester of research so far but am about to begin researching again and expect to have one publication by senior years end.</p>

<p>Thats all that i can thing of including. One area that i am definitely lacking is leadership experience but im not sure how important that is. Please let me know how i stand in the application process and if there is anything i can do to improve it. I know that my publication hasnt happened yet and planning on it is not the right way to go but im pretty confident that it will happen. Anyway, if there is anything else needed let me know.</p>

2

<p>1.) Your primary should be sent out in approximately a month, so there's really very little to do to "strengthen" it except that for the application itself. With that said, that is very important.</p>

<p>2.) I'm a little lost as to how you're selecting the schools you'd like to go to. For example, why are the other NY schools omitted from your application? You seem to be selecting for NY, LA, and... uh, HI, so what's New Haven doing on there?</p>

<p>3.) UCLA only interviews approximately 8% of its OOS candidates, and your numbers are right around their overall median, so it looks like a long shot to me. And, also, do you speak Spanish? That's important to them.</p>

<p>4.) There's only one medical school in Hawaii, so I'm going to assume that one (John A. Burns) is the one you're talking about. They also only interview about 10% of OOS applicants, but unlike at UCLA your numbers do seem competitive. They might want to know why you're applying there, and I don't think they'll be particularly happy if your reason is touristy in nature.</p>

<p>4.) USC also interviews about 8% of OOS students. Your numbers are competitive, but obviously 8% is a pretty brutal cutoff.</p>

<p>5.) Can you describe your reseach? Be very, very careful if you're going to claim the pub -- it should be in press before you feel comfortable mentioning it.</p>

<p>6.) This doesn't matter. I'm just curious. What's SA?</p>

<p>7.) I could only find two SUNY's. Applying to nine (or ten) schools -- including two OOS publics and four elite privates -- is not nearly enough.</p>

<p>8.) Remember, all the information you've posted is useful, but this isn't law school apps -- unfortunately, there's a limit to how helpful we can be. Apply early. Write good essays. Interview well. Write thank-you notes unless they've told you not to.</p>

<p>9.) Remember, several of the essays will specifically ask you why you want to attend that school. (Yale comes to mind.) Having a good answer to that is very important.</p>

<p>Summary:
A.) If your interviewing/essays/application timing are all solid, you stand a reasonable chance at one of the SUNYs, but a sample size of two or three leaves you very, very vulnerable to statistical fluctuation.
B.) The other seven are all stretches -- but, again, if you write essays well and such, then weirder things have happened.
C.) The most important things for you to do right now are twofold: Write a killer personal statement, and pick a broader list of schools. And get these done by June 8.
D.) Congratulations on achieving an excellent track record so far, and best of luck.</p>