<p>Hey all,</p>
<p>I've recently started thinking about med-school. Why? I have my reasons and I may share them in the future, but this post isn't the place I think. Anyways, after much internet mining, I can't find any forthcoming answers; I'd love to hear some advice from you folk.</p>
<p>If I've violated some forum etiquette or created a common thread (I don't think I have), I apologize.</p>
<p>My question is this: What additions should I try to make to my profile to make myself an applicant with a good shot for any semi-decent medical school? </p>
<p>Candidate profile (I tried to make it as brief as possible but it ballooned):</p>
<p>Testing</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Degree: Computer science.</p></li>
<li><p>Number of years completed: 3</p></li>
<li><p>GPA: 3.95ish, any way you slice. I'm a consistent student, so that's what I should graduate with.</p></li>
<li><p>Medical school course prerequisites: Yes, I've taken them.</p></li>
<li><p>School: I go to a school well-known in software and tech circles, but probably not well known to most med-school admissions committees.</p></li>
<li><p>MCAT score: I haven't written it yet but I'm confident. Let's assume that I can get a strong score.</p></li>
<li><p>ECs: I have no ECs I'd care to mention. Lots of hobbies I share with friends but nothing formal.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="Paid">b</a> Work experience:** I've interned at a number of Silicon Valley companies including Google. I've also interned at a private health clinic where I did get considerable patient exposure though that really wasn't part of my job description.</p></li>
<li><p>Leadership experience: Non-existent the past 3 years. In high school, I was the captain of a medium-sized team and also taught things like swimming, lifeguarding, and skiing (I was certified in these 3 areas). Seeing as how tech internships are very well paid, I dropped the teaching. As my university doesn't participate in the sport I captained, I continue to pursue it only recreationally. I haven't had any leadership opportunities from my tech internships (the work is mainly entry-level engineer stuff).</p></li>
<li><p>Volunteer experience: None.</p></li>
<li><p>Research experience: Nothing formal or academic. Conducting analysis, testing hypotheses, and reading research papers for potential solutions to a problem are all pretty common within the tech industry (all of which I've done in spades); as an entry level engineer, you're typically working under time constraints (along with everyone else on your team) so "papers/reports" are typically much shorter and more informal than anything published in academia. Obviously anything I've worked on in the private sector is confidential.</p></li>
<li><p>LORs: I can probably get a good one from someone I've worked with at one of my tech internships. I could get more but I suspect it would be better to diversify the sources. I couldn't get any from any profs at this point (nor would I be sure how to without working closely with one for several months). </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Thank you for reading all of that. </p>
<p>Time frame: 3 years (1 to graduate and 2 to work). I plan to work 2 years after I graduate to save money so I can exit med school debt-free. If I'm feeling bold and have a good idea, I might start my own company (that might extend the timeline a little bit).</p>
<p>Right now I see myself as a unique candidate with strong grades who can bring valuable tech experience and analytics skills into an industry that lacks them (based on my own observations and research), but I also lack a lot of those standard bullets (i.e. volunteer work, ECs) that committees seem like to see.</p>