<p>Underrepresented minority at top-five U.S. ranked institution. Also 'low-income,' first-generation...</p>
<p>Extra-curriculars (if they are of significance at this level, they are very strong and unique).</p>
<p>My sophomore year I had a number of setbacks, including a broken writing hand, separate arm injury (both documented), and very serious issues at home which nearly caused me to leave school (even at school, I was contributing to a big portion of my family's income). </p>
<p>Nonetheless, my grades sophomore year were considerably poor, GChem2 - W, BIO - NC, Neuropsych - C-, Stats C-.</p>
<p>I'm a senior now with a 3.7 - 4.0 GPA since, switched to the humanities and my cumulative GPA (not including classes I took at a community college before undergrad) is a 3.4, which I intend to boost to a 3.5 by graduation .I've already taken Bio again (A-), and will be taking Gchem2 and Bio 2 by graduation, which means that I just need to take OChem, Phys, and maybe Biochem/Calc II. I plan on doing a program such as Americorps or Teach for America for two years while taking night classes / MCAT prep courses.</p>
<p>My question is how competitive will I be for upper-tier schools I intend to reach medical school after these two years? I don't plan on doing a post-bac program; I want to work the next two years (well before college i have paid for all my own expenses) and take the rest of my reqs at university (CUNY school)... assuming I do well this semester, my GPA at my institution would be a 3.5 (higher if other college courses in my transcript from before I attended college are classified). However, due to the above mentioned classes, even with straight As in the rest of my reqs, my science GPA would be a 3.4. Long term, I'm trying to compensate for this with a good MCAT score and the hope that admission committies will have understood my predicament. Along with a program like TFA post-grad, how competitive would I be for top medical schools given all this and assuming my regular GPA likely being 3.5 and science GPA best case scenario 3.4?</p>
<p>Underrepresented minority: Depending on what kind of URM, it could be a big boost. Even gender matters: It is rumored that African American males are more favored than African American females.</p>
<p>top-five U.S. ranked institution: Not a factor (esp. because your science GPA is low.)</p>
<p>‘low-income,’ first-generation: Is this still a factor for medical school admission? I thought these two factors only matter for UG admission, where “social engineering” is more important. For professional schools, the more important factor is whether the community you come from is under-served or not. (Thus, the ethnic group matters. This is because, for example, how many non-American Indians really live in Indian reserve!?) </p>
<p>Without knowing your MCAT score (and your exact ethnic group), it is hard to predict your odds. Not all URMs are created equal in terms of their boost in admission. For example, I heard that, unlike UG admission, some Hispanics may not even have a boost if they are not of certain kind of Hispanics, e.g., being from Mexico is more “desirable” than being from non-Mexico areas.</p>
<p>Okay, I see. I haven’t taken the MCAT yet, although I plan to begin preparation soon. Also, in terms of ethnic group, I’m a Black male from a predominantly Black, working-class neighborhood in urban Philadelphia. So I would hope that’d be taken into account, in conjunction with my household income + circumstances.</p>
<p>Being a Black male will give you a lot of boost. (Some CCers claimed it is worth about 10 LizzyM points (which is GPA*10 + MCAT.) DS happened to know a Black male who applied two years ago. He was from the south. He got into two ivies in the end. But we do not know his stats/qualifications. In the end, he chose to go to one that is ranked lower in the research medical school rank but gave him most money after the other one (which ranks higher and is in a major city) was not willing to give him more money.</p>
<p>He once made an interesting comment about the rank: I hope there is no ranking of medical schools. Having the rank only confuses you and makes your decision more difficult.</p>