What Do You Guys Think? Input Needed

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

<p>Hey guys,</p>

<p>If you guys could evaluate my info and tell me if I stand a chance of getting in this cycle/any other thoughts you may have, I would greatly appreciate it.</p>

<p>31 MCAT(10 PS, 10 VR, 11 BS) -- I was disappointed because I was shooting for much higher and was doing 34-36 on practice tests towards the end of my prep. I was told by a 3rd year Med student at St. Louis University School of MEdicine that 31 first try is "impressive"(sike no it isn't) and that I shouldn't retake it because a marginal increase to 33-34 won't speak that much as much as a 31->40 increase(nearly impossible). I heard the same from my normal advisor(on pre-med committee), and my pre-med advisor told me that "there is no reason to not not apply with these numbers"(note the double negative).</p>

<p>Should I retake it? If I do, I'm thinking April 4th, 26th, or 27th so taht my scores turn around before the AMCAS submission opening date.</p>

<p>I go to University of Maryland College Park(spent 3 years here), will be listed as white + asian as I am from Switzerland and Bangladesh originally, but born here.</p>

<p>If I get a 4.0 this semester, I will have a 3.512 AMCAS sGPA and a ~3.53+ cGPA. It will be 3.6 though by UMD standards. I have gotten a 4.0 for the last 3 semesters straight after I screwed up my "freshman" year(2.8 cGPA) due to divorce period b/w my rents. It will be 4 semesters straight if I pull it off this semester hopefully.</p>

<p>Entered College at 15/very close to sixteen years old, simultaneously working towards degree while stacking HS classes(as in 12+ credits a semester); graduating now when I'm 20 this Spring.</p>

<p>EC:</p>

<p>Service Trip to Joplin, MO for Tornado relief - July 2011
NAMI Walks Coordinator(mental Illness Awareness--organized teams for walkathons) - Spring 2011 - Present
Habitat for Humanity Crew Leader(been injured recently but will get back ASAP) - Feb 2012 - Present
Muslims Without Borders(non-religiously motivated humanitarian relief student organization) - Fall 2011 - Present
Pre Medical Society Club on Campus</p>

<p>All clinical work has been done in my own interest areas</p>

<p>Clinical Shadowing in Joplin, MO(underserve area)- 1 mo - Jan 2012
Clinical Assistant at American Spine MD(very large practice dealing mainly with neurological issues) - 6 months - Feb 2012 - Aug 2012
Clinic Assistant in IFRC Base Camp Clinic in Haiti - May 2012-June 2012
Shock Trauma Volunteer, University of Maryland Medical Center - October 2012 - Present</p>

<p>Minor Shadowing --</p>

<p>Shadowed Radiological Oncologist at Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Care Center at Johns Hopkins University ~ 1 mo
Shadowed my own Pediatric Opthamologist - 2 wks
Shadowed my orthodontist for a day for the heck of it(barely deserves a mention)</p>

<p>Research -- hate it -- liked clinical exp much more than research</p>

<p>Al***ene Bioscienes(mainly a commercial lab but did some research on stains used in electrophoresis) - 2 summers, 2010 & 2011</p>

<p>Will likely have all application materials in on day 1(June 3rd) if LOR work out as planned and I don't retake the MCAT.</p>

<p>As I am a Senior, I will have a gap year.</p>

<p>Gap Year:</p>

<p>Going to Saudi Arabia for religious pilgrimage
Afterwards will go to Bangladesh and hopefully do some clinical work(work in progress as of now)
Come Fall, will be applying to the Georgetown SMP to cover my basis, so may be doing that. Although I don't want to do more school if I don't have to given that its my gap year.</p>

<p>In my personal statement, I talk about my service trip in Joplin/journey into medicine and touch upon why my performance dipped in my first year at UMD as part of the "narrative".</p>

<p>Applying to Midwest schools(UMKC, St. Louis Med schools, KU, many more), Cali schools(for the fun of it), UMD, some Florida Schools, some Virginia Schools. Mainly low-middle tier programs given that my statistics look like crap. Will be applying very, very, very broadly.</p>

<p>Thoughts/how does my application look to admissions officers/chances of getting in?</p>

2

<p>Your gpa is more worrisome than the mcat score, but cant really do anything about that. If you were confident in getting a 34+, I would retake. You will have to carefully choose which schools to apply to (like not applying to CA schools “for the fun of it”)</p>

3

<p>

The young age could work against you.</p>

<p>Unless you are precocious in your research capability and demonstrate a lot of promises on the academic medicine track (e.g., an MSTP applicant), the young age is a liability, not an asset in med school application. In general, the med schools prefer not to take an applicant of such a young age.</p>

<p>Considering the fact that your AMCAS sGPA is 3.512, it may be beneficial for you to postpone your graduation (and also your med school application) and improve your sGPA.</p>

4

<p>I agree with mcat2 in many aspects. First, you’re very young and that might work against you. When you say your gpa dropped because of events going on at home may be true, but it’s not really a great message. Still, I think it’s really difficult to “improve” your gpa. Basically, that’ll only be through another program (a master’s or that other one where you do it simply to raise your gpa and take pre-med req.), but that doesn’t sound like a further delay appeals to you.</p>

<p>So here’s my thoughts. Apply if you have everything all set to go. Why not? You have shadowing/research/pre-med reqs/LoRs, etc all ready. If you get feedback that the med schools want something “else”, you can do that too. If you have to retake your MCATs, then do that only when totally prepared and you’re sure to improve. And finally, apply broadly especially your IS. Skip the CA schools because unless you’re from CA, you wouldn’t have a prayer.</p>

<p>Alternately, continue schooling one more year. Work on getting the “new” requirements and have fun. Life is a journey, not a race.</p>

5

<p>I understand Medical Schools look for mature people and that usually correlates with age. However, I didn’t race through my coursework on purpose, its just the way it worked out. If I had the choice at the appropriate times, I probably would not have done it this way. The main reason that I got through so quickly was because I was home-schooled(yes, yes accredited) for my last 3 years of high school and had to do all my high school work on my own schedule/discipline. I don’t think the reasons for that are of concern to medical schools, but its the main reason for this seemingly fast graduation rate that itself has reasons too.</p>

6

<p>Then just be sure you position yourself as “ready” for the long process of med school, regardless of age…and it is a long process. No need to be offended, as I didn’t intend it that way. It’s just that it’s extremely unlikely you’ll get through med school as quickly as you have in your previous schooling situations and that may be a concern.</p>

7

<p>None taken at all, I realize that my age will probably raise a few eyebrows and questions. I know people who get in when they’re like 35, so I personally think that there wouldn’t be a problem with me applying now unless my application has some unacceptable deficiencies(if there are any, please let me know lol). It may or may not be seen the same way by the admissions officers…hopefully yes.</p>

8

<p>I was told by a 3rd year Med student at St. Louis University School of MEdicine that 31 first try is “impressive”</p>

<p>I’ve never heard that said before. don’t know if that’s true or not. Maybe there are a number of students with higher MCATs achieved after a previously much lower score. </p>

<p>Your GPA is a problem, but you do have an upward trend.</p>

<p>If you apply early (early June!), you probably will have success with a midwest mid level SOM.</p>

9

<p>The belief that everyone who score 32+ on the MCAT did it on a retake is a complete myth. Do not subscribe to it. Most people who score in that range did it on the first try. The MCAT is not like the SAT.</p>

10

<p>I don’t think that there is a belief that everyone who scores a 32+ did it on a retake. I think the OP is saying that someone told him that a 31+ on a first try is considered very good…as opposed to someone who may have gotten a 28 the first time, and then a 31/32 the second time.</p>

11

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<p>Sorry but the extremes of age doesn’t work both ways, for the reasons noted above. There are several students in my class who are 30+ (and one 40+). Some of those have PhDs or had successful careers in engineering or computer software programming before starting med school. As mentioned before, medical schools are much more likely to accept a student who is older and has maturity and a good deal of life experience over a student who graduated undergrad much earlier than most others. Your age will definitely work against you, no question.</p>

<p>About your MCAT - 31 isn’t amazing by any stretch, but it’s also not terrible. You said you got advice from several people not to retake - I agree with them. Conventional wisdom is that your chances of your score going down vs up are about 50/50 at the 30-31 range on the first try. A second score that is lower would be disastrous, while a moderately improved score (3-4 points) wouldn’t really be impressive enough to help your application. GPA is difficult to improve at this stage as well, but your GPA isn’t super low either. I guess I’ve been out of the loop on average GPA/MCAT figures lately - I interview applicants for my school, but the admissions office leaves GPA and MCAT off of the copy of AMCAS I get - but your scores aren’t horrible, just average or a little below average.</p>