Hi! I'm new to forums, so I apologize if I'm doing any of this wrong. Also a bit long, please pardon my anxiety.
To give some context, I am a current junior at my university, majoring in biology. I was on the research track for my first two and a half years, but ultimately I don't see myself exceling in that field. While it was an amazing field intellectually, I missed the human portion of my work. It lacked my desire to directly aid others, like my sister, who is severely impaired and has extensive seizures. Being covered in vomit and feces didn't faze me, I just wanted to help her. After my shadowing, I felt absolutely called to the field (I shadowed anesthesia, general surgery, ENT, urology, vascular surgery, internal medicine, and orthopedic surgery).
Now for the stats.
To give some context, I am a current junior at my university, majoring in biology. I was on the research track for my first two and a half years, but ultimately I don't see myself exceling in that field. While it was an amazing field intellectually, I missed the human portion of my work. It lacked my desire to directly aid others, like my sister, who is severely impaired and has extensive seizures. Being covered in vomit and feces didn't faze me, I just wanted to help her. After my shadowing, I felt absolutely called to the field (I shadowed anesthesia, general surgery, ENT, urology, vascular surgery, internal medicine, and orthopedic surgery).
Now for the stats.
- I currently have a 3.7 overall GPA, with a 3.6 math/science. After this semester concludes, if all is well, I will have a 3.8/3.7
- I am taking the MCAT May 1st. I'm taking TPR MCAT review, and my scores on the AAMC review are very promising (High percentage on individual section scores). I have a 504 on my most recent TPR test with 5 full length TPR tests taken already, but I understand that TPR is not a super great indicator of score on the AAMC material (from what I've seen personally and heard). About to take my first AAMC full length practice test so I will update shortly after that.
- Hours (I know I need to bolster my volunteer and clinical hours, which is currently happening):
- My shadowing (with the above fields) total to 122. I saw everything from amputations above the knee, to operating the Da Vinci surgery robot, TAP blocks, ACL repair, intubation, the list continues. It was AMAZING)
- My volunteer hours total at 35. This is low. However, I am volunteering for 30 more hours before May, and will be volunteering with a May summer camp that I'm super excited to help with! This will total my volunteer hours to around 150 at a minimum, if all goes well, I expect that number to be higher
- My clinical hours total to 30 in a vaccination clinic. I am getting opportunities together in May which will consist of 40 hours a week, as I want 150 hours of clinical before I apply at minimum
- I understand that these hours are being gathered in a relatively short amount of time, which is my fear. I've been focusing on research and academics much more in the past 2 and a half years of my college experience that anything else, and I am absolutely trying my best to improve this part of my application. Please let me know your thoughts
