Im a sophomore and need advise

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i do not think 100 hours (for research) is a lot... its not even one summer is it? its more like 2 and a half weeks.

for top 20 schools, you will need slightly more research.
3.55 is a poor science gpa, but i think your cgpa is good.

other than that, you should have a couple of interviews i would say! all the best!
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you should have a couple of interviews
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out of 24 applications ouch :)

I guess I need to figure something out then...:eek:
 
Ion1776 said:
out of 24 applications ouch :)

I guess I need to figure something out then...:eek:
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That's how the med school app process works for pretty much everyone. Generally, people apply to 15-20 different schools and get 4 or 5 interviews (more or less depending on the strength of the applicant). So the "couple of interviews" thing wasn't referring to you specifically, it is general to all applicants. Don't be discouraged! If you get several interviews and don't screw them up, you have a very good chance of acceptance.

I would strongly encourage you to rethink your decision not to take any more science classes. Med school is going to be ALL science classes for the first two years. No humanities or social sciences to make the load less painful. Not all of the material is interesting, either (though I guess to the super hard sciency people it might be). Just saying, if you hate science so much that you won't even take another science class in undergrad with the chance of raising your GPA a decent amount...
 
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Ion1776 said:
out of 24 applications ouch :)

I guess I need to figure something out then...:eek:
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alright perhaps 6 then. =P if u get 4 from the state schools.

like smitey said, unless ure 40/4.0, with extremely nice ECs, the turnover rate isnt really that high...:oops:
 
I see what you guys are saying...Im just going to take my chances and see where all the pieces fall, I guess my philosophy is you never know what will happen.

Im guessing improving the MCAT from 34 to 37+ will kinda hard, if I wanted to try that?
 
statistically it is not viable, but like you said, my philosophy is slightly different but will give us the same result here.

i believe i will get 100%, and so i will definitely retake it if i were u.

but remember! STATISTICALLY NOT VIABLE.
 
Got another question...

If I do research this summer, its going on to be a 12 week (480 hours) commitment at oak ridge national lab. 5 days a week 8-5pm. If I ask not to be paid, can I also list it as volunteering
 
Ion1776 said:
I see what you guys are saying...Im just going to take my chances and see where all the pieces fall, I guess my philosophy is you never know what will happen.

Im guessing improving the MCAT from 34 to 37+ will kinda hard, if I wanted to try that?
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Dont retake the MCAT!! Your stats are good enough....
 
Ion1776 said:
Got another question...

If I do research this summer, its going on to be a 12 week (480 hours) commitment at oak ridge national lab. 5 days a week 8-5pm. If I ask not to be paid, can I also list it as volunteering
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If you dont get paid, then it is volunteering.

However, I would get paid for all that time and find another place to get a few hrs/wk as volunteer.

You are still getting the experience either way....
 
If you do research, whether for class credit, pay, or volunteer hours, you always list it under research. You can make it clear in the description that it was also one of the other activities, but you won't list it twice.

Some schools won't let you research as a volunteer becase then their liability insurance doesn't cover you.
 
Stratego said:
If you do research, whether for class credit, pay, or volunteer hours, you always list it under research. You can make it clear in the description that it was also one of the other activities, but you won't list it twice.

Some schools won't let you research as a volunteer becase then their liability insurance doesn't cover you.
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Yeah, make sure to list it under research!!
 
Okay...but you can list things twice though right.

Like i shadowed a doctor,but at the sametime I volunteered in like getting supplies for the doctor and greeting patients.

This can be listed under volunteering and shadowing...correct?
 
Ion1776 said:
Okay...but you can list things twice though right.

Like i shadowed a doctor,but at the sametime I volunteered in like getting supplies for the doctor and greeting patients.

This can be listed under volunteering and shadowing...correct?
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I would hesitate to do this personally, but I don't know how adcoms see it. I think as long as you give a detailed enough description of the activity, there's no reason to put it in twice. It will probably be obvious that you're just trying to semi-artificially inflate your activities.

I wouldn't consider anything you did shadowing as a volunteer experience, either. The doctor you shadowed was doing you a favor, it seems kind of odd to consider your "getting supplies and greeting patients" something that you did out of the kindness of your heart.
 
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Can you roughly divide the hours out into each category? You don't want to put the same identical hours under two different headings.

Other people at your schools must have done the same activity. You could ask how they listed it.
 
MightySmiter is right. Shadowing is not a volunteer activity.
 
But shadowing means, you just sat there and watched. I actually did stuff, like going and fetching stuff for the staff...I helped walk patients into the examination rooms, etc.
 
But you weren't in the presence of the physician every moment you were doing those things.

Shadowing is a passive activity. You are supposed to watching everything that makes up a physician's day: physical exam, conversation with the patient about the plan, dictating, writing notes, filling out insurance papers, making phone calls, rounds at the hospital, maybe some surgery, watching procedures. With extra time you talk about malpractice concerns, on-call duty, managing family and clinical practice, business aspects of private practice.
 
Ion1776 said:
But shadowing means, you just sat there and watched. I actually did stuff, like going and fetching stuff for the staff...I helped walk patients into the examination rooms, etc.
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Be honest with yourself and adcoms. Did you arrange to volunteer for the doctor, or to shadow the doctor? I'm guessing the latter, so you shouldn't consider your shadowing a volunteer experience, even if you helped patients walk into exam rooms. Just because you do something helpful for someone doesn't mean it's appropriate to list on your app.
 
^ if u signed up for shadowing. it stays as shadowing. UNLESS you do a great deal, and ure officially a volunteer at the hospital.... you know, sign in, hours... its different. you want to get into med school for who you are and what uve done. that way, you will be really proud of your achievements. exaggerate, but dont lie.
 
What would you guys consider as Excellent EC's

____hrs volunteering

____hrs Research

____hrs Shadowing

____hrs Tutoring

Follow template :D

Whats else to add, dont say leadership, honestly I have no idea how to become a leader of something...LOL
 
Honest advice, Ion? I think you need to stop worrying about how to "craft" your application in order to get admitted. Adcoms can generally see through insincere ECs. There is no minimum number of hours of each category to get admitted, you should choose activities you're passionate about. You could have 1000 hours volunteering somewhere, but if it's clearly something you don't care about, it won't be an excellent EC. Stop worrying about numbers and start thinking about what ECs really interest you.
 
Honest advice, Ion? I think you need to stop worrying about how to "craft" your application in order to get admitted. Adcoms can generally see through insincere ECs. There is no minimum number of hours of each category to get admitted, you should choose activities you're passionate about. You could have 1000 hours volunteering somewhere, but if it's clearly something you don't care about, it won't be an excellent EC. Stop worrying about numbers and start thinking about what ECs really interest you.
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If EC's didnt affect my chances of getting accepted to a better school, I wouldnt do 1 second of research, volunteering, tutors, or anything else. I hate all these EC's. My only motivation is to succeed by getting accept to the best school possible.

All the medical schools care about are hours, they dont observe you while you do all your EC. Also, you cant have "insincere" EC's if you actually go and do them. Its not like im going to make-up hours....
 
Ion1776 said:
If EC's didnt affect my chances of getting accepted to a better school, I wouldnt do 1 second of research, volunteering, tutors, or anything else. I hate all these EC's. My only motivation is to succeed by getting accept to the best school possible.

All the medical schools care about are hours, they dont observe you while you do all your EC. Also, you cant have "insincere" EC's if you actually go and do them. Its not like im going to make-up hours....
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Well, it's nice to hear an honest statement. But I still find it hard to believe that you can't find one EC that you enjoy. Still, it's not up to me to judge your motivations, so I'll just tell you that the average clinical volunteer EC is around 1-2 years, 3-4 hours a week. There's no magic number, though. I really wouldn't recommend doing research if you hate it, although maybe do a few months to find out if you really do hate it. If you do, you can say honestly that you tried research and it isn't your thing. Don't do it just to put on an app. Tutoring isn't necessary either.

But the "I tried it and didn't like it" thing won't fly with volunteering. There are SO many places out there to volunteer, surely you can find something interesting. I guess I just don't see how it's possible to hate all types of volunteering, unless you have no heart.
 
J DUB: Thanks

Well, it's nice to hear an honest statement. But I still find it hard to believe that you can't find one EC that you enjoy. Still, it's not up to me to judge your motivations, so I'll just tell you that the average clinical volunteer EC is around 1-2 years, 3-4 hours a week. There's no magic number, though. I really wouldn't recommend doing research if you hate it, although maybe do a few months to find out if you really do hate it. If you do, you can say honestly that you tried research and it isn't your thing. Don't do it just to put on an app. Tutoring isn't necessary either.

But the "I tried it and didn't like it" thing won't fly with volunteering. There are SO many places out there to volunteer, surely you can find something interesting. I guess I just don't see how it's possible to hate all types of volunteering, unless you have no heart.
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I appreciate the advise smity. Trust me i doesnt bother me to do something I dont like, Ive always been willing to do whatever it takes to be successful, and i mean anything... Im already signed up for a 12 week research program that will get me approximately 480 hours at a well known national lab. Im hoping to have about at least 400 hours of research, tutoring, volunteering, and shadowing. I need them to make up for my semi-low sGPA.
 
Be understanding. The OP is honestly expressing frustration. It's OK to do that. How many of us wouldn't be in the same place when an experiment went wrong, we got a B in a course where we expected an A, or a patient vomited on one's new pants. Hearing that you have way more work to do when you thought you were nearly done, isn't fun to hear, regardless of your motivation.
 
What gets sent in the initial medical school application?

1. Grades/MCAT score
2. LORS?
3. EC's?
4. Personal statement?

Secondary/Supplemental

1. Essay?

Is this correct?
 
yepyep. and duke doesnt take LORs till interview invite. which is after the secondary.

and vandy's interview and secondary come together.
 
See im planning on applying to about 20 schools...Damn thats going to be annoying if each on has its own damn schedule...LOL
 
Bannie: My breakdown was...

Biological Science: 11
Physical Science: 10
Verbal: 13

Clearly my sciences are a problem...lol
 
Another thing....Pre Med. Committee LOR is not required by any school...right?They all allow 3 profs (2 sci, 1 nonsci) as a replacement. plus others like research supervisor, other doctors, etc.
 
pre med committee lor is highly recommended and u often have to write out WHY you do not have one if your school offers it.

heh. i guessed your breakdown decently :p

so theres no problem with verbal.
did u attend a princeton/kaplan/... class?

either ways, im sure u have some of them review books and i suggest that you not only read them, but do the practice problems in the workbook. and all the practice problems.
remember to time yourself, and remember not to go according to the time allocated on the mcat but to be more demanding with yourself and finish quicker.

also keep in mind that u shud always be eliminating your choices as u go along even if u know the correct answer immediately.

esp in physical sciences, i think solving problems, helps u get the hang of the simple math, but also quick math required. and sometimes, the numbers give allude to a certain equation that you can use.

did u do all the aamc tests?

when u do them, remember that for every question u get wrong, to analzye the question carefully and to not just know the right answer, but to understand the right answer, understand the entire concept, understand WHY you picked the wrong answer, and HOW the question could have been phrased for hte wrong answer to be the right answer (for every single choice), that way u are not just understanding what is right, but what wrong can be made right... if u get what i mean.

i think thats hnestly the most impt part when ure studying. is to not just ask quetions if u get stuff wrong, but to ensure that you are understanding everything that could possibly be in front of you.

for me, even if i got a question right, as long as i had a small uncertaintiy to it, i would still look it up, check out which wrong answer was making me unsure, and to understand why so, and how (once eagain) the question could have been rephrased for that answer to be correct.

i tink. basically.

LEARN.
enjoy waht ure learning, instead of going out there to memorize.
not only learn test taking skills, but hte material. learn from what u do not know. and repeat what u already know!

i dont know waht else can help u. if u have any other specific questions ask me.

if u want a timeline of how my summer mcat went ill be glad to provide more. but its nice to see averbal of 13.. its very strong and sexy. =)
 
Oh crap another thing I have to look up...I really hope my university doesnt have a pre med committee. Do you have to do stuff for them to write you a recommendation?

I didnt take a MCAT review class

I used Princeton Review book, and took several of their practice tests. Im think I'll get the Kaplan book this time...

This will sound dumb...AAMC practice tests?

Also, I used alot of Ritalin. Maybe Adderall this time...

One last thing...I was looking at alot of schools, and only some mention a Pre-med committee recommendation
 
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Ion1776 said:
Oh crap another thing I have to look up...I really hope my university doesnt have a pre med committee. Do you have to do stuff for them to write you a recommendation?

I didnt take a MCAT review class

I used Princeton Review book, and took several of their practice tests. Im think I'll get the Kaplan book this time...

This will sound dumb...AAMC practice tests?

Also, I used alot of Ritalin. Maybe Adderall this time...

One last thing...I was looking at alot of schools, and only some mention a Pre-med committee recommendation
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premed comm. is not concrete...good but LORs from science professors are just as good....in most cases!!

Do not retake your MCAT!!
 
J DUB said:
premed comm. is not concrete...good but LORs from science professors are just as good....in most cases!!

Do not retake your MCAT!!
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I really dont want to...but...

As I said, I want to apply to 3 in-state, and 17 out-of-state...

I would be devastated if I didn't get at least an interview out of the 17 out-of-state schools (top 17 schools, that dont require a semester of Biochem)
 
Ion1776 said:
I really dont want to...but...

As I said, I want to apply to 3 in-state, and 17 out-of-state...

I would be devastated if I didn't get at least an interview out of the 17 out-of-state schools (top 17 schools, that dont require a semester of Biochem)
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A few extra points may help...but lose a few and you will be in much worse situation for an acceptance.....

just know what you are doing.....I still advise against it.
 
Do medical schools ask how you are going to pay the tuition on the application. Does being able to pay it in full immediately help to get accept at all?
 
This sound stupid...probably...

But someone told me that the bigger private schools, prefer students that can pay in full immediately (of course not they arnt open about it)?
 
yes its diminishing returns. probably dont do it.
 
Ion1776 said:
This sound stupid...probably...

But someone told me that the bigger private schools, prefer students that can pay in full immediately (of course not they arnt open about it)?
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I dont know....try and bribe them and see what happens!!

I dont think it will be good though....;)
 
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