PLEASE DO NOT QUOTE THIS MESSAGE
Hello everyone, I am a current senior in undergrad planning on applying in the 2024-2025 cycle. Thanks in advance for help! Here is my information:
For my school list, I’m willing to apply and go anywhere, although I would love to stay in Ohio/Midwest. Money won’t be an issue as of my current situation, so I don't have a limit on number of schools. I haven’t done much research on mission fit (and I’m not sure which mission my application fits), but these are the schools I’m currently thinking about applying to based on my Ohio residency and comparing my stats to MSAR data:
Cincinnati
Ohio State
NEOMED
Wright State
Toledo
Albany
Wake Forest
Creighton
Drexel
Emory
Eastern Virginia
Frank Netter
George Washington
Temple
Meharry
Oakland University William Beaumont SOM
Penn State
Sidney Kimmel
Tufts
Tulane
VCU
Wayne State
Western Michigan
Medical College of Wisconsin
I also had a few more questions:
Would my stats be somewhat of a red flag for my science competency? My C/P and B/B scores (127) are often in schools’ 10th percentile or lower despite my composite score being in 25th-75th percentile, and my sGPA is lower than my cGPA. All my grades that weren't an A were in my science courses.
When coming up with a theme, I think it has something to do with women but I'm unsure of how to word it. I didn’t come into college with the idea of having a theme related to women but in retrospect it seems like most of my activities have something that can fit in with this theme. I’m taking a maternal/fetal/neonatal physiology course this semester, worked in the mother/baby unit as PCA, and am involved in a sorority that has a mission of empowering Asian women. I might start volunteering at an organization in the spring that supports survivors of domestic violence, sexual violence, dating violence, and stalking if I can make it work in my schedule.
Should I count my hospital volunteering as non-clinical because of the nature of the positions and/or because it’s a weaker area of my application? I was a greeter while the hospital was still conducting COVID precautions so I did the COVID screening for visitors when they arrived (temperature check and questions). At the infusion center, I had typical hospital volunteer duties such as restocking the blankets and snacks and setting up/cleaning up the rooms after patient use.
I volunteered at this hospital in high school but had to stop when the pandemic started and didn’t resume until my sophomore year of college. Since I technically didn’t volunteer continuously from high school, do my high school hours not count?
Should I not include the knitting scarves through a university club since there’s no story I can write 700 characters about in my activities section? Should I not include knitting as a hobby either for the same reason? I started knitting when I was in third grade just for fun after watching my grandma do it for years. I asked her to teach me, and it was a way for me to bond with her. It is one of a few things I have left that remind me of her, as she passed away last year. Throughout my life in middle school and high school I was in knitting clubs too and similarly made scarves and hats to donate. I don’t have any specific story of me knitting to write about, but would a more detailed version of this summary be okay for my hobby description?
Finally, I’m starting to think about what I want to do in my gap year. I’ll continue volunteering at the pantry (and potentially another place if I have time), but should I try to find a clinical job as a PCA or scribe or a clinical research assistant job for my gap year? I didn’t enjoy research when I did it, so I’m not sure if I’ll enjoy the clinical research job. However, I’m considering research because I’ve been told it’ll open more doors for me than additional clinical experience will, and I assume clinical research is much different from the research I did in undergrad. I’m considering getting a clinical job again because it’s another way to gain experience, and I have enjoyed every hospital experience much more than I enjoyed my research experiences. I’m also worried that it seems like I “checked the box” with my PCA job that I had for junior year then quit to study for the MCAT full-time last summer.
Hello everyone, I am a current senior in undergrad planning on applying in the 2024-2025 cycle. Thanks in advance for help! Here is my information:
- cGPA: 3.828 / sGPA: 3.709
- MCAT: 515 (127/131/127/130)
- State of residence: Ohio
- Ethnicity and/or race: Vietnamese / Asian
- Undergraduate institution category: Public university in Ohio
- Clinical experience: 500 hours as a Patient Care Assistant in medsurg and mom/baby units of hospital
- Research experience and productivity: 400 hours in urban planning through a summer research program, 150 hours in toxicology lab (not wet lab); no publications/abstracts/posters
- Shadowing experience and specialties represented: 32 hours (8 ortho surgery, 24 neuro) which I know is relatively low but I’m planning on getting more during winter break and in the spring
- Non-clinical volunteering: knit scarves for donations to the homeless through university club (55 hours), hospital front desk greeter (90 hours), hospital infusion center unit helper (60 hours), started at food/clothing pantry this semester (will have 65 hours by December and continuing throughout the spring and gap year)
- Other extracurricular activities: Asian-interest sorority as a member and with a few leadership positions, ambassador for my scholarship (I would say it's more of a leadership position because I’ve led a food drive and been a team leader for a community service event), mentor for underclassmen, knitting as a hobby since I was in third grade (if I should include that)
- Relevant honors or awards: none
For my school list, I’m willing to apply and go anywhere, although I would love to stay in Ohio/Midwest. Money won’t be an issue as of my current situation, so I don't have a limit on number of schools. I haven’t done much research on mission fit (and I’m not sure which mission my application fits), but these are the schools I’m currently thinking about applying to based on my Ohio residency and comparing my stats to MSAR data:
Cincinnati
Ohio State
NEOMED
Wright State
Toledo
Albany
Wake Forest
Creighton
Drexel
Emory
Eastern Virginia
Frank Netter
George Washington
Temple
Meharry
Oakland University William Beaumont SOM
Penn State
Sidney Kimmel
Tufts
Tulane
VCU
Wayne State
Western Michigan
Medical College of Wisconsin
I also had a few more questions:
Would my stats be somewhat of a red flag for my science competency? My C/P and B/B scores (127) are often in schools’ 10th percentile or lower despite my composite score being in 25th-75th percentile, and my sGPA is lower than my cGPA. All my grades that weren't an A were in my science courses.
When coming up with a theme, I think it has something to do with women but I'm unsure of how to word it. I didn’t come into college with the idea of having a theme related to women but in retrospect it seems like most of my activities have something that can fit in with this theme. I’m taking a maternal/fetal/neonatal physiology course this semester, worked in the mother/baby unit as PCA, and am involved in a sorority that has a mission of empowering Asian women. I might start volunteering at an organization in the spring that supports survivors of domestic violence, sexual violence, dating violence, and stalking if I can make it work in my schedule.
Should I count my hospital volunteering as non-clinical because of the nature of the positions and/or because it’s a weaker area of my application? I was a greeter while the hospital was still conducting COVID precautions so I did the COVID screening for visitors when they arrived (temperature check and questions). At the infusion center, I had typical hospital volunteer duties such as restocking the blankets and snacks and setting up/cleaning up the rooms after patient use.
I volunteered at this hospital in high school but had to stop when the pandemic started and didn’t resume until my sophomore year of college. Since I technically didn’t volunteer continuously from high school, do my high school hours not count?
Should I not include the knitting scarves through a university club since there’s no story I can write 700 characters about in my activities section? Should I not include knitting as a hobby either for the same reason? I started knitting when I was in third grade just for fun after watching my grandma do it for years. I asked her to teach me, and it was a way for me to bond with her. It is one of a few things I have left that remind me of her, as she passed away last year. Throughout my life in middle school and high school I was in knitting clubs too and similarly made scarves and hats to donate. I don’t have any specific story of me knitting to write about, but would a more detailed version of this summary be okay for my hobby description?
Finally, I’m starting to think about what I want to do in my gap year. I’ll continue volunteering at the pantry (and potentially another place if I have time), but should I try to find a clinical job as a PCA or scribe or a clinical research assistant job for my gap year? I didn’t enjoy research when I did it, so I’m not sure if I’ll enjoy the clinical research job. However, I’m considering research because I’ve been told it’ll open more doors for me than additional clinical experience will, and I assume clinical research is much different from the research I did in undergrad. I’m considering getting a clinical job again because it’s another way to gain experience, and I have enjoyed every hospital experience much more than I enjoyed my research experiences. I’m also worried that it seems like I “checked the box” with my PCA job that I had for junior year then quit to study for the MCAT full-time last summer.
It's a fantastic school.
