WAMC and Post bacc advise, Texas

[tanglewood2020]

I'm primarily posting because from my understanding, my GPA is on the cusp and I need to determine if I need to do a post-bacc, masters in medical science, or SMP

GPA: 3.4
Science GPA: 3.45
MCAT: Will take in August, anticipate doing well because I'm taking 6 months off to study and have done well on FL practice tests. I know that's insufficient data for y'all, but I'm just trying to gauge what my plan should be over the next couple of years.

24 years old

Degree: Neuroscience, Middle Eastern Studies, top 50 university

demographics: Queer, Latino, Veteran, very low income, emancipated through military service at 18

Clinical Experience (1000s of hours):
6 months as a full time school nurse at preschool
6 years in Army National Guard as medic
6 months as a medic at a psychiatric clinic
6 months on COVID activation with National Guard testing people
Worked as an independent contractor doing first aid (I'm a BLS instructor)

Research Exp:
3 Months paid economic research assistant
3 years in an engineering lab, papers in the process of being put in the library vault (they won't be published because we have pending patents, not sure if that's a + or a - to med schools lol)

Volunteering
5 years as a refugee student mentor (100s of hours)
5 years as an SAT and college prep tutor in low income community (100s of hours)
about 100 hrs as a wrestling coach
COVID officer at my co-op apt
Protest medic in street medic org


Military Experience
6 month COVID activation
Airborne School grad
Honor grad combat medic school
multiple overseas trainings in Eastern Europe
years exp as a combat medic

Misc Work exp:
Moving company
Waiter
Restaurant manager
Tutor

ECs
Health apprenticeship
Neuro club
Political organizer, officer in political organization (intentionally vague, will have to be somewhat more specific in app but want to avoid biases)

Hobbies:
brazilian jiu jitsu, boxing, powerlifting, fishing, watercolor painting, trumpet

Shadowing:
40 hrs EM
working on getting more this summer. Should have alot of free time because I'll only be working a couple of days a week as a medic and studying for the MCAT

Languages:
English
Spanish (Advanced)
Arabic (Advanced)
French (Intermediate)
Hebrew (Intermediate

Notes:
I think I'll do well in any program I do in the fall and after, because I'm getting out the National Guard. Being in a specialized unit, I missed about 5 days out of every month. That won't be a problem anymore. Also, I got a D in ochem and dropped it once before getting a B. Similar with Calc.


I will be applying to all Texas Medical Schools, except *maybe* Incarnate Word and Tech. List here:
Baylor College of Medicine
Sam Houston State University College of Osteopathic Medicine
TCU School of Medicine
Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Paul L. Foster School of Medicine
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine
The Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long University of Texas School of Medicine at San Antonio
The University of Texas at Austin-Dell Medical School
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston McGovern Medical School
The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine
The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
University of Houston College of Medicine
University of the Incarnate Word School of Osteopathic Medicine
University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth/Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine

Any other schools y'all recommend? Also, back to the main point, do I need to do an SMP, post-bacc, or masters geared toward premed students? If so, which one? What can I do to improve my app? Thank y'all!!

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[Mr.Smile12]

IMO you do NOT need an SMP. What courses would you take if you went for a post-bac since I don't know what constitutes your sGPA/BCPM now?

Do you have an MCAT waiver or an AAMC FAP? If you do not, get one even if you have to wait a year (the schools aren't going away).

Taking the MCAT in August... you're going to have to make some real decisions about applying since you are rolling on one shot to get a high enough score for an interview that could come a bit later in time especially with any possible offers of admission. It makes it tough for us to narrow down your choices, but being in Texas is helpful since we can definitely encourage you to apply in-state.

Catch up on all things TMDSAS (they've got a YouTube channel and are very active connecting with applicants) because your chances I think are much better in-state based on residency. HOWEVER, if due to the current in-state political climate you really want to go out of state to programs that may be more supportive of you, you should start networking today through SNDA chapters who can value your personal journey and what you had to overcome. I can also encourage you to reach out to any Hispanic Dental Association or similar organizations at the school or state level. If you need help with connections, DM me. Ask your military connections to connect you with HPSP trainees and find out from them which schools they recommend.

 

[chilly_md]

Thank you for your service. As mentioned by Mr. Smile, your school list will depend on how well you do on the MCAT. Likely, the majority of schools will be in-state as out of state MD schools don’t typically believe TX students will come back on historic data. However, I think East Tennessee State actively tries to bring in students with a military background, and Quinnipiac is one that emphasizes serving the LGBTQ+ population.

So those are 2 new ones to think about. There are likely other schools that have similar priorities that you may want to look around for.