MD WAMC: c3.91, s3.94, 506, Texas Resident

[future-doc0]

Hello! This is the first time I am posting. Thank you in advance for your help and I apologize if I am missing something or did not follow a recommended format.

1. cGPA = 3.91 and sGPA= 3.94 by TMDSAS
2. 506 MCAT (125/127/125/129)
3. Texas Resident
4. Asian Indian
5. University of Texas at Austin
6. Clinical experience
   1. 150+ hours clinical experience at a local pediatric hospital
   2. 20+ hours at local non profit clinic
7. Research experience and productivity
   1. 300+ research hours at UT Austin program + poster presentation
   2. 120+ research at computational oncology lab at local med school. No papers yet however trying to get one finished in the fall
8. Shadowing experience:
   1. 50+ hours: Orthopedic surgery, Peds Ortho Surgery, Podiatry, Hepatology surgery. (100+ if including high school but I don't think that counts)
9. Non-clinical volunteering
   1. 150 hours at the same local pediatric hospital but non-clinical positions
   2. 20+ hours with various organizations I am a part of
10. Other extracurricular activities (including athletics, military service, gap year activities, leadership, teaching, etc)
    1. Mentor for research group at UT
    2. Founded and President of an Entrepreneurship organization
    3. member of pre-med org
11. Relevant honors or awards
    1. University Honors
12. Anything else not listed you think might be important
    1. Computational Biology major. My major and research are connected and is something I'm heavily interested in. Potentially niche?
    2. Entrepreneurship minor ties with the org that I started. This org has been quite successful and again is something I think makes me potentially a unique applicant?

Again I apologize if my next set of questions isn't supposed to be here when I post this. Please let me know if I need to move my discussion. I am trying to figure out my next steps. I am an incoming senior. I know a 506 isn't very competitive but I don't know if the rest of my application makes up for it. I am looking to stay in Texas. I am also in the midst of studying for another MCAT but am slightly confused. I am nervous to retake it and only get marginal improvement which may be bad? I also fear if I take the MCAT in June and apply by first or second week of June I may be late?
Should I be focusing on retaking my MCAT no matter what? Should I apply this cycle with the 506 and see what happens? Should I take a gap year based on the timing of the test and application cycle? I know schools like Long, Dell, Baylor, and Southwestern MAY be out of reach with this score but I would still love to go to other schools in Texas. Please let me know your thoughts! Thank you in advance!

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[Mr.Smile12]

For me, it depends on your mission fit and desire to work in more rural/underserved parts of Texas if you happen to grow up there. You don't have much with primary care apart from your work in a pediatric hospital.

The chief concern for me is your lack of non-clinical community service outside of a clinical setting. Sure, you can do administrative stuff at the free clinic or the peds hospital, but I don't get a sense you have really connected with the needs of Texans who lack convenient access to social services or other resources. I don't really see how you have stretched outside your comfort zone except as an entrepreneur. In short, I get mixed messages about why medicine is your calling. Your org makes you unique, but it makes me question if you really want to give it up, not knowing what you're going into.

I would say check out TexasA&M EnMed, which seeks those with quantitative backgrounds. But if you're really trying to shoot for the top brands in Texas, you have got to do much better on the MCAT and/or you need to show true interest in serving others outside of the clinic.