Hello, I am relatively new to this forum, I used to roam around on here quite a bit but never fully committed to making an account because there's already a lot of informative threads on here. Nonetheless, I will go over some aspects of my history as a student and my current status as a pre-med.
(tl;dr below)
I started at a top 30 state school and ended up doing pretty well my first year of college (sGPA and cGPA both ~ 3.6). I did not like the vibe at my school, though, and I ended up transferring to a top 20 liberal arts college for my sophomore to now senior year.
I actually enjoyed a lot of aspects of the current school (lived on campus before moving home due to virus) and now I am home and doing a lot of self-reflection, realizing I should have tried so much harder. Many of my professors knew I was a good studier and great at taking exams, but I was really distracted and failed to do assignments on time, sometimes not doing them at all, as well as often skipping class! This made my cGPA become a 2.9, while my science sGPA is around a 3.1. I have quite a few C's and even two D+s, while only a few classes are A's and many many B's.
My friend recently gave me her MCAT study materials because she just applied to med schools and expects me to as well, but it's so embarrassing not having the right credentials (GPA) to actually be accepted. I think I could do really really well on the MCAT if I really set my mind to it.
I have done a lot of clinical volunteering (in a hospital as well as hospice) that totals up to around 300 for now. I have done community service hours ~ 200-250 as of now, shadowed a variety of doctors in a special program affiliated with my school, and have been involved in many social justice organizations.
I calculated how many science classes I would need to raise my science GPA to around a 3.7, assuming I get all A's, it would take 20-25 classes! I could potentially do this in two years time, an option I am thinking of, because after a lot of self-reflection I am really motivated to succeed and pursue a career in medicine.
Do you have any valuable advice for me?
tl;dr
- Top 20 LAC (transferred after one year, 3.6 sGPA at prior, 3.1 sGPA at current).
- MCAT: have not taken yet, but intend on doing very well!
- 200-250 hours of community service
- ~300 hours of clinical experience
- Involved in many clubs at my school
- URM in terms of sexuality
- Shadowed several doctors (total of 50 hours, but will definitely do more)
- Little research experience, would love to do more before applying.
Would it be wise to take higher-level courses I know I could do well in with the right motivation / discipline (would take ~ 2 years to have a competitive GPA), or should I apply to an SMP? Other options?
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