Im fortunate enough to be in a good place right now. But Ive some questions, and Im looking for advice on what to add or remove from my list.
Here goes:
Nontraditional Ohio resident, ties to NY. Applying for 2014 matriculation.
2 BSs and an MS in Engineering; informal postbac
uGPA 3.59 / gGPA 3.5 / pbGPA 4.0
cGPA 3.65 / sGPA 3.8
MCAT: 15PS/10VR/13BS = 38
Clinical volunteering: Hospital volunteering, variety of rotations, inpatient and outpatient. >2 hr/wk average, continuous since July 2011. Should have around 250 hours by the time I submit. This is a significant exp.
Non-clinical volunteering: ~300 hours with various organizations since 2005. Hard to list/track hours because I didnt think I needed to record them at the time.
Shadowing: ~40 hours total, distributed evenly among adult primary care, peds, EM, psychiatry. Beyond that Ive taken in a couple medical conferences in Peds and Psych. Ive also observed plenty of PM&R and EM docs while volunteering.
Research: I work as an engineer in non-medical industry in an R&D position. So I guess Ive research 40+ hr/wk since 2008. Unfortunately no publications per se, as it is private sector and all of my work is proprietary. I have had numerous internal presentations and documents but I guess I cant take credit if I cant supply proof.
Interesting work experiences: Without going into too much detail Ive had jobs and internships at 3 different fortune 500 companies, had an international bubble assignment, and invented things. One of my work experiences is something Im classifying as leadership, and its also my second significant experience. I earned my Masters while working, in a joint program between my company and a university, so by the time I matriculate Ill have had 9 years of continuous employment plus two summer internships.
Other stuff that Im planning on listing: tutoring on and off for over a decade, residence life in college (my third significant exp), college activities (probably lump these together) including leadership, music, intramural sports, etc., couple other unique and interesting activities that I wont mention here, and I like to cook and brew beer!
Complications that Ive worries about:
My prerequisites are a mess. I did one semester of gen chem at a CC while I was in HS, the other at my UG. I took AP Bio in high school- my UG credited me with bio elective because I only got a 4, but my PB gave me credit for the full freshman sequence, however AMCAS says I have to take what it was first accepted as (Ive asked). Im planning on taking sophomore level biology including cell bio and genetics during the application year. I also APed out of physics but Ive taken a ton of engineering beyond general physics. My UG did give me credit for the full year of frosh physics. Also, all of my prerequisites except for organic and biochemistry are from the 2001-02 academic year or earlier. I believe I took the AP Physics and Calculus exams during the Clinton administration.
Possible List in no particular order. Shying away from NYC/NJ/LI:
Ohio Publics (IS): OSU, Cincy, Toledo, Wright State, NE Ohio
NY Publics (Ties, OOS): Downstate, Stony Brook, Upstate
Chicago schools: Pritzker, Rush, RFU
Michigan schools: U of M, Western Michigan, Oakland
Ivys: Penn, Dartmouth, Yale, Brown
Other Midwest: MC of Wisc, UW Madison, Mayo, SLU, CWRU- both tracks
South: Vanderbilt, Tulane, Emory, Wake Forest
Other East: Pitt, BU, UConn, Rochester, Vermont, NYMC, Maryland
Should I bother?: UCSF, Stanford, Harvard, JHU
Questions:
Q: Will the gen chem at a CC hurt me?
Q: Will having not taken bio until the application year hurt me? It seems silly to apply to med school without having taken bio, but is this ok?
Q: Will schools be strict about the physics pre-req even though Ive lots of engineering?
Q: Will the fact that my physical sciences prerequisites are utterly ancient hurt me?
Q: How bad is the 10 in VR going to hurt me for some of the competitive schools on my list? Are there any schools I should not apply to because of this? For example, I read on their website that Emory wants to see an 11 on each section- how valid is this concern?
Q: I did my informal post-bac one or two classes at a time while working fulltime. Is course-load a concern in my case? Goro told me that despite my engineering UG it was. Other opinions?
Q: I dont have medical research, but Id like to try it out in med school. My goal right now is to become a clinician, but I suppose that could change. So I guess I want to go to a school that leans that way, but isnt bad at research either. Are there any schools that are super research oriented that I should avoid? I guess I want something middle of the road here. Advice would be appreciated.
Q: Im not a very high energy competitive type person. I really want a school where theres a lot of collaboration between students. I dont care about ranking here- I just want an MD (or DO) and want to be happy earning it. Pass/fail jumps out at me. Are there any schools which jump out as matching or not matching my mindset? Anything people think I should add or remove?
Q: Are there any other schools folks think I should look into or leave out? Any input on the Should I bother? schools from my list, given what Ive outlined above? Due to my fiancée needing to find a job where I get in, I intend to apply broadly, to between 25 and 30 schools.
Q: Anything else I should do to improve the app before submitting June 4th?
Thanks much!
Sisko
Here goes:
Nontraditional Ohio resident, ties to NY. Applying for 2014 matriculation.
2 BSs and an MS in Engineering; informal postbac
uGPA 3.59 / gGPA 3.5 / pbGPA 4.0
cGPA 3.65 / sGPA 3.8
MCAT: 15PS/10VR/13BS = 38
Clinical volunteering: Hospital volunteering, variety of rotations, inpatient and outpatient. >2 hr/wk average, continuous since July 2011. Should have around 250 hours by the time I submit. This is a significant exp.
Non-clinical volunteering: ~300 hours with various organizations since 2005. Hard to list/track hours because I didnt think I needed to record them at the time.
Shadowing: ~40 hours total, distributed evenly among adult primary care, peds, EM, psychiatry. Beyond that Ive taken in a couple medical conferences in Peds and Psych. Ive also observed plenty of PM&R and EM docs while volunteering.
Research: I work as an engineer in non-medical industry in an R&D position. So I guess Ive research 40+ hr/wk since 2008. Unfortunately no publications per se, as it is private sector and all of my work is proprietary. I have had numerous internal presentations and documents but I guess I cant take credit if I cant supply proof.
Interesting work experiences: Without going into too much detail Ive had jobs and internships at 3 different fortune 500 companies, had an international bubble assignment, and invented things. One of my work experiences is something Im classifying as leadership, and its also my second significant experience. I earned my Masters while working, in a joint program between my company and a university, so by the time I matriculate Ill have had 9 years of continuous employment plus two summer internships.
Other stuff that Im planning on listing: tutoring on and off for over a decade, residence life in college (my third significant exp), college activities (probably lump these together) including leadership, music, intramural sports, etc., couple other unique and interesting activities that I wont mention here, and I like to cook and brew beer!
Complications that Ive worries about:
My prerequisites are a mess. I did one semester of gen chem at a CC while I was in HS, the other at my UG. I took AP Bio in high school- my UG credited me with bio elective because I only got a 4, but my PB gave me credit for the full freshman sequence, however AMCAS says I have to take what it was first accepted as (Ive asked). Im planning on taking sophomore level biology including cell bio and genetics during the application year. I also APed out of physics but Ive taken a ton of engineering beyond general physics. My UG did give me credit for the full year of frosh physics. Also, all of my prerequisites except for organic and biochemistry are from the 2001-02 academic year or earlier. I believe I took the AP Physics and Calculus exams during the Clinton administration.
Possible List in no particular order. Shying away from NYC/NJ/LI:
Ohio Publics (IS): OSU, Cincy, Toledo, Wright State, NE Ohio
NY Publics (Ties, OOS): Downstate, Stony Brook, Upstate
Chicago schools: Pritzker, Rush, RFU
Michigan schools: U of M, Western Michigan, Oakland
Ivys: Penn, Dartmouth, Yale, Brown
Other Midwest: MC of Wisc, UW Madison, Mayo, SLU, CWRU- both tracks
South: Vanderbilt, Tulane, Emory, Wake Forest
Other East: Pitt, BU, UConn, Rochester, Vermont, NYMC, Maryland
Should I bother?: UCSF, Stanford, Harvard, JHU
Questions:
Q: Will the gen chem at a CC hurt me?
Q: Will having not taken bio until the application year hurt me? It seems silly to apply to med school without having taken bio, but is this ok?
Q: Will schools be strict about the physics pre-req even though Ive lots of engineering?
Q: Will the fact that my physical sciences prerequisites are utterly ancient hurt me?
Q: How bad is the 10 in VR going to hurt me for some of the competitive schools on my list? Are there any schools I should not apply to because of this? For example, I read on their website that Emory wants to see an 11 on each section- how valid is this concern?
Q: I did my informal post-bac one or two classes at a time while working fulltime. Is course-load a concern in my case? Goro told me that despite my engineering UG it was. Other opinions?
Q: I dont have medical research, but Id like to try it out in med school. My goal right now is to become a clinician, but I suppose that could change. So I guess I want to go to a school that leans that way, but isnt bad at research either. Are there any schools that are super research oriented that I should avoid? I guess I want something middle of the road here. Advice would be appreciated.
Q: Im not a very high energy competitive type person. I really want a school where theres a lot of collaboration between students. I dont care about ranking here- I just want an MD (or DO) and want to be happy earning it. Pass/fail jumps out at me. Are there any schools which jump out as matching or not matching my mindset? Anything people think I should add or remove?
Q: Are there any other schools folks think I should look into or leave out? Any input on the Should I bother? schools from my list, given what Ive outlined above? Due to my fiancée needing to find a job where I get in, I intend to apply broadly, to between 25 and 30 schools.
Q: Anything else I should do to improve the app before submitting June 4th?
Thanks much!
Sisko