Hey everyone,
I'm heading into my junior year at the University of Texas at Austin. My GPA is 3.98 and I'm a biochemistry major. Right now I'm studying for the MCAT and hoping to get a high score. My dream medical school has always been Stanford. I have always doubted my ability to get in. Could anyone offer advice on what to improve for my application next application cycle?
Here are some of my extracurriculars
I'm in an organization called Livestrong Texas 4000, we bike 4500+ miles from Austin, Tx to Anchorage, Alaska. We're raising money for cancer research and donate directly to MD Anderson. To date we've raised well over $4 million dollars. Texas 4000 occupies a lot of my free time. I've met cancer patients and heard countless stories that reaffirm my desire to become a doctor.
I honestly have no idea how many hours I have volunteering. I'm volunteering somewhere every week in various places around Austin.
100+ hours volunteering at the Oncology and Neurology department at the local hospital
I have a job as a Math instructor for elementary-high school kids. Another thing I did is take a course where I gave science lessons to children in the Austin community.
Right now I'll only have an opportunity to do research my senior year, the whole biking to alaska thing is really time consuming. The preparation and planning is hectic.
I'm bilingual, I know spanish and english. My mom is from mexico so it didn't require too much effort learning another language.
Some of my letters of recs will be coming from stanford alumni, will this help?
Sorry for the long message, I'm just really determined to get into Stanford. Chances of getting in are low, but I want to aim high. Also, I come from a low income family and I'm not sure if that helps/hurts. I've already told my parents to save money for a plane ticket if I can somehow get an interview next year.
What do I need to work on and how do my chances look right now?
I'm heading into my junior year at the University of Texas at Austin. My GPA is 3.98 and I'm a biochemistry major. Right now I'm studying for the MCAT and hoping to get a high score. My dream medical school has always been Stanford. I have always doubted my ability to get in. Could anyone offer advice on what to improve for my application next application cycle?
Here are some of my extracurriculars
I'm in an organization called Livestrong Texas 4000, we bike 4500+ miles from Austin, Tx to Anchorage, Alaska. We're raising money for cancer research and donate directly to MD Anderson. To date we've raised well over $4 million dollars. Texas 4000 occupies a lot of my free time. I've met cancer patients and heard countless stories that reaffirm my desire to become a doctor.
I honestly have no idea how many hours I have volunteering. I'm volunteering somewhere every week in various places around Austin.
100+ hours volunteering at the Oncology and Neurology department at the local hospital
I have a job as a Math instructor for elementary-high school kids. Another thing I did is take a course where I gave science lessons to children in the Austin community.
Right now I'll only have an opportunity to do research my senior year, the whole biking to alaska thing is really time consuming. The preparation and planning is hectic.
I'm bilingual, I know spanish and english. My mom is from mexico so it didn't require too much effort learning another language.
Some of my letters of recs will be coming from stanford alumni, will this help?
Sorry for the long message, I'm just really determined to get into Stanford. Chances of getting in are low, but I want to aim high. Also, I come from a low income family and I'm not sure if that helps/hurts. I've already told my parents to save money for a plane ticket if I can somehow get an interview next year.
What do I need to work on and how do my chances look right now?