Hello:
I am hoping to apply to MD programs this year (in May 2013) and would appreciate your advice on school selection and/or my competitiveness as an applicant.
My first term of college was pretty miserable and I had a 2.02 GPA. I managed to graduate from a good state school with a BS in microbiology (minor in chemistry) in three years by taking summer classes. I finished up with an AMCAS cGPA of 3.66 and a sGPA of 3.67. Almost all of my courses since that term were As or A-s with few exceptions. My first year GPA finished as a 3.37, second year 3.89, third year 3.81.
My prereqs: (note that we were on quarters, so each course has three terms)
Biology was taken as an AP course and thus shows as a Pass on transcript. I took many upper division biology and microbiology courses and almost all are As
General Chemistry: C (first term), B+, A
Organic chemistry: A, A, A
Physics: A-, A, A-
Biochemistry: A-, A-
Since graduating (7 months ago) I have been a post-baccaluareate IRTA fellow at the NIH and will have one second author and one third author publication before applying. There is the possibility of more publications (maybe a first author) before matriculation. I will have been at the NIH for one year by application time and two years by matriculation.
My mother was unable to provide financially for college and I had to work at least part time (~20 hours) throughout all of college. My last term of college I worked full time (~50 hours). I should note here that I was accepted for the AMCAS Fee Application Program and will be applying as economically disadvantaged (raised by a disabled single mother, lived off of SSI and food stamps for most of my childhood).
Work history:
Lab assistant (mostly lab maintenance, some small research projects)- 2 years (part time)
Office assistant- 1 year (part time)
ER scribe- 6 months until graduation (full time)
NIH IRTA fellow- 6 months at present. (full time)
Other extracurriculars:
Teaching assistant for 3 terms (introductory micro and micro lab for majors)
Organic chemistry tutoring- 1 year for about 2 hours a week
Volunteer for a STI/HIV program- 1.5 years for about 6 hours a week (I gave presentations to classes about STI/HIV prevention, trained new volunteers about STI/HIV science/epidemiology, and I was on the board of directors)
One term of shadowing in the ER (separate from my scribing)- 50 hours
Officer in the premedical club- 1 year for about 2 hours per week
I have not taken the MCAT yet and I have just started studying. My diagnostic MCAT was a 32 but I think I can do better. I intend to take it in May.
I have a LOR from the ER physician that I scribed for the most as well as from the president of the STI/HIV program, two science professors, my old lab PI and will have one from my current PI. My academic advisor will also be writing one. I believe these LORs are strong, but have not read them of course.
I have thought about applying to MD/PhD programs as I really like research. However I decided that in the end, I would prefer to practice medicine and thus will be applying to MD only. I have one public medical school in my state and it takes mostly instate students. I will of course be applying there. Other than that, I am open to suggestions about schools.
Thanks for reading!
I am hoping to apply to MD programs this year (in May 2013) and would appreciate your advice on school selection and/or my competitiveness as an applicant.
My first term of college was pretty miserable and I had a 2.02 GPA. I managed to graduate from a good state school with a BS in microbiology (minor in chemistry) in three years by taking summer classes. I finished up with an AMCAS cGPA of 3.66 and a sGPA of 3.67. Almost all of my courses since that term were As or A-s with few exceptions. My first year GPA finished as a 3.37, second year 3.89, third year 3.81.
My prereqs: (note that we were on quarters, so each course has three terms)
Biology was taken as an AP course and thus shows as a Pass on transcript. I took many upper division biology and microbiology courses and almost all are As
General Chemistry: C (first term), B+, A
Organic chemistry: A, A, A
Physics: A-, A, A-
Biochemistry: A-, A-
Since graduating (7 months ago) I have been a post-baccaluareate IRTA fellow at the NIH and will have one second author and one third author publication before applying. There is the possibility of more publications (maybe a first author) before matriculation. I will have been at the NIH for one year by application time and two years by matriculation.
My mother was unable to provide financially for college and I had to work at least part time (~20 hours) throughout all of college. My last term of college I worked full time (~50 hours). I should note here that I was accepted for the AMCAS Fee Application Program and will be applying as economically disadvantaged (raised by a disabled single mother, lived off of SSI and food stamps for most of my childhood).
Work history:
Lab assistant (mostly lab maintenance, some small research projects)- 2 years (part time)
Office assistant- 1 year (part time)
ER scribe- 6 months until graduation (full time)
NIH IRTA fellow- 6 months at present. (full time)
Other extracurriculars:
Teaching assistant for 3 terms (introductory micro and micro lab for majors)
Organic chemistry tutoring- 1 year for about 2 hours a week
Volunteer for a STI/HIV program- 1.5 years for about 6 hours a week (I gave presentations to classes about STI/HIV prevention, trained new volunteers about STI/HIV science/epidemiology, and I was on the board of directors)
One term of shadowing in the ER (separate from my scribing)- 50 hours
Officer in the premedical club- 1 year for about 2 hours per week
I have not taken the MCAT yet and I have just started studying. My diagnostic MCAT was a 32 but I think I can do better. I intend to take it in May.
I have a LOR from the ER physician that I scribed for the most as well as from the president of the STI/HIV program, two science professors, my old lab PI and will have one from my current PI. My academic advisor will also be writing one. I believe these LORs are strong, but have not read them of course.
I have thought about applying to MD/PhD programs as I really like research. However I decided that in the end, I would prefer to practice medicine and thus will be applying to MD only. I have one public medical school in my state and it takes mostly instate students. I will of course be applying there. Other than that, I am open to suggestions about schools.
Thanks for reading!