Hi there, I'm in my senior year of undergrad (graduating with a BS in Biochemistry soon) and only began to seriously pursue med school at the start of last summer. I'm hoping to apply next cycle (2026 matriculation) and would greatly appreciate any sort of advice moving forward. Apologies for the obnoxiously long post ahead.
Major: Biochemistry
GPA: 3.85 (by year: 3.97 / 3.74 / 3.78 / 3.86)
sGPA: 3.81 (by year: 3.95 / 3.68 / 3.83 / 3.77)
MCAT: plan to take in January
Long story short, I was pretty aimless/unmotivated during my first three years of undergrad due to a combination of immaturity/mental health stuff. In spring of my junior year, my grandmother passed away; we were very close and I took it really hard. It was made more difficult because I had to move back home for a while and take care of my little brother while my parents went overseas to sort things out with family. My grandmother's passing really changed my perspective towards the direction my life had been going and I became interested in pursuing medicine, particularly after some experiences I had while shadowing and later scribing in the ED.
To sum up what I've done since the beginning of senior year:
- shadowing (EM, cardiology, rheumatology)
- ED scribe
- just began volunteering in homeless shelter, women's center/assault hotline, and after-school program for disadvantaged kids
I plan to continue these activities in my gap year and I'm considering getting a CNA certification to have more patient-facing experience. I also have some club involvement, tutoring, and non-clinical employment from my first three years of undergrad. Is there anything else that you'd recommend? Should I try to find a research position? How many hours of nonclinical volunteering are recommended for normal vs service-based school?
I also have question about my grades; I took 3 W's in my Junior spring as a result of my grandmother's passing, two in heavy science classes and one in a TA course. Will this be a red flag? I've since retaken the two classes with decent grades, and I've also TA'd for two additional semesters. (I'm not super happy about my GPA in general; lots of regret over how I approached my sophomore and junior year. I wanted to absolutely smash my senior year to show that I can handle the rigor of med school, but my sGPA doesn't seem super convincing.)
Thank you so much for taking the time to read and respond! I feel pretty clueless and behind in the whole process compared to my peers so any help is greatly appreciated.
Major: Biochemistry
GPA: 3.85 (by year: 3.97 / 3.74 / 3.78 / 3.86)
sGPA: 3.81 (by year: 3.95 / 3.68 / 3.83 / 3.77)
MCAT: plan to take in January
Long story short, I was pretty aimless/unmotivated during my first three years of undergrad due to a combination of immaturity/mental health stuff. In spring of my junior year, my grandmother passed away; we were very close and I took it really hard. It was made more difficult because I had to move back home for a while and take care of my little brother while my parents went overseas to sort things out with family. My grandmother's passing really changed my perspective towards the direction my life had been going and I became interested in pursuing medicine, particularly after some experiences I had while shadowing and later scribing in the ED.
To sum up what I've done since the beginning of senior year:
- shadowing (EM, cardiology, rheumatology)
- ED scribe
- just began volunteering in homeless shelter, women's center/assault hotline, and after-school program for disadvantaged kids
I plan to continue these activities in my gap year and I'm considering getting a CNA certification to have more patient-facing experience. I also have some club involvement, tutoring, and non-clinical employment from my first three years of undergrad. Is there anything else that you'd recommend? Should I try to find a research position? How many hours of nonclinical volunteering are recommended for normal vs service-based school?
I also have question about my grades; I took 3 W's in my Junior spring as a result of my grandmother's passing, two in heavy science classes and one in a TA course. Will this be a red flag? I've since retaken the two classes with decent grades, and I've also TA'd for two additional semesters. (I'm not super happy about my GPA in general; lots of regret over how I approached my sophomore and junior year. I wanted to absolutely smash my senior year to show that I can handle the rigor of med school, but my sGPA doesn't seem super convincing.)
Thank you so much for taking the time to read and respond! I feel pretty clueless and behind in the whole process compared to my peers so any help is greatly appreciated.
This will bring my cumulative GPA's down to roughly cGPA/sGPA 3.81/3.75 - from what I can tell, this is not terribly low among all applicants, but my senior GPA might end up being the lowest out of all four years at 3.71/3.54. Fall semester was great, but this semester I overextended myself with a combination of my hardest undergrad classes, the new job, and emotional difficulties associated with the anniversary of my grandma's passing. Obviously there are no excuses and I need to develop better coping strategies, but that's a bit of explanation.
