WAMC/School List: Below Average MCAT

[gengar117]

Hello,

Could anyone offer advice for me as I apply this cycle. I am a traditional applicant but I unfortunately scored a bit low on my MCAT compared to my FL averages but it's too late to take it again this cycle. Please just be real with me, I'm just trying to see my weaknesses and work on them over the next year in case this cycle doesn't work out.

Scores:
Major: Biomedical Engineering with focus on bio/nanomaterials
GPA: 3.8 (Did not really change much)
MCAT: 513

Research Experience:
Lab Experience: Worked with 2 labs over the past 3 years
Fields: Pediatric neuroimaging, microsurgery and regenerative medicine
Publications: 0, but should have one or two by next March (Should I mention this in my SRE?)
Research hours: Close to 2k
Posters: 3 (All regional)
Oral Presentations: 1 at prestigious conference
Patents: 1 in progress
BME Design: Have worked on 2, semester long, projects with doctor clients where my team successfully created the product and wrote lengthy final reports and presented posters at yearly fair (did not include these in the poster count but would bring it up to 5).

Clinical Experience:
Experience:
ED Tech ~ 1000 hr
Shadowing ~ 10 different doctors and different specialties, 80hr
Volunteering ~ 80 hr

Community Volunteering:
Through clubs and stuff: 35 hr

Clubs:
Premedical Club: Vice President, very involved position
Volleyball Club: Travel volleyball team that practices 3 times a week.

Letters of Rec:
1. MD/PhD Co-PI: Strong letter and very well known
2. PhD PhD Co-PI: Very strong letter, he is a close mentor to me.
3. PhD Neuroimaging PI: Strong Letter
4. MD ER Doc: Very strong letter, we are very close.
5. MD Research Doc from regenerative medicine lab: Strong letter
6. MD/PhD Doc I shadowed: Extremely Strong Letter, he is one of the main reasons I am doing this path and has been reading my essays, overall very involved.

Research Interest:
I am very interested in pursuing research in nanomedicine for neuro-oncological applications and hope to become a neuro-oncologist too. This field to me combines all my research interests and my major into one direction and the schools I list below are ones I feel I have a chance with my stats and match my research fit.

School List:

1. Albert Einstein College of Medicine
2. Drexel University College of Medicine
3. Indiana University School of Medicine
4. Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo
5. Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University
6. Medical College of Wisconsin
7. Medical University of South Carolina College of Medicine
8. Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine
9. Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University
10. University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine
11. University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
12. University of Connecticut School of Medicine
13. University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine
14. University of Kansas School of Medicine
15. University of Michigan Medical School (Reach)
16. University of Nebraska College of Medicine
17. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine (Reach)
18. University of Oklahoma College of Medicine
19. University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine (Reach)
20. University of Virginia School of Medicine
21. Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine
22. Wake Forest University School of Medicine
23. Wayne State University School of Medicine

Thanks for the help!

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[Mr.Smile12]

Checking: do you have a state of legal residence? Are you selecting schools that will allow you to continue in an engineering direction, or are you going to totally change course?

 

[gengar117]

Checking: do you have a state of legal residence? Are you selecting schools that will allow you to continue in an engineering direction, or are you going to totally change course?

I’m in Wisconsin. But I don’t think state of residence matters of admission chances though. And yes, I’m looking to stay in the engineering direction, just with a greater focus on nanomedicine.

 

[turkey18]

Hey! I just got into an MSTP program this past cycle with the same MCAT and similar GPA (3.9x), with a niche engineering focus - so it's definitely possible. I also had no pubs, (some poster abstracts) and a patent in progress. With my app, I definitely learned the importance of a strong cohesive narrative to medicine, my essays were commented on throughout the cycle, and atleast in my opinion (not an expert by any means), having an X Factor, or atleast how you pitch that X factor, is very important.

Feel free to dm, I interviewed with some of the schools on your list

 

[wavvery]

Also got into 5 MSTP and 1 MD/PhD with lower MCAT and slightly higher GPA. You got this!!