Kaioshin
New Member
- Joined
- Aug 18, 2023
- Messages
- 9
- Reaction score
- 25
Hello all, this will be my first cycle applying to med school and I'm currently waiting for interviews. Looking for feedback on my current app and what I can do differently to prepare for the next cycle if this one doesn't work out.
Due to having to prioritize my MCAT retake, I didn't submit my application until early July. I did manage to submit all my secondaries by mid-August. I think my GPA and MCAT are average while my ECs are a little sub-par. Would love some feedback from y'all if this cycle doesn't work out for me😄
- cGPA: 3.86 | sGPA: 3.76
- MCAT:
- 506 (126, 123, 129, 128) | First time (did not sleep at all the night before)
- 512 (129, 124, 129, 130) | Second time (F*ck CARS)
- State: TX
- Ethnicity: Asian
- Immigrated to the States when I was 10
- Undergrad: Local commuter school
- Clinical experiences:
- Pharmacy tech (1600 hours)
- Tested people for COVID and immunized them from COVID, flu, shingles, etc.
- 911 Volunteer EMT (500 hours) in a relatively underserved area
- Shadowing: 50 hours (EM, IM)
- Pharmacy tech (1600 hours)
- Research:
- ~1300 hours at a cancer hospital managing the data sides of clinical trials (basically a data monkey) with no pubs
- Non-clinical:
- Pharmacy tech at cancer hospital (1000 hours) (paid)
- Barrista (800 hours)
- COVID test kit maker (51 hours) (volunteer)
- Homeless shelter (50 hours) (volunteer)
- Leadership:
- STEM Outreach (40 hours)
- Help kids get interested in the STEM field
- STEM Outreach (40 hours)
- Awards:
- Dean's list throughout undergrad
- Summa Cum Laude
- Hobbies:
- Building mech keebs
- Learning to dance
- LOR: 1 from non-science and the other 3 from science prof to which they are mid at best. I was expecting 1 from the physician I shadowed but he dipped on me last minute😭
- Other:
- I moved to the U.S. when I was 10 and lived in rural Texas for a bit. Moved around a lot before settling down. High school me wasn’t the star student type - applied to college kinda late and missed out on scholarships. My family's weird tax bracket we’re in means no extra financial aid. Ended up taking loans and working late hours just to get by. But FAP? Got that on the first try. Go figure.
- During college, it was mostly class, study, and work till late to pay for school and related expenses. Not a lot of time for the fun extracurricular stuff. Right now, I'm in this gap year phase (since I graduated in '22). I've got this research gig, but it’s not quite hitting the mark for me. Thinking of something more hands-on with patients since I do work from home or maybe in the basic sciences. During the weekend, I’m either out there as an EMT or helping out at a homeless shelter.
- I speak two languages and am trying to get Spanish under my belt. This is mainly because I really want to better connect with the patients I serve as an EMT.
- For med school apps, my personal story revolves around how I first thought I wanted to do pharmacy. But after some time, I realized I wanted more – diagnosing, treating, the whole shebang.
- Schools:
- UT Southwestern Medical School
Sealy School of Medicine at UTMB
McGovern Medical School at UT HSC Houston
Long School of Medicine at UT HSC San Antonio
UT Austin Dell Medical School
Texas A&M HSC School of Medicine
Texas Tech HSC SOM at Lubbock
Texas Tech HSC Paul L Foster SOM at El Paso
Sam Houston State Uni. College of Osteopathic Med
Baylor College of Medicine
UT at Tyler School of Medicine
- UT Southwestern Medical School
Due to having to prioritize my MCAT retake, I didn't submit my application until early July. I did manage to submit all my secondaries by mid-August. I think my GPA and MCAT are average while my ECs are a little sub-par. Would love some feedback from y'all if this cycle doesn't work out for me😄