Application Cycle One: 06/14/2010

• Undergraduate college: Cooper Union
• Undergraduate Area of study: Engineering/Technology

• Total MCAT SCORE: 511
• MCAT Section Scores: B/B 127, C/P 127, CARS 129   Detailed Breakdown
• Overall GPA: 3.66
• Science GPA: 3.69

Summary of Application Experience

AMCAS submitted 6/15/2010, processed 7/16/2010.

I didn\'t have very lofty goals other than to get accepted /somewhere/. I believed (and still do) that the hard part was getting my foot in the door, because I should hope that, at this stage in life and given my employment history, my interviewing skills are solid. A .500 batting average, though with only four at-bats, supports this, I think.

In retrospect, as far as getting that foot in the door, I don\'t think I applied broadly enough. My first school filter I applied was geographic, which led to having more reach schools than necessary in my final list. I do think I did my due diligence in determining whether I had a modicum of a shot at each of the schools I applied to, but I didn\'t assess my list for balance. I don\'t think I did a good enough job searching out additional schools that were a better fit to my MCAT/GPA combination.

My MCAT preparation could also have been improved. I took only two full-length AAMC practice exams and perhaps was overconfident going into the actual exam, ending up with a score that was lower than my practice exams but still \"good enough\" (to my chagrin).

Apart from that, I wonder if I had still left my application too non-traditional, without the typical shadowing, volunteering, and other clinical experiences many schools look for, and whether that also had a negative effect. The clinical experiences I would point to at my interviews centered around my Red Cross volunteering and the times I have spent attending to family and friends in the hospital with cardiac-related illnesses. I would also highlight the experiences I\'ve gained into radiology through my work in industry.

If I didn\'t get in this cycle, I would have definitely worked on that aspect of my application and readjusted my list of schools that I would apply to. Although I believe I\'m capable of doing much better on the MCAT, I would only have retaken it if I didn\'t score above a 30.