Brief Profile:
Hello everyone; primarily putting this information up for non-traditional students and re-applicants. I graduated from college in 2011, applied in 2012, and re-applied again this cycle (2014). In between both application cycles, I completed an MS in Global Health and spent some time conducting infectious disease research in sub-Saharan Africa.
// Applications //
Application Cycle One: 06/15/2014
Undergraduate college: Colorado College
Undergraduate Area of study: Biological/Life Sciences
Institution: University of California, San Francisco
Area of Study: Other
Degree Obtained: MS
Total MCAT SCORE: 519
MCAT Section Scores:
B/B 131,
C/P 128,
CARS 129
Overall GPA: 3.47
Science GPA: 3.41
Summary of Application Experience
I took a year to address deficiencies in my application. During the first cycle, I felt that I had strong extracurricular experiences, particularly volunteer clinical/public health stuff. However, I had poor grades, a low MCAT score, and I was also lacking in research experience. My strategy was to:
[1] Re-take the MCAT (I pulled my score up from a 28 to a 36; my second test had no writing section, but for some reason MDapplicants won't let me leave this field blank) [2] Conduct clinical/translational research at the graduate level (i.e., during and after an MS program). My research topic overlapped with my volunteer experience (specifically, infectious diseases in sub-Saharan Africa).
If you have any more questions at all about my application process, please feel free to shoot me a message; I am on SDN with the same username.
Summary of Experience:
FYI: UNM assigned 51 alternative positions this year. According to the letter they sent me, they accept ~25 applicants from the alternate list per year. They offer waitlisted applicants workshops/meetings with admin for advice about how to improve your application. They also tell you what rank you are on the alternate list, so that you can plan accordingly.
