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.
nickyr took the old MCAT and scored a 36 which is in the 97th percentile of all old scores.
We converted this to a 519 on the updated scale which is in the 97th percentile of the updated MCAT. We also converted nickyr’s section scores as follows:
nickyr scored a 14 on the Biological Science section of the old MCAT which is approximately equal to a 131 on the Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems.
nickyr scored a 11 on the Physical Science section of the old MCAT which is approximately equal to a 128 on the Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems.
nickyr scored a 11 on the Verbal Reasoning section of the old MCAT which is approximately equal to a 129 on the Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills.
