Found this on SDN

I am also a second year and I only have 30 hours shadowing for one specialty, 0 clinical hours, 0 research, 35 hours volunteering 💀 how do people accumulate so much hours in one year? Second year of college just started and I remember my first year being stuck on campus with no way of getting out to do these sort of opportunities. All the hours I have were racked during summer and even then, I couldn’t get a clinical job so I had to work as a dishwasher

I'm in my last year of college, and I am planning to apply to MD programs in 2028 or beyond because I admit I am not a strong enough applicant right now. For full transparency, I think my GPA by the time I graduate will be around a high 3.4 to low 3.5. My science GPA is not great either, honestly somewhere around the high 2s, low 3s. I had a hard time studying for all my science classes. I am first-gen, so I was basically figuring this all out as I went, and honestly, I was not at all prepared for the rigor of the coursework coming out of high school. If I could do this again, I would have majored in something else and done most of the med school pre-reqs at a community college afterward.

All this to say, I was planning to do a "self-curated" post-bacc while working post-grad, but I am unsure as to the type of classes I should be taking. Should I be taking additional upper-division science classes or retaking classes I did poorly in? I did not fail any classes, but I got a few C's, so I am unsure if I can retake these classes anyways. Even so, I have so many credits; I imagine it would take quite a few classes (and a few years) for me to move my GPA substantially to maybe around a mid-to-high 3.7.

I am committed to getting into an MD program, so I understand I have a lot of work to do on the GPA front, but should I instead focus on beefing up my extracurriculars, or is doing the post-bacc worth the effort? Honestly, any sort of advice about post-baccs and post-grad life before entering med school would be helpful and much appreciated :)

tldr: is doing a post-bacc worth the time, money, and effort if it will take a lot of classes for me to boost my cumulative GPA, or should i focus on extracurriculars? also, what kind of classes should you be taking during your post-bacc if you want to improve your sGPA?

Feeling depressed after my interview last week that went pretty well (MD interviewer said he will give highest recommendation to admissions committee) and they said i won’t hear from them for at least 3-4 weeks bc there’s so many people ahead who need to be decided on. Come today and I wake up to a WL email after 8 days. Feels like they wasted no time putting me on WL, I mean 8 days? Don’t even know how to feel, just pretty upset esp since I know many are getting happy news today…

Hi everyone! I hope everyone’s cycle is going well to those currently applying! I’m hoping for some perspective on a decision I’m trying to make rn, thank you :)

I’ve been planning on applying next cycle in 2027 but I’m beginning to feel like waiting until 2028 is the move. For context I have 3.2 cGPA and 3.7 sGPA, 4.0 for all my undergrad / all prerequisites / past 130 credits. Insanely poor grades 10 years ago doing college in high school is why my cumulative is so low.

No MCAT yet - I’m planning on taking April 2027.

My research and clinical are strong - ~2,250 clinical hours and ~1,000 research hours w a poster presentation next week and manuscript in progress.

Volunteering and shadowing is next to none. I have 130 volunteer hours I accumulated back in 2024, but nothing meaningful. This is largely why I’m thinking of delaying. I graduate in December and I think trying to fit in meaningful volunteering, MCAT, shadowing, trying to save money for apps, and continuing research is going to be too difficult from January - June. I NEED a solid MCAT because of my shit cumulative so there’s that pressure there as well. Idk.

Am I being neurotic about it though? Should I just send it for 2027? Part of me feels weirdly disappointed in myself like I’m stepping down or something idk. I’m 25, got a later start to my undergrad, and the past 2 years have consisted of me working my ass off in my classes and research. I haven’t really had time for anything else. Will taking another year look bad to adcoms? That just feels neurotic as hell to type lol but idk man I just need perspective from people that are on the same path / actually doing the thing, you know. Thanks guys :) Hoping for lots of interviews and A’s for you all this cycle !!!!

Do you think internships considerably helped your application? If you did internships all 4 summers you had in your undergrad, and were admitted to a MD could you please also share your stats and what type of internship they were?

Thank you!

Went 2/2 on getting waitlisted today at MD, so at this point i’m just accepting I suck at interviewing and Im not optimistic on my other interviews either.

Anyone know of DO schools that like high stats and are near guaranteed interviews and/or acceptances for 517+/3.9+?

I am a patient care tech and as of right now I’m just focused on stacking up hours and giving the best care I can to patients. However, let’s say I hopefully rack up a lot of hours being a pct but I did not have any other clinical job, would that be bad for application? Would like to hear any opinions. Do med schools expect me to get a wide range of clinical experience from different jobs?

If you can help out at all, please send me a message!! I have a lot of time to practice and would be grateful for any help! Thank you!

just curious because i want to make sure that all my letter writers have the correct information, would it penalize me if a lor doesn’t have a date?

Hello,

I recently got offered a bio-repository job where I help collect specimens from the OR alongside the neurosurgeon and then process the samples( like assays and slice the samples for pathology use ) in a bio-repository for my local medical school. I just wanted to ask whether this is research or clinical. FYI the only patient interaction you get is a them in an operating room with the surgeon 😭

Would you classify this clinical or research or none ?

Thank you guys for your help!!

edit: it’s at a t5 medical school

If in the first application cycle you only applied to a few schools and did not get in, but in the next cycle apply to new schools, is it true you are not a reapplicant to the new schools in your second cycle?

I believe this is what AMCAS says, but also that the new schools you apply to might ask in secondaries if you have applied to medicial school in general at all.

If you apply to a new school in your second cycle, that doesn't have a secondary prompt about reapplication, is it best to ask letters of recommendation writers to not mention that you are a reapplicant in their letters of recommendation when they resubmit their letters?

I want to know if i should explore psychiatry and or psych

Im a sophomore in college. I have to decide on a major. Currently in a major that i just feel as though i cant bring anything to because im not interested in pursuing it.

To be honest ive wanted to explore psychiatry and or psychology for some time. I just never felt like i can be the person to do it.
I feel like the people who go down pre med route are incredibly ambitious and intellectual. I feel like i used to be a bit more intellectual until i lost focus of what really matters to me, and wanting to appear a certain way and missing out on exploring things that interest me.

Ive wanted to explore psychotherapy and the medical side of psychology.

But how do you KNOW if its something you should really look into? Is there any signs you had like something about you as a person, the type of work you gravitate to, etc?

I dont want to sound ignorant or rude so im sorry if im making it seem like its more straightforward than the ambition and drive likely reuqired for it, i really dont want to look for any gatekeepers though. Everybody starts somewhere.

So I overdid my AP courses and dual enrollmens and because of that I now am finish my fall semester as a freshman at college with nearly 85 credits completing like 70% of my biology degree. Because of that I'll finish my degree by the end of my sophmore year, and there won't be enough classes for me to "remain as a full time student" (words of my academic advisor). He then advised me to do a chemistry major because with all the courses I finished with my bio major I have like 6 unique courses that dont cross with biology. The issue is, a couple of these course s include inorganic and biophysical chemistry and I have no idea how hard these classes are and if they or they won't mess with my science GPA.

If anyone was in the situation I'd appreciate any help 🙏 Should I just stick to minors?

Is it possible to get ghosted even though the school sends out R and IIs to other people.
I turned in my secondaries july and early aug but haven’t heard anything back…. I’ve seen ppl get rejected or WL from those schools, but it’s crickets for me….

hi! i have my first MD interview next week and am looking for advice. i've only had traditional formats so far and ive done well w those, just haven't done an MMI before. i have adhd lol and my biggest struggle is slowing down and piecing everything together in a way that makes sense to the other person. in other words, i can be a bit sporadic and tend to ramble. any advice is much appreciated!

Just sad ngl

Hi everyone. I just graduated with my bio pre-med degree in May. It’s always been my dream to be a doctor, however, I’m wondering if I even have a chance or if I should just pursue something else and not even waste my time.

The reason I’m wondering this is because of my grades. Here are the main issues:

3.57 cumulative GPA, 3.2 science GPA

D+ in gen chem 1 freshmen year; retook and got a B and got an A in gen chem 2

C+ in ochem 1 but got an A in ochem 2 and A- in biochem 1

The rest of my prerequisites and other grades are either As or Bs, and my semester GPAs did improve to approximately 3.7 my later semesters from around 3.3 my earlier semesters.

Besides the grades, I have plenty going for me. I was a student-athlete on our NCAA swim team all 4 years, team captain for the last 2 years, on the student athlete advisory committee for 3 years, and on the executive committee the last 2, and I worked as an EMT for a private company part-time during my senior year. Now I work as an EMT part-time for an extremely busy fire department and I’m also a full-time ER tech. By the time I’d apply I’d have 2.5k-3.5k clinical hours between all jobs. I don’t have any research experience.

If I did apply I’d definitely plan on getting some shadowing/volunteering as well.

Between everything, does anyone know if I should even waste my time studying for the MCAT and waiting for application cycles? I’m wondering if I should consider something else like nursing, PA, or even firefighter paramedic.

Thank you so much to whoever decided to read this and respond, hopefully I can make a decision soon and fall asleep easier lol.

First R that actually hurt because it was my top pick. 8 points above their mean mcat (!?!??) but not a good fit I guess. I got interviews from the two other states I’m tied to so thought I was writing well about connections. Even more frustrating because this was my shot at in-state tuition vs out of state at Alma Mater and hometown state. Fmllll not even an interview guys rly

Hey everyone! I have an MMI interview coming up in 2 weeks and was wondering if any med students would be able to help me with a mock interview? I am a reapplicant and don't have any people around me who can do mock interviews. Any advice from outside sources is also appreciated. Thank you!

I’m sorry if this post doesn’t belong here but people in my lab are frequent users of the usual research subreddits and I’m trying to protect my anonymity.

My PI is incredibly biased against pre-med students not interested in MD-PhD. I’m interested in my MD/DO and the other student (exact same position I’m in, started at the same time) is debating MD or MD-PhD. From the jump, my PI preferred to them even if not purposefully. I was constantly being quizzed, everything I did was questioned and put under the guise of “teaching.” While the other student had fun light hearted conversations with the PI. The PI also told the other student that they think MDs aren’t critical thinkers, are bad at engaging in research, and doesn’t like working with them despite being an MD/PhD themselves.

They have taken a very hands off approach to mentoring me, to the point where the only time he’ll talk to me is during our pre scheduled monthly one on ones. But even those feel rushed and like he doesn’t want to be there. While the other student ends up getting 1 hr+ meetings. They speak frequently outside of their meetings and he’s very interested in how the students work is going. For me, couldn’t be bothered. If the PI has any interest in what I’m doing they go to the scientist i work with. I’ve even been sat at my desk and the two of them were discussing my new data without me. I tried to get involved in the conversation but was barely acknowledged.

And now I find out the other student is getting more learning opportunities, more responsibilities, a more independent project, and was damn near promised their own first author paper by the end of their time in the lab. I was told to not expect authorship in this position. The student was also told they would stop working on something that we both do together because it’s not worth her time with this bigger project. So now all of it will fall on me, and it’s also not worth my time. Yes we have different projects and potentially different career goals. But the lack of interest in me, my work, my goals, and my energy I’ve put in this lab is so frustrating.

At first I thought I was just overthinking, being too anxious, and maybe we just weren’t clicking. But I come to find out there were other students with the same career goals as me who had terrible experiences with this same PI. Some have quit because of the PIs treatment, there have been yelling matches between the PI and former students, and others have left talking to him extremely upset.

I know I haven’t always been my bosses or coaches favorites but I’ve never been made to feel undervalued or completely invisible blike I do now. And it being a pattern is extremely distressing.

Hey everyone, I'm super conflicted about taking a gap year versus not and I'm trying to sort it out before I schedule my mcat. Here is what my stats are.

My biggest concern is my GPA. I had a hard time adjusting to college level classes freshmen year so my GPA took a hit at first. I've been better and even made the deans list last year (I'm a junior for reference). This puts my gpa at about a 3.5.

For ECs:

Research: I work in two labs and I already have 400 hours as of right now with two posters in the works that I will be presenting at two conferences at the end of this academic year. I'm also gonna be working on an honors thesis. I'm expecting to have about 650-700 by the time I graduate.

Clinical: I work as a peds MA right now and by the end of junior year I expect to have 250-300ish hours from that job alone, but I'm trying to get another PRN/per-diem role in the meantime (if it works out, fingers-crossed since I've gotten auto-rejected some 40 million times). I also have clinical volunteering in pediatrics from my local hospital where I interact 1:1 with the patients.

Non-clinical volunteering: I just started volunteering as a tutor for children with neuro-developmental disabilities, and I plan to do this for about 2.5 hours every week starting in November (once I finish all my training for it). I additionally have about 100 hours from non-clinical work at the hospital (inventory, transport), and

Leadership: VP of a club on campus - 150 hours projected

My main dilemma: Take MCAT in April and assess whether I can apply this May based on my score, or decide to take a gap year and push MCAT to summer 2027.

Either way I will be under-loading in the spring 2027 semester to study for the mcat, and I am taking biochem (my last pre-req).

Given my GPA and ECs, what are your guy's thoughts? Thanks!!

I am currently applying to colleges right now. I’m wanting to major in aerospace engineering but I know it’s a really hard major and it might screw up my gpa and not make it as competitive. Now I could go something easier like biology or finance, but if I weren’t to be accepted into med school I was wanting to do engineering instead. Is it worth the risk of not getting into med school for a major I’d want to pursue as a backup, or should I just go the easy path and do an easier major?

I don’t apply until next cycle but I get so frustrated looking at my overall application sometimes. Specifically my science gpa (I didn’t do too hot my sophomore year). It’s at a 3.5 and as a Texas resident ik that’s not competitive.

I look at all my other stats and the numbers are great which makes me even more frustrated cause it’s one singular number that ik drags my application down

Basically I am a junior electrical engineering major at a top 10 university. I’ve been doing pre-med since freshman year along with this. What happened was in an intro programming class my first semester, I was hella depressed and lazy back then and essentially copy pasted an entire assignment from chat a minute before the due date like a dumbass and got caught. I got on probation for two quarters, but don’t think it shows in the transcript though. I’m obviously going to tell the truth about it on the application but I have two options for the future: either continue on this path or turn to engineering full time as I was able to get a good internship for next year. Does anyone have any success stories or advice with a similar situation? I’m not trying to waste a bunch of time and money as from what I’ve seen on the internet it’s over if you get something like this. Im wondering if there is a chance.

I'm in sort of a dilemma and would like to hear advice from other people. Currently, I am taking biochemistry, but these past 2 exams haven't gone the greatest and the drop deadline without getting a W on my transcript is tomorrow. I am realistically on track to getting a B at the highest, but probably a B- or even a C+ in the class.

My goal is to take the MCAT this upcoming March, and I've made my schedule pretty light next semester for me to adequately study for it. I don't know if I should stick it through with biochem this semester even if it means me getting a lower grade, or if I should drop the class and retake it next semester while concurrently studying for the MCAT.

My sGPA is a 3.79 and my cGPA is a 3.80. I've gotten the average on both exams (78% and 56%) and there is no curve to be expected. I don't exactly know what getting a C+ would do to my gpa, but if I got a B- or B, I would be satisfied since I am genuinely trying my best in this class. I honestly don't think I would do any better next semester unless by pure luck which is why I am leaning towards chugging it through but I don't want this to come back and hit me down the line. Also, my professor switches halfway through the course so my final 2 exams are under a different professor now who has been known to have easier exams, but I don't know if that changes anything.

If I were to drop the class and take it next semester, is it still feasible for me to prepare and take the MCAT in March? Would it be recommended for me to push it back to April/May or possibly take a gap year, or is it doable to study the content I wouldn't have learned yet for biochemistry? Obviously, getting a C+ is not ideal but if I were to get it, would that be viewed negatively considering I've gotten mostly A's with a couple B/B+'s throughout college?