What more should I add to make my application stronger?

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

<p>Hey guys, </p>

<p>I’m a new poster here but I’ve been lurking the boards here for quite some time and I have gained a lot of insight. When it comes to applying to medical school, I think there is always a way to make an application stronger. I think I need help in terms of making my own stronger as I plan to apply to some pretty good schools. I guess I should give you a some background information. </p>

<p>I’m currently a senior at Villanova. I’m majoring in psychology. My current GPA is a 3.82, although after this semester I do expect it to go down to a 3.77 due to a C/B in physics. I figured one C couldn’t hurt my application so much as long as I don’t get anymore C’s, but I’m really trying for that B. I run cross country and track competitively, although not on the team. I have my own coach but injuries have set me back so I haven’t been able to get the walk-on standards to compete for my college, but I’m not giving up on it even though Villanova is one of the better schools in XC and Track, which is why I have stuck with it. I was an Academic All-American at my old school and conference rookie of the year although I don’t think that means a lot. </p>

<p>I volunteer at the local hospital once a week by my school, during the summer I had an internship in a research lab, and I also did volunteer work at the hospital in my hometown, but it was more focused on patient interaction, if that makes any sense. Overall I’ve had 200+ volunteer hours and 400+ hours of research. I also have some shadowing experience as I have shadowed three doctors and I’m planning to shadow two more.
I took the MCATs this past summer and I got a 34 on them. I do plan on taking a gap year to pursue my masters degree and do some research/volunteer and maybe run competitively as well. </p>

<p>Schools that I’m looking to apply to are Georgetown, UVA, NYU, Thomas Jefferson, UDMNJ, Columbia and Temple. I know some are a lot better than others which is why I want to make my application stronger, because I feel/know that it’s missing something. </p>

<p>Any help would be appreciated!</p>

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<p>And by “Add” I mean like what more can/should I do to make the application be as strong as it can possibly be at this point.</p>

3

<p>Strong means 4.0/40. almost nobody has it and you will not either. The rest is luck, I wish you lots of it!!!
Are you applying to 7 schools? My D. has applied to only 7…because she already had a guaranteed spot. Why are YOU applying to 7?</p>

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<p>Your resume looks pretty good, but you really need to revise your target school list.</p>

<p>Georgetown gets over 10,000 apps each year. That’s pretty long odds. UDMNJ takes very few OOS applicants (last year 27 out of ~2000). Jefferson reserves 1/3 of its incoming class seats for Delaware residents. Temple has a moderate in-state preference for PA residents and gets over 10,000 apps per year. Your MCAT is low for Columbia.</p>

<p>What is your sGPA? Do you want to remain in a particular geographic area?</p>

<p>I would suggest that you pay $30 to USNWR to get a subscription to their grad school content and another $25 for MSAR so you can get a better feel for where your stats might be at or above the median. As an unhooked applicant, those will be your target schools. </p>

<p>Oh, and since you already took your MCAT, when exactly were you planning on applying? While your MCAT is “good” for 3 years according to AMCAS, some schools (about 40% of all AMCAS schools) will only accept scores that are no more than 2 years old.</p>

<p><a href=“https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/mcat/332616/whichexamwillyoutake.html[/url]”>https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/mcat/332616/whichexamwillyoutake.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;