r/BeMoPremed

hi guys! I want to apply, but I'm getting stuck in my head because I think I might not exceptionally stand out. I would really appreciate some objective thoughts and advice on how to improve during my time left before things are due. Sorry that it's all so vague, but I'm afraid of doxxing myself somehow.

stats

current college GPA: 3.974 with potential to go up to 3.980 maybe; BCPM: 4.0

high school GPA: 4.0 unweighted/4.75 ish weighted

SAT: 1550

research

Estimated 100 hours in basic wet lab related to women's health; probably no pubs, though, but I really like it and can talk about it genuinely

poster presentation at conference + 360 hours in physical chemistry lab, didn't really actually do much research research, but instead tinkering work. This was only in high school, and my research interests have definitely changed.

clinical

estimated 250 hours in hospital volunteering with patient interactions (not sure if I should ask for a LOR from my manager, who isn't actually around as I volunteer). I started this in the latter years of high school, ongoing.

shadowing

40 hours in internal medicine, 11 hours in pediatrics (4 hours with a physician and 7 hours with the RN team, as I was considering nursing in high school)

nonclinical volunteering

65 hours in domestic violence hotline responder. This is a new thing, and I am doing it because of my desire to help survivors of sexual violence in particular.

50 hours in nursing home (non clinical, because I just helped coordinate, perform live music, and lead game nights). Only in high school, and I did it because the elderly are an unaddressed target of some forms of human trafficking.

student org leadership

cultural club leadership position, estimated ~90 hours

was a team lead in my high school physical chemistry lab mentioned earlier

hobbies

gymrat, runner, hiker!! Unfortunately I am not a D1 athlete or anything lol. Also, various instruments!

LORs

I should have 1-2 strong ones from my high school teachers, and 1 strong one from my biology professor. I think I would have a very strong one from my current wet lab research mentor.

closing thoughts

In general, I think that with a lot of brainstorming, I would be able to convey my genuine interest and exploration of medicine relatively well. I think because I really care about the populations that my work targets (women, survivors of sexual violence/domestic violence/human trafficking), my genuineness could probably show through in essays/interviews if I make it that far. However, I think my EC's don't particularly stand out and are super showy. Thank you so much for your guys time and help!

Hi guys, I came to Canada as an international student and completed my Bachelor’s in Kinesiology from University of Regina. During that degree I was given an undergraduate research award and also complete honours in my degree. I have decent amount of research experience from these 2 things ( 12 months). I did some volunteering as well during my bachelor’s degree ( though it was not very consistent). I recently graduated and I work as a kinesiologist at a physiotherapy clinic in Calgary, Alberta.

I am planning to go to med school in Canada, being a doctor has always been my goal and dream. My undergrad gpa is not the greatest. I am targeting University of Alberta and University of Calgary as I am already in Alberta. Currently I am not a permanent resident or Citizen of Canada. I have to wait for 1-2 years to get my permanent residency so I can apply to Canadian med schools.

Coming back to my profile. My gpa is 80.55 % for my entire degree (120 credits). I calculated my GPA for University of Alberta and University of Calgary using their gpa calculation method and it comes up to 3.512. My plan is to take additional 24 credits from athabasca university to improve my GPA . Even after that I guess I can push it till 3.6. I am aiming to apply as an in province applicant in the 2028-2029 cycle because of my status in Canada. I haven’t taken my MCAT yet, also my grades in biology,anatomy, physiology, motor control, stats, nutrition, psychology were all above 80% -85%. I haven’t taken any chemistry or physics in university but did them in high school and I was pretty good at it. I believe that I can learn all the concepts of biology, chemistry, physics, psychology, sociology as these subjects have always been my strong pursuit. I have low grades in courses where I was supposed to complete research papers and assignments and discussions. I am good at taking exams and I can usually score well with solid prep.

My question here is, do I have any chance of getting into any canadian med school especially U of A and U of C ( as an in province applicant) if I get additional courses from Athabasca University and if I score great on my MCAT and also work on my essay and do good on my interviews? These schools weigh gpa at 20% and 30% and the rest of the application is still under my control for now. Before I make a huge investment or commit to online resources I wanted to get a realistic answer on my chances of getting in after doing everything. My only weak point right now is my GPA because of which I am feeling very underconfident. The GPA does not reflect my potential. My first 2 years were really rough at U of R as I was an international student and was trying to adapt to a new country and new system of education. I used to be in the 99th -100th percentile in my high school. I am open to any suggestions on how do I go by this situation. Should I take this risk and grind and wait for 2 years. Any suggestions, advice and comments ate welcomed. Please help me in any way possible. I am only afraid because I will be investing a lot of time, money and energy into this and I want to know if stand a chance at all.

Sorry for the long text. I would appreciate any amount of help . Thank you guys !

Hey everyone! I’d really appreciate some advice on my school list.

I originally planned to apply to around 40 MD schools and 5 DO schools. I don’t have my MCAT score yet because it comes out on September 2, so I’m trying to build a school list that gives me a reasonable range of options while avoiding schools with strong in-state bias.

Current DO list

• PCOM
• RowanSOM
• NYITCOM
• Touro
• MSUCOM

MD list

I currently don’t have a full list of 40 MD schools, so I’m looking for suggestions on schools I should consider adding or removing. I’m particularly trying to avoid schools that heavily favor in-state applicants.

Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University

SUNY Downstate, NY

Wake Forest University, NC

Sydney Kimmel, PA

Hackensack Meridian, NJ

Georgetown University, DC 

Robert Larner, M.D., College of Medicine Vermont, VT

Albany Medical, NY

George Washington university school of medicine, DC #########

Temple University, NY

University of Illinois, IL

Drexel University college of medicine, PA

Medical College of Wisconsin, WI

Chicago Medical School Rosalind Franklin, IL

Penn State University, PA

Marshall University Joan C. Edwards school of medicine, WV

Howard university college of medicine, DC

Meharry Medical College, TN

Morehouse school of medicine, GA

Quinnipiac University Frank H. Netter MD school of medicine, CT

Boston University Chobani an and Avedisian School of Medicine, MA

Saint louis University school of medicine, MO

West Virginia University School of Medicine, WV 

CHARLES DREW COLLEGE OF MEDICINE $$$$$$$$

Jacobs school of medicine and biomedical sciences at buffalo

Macon and Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences Eastern Virginia Medical School

Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine 

Western Michigan University Homer Stryker School of Medicine

Alice L. Walton School of Medicine, Background/Stats

• GPA: 3.887
• Major: Biology, pre-med
• NYU SURP research: ~600 hours
• Research presentation: ABRCMS
• Shadowing: ~70 hours
• Clinical experience: ~600 hours as a Remote Patient Monitoring Technician
• Leadership: 1,000+ hours through student government and residence life
• Volunteering both abroad and at home: ~1,000 hours
• Gap year: Continuing to build clinical experience
• Other: Ukrainian war refugee; during the crisis, I helped other refugees safely cross the border

I know the MCAT will be an important factor in determining which schools are realistic, so I’m planning to adjust my list once I receive my score. But i do estimate my score to be about 507+, I hope.

For those familiar with MD/DO admissions, which schools would you recommend adding, and are there any on my current list that you think I should reconsider? I’m especially interested in schools that are OOS-friendly and would be a reasonable fit for my overall profile.

Any advice on how you would structure this list would be greatly appreciated!

I am a New York resident.