I graduated in 2007. By then, I had done my hours of hospital volunteering and research. However, the recession had already hit my family’s small business when I graduated, and in order to help stave off bankruptcy, I didn’t apply to med school. For the last two years, I’d been working without pay for my family business. The business was finally closed this year.
I had no time in those two years for any volunteering – every morning at 6AM I drove me and my mother to work, and sometimes didn’t stop working until 11PM. Thus, all of my relevant medical experiences are now two to four years old.
In addition, my GPA (3.67) and MCAT scores (PS9, VR11, BS10, Q) are middling.
I’m starting to volunteer again, but all the volunteer experiences I can list on the current application round of 2009-2010 are so old, I wonder if they’re even useful.
I’d appreciate any advice.
Those are not ‘middling’ GPA or MCATs. You are selling yourself short.
You have a compelling story to tell. Your volunteer experience doesn’t have to be current. Present yourself positively, with conviction that you’ve got what it takes, and you’ll be fine. Your post has a bit of an apologetic air to it - why? You’ve been doing excellent, hard work. Don’t apologize for your grades, your scores, your experiences; make sure your application shows that you’ve gotten a lot from those experiences whether they’re recent or in the distant past, and go for it. Good luck!
Mary
Hi Ally,
Well, I would probably apply now (and early). It seems as though the volunteering is the only thing that might be considered deficient…but maybe not either. How long did you volunteer before? Do you still have contacts with that organization?
If they question it, just be honest and let them know what has been going on. To me it shows that you are a very responsible person and that you know how to apply priorities…at that time, your priority was to work with your family to try to save their/your livelihood.
Best of luck!
Apply. The only purpose to volunteering in a medical setting is so that the schools know that you have been exposed to the medical profession outside from watching it on television and you know what you are getting yourself into.
This post made me wonder whether or not my shadowing is now “too old” as well… I did it on and off from 2003 - 2005. I was worried about that because come this fall, i wont have time to do more.
Thanks guys, in answering Ally’s question, you’ve also answered mine!
- putnam2800 Said:
Thanks guys, in answering Ally's question, you've also answered mine!
Hi putnam,
It might not be a bad idea. If you are giving any thought to applying DO they are going to require (for the most part) a LOR from a physician. Sometimes it doesn't matter whether it is a DO or a MD.
Krisss, good point there. I hadnt thought of that. Yes I will need that LOR and it might make more sense to get one from a recent contact. It’d be a little awkward and inappropriate to ask for a letter from someone who i worked with four years ago, i think.