Feedback on current path to med school

[Bull1212]

Hi all, I just need opinions regarding my plan to possibly applying to med school this upcoming May.

I'm a Mexican-American that graduated in May 2022 with a B.S. in Cell and Molecular Bio. cGPA 3.38 with an upward trend until my senior year and sGPA 3.24.

I initially planned on taking courses right after graduating but did not have the financials so took some advice from another post of mine and decided to save up money from June to December. Now I am enrolled in taking 3 courses (9 credits) at my old university for spring 2023 - ecology, organic evolution, and developmental bio.
In addition, I would be working part time as a research assistant on the remainder of the weekdays that I don't have class. I planned after work to go to the campus library (job is at the university) to study for a couple hours before driving an hour back home. In the midst of taking the 3 courses and working as an RA, I was going to study for the MCAT (no content review since I'm done with all of the Kaplan books besides physics but I'll be reading it while taking courses). I plan on taking the MCAT in March. I also plan on applying to the Mayo Clinic Otolaryngology Undergrad Research Program and if successful, hope to leave my state for the summer to do research at a dream med school of mine. If I do get accepted, I'd be applying to medical school during my time in the program.

For my experiences:
1. fruit harvesting - was raised as one
2. patient transporter - 2100+ hours
3. medical scribe - 989 hours
4. medical assistant - 700 hours
5. shadowing in multiple specialties
6. homeless shelter volunteer - 58 hours
7. volunteer research assistant - 58 hours

Is there anything I am possibly overlooking? Any recommendations on what I shouldn't do or continue doing? Any advice would be appreciated, thank you!

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[Mr.Smile12]

What will be your state of residence?

Have you connected with affinity or mentoring organizations or student leaders at your favorite schools? SNMA, NHMA, or AMSA?

 

[Bull1212]

What will be your state of residence?

Have you connected with affinity or mentoring organizations or student leaders at your favorite schools? SNMA, NHMA, or AMSA?

FL

I also have not connected with anything from my favorite schools. I'm not sure what those acronym means haha...not cause I'm ignorant but I'm just new to this applying to med school thing, it's nerve wracking to say the least

 

[KaiBuzz]

Any leadership experiences?

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

Don't overthink this. You should have some research experience if possible, but the big thing is the MCAT. Depending on that, you'll know if MD is realistic or not. I'm thinking at this point it'll be hard for you to make a significant dent on your GPA

 

[Bull1212]

Any leadership experiences?

As of right now, no.

 

[Bull1212]

Don't overthink this. You should have some research experience if possible, but the big thing is the MCAT. Depending on that, you'll know if MD is realistic or not. I'm thinking at this point it'll be hard for you to make a significant dent on your GPA

Yea I was thinking the GPA wouldn’t really change much at this point. With that in mind, I’d hope admissions would see my growth through my experiences, essays, and MCAT.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

Yea I was thinking the GPA wouldn’t really change much at this point. With that in mind, I’d hope admissions would see my growth through my experiences, essays, and MCAT.

I think you should be fine for DO as long as you score >502 on the MCAT. I think you'd easily get into WesternU, UIW or Nova as they like hispanic applicants. For MD you'll likely need >514 and/or come from a low competitive state like New Mexico

 

[Bull1212]

I think you should be fine for DO as long as you score >502 on the MCAT. I think you'd easily get into WesternU, UIW or Nova as they like hispanic applicants. For MD you'll likely need >514 and/or come from a low competitive state like New Mexico

I will definitely aim for a competitive score on the MCAT. I will add those schools to my list for sure, thank you for the advice. For Nova, I actually worked for a cardiologist who went to Nova DO and he graduated top 9 in his class. Reportedly, his rec letter could get me into the school but I'm not counting on it since I have a lot of work to do to show I can be competitive and worthy of being accepted.