Brief Profile:
*NOTE*: I am Hispanic, but I am NOT an URM according to the AAMC website for it is worth. I am South American.
Volunteered in the ER for a year in college and about two years in HS Did intenstive research for 2 years designing, setting up, and running my own experiments (though haven't published as of application) Wrote for student newspaper for a year Habitat for humanity for a year
// Applications //
Application Cycle One: 2003
Undergraduate college: Columbia University
Undergraduate Area of study: Biological/Life Sciences
Total MCAT SCORE: 516
MCAT Section Scores:
B/B 129,
C/P 128,
CARS 130
Overall GPA: 3.37
Science GPA: 3.20
Summary of Application Experience
Applied to a good number of schools, but really didn't apply to the top tier for fear that I wouldn't have a chance. I ended up getting in early to Florida and also interviewed at Einstein, Sinai, and Drexel. Once I got into Sinai, I began to withdraw from most of the schools I had applied to since Mt. Sinai was one of my top choices.
My advice to everyone out there: do well on your MCAT's. Take many practice tests (AMCAS, Kaplan, etc). Do them just like you would the real thing (not one section one day, another the next, etc...) Don't sell yourself short when applying either. Definitely apply to schools you consider 'below you', schools that on your level, but don't ignore the schools at the top. You never know what schools are looking for.