What are my chances/what should I do now?

[MysteryMacavity]

Hello,

I'm thinking of applying to medical school but I'm very troubled by my freshman year. I was very sick during this time and it has impacted my gpa tremendously. Currently I have a 3.73 gpa with a 3.6 gpa in the sciences. I am a neuroscience major with a computer science minor and I attend a private liberal arts school. My extracurriculars include piano, guitar, voice, marathons and ballet.
I have a leadership position as a head volunteer at a local hospital. I volunteer at a women's shelter and I have done research with faculty, summer programs and I traveled abroad in a Spanish intensive medical program in Costa Rica. I am currently an RA and computer science TA.
My MCAT's were 11 in Physical, 13 in Verbal and 12 in Bio. I am worried about the discrepancy, especially with Physical Science. I have improved my grades significantly and I believe it is very apparent on my transcripts. I ended my freshman year with a 2.3 and worked my way up to a 3.7. I am very proud of this, however I also know that my gpa is not very competitive and a lot of the students at my school have gpa's and extracurriculars much more exciting than mine.
I am considering taking two years off to improve my prospects. I think I have a pretty good chance of getting into a medical school, but I really want to get into Harvard Med. It's a long shot currently but I believe that if I acquire more research/medical experience that I will have a better chance of getting in.
My question is this: should I apply now or later? And if later should I try to get into a postbact program? Are there any Masters programs in neuro or comp sci that are no longer than two years? Should I study abroad? What are some of the possible pros and cons of my goals?

Thank you!
-MM

[Zethra]

APPLY!!!! NOW!

A 3.7 overall and a 36 MCAT could get you in your choice of school as long as you nail the interview. Your upward grade trend shows you have matured and your EC's are more than enough (just make sure your volunteering has direct patient contact)

Apply...state schools, top teir, middle teir...where ever you want. Shoot, even Hopkins or UT Southwestern or Stanford or Harvard. It won't hurt to apply and it's best to apply all over. Personally I think there are better schools than Harvard like Hopkins and Wash U.

[cheechootrain]

Your volunteering doesn't necessarily need to have patient contact.

300+ hours of volunteering
Patient Contact hours
Shadowing a doctor
Research isn't necessary, but it is a good boost on your application if you want to attend Harvard.

Looking at your application, you are really a bit above average. But your extra curricular activities adds a lot to your app. Like that Spanish intensive medical program in Costa Rica. Things like that makes your app stand out of the rest. I think you should apply and see what happens. If you don't make it, you can always improve and try again in the following years if you REALLLY want to go to Harvard. But for mid tier schools, you have almost a 100 percent change of getting in with your stats.. for carribeans and DO schools, I'm pretty sure you'll definitely get in unless you've killed someone...have you keeled someone?

[CaribMD]

I agree with the two above posts little to add, your chances are very good and I would apply to 10 schools at least. You should get 1 or 2 or more.