3.94 cGPA, 3.96sGPA, 36Q MCAT, Reapplicant Need Advice on School List

[CaliforniaCat]

Unfortunately I applied late last cycle and didn't get any acceptances. This year I want to expand my school list and hopefully get a spot.

I am a California resident with a B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of California, Santa Barbara. I know my ECs are a bit weak, so please be honest.

cGPA: 3.94
sGPA: 3.96
MCAT: PS-12 BS-14 VR-10 W-Q

Clinical Experience:
-Volunteering for 4hrs once a week (~175hrs total) from October 2011 through May 2013. I spent time in three departments: the Neonatal ICU, the Medical ICU, and the Emergency Department. In the Emergency Department I had a lot of patient contact including greeting patients and helping them get checked in by providing any assistance they need, ensuring patients' needs are met while in their rooms, and escorting family members and visitors to patient rooms.

Non-clinical Volunteering:
-Spent 2 hours a week for 5 months both my freshman and sophomore years tutoring a 6th grader after their school day was over.
-Volunteering occasionally for the YMCA doing various things, from serving as special event staff to fundraising (50hrs total).

Other:
-Worked at Kmart for the summers and parts of the school years between my Sophomore and Senior years.
-Worked as a science tutor for a home schooled high school student from November 2012- Present
-Just started an internship in the biochemistry department at an international biopharmaceutical company. I make stock solutions and have my own independent project working with a protein.
-I have been doing gymnastics since I was 6 years old. I competed for 10 years through high school and continued to practice in a for-fun school organization during my entire undergraduate career.
-Received the American Chemical Society Division of Analytical Chemistry Award and membership to the Phi Lambda Upsilon National Honorary Chemical Society from UCSB.
-UC Regents Scholarship recipient at UCSB

My personal statement is very similar to last years. I have not made too many changes because I feel the information presented reflects me and what I have to offer. Also I am using two of the same LORs as last year. Both were from professors and I was told they both said very good things by two of my interviewers. I will be obtaining a new letter from my supervisor at my new internship and may get one from the volunteer coordinator at the hospital I volunteered at.

The schools I applied to last cycle were: David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, UC San Diego, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, and University of Southern California

So far my school list for this cycle is:
California: David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, UC San Diego, UC Irvine, UC San Francisco, UC Davis, University of Southern California, Stanford
Tennessee: Vanderbilt
Minnesota: Mayo Medical School
Oregon: Oregon Health and Science University

I know this list is top heavy, which is what I need help with. I am having trouble selecting more mid-tier schools outside of California. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

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[darkjedi]

Not sure if I missed something, but do you have any shadowing at all? With your stats, you either didn't apply to enough med schools or there must've been a big red flag with your application for you to have been rejected from everywhere.

How many interviews did you receive? Waitlists? Knowing more information could help us figure out where the red flag may have been.

 

[CaliforniaCat]

Not sure if I missed something, but do you have any shadowing at all? With your stats, you either didn't apply to enough med schools or there must've been a big red flag with your application for you to have been rejected from everywhere.

I do not have any shadowing experience. I do think I applied to too few schools last time and like I mentioned I did apply very late, maybe one week before the AMCAS deadline for all of those schools. I did get an interview at UCSD and was waitlisted, but ultimately got rejected.

 

[darkjedi]

I do not have any shadowing experience. I do think I applied to too few schools last time and like I mentioned I did apply very late, maybe one week before the AMCAS deadline for all of those schools. I did get an interview at UCSD and was waitlisted, but ultimately got rejected.

Ah, I missed the late application part. That is definitely a huge part of it. The complete lack of shadowing is also likely a red flag as well. Thankfully both are fixable. If you don't address both, your luck will likely be poor this time as well.

 

[dahassa]

Your list is pretty small and it involves a lot of schools that are hard to get into. I would expand my list to 14ish. You don't want to have to reapply again.....

Turn in your app early this year like ASAP! Try to get some shadowing in as well.

 

[BigBear123]

Okay, as a CA resident, you really need to be applying to a lot more schools. I am from CA as well and had nearly identical stats as you and I applied to 25 schools. I think 20+ should be good for you. I know it's expensive but it's more expensive to have to reapply. Here are some schools that you may want to add:

Midwest:
Case Western
Medical College of Wisconsin

East Coast:
Temple
Einstein
NYU
Drexel
Pitt
George Washington
NYMC
One or two SUNYs: Downstate, Buffalo, etc

South:
Tulane

Good luck! Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

 

[alpinism]

Unfortunately I applied late last cycle and didn't get any acceptances. This year I want to expand my school list and hopefully get a spot.

I am a California resident with a B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of California, Santa Barbara. I know my ECs are a bit weak, so please be honest.

cGPA: 3.94
sGPA: 3.96
MCAT: PS-12 BS-14 VR-10 W-Q

Clinical Experience:
-Volunteering for 4hrs once a week (~175hrs total) from October 2011 through May 2013. I spent time in three departments: the Neonatal ICU, the Medical ICU, and the Emergency Department. In the Emergency Department I had a lot of patient contact including greeting patients and helping them get checked in by providing any assistance they need, ensuring patients' needs are met while in their rooms, and escorting family members and visitors to patient rooms.

Non-clinical Volunteering:
-Spent 2 hours a week for 5 months both my freshman and sophomore years tutoring a 6th grader after their school day was over.
-Volunteering occasionally for the YMCA doing various things, from serving as special event staff to fundraising (50hrs total).

Other:
-Worked at Kmart for the summers and parts of the school years between my Sophomore and Senior years.
-Worked as a science tutor for a home schooled high school student from November 2012- Present
-Just started an internship in the biochemistry department at an international biopharmaceutical company. I make stock solutions and have my own independent project working with a protein.
-I have been doing gymnastics since I was 6 years old. I competed for 10 years through high school and continued to practice in a for-fun school organization during my entire undergraduate career.
-Received the American Chemical Society Division of Analytical Chemistry Award and membership to the Phi Lambda Upsilon National Honorary Chemical Society from UCSB.
-UC Regents Scholarship recipient at UCSB

My personal statement is very similar to last years. I have not made too many changes because I feel the information presented reflects me and what I have to offer. Also I am using two of the same LORs as last year. Both were from professors and I was told they both said very good things by two of my interviewers. I will be obtaining a new letter from my supervisor at my new internship and may get one from the volunteer coordinator at the hospital I volunteered at.

The schools I applied to last cycle were: David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, UC San Diego, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, and University of Southern California

So far my school list for this cycle is:
California: David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, UC San Diego, UC Irvine, UC San Francisco, UC Davis, University of Southern California, Stanford
Tennessee: Vanderbilt
Minnesota: Mayo Medical School
Oregon: Oregon Health and Science University

I know this list is top heavy, which is what I need help with. I am having trouble selecting more mid-tier schools outside of California. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

If you are really serious about going to a top school:

1. Shadowing (25-50hrs)
2. Community service/Leadership experience
3. Apply ASAP

Without the above, your chances are very low at places like Stanford, UCSF, and Mayo.