3.95, 41 school list

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khanama

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Personal: I want to work in academic setting. I’m not especially interested in research, but am very interested in teaching. Strong commitment to immigrant populations and global health.

What I’m looking for in a medical school: P/F (at least preclinical), collaborative environment, preferably smaller class size, either big city or very rural with lots of nature, lots of global health opportunities, strong reputation for patient-centered care, on same campus as traditional university (not essential). Mayo is my dream school, but clearly it's unwise to focus on just one school.

***

South asian, not disadvantaged

Graduating after just 3 years from unprestigious, midwest state school with science major.

cGPA>3.95; sGPA>3.95 (A's in all prereqs)

MCAT: 41 (14/13/14)

public health (non-bench) research (very independent); honors thesis (1 year, 10 hrs/wk)

Bench “research” (freshman slave) (1 year, 15 hrs/wk)

Clinical research (1 summer after junior year of high school, 40 hrs/wk)

middle author publication, middle author presentation from clinical research in high school

Health-related, but non-clinical Americorps miniproject (10 months, 10 hrs/wk)

Private tutoring (3 years, 2-5 hrs/wk)

columnist for school paper (3 years, 5 hrs/wk)

some human rights focused clubs (president for 1 year of 1 club, in total 3-5 hrs/wk since freshman year)

*most significant* migrant farm worker (tomato picking) for 2 months to try to understand life as undocumented worker

volunteering *clinical* (2 years, 5 hrs/wk)

summer camp counselor *clinical* (7 days/summer)

*most significant* health-related, but non-clinical summer camp counselor and coordinator *strong leadership* (year round involvement, 3 years, 7 hrs/wk, 8 days in summer)

awards/scholarships/deans list (nothing special, but certified master naturalist, which is kind of unique)

hobbies (lots of outdoorsy stuff, language learning (conversational Spanish and knowledge of a few others), cooking, rock climbing)

Shadowing (120 hours total, 50 in one specialty, 20 in rural primary care, 10 in urban primary care )

2 gap years: Unless there are any problems with my application, I’ve been thinking about taking at least the first year for backpacking in India and central Asia to learn about my roots. The second year, I really don’t know what I will do, but it should probably be something in the States, for the sake of making it to interviews. Americorps seems the most likely.

Any suggestions on how to improve my app?


LORs: Science (generic), Science (good), Nonscience (good), Volunteer supervisor (excellent), most recent research advisor (excellent)



Tentative school list:

Mayo
Emory
NYU
Mt Sinai
Northwestern
Vanderbilt
U Chicago
Duke
Johns Hopkins
UCSF
McGill
Stanford
USC
Einstein
Yale
Columbia
Baylor
Minnesota
Dartmouth
State school
University of Miami
Creighton
Tulane



Definitely a bit top heavy at this point.

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McGill? Do you speak French?
This is from McGill's website:
"While there is no required proof of language proficiency, applicants are expected and recommended to have a working knowledge of the English and French languages (comprehension, spoken and written) from the outset of the M.D.,C.M. program."
"The student is expected to be functional in the English and French languages by the time clinical rotations commence (January of the second year of the program)."
 
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OP, I'm not an adcom, but to me your application jumps off the page as excellent, even beyond the numbers. I don't think you need to improve it in any way.

Your school list is solid. Pass/fail is nearly ubiquitous at top schools these days, as is a collaborative environment (at least by report). I submit that you don't need to apply to all 20+ schools on your list, though, top-heavy or not. Along with McGill, I would consider dropping some of Minnesota, Creighton, Miami and Tulane, simply for how unlikely it is that you would end up choosing them. My first thought on USC was that it tends to be expensive, but you might keep it for how well their mission seems to match your interests. If you do want to further streamline your list, I would note that Stanford, Yale, and Duke are not in big cities nor very rural areas. I don't see Harvard on your list but I'd be surprised if you didn't get an interview there if you applied (edit: in retrospect, this kind of statement is silly to make about any applicant, but I do think that OP has a reasonable chance there).

Enjoy your gap years, and good luck!

Edit: Just had a thought, have you considered mixing some kind of research or service experience into your first gap year? Not like a "medical mission," but something where you can put your public health skills to good use, or at least gain some exposure to what you might want to do as a med student and physician.
 
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I would say that I've only had about a year of serious research. The other experiences were pretty much mindless. Do you think my second gap year could be better served doing research? I wouldn't want to move back to my home lab, because the town is horrible and I'm ready to be done with it forever, so I don't know how productive I could be in a new lab for just a year.
 
Just apply!
It's not worth spending a year of your life in a lab to minutely increase your chances at a school with only 49 spots! That is, unless you actually have the opportunity to do a year of substantive research at this point in your career.
 
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I would say that I've only had about a year of serious research. The other experiences were pretty much mindless. Do you think my second gap year could be better served doing research? I wouldn't want to move back to my home lab, because the town is horrible and I'm ready to be done with it forever, so I don't know how productive I could be in a new lab for just a year.
Plenty of people have gotten into the schools on your list with "only" a year of research. Do what you would like to for your gap year.

AmeriCorps is an excellent choice. I've known many people who have gotten a lot out of the program and had much to talk about at med school interviews. (Just be ready not to make any money.)
 
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