MD 3.96 sGPA, 3.94 cGPA, 34 MCAT

[punnah]

Hi everyone,
Long time lurker here and would love some help

21 y/o Asian female, Tennessee resident, US Citizen
Small liberal art school
Anticipated BS in Chemistry with a Physics minor in May 2015

Science GPA: 3.96
Cumulative GPA: 3.94
MCAT 34 (13 PS, 10 VR, 11 BS)

Experiences:
1 semester internship shadowing in different departments at a pediatric hospital (8 hours/week)
Research fellowship at a pediatric cancer hospital for two summers and the intervening year, one poster presentation at a conference
3 years of volunteering there too (2-3 hours/week during the academic year), mostly working with inpatients and families, in the hospital but not shadowing physicians
3 years of volunteering at an emergency room, partly shadowing physicians (3 hours/academic week)
Chemistry and Calculus Tutor for two years now (8-10 hours/week) primarily through those departments with occasional private tutoring
Member of Gamma Sigma Epsilon (Chemistry), Sigma Pi Sigma (Physics), Mortar Board, and Phi Beta Kappa
Very involved in the multicultural and chemistry organizations on campus as a member and in leadership positions

I'm applying regular MD. I don't have a particular specialization in mind, but I'm not focusing on research schools. I don't have a geographical preference but would prefer to pay less for medical school if possible. My dream is UCSF, but I highly doubt that. ):

I have no clue where my safe zone is, so I don't know if I should be reaching further or less.
When I asked about schools, my health advisor listed a lot of top ones, but I think that's not really realistic, so I'd really appreciate some help with expanding/editing my list:

University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center
East Tennessee State University
Baylor College of Medicine
University of Arkansas
Boston University School of Medicine
Tufts University School of Medicine
Tulane University School of Medicine
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Drexel University College of Medicine
New York University School of Medicine
Wake Forest School of Medicine of Wake Forest University
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
Emory University School of Medicine
University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Questions: (I feel like I sound neurotic..)
1) Does not having a rec letter from my research PI look strange?
2) Next semester, I'll be studying abroad with a college-affiliated program at Lincoln College in Oxford, England and parts of Europe. It's unfortunately not science or health related, but I really want to study abroad before leaving undergrad. Any tips on how to keep my chances from falling too far even if I'm fairly sure I'll be starting interviews in January? :/
3) Is there something that could use improvement? Does not having much shadowing hurt my application? The internship was shadowing, but one of my volunteering activities is largely shadowing even though it isn't formally called that.

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[Selladore235]

Answers:
1) Not sure but I might wonder why it's absent if I were reviewing your application
2) Maybe study abroad in the spring semester? Might not be a good idea to leave the country during peak interview activity.
3) I imagine that much more than about 50hrs of shadowing is excessive. Don't overstress shadowing hours. IMO, seems super neurotic.

Your list looks pretty good. Good number of schools but maybe slightly "top-heavy". I'd throw in a couple of schools that have stats around yours and a relatively low number of applicants--Einstein comes to mind. Drexel, Tulane, Boston, and Tufts all receive 10k+ applicants. Invest in the MSAR if you haven't already.

 

[alpinism]

Yeah I wouldn't recommend studying abroad during the fall semester. Most interviews are given out between August and January. While some schools may give you the option to schedule interviews later in the year, many do not. In addition, your chances of being accepted decrease at some schools the later you interview because of less spots available.

 

[Goro]

Good list; nothing wrong with aiming high.

My list:

University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center
East Tennessee State University
Baylor College of Medicine
University of Arkansas (I think your chances at U KY and U Louisville are >> than for AR)
Boston University School of Medicine
Tufts University School of Medicine
Tulane University School of Medicine
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Drexel University College of Medicine
New York University School of Medicine
Wake Forest School of Medicine of Wake Forest University
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
Emory University School of Medicine
University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Loyola
NYU
SLU
Louisville
Einstein
Cornell and Columbia (maybe)
Mt Sinai
Miami
Pitt
Duke
U VA (maybe)

No

1) Does not having a rec letter from my research PI look strange?

Don't know
2) Next semester, I'll be studying abroad with a college-affiliated program at Lincoln College in Oxford, England and parts of Europe. It's unfortunately not science or health related, but I really want to study abroad before leaving undergrad. Any tips on how to keep my chances from falling too far even if I'm fairly sure I'll be starting interviews in January? :/

Suggest adding some non-clinical ECs. Check your local houses of worship for volunteering opportunities.

3) Is there something that could use improvement? Does not having much shadowing hurt my application? The internship was shadowing, but one of my volunteering activities is largely shadowing even though it isn't formally called that.

 

[shopsteward]

Oxford has eight week terms, and for autumn 2014 the dates are 12 October to 6 December. You could make yourself available for interview before and/or after, rather than wait until January.