low-tier school with low US clinical/shadowing hours

[captain_donuts]

Hey all, I'm worried that my undergrad institution, limited shadowing hours/specialties, and low US clinical hours could hurt my chances. Also, I know my school list has a bunch of Florida schools but I have a lot of family there and want to live there one day. Would really appreciate any advice on schools or ECs.

1. cGPA and sGPA: 4.0
2. MCAT score(s) and breakdown: 517 (128/129/129/131)
3. State of residence or country of citizenship (if non-US): Pennsylvania
4. Ethnicity and/or race: White “traditional” applicant
5. Undergraduate institution or category: Low tier (#300 or greater USNews)
6. Degree: Biomedical Sciences with Spanish minor
7. Clinical experience (volunteer and non-volunteer)

• 300 volunteer hours over 2 months in Central America for a medical Spanish internship. In addition to studying abroad and living with a host family, I volunteered at a hospital and and assisted doctors in a variety of specialties.
• 100 volunteer hours over 1 year scribing at a clinic for economically disadvantaged individuals. Have scribed for many different types of specialties.
• Just got accepted into CNA training program, should have 200 hours by June and will work full-time during my gap year before med school.

8. Research experience and productivity:

• 400 hours over 2 years independent biochemistry research. Presented posters at 3 school conferences, 1 regional conference, and 1 national conference. Currently have a senior honors thesis on the research, discussing filing a patent with school lawyers, and will hopefully have at least one first author journal article by the summer
• 30 hours over 1 semester parasitology research. Not much, but I recorded data and helped write an abstract and present a poster at a school conference.

9. Shadowing experience and specialties represented

• Urgent Care: 50 hours over 6 months (It has been difficult getting more due to covid, but hopefully will shadow with other specialties.)

10. Non-clinical volunteering

• 150 hours over 2 years with the Red Cross. Have helped run blood drives, check people in, etc.
• 100 hours over 2 years volunteering at a food bank.

11. Other extracurricular activities (including athletics, military service, gap year activities, leadership, teaching, etc)

• Teaching: 400 hours over 1 year as a paid bio, chem, and physics tutor at my university. One-on-one and group tutoring for basic and high-level classes. Had some pretty great and inspiring experiences helping some students with disabilities.
• Hobby: I love learning languages (it’s a big part of my narrative). I’m pretty fluent in Spanish and I hope to get my French up to par during my gap year.

12. Relevant honors or awards

• Dean’s List all semesters
• Honors Program at my university
• Spanish Honors Society

School List:
Far Far Reach
Duke
Pennsylvania-Perelman

Reach
Baylor
Pittsburgh
Emory
Mount Sinai-Icahn
UCF
Virginia
St Louis University
Hofstra
Ohio State
Cincinnati
Einstein
Renaissance Stony Brook

Target
Eastern Virginia
USF-Morsani
Florida Atlantic-Schmidt
Nova Southeastern-Patel
Wake Forest
Virginia Tech Carilion
Miami-Miller

Safety
Drexel
Temple-Katz
Jefferson-Kimmel
Penn State

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[Faha]

Remove Virginia Tech since they have a regional bias. You could add these schools:
Commonwealth Geisinger
Florida International
Rochester
Case Western
Western Michigan
George Washington

 

[captain_donuts]

Remove Virginia Tech since they have a regional bias. You could add these schools:
Commonwealth Geisinger
Florida International
Rochester
Case Western
Western Michigan
George Washington

Thank you! Would you recommend applying to some DO schools as well?

 

[Faha]

Thank you! Would you recommend applying to some DO schools as well?

You do not need to apply to DO schools with your stats.

 

[Banco]

You have a great application and Faha has given you good suggestions.