Michigan resident, applying June 2015, school list reccomendations?

[GU auscultator]

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[Catalystik]

Hello all, thanks in advance for taking the time to read this.

Biology major:
cGPA 3.75
sGPA 3.85
MCAT 30 (V-9, P-10, B-11)

Clinical Volunteering
-Minimal at best, 40 hours of volunteering in the emergency department

Physician shadowing
-20 hours with a cardiologist (was able to see a cardiac stent placement)
-25 hours with a general surgeon in Ecuador (saw about 6 different general surgeries, also was able to witness a live birth)
-25 hours with various physicians doing a heme-onc rotation in Ecuador

Research
-One semester long lab internship doing PCR-based diagnostic testing in identifying individuals susceptible to hypolactasia
-One year working with a PI in a microbiology lab
-Year and a half of being a lab assistant in a potato genetics lab (not really sure if this counts as research experience, probably more of just a job, thoughts?)
-One semester as a research associate in an emergency department

Employment/clinical experience
-2 years working as a scribe in a level 1 trauma emergency department (~2000+ hours)

Also will have four strong letters, two from professors and two from emergency physicians

Trying to get into an MD school here in Michigan as top priority. Number one choice would be Wayne State. but I think I'm on the low side right now for that school. Stretch school includes U of M (big stretch haha). I would be happy with an acceptance from CHM, oakland or western. I will also be applying to COM (a DO school) here in Michigan, would be happy for acceptance there as well.

Any suggestions for OOS schools??? I'm looking to apply to about 15 different schools max.
Also, any suggestions for ways to improve my applications with the remaining 7 months I have left?

Thanks so much guys, appreciate it.

Overall, it looks like you are weak on altruistic activities. Add nonmedical community service, for sure, since clinically you're strong through employment. If you can work in leadership and/or teaching as well perhaps combining all 3 of them in one activity, that would be very helpful to increase your appeal to more schools.

Don't forget to include hobbies, sports, and artistic involvement.

Other near-ish schools to research for potential inclusion on your list:

Temple, Jeff, Cincinnati, Albany, Toledo, Vermont, Drexel, Penn State, Commonwealth in Pa, UIllinois (high OOS tuition), Buffalo, Rush, RFU, Indiana U (if you have state ties), Marian, CCOM and a few more DO schools.

 

[jordan789]

Don't know much about DO schools but here is a list of MD schools that you should think about.

Medical College of Wisconsin (Milwaukee)
Rosland Franklin (Chicago)
Rush (Chicago, school is tricky but worth looking into)
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson (Sidney Kimmel)
Tufts
Vermont
Creighton
St. Louis
Albany
VCOMM
Eastern Virginia
Penn State

 

[medlax]

New York Medical School, Oakland Beaumont, GWU, Georgetown

 

[dkr34]

Great stats!
Here are a few:
-Rush
-University of Virginia
-Weill Cornell
-Georgetown

 

[jordan789]

Great stats!
Here are a few:
-Rush
-University of Virginia
-Weill Cornell
-Georgetown

University of Virginia and Cornell both have a ~35 MCAT average. Not to say it's impossible to get into those schools but pick your few reach schools wisely. Rush and Georgetown are also more selective than their numbers suggest, they would also slightly be reach schools.

 

[Gregarious_and_Hilarious]

University of Virginia and Cornell both have a ~35 MCAT average. Not to say it's impossible to get into those schools but pick your few reach schools wisely. Rush and Georgetown are also more selective than their numbers suggest, they would also slightly be reach schools.

I agree. Especially for Rush, they have a very heavy focus on community service, so unless OP really commits themselves to service this year they probably won't be competitive.

OP, I suggest looking at schools with a focus on research, since that seems to be the cornerstone of your app. Your lack of community service won't necessarily be a good fit for schools with that as their mission

 

[The Milkman]

CMU is another in Michigan, and I agree with Medical College of Wisconsin, temple/drexel/jefferson, and some chicago schools.

By the way, a piece of advice I would offer is when you are describing your shadowing experiences on your AMCAS next year, don't focus on things like "I got to see a cardiac stent placement" or "I got to see x surgery"... focus on qualities of the doctor, how he/she interacted with patients, etc...

 

[GU auscultator]

Overall, it looks like you are weak on altruistic activities. Add nonmedical community service, for sure, since clinically you're strong through employment. If you can work in leadership and/or teaching as well perhaps combining all 3 of them in one activity, that would be very helpful to increase your appeal to more schools.

Don't forget to include hobbies, sports, and artistic involvement.

Other near-ish schools to research for potential inclusion on your list:

Temple, Jeff, Cincinnati, Albany, Toledo, Vermont, Drexel, Penn State, Commonwealth in Pa, UIllinois (high OOS tuition), Buffalo, Rush, RFU, Indiana U (if you have state ties), Marian, CCOM and a few more DO schools.

Yeah, for sure I'm weak in altruistic activities. I did do some volunteer work in high school I have records of, and could add that to the app. Also while in Ecuador I did some volunteer work for a week involving helping children at one of the daycares and remodeling their facility. Also I'll have some more free time in the Spring and plan to do some tutoring at the University. I wanted to do more volunteer work during college but it was hard to find the time between the scribe, research jobs and school work.

As for hobbies, sports and artistic involvement, aren't those questions that can be answered from the secondary applications? Thanks for the school list though, I have a good list going of ~30 schools at this point and will start to narrow it down.

CMU is another in Michigan, and I agree with Medical College of Wisconsin, temple/drexel/jefferson, and some chicago schools.

By the way, a piece of advice I would offer is when you are describing your shadowing experiences on your AMCAS next year, don't focus on things like "I got to see a cardiac stent placement" or "I got to see x surgery"... focus on qualities of the doctor, how he/she interacted with patients, etc...

Definitely some good advice here, thank you!

 

[Catalystik]

1) Yeah, for sure I'm weak in altruistic activities. I did do some volunteer work in high school I have records of, and could add that to the app.

2) As for hobbies, sports and artistic involvement, aren't those questions that can be answered from the secondary applications?

1) HS activities aren't much considered unless they continued into the college years. One week of volunteer tutoring isn't going to add much to your application, since longevity counts. You'd be better off giving one hour of time per week to a cause you care about, starting now.

2) These are categories ion the Primary application that you can fill in so every school knows about them, not just those with Secondary prompts that are relevant.