WAMC - c/sGPA 3.97/524/ORM - school list too top-heavy?

[dihedralsymmetry]

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[Faha]

You should receive interviews. You should accumulate another 100+ hours of non clinical volunteering. If you do not do the scribe position then you should accumulate more clinical volunteering hours with patient contact.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I would have thrown in an application to Carle and EnMed/Texas A&M.

That said, your nebulous answer about your non-clinical volunteering makes me wonder whether this could be your Achilles heel if you don't turn out to be as successful as you want to be. I guess you have some community service experiences through your honor society and honors college affiliation, but I am missing a sense that you really want to immerse yourself in the challenges facing the communities represented by the patients at the schools you have listed.

Seriously your GPA/MCAT justifies why you are shooting so high. Your experiences though fall short of that top rung on your ladder. Would you really be happy attending the schools near the bottom of your list (VCU, EVMS)... that's what I am wondering.

 

[dihedralsymmetry]

I would have thrown in an application to Carle and EnMed/Texas A&M.

That said, your nebulous answer about your non-clinical volunteering makes me wonder whether this could be your Achilles heel if you don't turn out to be as successful as you want to be. I guess you have some community service experiences through your honor society and honors college affiliation, but I am missing a sense that you really want to immerse yourself in the challenges facing the communities represented by the patients at the schools you have listed.

Seriously your GPA/MCAT justifies why you are shooting so high. Your experiences though fall short of that top rung on your ladder. Would you really be happy attending the schools near the bottom of your list (VCU, EVMS)... that's what I am wondering.

I was under the impression that a lot of the T20-T30 schools value research much more than service, and that a couple hundred hours of volunteering (mine is tutoring a refugee student during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as other support for the transition to online learning during the pandemic for about 100 hours, 50 hours of playing the piano at the hospital for staff and patients, and 100 hours of volunteering in a hospital ED) was sufficient with a strong research resume, especially if I will have 2,000 projected clinical hours by matriculation through my gap year job. For this clinical position, I am likely looking for a CRC position that has high amounts of patient contact. Is this not the case? Also, I would be happy with any of my in-state schools, but am especially hoping for UVA.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Sure, but I think they like people who care passionately about others in the way they talk about what drives them to Medicine. Again, we deal with probabilities and you probably should get attention otherwise.

 

[lno1999]

As an anecdote - I have a friend that currently attends a T5 (with acceptances to over half of the T20s, he had an extremely successful cycle) with similar stats to yours. He did not have issues with the cycle despite his only having 100 hours of non-clinical volunteering. N=1, but of course, it is better to be safe than sorry.

 

[a_distant_dream]

Your #1-#5, shadowing (#9), and other (#14) are similar to me. Your research (#6) and teaching (#10) are better. I have about double your volunteering (#8) but never did any paid clinical experience (#7). I don't have any awards (#12) and my writing is subpar (#13). Held a few more leadership positions (#10). No clue on LORs (#11).

So far I have 5 IIs from USNWR T15. To be honest, your list is more pessimistic than mine!

 

[Goro]

School list:

• Columbia
• WashU in St. Louis
• Yale
• Duke
• Stanford
• UCSF
• Penn
• Harvard
• NYU
• Mayo Clinic (Arizona)
• Cornell
• Emory
• Icahn at Mt. Sinai
• University of Pittsburgh
• UCSD
• UCLA
• Northwestern
• UVA
• University of Florida
• UNC Chapel Hill
• USC (Keck)
• Einstein
• Boston University
• Miami
• EVMS
• VCU
• Thomas Jefferson (Sidney Kimmel)
• Tufts

Delete UNC, UCSD, UF.

Yes, the list is top heavy.
ADD:
USF/Morsami
U VM
UCSF

SUNY.SB
U MI
Einstein
Brown
Baylor
U TX.SW
U WI
U MA
Case
Rochester
U Cincy
OH State

 

[dihedralsymmetry]

Delete UNC, UCSD, UF.

Yes, the list is top heavy.
ADD:
USF/Morsami
U VM
UCSF

SUNY.SB
U MI
Einstein
Brown
Baylor
U TX.SW
U WI
U MA
Case
Rochester
U Cincy
OH State

Thank you for your tips. I will certainly add some of these to my list!