WAMC / Help with School List 3.89/517

[caffeineandscream]

Hello, I would like to ask for some help with finalizing my school list. My goal is to apply to max 35 schools.
I feel drawn towards service-oriented schools- esp. helping underserved communities (individuals that face homelessness, mental health conditions- big motivation for medicine in my PS).
However, I am open to any and all suggestions. Thank you in advance!

1. GPA

• cGPA: 3.89
• sGPA: 3.85

2. MCAT

• 517 (130/128/129/130)

3. State of Residence

• CA

4. Ethnicity/Race

• ORM

5. Undergraduate Institution

• Public state

6. Clinical Experience

• 1200 hrs ER scribing
• 1700 hrs Americorps at FQHC- case management for medically underserved
• 200 hrs hospice
• 500 hrs hospital volunteering (playing piano for pts/visitors, answering call light, escorting pts/visitors)

7. Research Experience

• 500 hours: 1 poster, no pubs
• Scholarship to fund my original research project (later deferred)

8. Shadowing

• 40 hrs in cards

9. Non-clinical volunteering

• 280 hrs suicide hotline counselor
• 50 hrs ESL tutor for the underserved
• 50 hrs spearheaded blanket and jacket drives for the unhoused- collected 800+ blankets, 300+ jackets

10. Other extracurricular activities

• 1200+ hrs avid pianist since childhood- played in retirement homes, memory care, hospital
• 70+ hrs family tree historian- created the project out of interest in learning about family connections and history

11. 2 gap years

School list

1. UCR
2. UCI
3. UCLA
4. UCSD
5. UCSF
6. UC Davis
7. Kaiser
8. Keck
9. Robert Larner
10. U of Colorado
11. U of Illinois
12. Virgina Common
13. Virg Tech
14. Wayne State
15. Oakland
16. U of Cinn
17. U of Michigan
18. U of A Phoenix
19. Geisinger
20. Miami Miller
21. Morsani
22. Albany
23. Cal Northstate
24. Cal Med
25. Rosalind Franklin
26. Creighton
27. Drexel
28. Quinn
29. GW
30. Georgetown
31. Hackensack
32. Loyola
33. MCW
34. NYMC
35. Rush
36. Sidney Kimmel
37. Tulane
38. U Pitt
39. U Rochester
40. BostonU
41. Hofstra
42. Icahn
43. St. Louis
44. Mayo
45. Vandy
46. Pritzker
47. Emory

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[Faha]

Remove California Northstate since they have accreditation problems. i suggest these schools from your list:

• UCR (only if you are from that region)
• UCI
• UCLA
• UCSD
• UCSF
• UC Davis
• Kaiser
• Keck
• Robert Larner
• U of Colorado
• Virginia Commonwealth
• Oakland
• U of Cinn
• U of Michigan
• Miami Miller
• Morsani
• Cal Med
• Creighton
• GW
• Georgetown
• Loyola
• MCW
• NYMC
• Rush
• Sidney Kimmel
• Tulane
• U Pitt
• U Rochester
• BostonU
• Hofstra
• Icahn
• St. Louis
• Mayo
• Vandy
• Pritzker
• Emory

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Americorps at FQHC- case management for medically underserved

I would want to see your responsibilities in this activity. It could be non-clinical depending on how this is set up.

hospital volunteering (playing piano for pts/visitors, answering call light, escorting pts/visitors)

With 500 hundred hours that you list, I would want to see you break this down. Anything, where you are really doing clinical activities with patients, should be split and noted as clinical volunteering/experience. Playing music for visitors/patients is performing in a clinical setting IMO (can put it as hobbies).

 

[caffeineandscream]

Remove California Northstate since they have accreditation problems. i suggest these schools from your list:

• UCR (only if you are from that region)
• UCI
• UCLA
• UCSD
• UCSF
• UC Davis
• Kaiser
• Keck
• Robert Larner
• U of Colorado
• Virginia Commonwealth
• Oakland
• U of Cinn
• U of Michigan
• Miami Miller
• Morsani
• Cal Med
• Creighton
• GW
• Georgetown
• Loyola
• MCW
• NYMC
• Rush
• Sidney Kimmel
• Tulane
• U Pitt
• U Rochester
• BostonU
• Hofstra
• Icahn
• St. Louis
• Mayo
• Vandy
• Pritzker
• Emory

Thanks for the suggestions! If I may ask, what was your reasoning for removing Geisinger, Drexel, and Quinn? Those were schools I thought were service-oriented (mission fit) and OOS-friendly

 

[caffeineandscream]

I would want to see your responsibilities in this activity. It could be non-clinical depending on how this is set up.

With 500 hundred hours that you list, I would want to see you break this down. Anything, where you are really doing clinical activities with patients, should be split and noted as clinical volunteering/experience. Playing music for visitors/patients is performing in a clinical setting IMO (can put it as hobbies).

Yes, I was iffy about categorizing it as clinical experience as well. So, please let me know how you would classify it:

• Responsibilities include: f/u to ensure pts attend medical appts, communicating with providers to order referrals and schedule appts, accompanying pts to their appts (due to disabilities, communication barriers)
• Other responsibilities include social work-y stuff: helping people secure welfare, housing (recup care, supportive housing, SNF), transportation, food, etc.

And noted, I will break down those hospital hours into sub-sections. Would it be fair to include all 500 hrs if it was an ongoing activity from junior year of high school to sophomore year of college? Or would I only include the college hours?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Yes, I was iffy about categorizing it as clinical experience as well. So, please let me know how you would classify it:

• Responsibilities include: f/u to ensure pts attend medical appts, communicating with providers to order referrals and schedule appts, accompanying pts to their appts (due to disabilities, communication barriers)
• Other responsibilities include social work-y stuff: helping people secure welfare, housing (recup care, supportive housing, SNF), transportation, food, etc.

And noted, I will break down those hospital hours into sub-sections. Would it be fair to include all 500 hrs if it was an ongoing activity from junior year of high school to sophomore year of college? Or would I only include the college hours?

Last question first: you should split your pre-HS diploma hours from your post-diploma hours.

You have mixed experiences with the first responsibilities being healthcare administration and the second as community assistance/non-clinical volunteering. (You don't need me to grumble about the definitions with "clinical vs. non-clinical" experience.) I'm open to other suggestions and interpretations, but it's not clinical like MA's or nurses interact with the patients. Just my thoughts.

 

[caffeineandscream]

Last question first: you should split your pre-HS diploma hours from your post-diploma hours.

You have mixed experiences with the first responsibilities being healthcare administration and the second as community assistance/non-clinical volunteering. (You don't need me to grumble about the definitions with "clinical vs. non-clinical" experience.) I'm open to other suggestions and interpretations, but it's not clinical like MA's or nurses interact with the patients. Just my thoughts.

I appreciate the insight. And I'm confused myself with the definitions (smelling vs not smelling haha). But I do see how it's different from those typical clinical interactions. @Goro, @LizzyM could you please give a second opinion?

 

[Faha]

Thanks for the suggestions! If I may ask, what was your reasoning for removing Geisinger, Drexel, and Quinn? Those were schools I thought were service-oriented (mission fit) and OOS-friendly

Geisinger has a strong instate-regional preference. No particular reason for the others but you need to remove some schools to get down to 35.

 

[Goro]

Remove California Northstate since they have accreditation problems. i suggest these schools from your list:

• UCR (only if you are from that region)
• UCI
• UCLA
• UCSD
• UCSF
• UC Davis
• Kaiser
• Keck
• Robert Larner
• U of Colorado
• Virginia Commonwealth
• Oakland
• U of Cinn
• U of Michigan
• Miami Miller
• Morsani
• Cal Med
• Creighton
• GW
• Georgetown
• Loyola
• MCW
• NYMC
• Rush
• Sidney Kimmel
• Tulane
• U Pitt
• U Rochester
• BostonU
• Hofstra
• Icahn
• St. Louis
• Mayo
• Vandy
• Pritzker
• Emory

I agree with the wise Faha, but suggest removing Gtown, Loyola, VCU, Rush, MCW, NYMC, and GWU.

Add
Brown
U IA
EINSTEIN
BAYLOR
U WI

 

[LizzyM]

Ok, since the "smelling" is my definition, I'll say that where you are face to face with patients and perhaps speaking with them, you can call that clinical. If you are in the lobby or the solarium playing the piano, that's not clinical.

Transportation of patients from one area of the hospital to another is clinical. Getting people to their appointments and so forth - call that non-clinical and let your readers "up-code" if they wish. Better that than to piss people off who think that you misclassified it as clinical.

 

[caffeineandscream]

I agree with the wise Faha, but suggest removing Gtown, Loyola, VCU, Rush, MCW, NYMC, and GWU.

Add
Brown
U IA
EINSTEIN
BAYLOR
U WI

Thanks for the suggestions! Did you remove those schools due to their "low yield"? Also, I'm concerned about applying to Baylor due to heavy in-state bias and U WI as per MSAR, "70% of each matriculating class are Wisconsin residents".

 

[caffeineandscream]

Ok, since the "smelling" is my definition, I'll say that where you are face to face with patients and perhaps speaking with them, you can call that clinical. If you are in the lobby or the solarium playing the piano, that's not clinical.

Transportation of patients from one area of the hospital to another is clinical. Getting people to their appointments and so forth - call that non-clinical and let your readers "up-code" if they wish. Better that than to piss people off who think that you misclassified it as clinical.

Ohh I'm starting to understand. Active patient interaction is a major determining factor of what is clinical or not. Although it can be a grey area, I'll play it safe when needed. Glad to get clarification straight from the source!