WAMC ORM 3.7/517

[cartoonnetworkkid]

Hi everyone! I would appreciate some feedback on my school list for the 2024-2025 cycle. I consider myself a fairly average applicant without any standout extracurriculars. While I do have a few plans for my 2 gap years, if you notice any major weak points in my applicant profile as it currently stands, please let me know! Overall, I'd love suggestions for additional schools to consider. My main goal right now is to gauge where I stand with my general application and preferred programs. I apologize if my applicant profile is slightly vague at parts, I tried my best but didn't know how much to include.

Applicant Profile:
GPA: cGPA: 3.77, sGPA: 3.76 (Note: Excluded some "independent study" classes; including them would bring my sGPA to around 3.80).
MCAT: MCAT Score: 517 (127/128/128/132)
State of Residence: CT
Clinical Experience: 1 year as a medical assistant in an outpatient clinic (Projected ~1500 hrs)
Research Experience: Conducted a translational research project at a local medical institution, obtaining independent IRB approval and writing code for statistical analysis. Honors thesis submitted to two conferences.
Shadowing: Shadowed in Endocrinology, Emergency Medicine, and Dermatology. Plan to shadow in outpatient orthopedic surgery and in-patient psychiatry. Projected 70+ hours by May 2024.
Non-clinical Volunteering: Volunteer at the local library; anticipate 200 non-clinical hours by May 2024. My work primarily consisted of running evening programming for the children's library and archiving historic documents.
Other Extracurricular Activities: Microbiology TA and leadership in DEI programs (Board Member who directed DEI education for ~1200 women)
Relevant Honors or Awards: Writing award from the school department.
School List:

1. University of Connecticut School of Medicine
2. University of Virginia School of Medicine
3. Wayne State University School of Medicine
4. University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry
5. SUNY Upstate Medical University
6. University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
7. Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine
8. Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS)
9. George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences
10. Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine (Quinnipiac University)
11. University of Colorado School of Medicine
12. Drexel University College of Medicine
13. University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine
14. Tulane University School of Medicine
15. Boston University School of Medicine
16. Tufts University School of Medicine
17. Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM)
18. New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine (NYIT-COM)
19. University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine (UNECOM)
20. Georgetown University School of Medicine

EDIT: I'm all set now, and think I have a good idea of what to work on. Thanks to everyone who helped!

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[Faha]

Where is your state of residence ?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

What were your responsibilities in the library? What do the additional 200 hours of nonclinical volunteering consist of?

As it appears, you don't list service orientation activities where you are serving others in distress and area clearly outside your comfort zone. That will get your file screened out at most schools. I also get no sense of how involved you are with campus organizations or activities.

 

[Angler]

Clinical Experience: 1 year as a medical assistant in an outpatient clinic.

How many hours is this? That is, was this like just an hour or two a week, or was it full time where you have many hundreds of hours?

As @Mr.Smile12 indicates, your non-clin volunteering with those in need is a weak point. You need several hundred hours to look good.

As I read it, your two gap years are almost up. Putting on my nag hat, you should move it!

@Faha can give you some advice on schools once we get more info.

 

[cartoonnetworkkid]

How many hours is this? That is, was this like just an hour or two a week, or was it full time where you have many hundreds of hours?

As @Mr.Smile12 indicates, your non-clin volunteering with those in need is a weak point. You need several hundred hours to look good.

As I read it, your two gap years are almost up. Putting on my nag hat, you should move it!

@Faha can give you some advice on schools once we get more info.

Hi! So it is full-time, and I am still working full-time as an MA. So by May of 2024, I should have completed at least 1500 Hrs.

For my non-clinical volunteering, I am honestly unsure if it even counts. Alongside my research, I was helping run a food pantry out of the hospital for people who were screened to be food insecure. As it was done concurrently to my research, I didn't know if the experience would have been designated as one or the other.

For my library volunteering experience, I primarily just run the children's evening activities and archive historic town documents. Again, I'm sorry for it being vague, as I am never sure exactly how much detail to give for these.

 

[cartoonnetworkkid]

Where is your state of residence ?

Connecticut! Sorry, must have deleted it from my original post.

 

[LunaOri]

Get some more volunteering with the underserved, and you should be good.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

For my non-clinical volunteering, I am honestly unsure if it even counts. Alongside my research, I was helping run a food pantry out of the hospital for people who were screened to be food insecure. As it was done concurrently to my research, I didn't know if the experience would have been designated as one or the other.

Explain what you mean by this. What were you studying? Why did you not follow you with this work after your research was done?

 

[cartoonnetworkkid]

Explain what you mean by this. What were you studying? Why did you not follow you with this work after your research was done?

My research was regarding Atopic Dermatitis in the Pediatric population, and I was in the hospital 1-2 days a week collecting data, or helping research assistants gather data for me. However, the hospital research department also had a program that screened for food insecurity and ran a food pantry. I had been involved in this program even prior to my thesis work, and was familiar with how the program ran. So when I was waiting on IRB approval and when there were no eligible participants for my study on a given day, I would assist with the food pantry program, screen patients, and bring them food from the pantry.

I graduated in May 2023 and the research department was having trouble sourcing more food for the pantry during this past summer. However, the head of the research department and I have kept in touch and we should be able to start again in January 2024! So it's more a brief pause than me no longer being involved. However, as intertwined as these two experiences are, I wasn't sure if I could even list them as separate activities.

 

[Faha]

Remove SUNY Upstate since they admit few non residents. You could add these schools to your application:
Albany
Hofstra
Einstein
Mount Sinai
Hackensack
Temple
Jefferson
USF Morsani
TCU
Cincinnati
Oakland Beaumont
Western Michigan
Medical College Wisconsin

 

[cartoonnetworkkid]

Remove SUNY Upstate since they admit few non residents. You could add these schools to your application:
Albany
Hofstra
Einstein
Mount Sinai
Hackensack
Temple
Jefferson
USF Morsani
TCU
Cincinnati
Oakland Beaumont
Western Michigan
Medical College Wisconsin

Thank you!

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I was helping run a food pantry out of the hospital for people....

is different from

... However, the hospital research department also had a program that screened for food insecurity and ran a food pantry. I had been involved in this program even prior to my thesis work, and was familiar with how the program ran. So when I was waiting on IRB approval and when there were no eligible participants for my study on a given day, I would assist with the food pantry program, screen patients, and bring them food from the pantry.

I graduated in May 2023 and the research department was having trouble sourcing more food for the pantry during this past summer. However, the head of the research department and I have kept in touch and we should be able to start again in January 2024! So it's more a brief pause than me no longer being involved. However, as intertwined as these two experiences are, I wasn't sure if I could even list them as separate activities.

It should be separate because there doesn't seem to be a relationship with your research. But you need to characterize your actual role more accurate.

It sounds like you have 20 hours with the food pantry? You need to get to 150 minimum before applying. 300 for brand name programs. I'm not sure if you will have enough by the time you apply, and future hours don't count.

 

[Angler]

Your application looks sound except for the non-clinical volunteering, as noted by others above. You'll have to be able to spin your story of why a doctor.

Good luck!