MD WAMC/School list/app feedback (3.91cgpa, 3.89sgpa, 516MCAT, reapplicant)

[Zendroe]

Fair warning: I'm trying to be incredibly thorough with this because this is going to be my third application cycle. There were definitely issues in my previous cycles, no shadowing the first time, did not apply early either time, etc. So please, if there are any red flags, things that need to be addressed, feel free to rip me to shreds. Thanks!

1. cGPA and sGPA as calculated by AMCAS or AACOMAS
   1. cGPA 3.91, sGPA 3.89
2. MCAT score(s) and breakdown
   1. July 2019: 503 (128/123/125/127)
   2. August 2020: 516(131/127/131/127)
3. State of residence or country of citizenship (if non-US)
   1. CT
4. Ethnicity and/or race
   1. ORM
5. Undergraduate institution or category
   1. Mid-tier private liberal arts
6. Clinical experience (volunteer and non-volunteer)
   1. Volunteer EMT/COVID vaccinator (~300 hours over several years) (I am re-certifying and have an EMT job lined up starting September so ~1500 hours projected before ideal matriculation)
   2. Clinical research unit (3500 hours)
7. Research experience and productivity
   1. Biochemistry research in undergrad (~150 hours) No pubs, gave 3 colloquium presentations
   2. Marine biology research during a 3-week travel course in undergrad (~50 hours), no pubs
   3. Clinical research unit (3500 hours) (Can I double dip this? It certainly seems to fit both clinical and research), no pubs
      1. I suppose it's of note that the CRU is owned by a pharmaceutical company so the focus isn't on publishing but on putting out new treatments, don't know if the no pubs is a red flag
8. Shadowing experience and specialties represented
   1. ~50 hours, (30ish gastroenterologist, 8 family medicine, 8 emergency medicine, 14 physician-researchers at CRU)
9. Non-clinical volunteering
   1. Volunteer EMT/COVID vaccinator (~300 hours over several years), double-dipping this as well
   2. American Rescue Workers/Salvation Army (~40 hours over first 3 years of undergrad)
   3. Planned a charity 5k senior year to benefit ARW, probably ~100 hours working with the school, ARW, and community to set it up but it was canceled 3 weeks out b/c of COVID. I had this as a separate activity in my app last year but didn't include it this year b/c I felt that since there was no actual impact the hours are kind of meaningless.
   4. Habitat for Humanity (110 hours and counting, started early 2022 and ongoing so it'll be 200+ by matriculation)
   5. Worked with jiu-jitsu academy to throw a public boxing fundraiser to support local businesses during pandemic, raised a few thousand
   6. Assistant teach kids jiu-jitsu classes (~100 hours)
10. Other extracurricular activities (including athletics, military service, gap year activities, leadership, teaching, etc)
    1. NCAA Lacrosse player all 4 years of undergrad (~2000 hours)
    2. Resident Assistant sophomore-senior year (1300 hours)
    3. Chem tutor 2 years (50 hours)
    4. Chem Lab TA 2 years (400 hours)
    5. Student senate 4 years, President of Class of 2020 Junior year (150 hours)
    6. Scholarship chair then president of Inter-fraternity council senior year (75 hours)
    7. Entrepreneurship (~500 cumulatively)
       1. Started with a healthy living initiative in college which was what we organized the charity 5k through
       2. Established a "COVID distance learning center" when public schools near me returned in the fall of 2020. They were part-time so parents had no accommodations for kids on "virtual" days. Worked with my jiu-jitsu academy essentially transformed it into a classroom setting and hired tutors, got great feedback from the community.
       3. Started a landscaping business in Spring 2021, managing ~15 job sites and 5 employees (Did not include this in my app, felt it would work against me)
    8. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (~500 hours) - started seriously training after graduating so ~2 years now
11. Relevant honors or awards
    1. NCAA postgraduate scholarship; goes to 128 athletes across all sports and divisions annually (I got to see the rec. letters for this, one was Coach who is also one of my letter writers for my committee letter, paraphrasing "we wouldn't have made it to the championship without his leadership," so hopefully his letter is strong.
    2. 7 Honor societies, national and local for leadership, academics, athletics
    3. Deans list every semester
    4. American Chemical Society outstanding chemistry major (endowed prize)
12. Anything else not listed you think might be important
    1. Took some online courses to learn some computer science over past two years, have been able to apply this knowledge in clinical research position in various capacities. This idea came from talking with friends who are software developers, their approach to problem solving was very different and I wanted to add another way to approach problems to my arsenal.
    2. My first cycle I just don't think my application was very good, bad W+A essays, my PS did not clearly identify why I wanted to be a doctor, no shadowing. Second application cycle I felt better, looking back still TONS of room for improvment on essays and I still didn't apply early. Barely prewrote any secondaries so most were probably garbage, all secondaries were submitted by first week in September last year.
       1. Applied to ~17 schools first cycle, only had interview at UConn (my state), Second cycle applied to 25 schools, somewhat top-heavy list, had interviews at Penn State and UVM, currently waitlisted at both. Was waitlisted for an interview at WVU (if that counts for anything)
       2. I've already pre-written ~25 schools worth of essays so I'm trying to finish all of them by the end of this week and then aggressively edit until I receive them all

School List: (Classifications based off stats from one of the stat comparison websites, this was at the suggestion of a friend who got in last year)
Reach:
1. Vanderbuilt
2. Yale
3. Columbia
4. UVA
Target:
5. BU
6. Stanford
7. Ohio State
8. U of Rochester
9. Dartmouth
10. U of Pitt
11. U of Cinncinati
12. Brown
13. UMass
14. Albert Einstein
15. UCLA Geffen
16. U of Michigan
Undershoot
17. Thomas Jeffreson
18. U of Maryland
19. Indiana University
20. Emory
21. U Miami
Far Undershoot
22. UConn
23. Penn State
24. Drexel
25. Temple
26. Georgetown
27. Quinnipiac
28. UVM
29. Wake Forest
30. Albany medical college
31. Tulane
32. NYMC
33. Virginia Tech
34. WVU

I'm looking to add a few more schools I was thinking maybe: U of Colorado, Tufts, Creighton, U of Iowa, and Michigan State.

Thank you to anyone who read all the way through this I really appreciate it. I would really like to make this my last application cycle; I'm really excited to pursue medicine and just want to get there. I'm incredibly grateful for any and all feedback.

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[Faha]

What is the breakdown in the 300 hours between the EMT hours and the COVID vaccinator hours ?

 

[Zendroe]

Vast majority EMT, like 260/40

 

[Faha]

Your list is too top heavy and even some of your target schools are reaches. Also some of your schools have instate or a regional bias. I suggest these schools with your stats and ECs:
UConn
Quinnipiac
Vermont
Tufts
Boston University
Einstein
Hofstra
Rochester
Albany
New York Medical College
Hackensack
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Penn State
Pittsburgh
Ohio State
Cincinnati
George Washington
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
Wake Forest
NOVA MD
USF Morsani
Miami
Tulane
TCU-UNT
Medical College Wisconsin
Western Michigan
Oakland Beaumont
Where were your interviews in your previous cycles ?

 

[Zendroe]

Thank you! yeah the target category was strictly based off the stat comparison website I used so I recognize that schools like Stanford, Brown, Dartmouth, are not really "targets." First cycle I interviewed at UConn, was rejected post-interview. The second cycle I had interviews at UVM and Penn State, am currently on waitlists for both