WAMC: Too Cookie Cutter?

[sandy333]

Hello,
I recently had a gap year for personal reasons. I'm concerned about how this might effect me. There are also some things i'm concerned about in my application, particularly that i'm extremely cookie cutter. I also was rather sporadic in a lot of my commitments. I'm working as a scribe in my gap year, but i'll get to that later.

Stats:
GPA: 4.0
MCAT: 34
Undergrad: State School, no prestige

Work Experiences
Gap year (now) - 2,000 hours of clinical scribing in an ED (Chief Scribe, leadership?) (40hrs per week, started in july, so i'm around 480 right now)

Research - 1,500+ hours (over 3 years, undergrad) - Did a presentation, poster, thesis, PI letter, received a fellowship

Shadowing - 50 hours - Pediatrician, Cardiologist, ENT Surgeon
Tutoring Job - 1 summer, 60 hours

Clinic Volunteering - 1 semester, 32 hours
Hospice Volunteering - 80 hours, 1 summer
Tutoring Underserved Volunteer - 70 hours - 1.5 years
Volunteer coordinator for benefit concert - 1 semester (30 hours)
Etc. Volunteering (AED, 2 other local undergrad programs (picking up litter)) - 50 hours, freshman year

*I also did a lot of private tutoring and maybe 20 hours of volunteer tutoring I forgot to include on my app. I wish I had consolidates all tutoring experience under one work experience to make it clear how much I did total.*

School List

Wake Forest
Keck
Pitt
Tufts
Miami
Cincinnati
Saint Louis
George Washington- On Hold
Loyola
Drexel
Albany
Oakland Beaumont
Hofstra
Cooper
Western Michigan
Eastern Virginia
VCU
Jefferson
Creighton
U Ohio
Temple
U Colorado
Rosalind Franklin

+3 in state schools

Complete Date
September 1st and 11th for most applications (LoR submission dates)

Summary/Concerns

My biggest concern is that i'm boring. My personal statement is good (checked over by professor and adviser), but boring. Nothing about me stands out at all. I also kind of skirted around a bunch of different places with my volunteering and maintained little commitments. Some of my LoRs may be weak too. My PI's is very strong as I topped his organic class before I worked with him, but aside from "did well in class" i'm not sure my other science class letter writer can contribute anything. I guess it comes down to how liberal she decides to be in her writing.

I really don't want to have to deal with another gap year, so I played it as safe as possible. I'm not sure what else I could do. Being put on hold at Washington made me sweat a little and provoked this thread. I would appreciate any input.

Thank you,
X

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[scaredadvocate]

There has got to be something interesting about you, your past or your future in medicine. I'd say show this in your secondaries.

 

[sandy333]

There has got to be something interesting about you, your past or your future in medicine. I'd say show this in your secondaries.

Thank you, and I appreciate the advice. However, I've already submitted my secondaries. I focused on my experiences in underserved regions when I wrote them, particularly in college and my interest in family medicine. I'm sorry, but there is nothing diverse or interesting about me. My parents are both upper middle class white people. I went to a private school K-12. I also focused on enjoying outdoor activities such as camping and canoeing, but I would not call that unique or interesting, particularly in my state. My other hobbies are reading and i've built a few computers. I feel that, fundamentally, I am the person medical schools are trying to keep out nowadays because the entire past generation is a palette swap of me. I wrote my hardship essays to show that I have support structures in place and how I deal with problems, but every possible choice was completely trivial.

 

[Faha]

I expect that you will receive several interviews with your stats.

 

[GrapesofRath]

You're fine. I count at least 15 schools you are very competitive for and have a legitimate shot at getting a II at. That's usually enough.

 

[sandy333]

You're fine. I count at least 15 schools you are very competitive for and have a legitimate shot at getting a II at. That's usually enough.

Thank you for the reassurance! I'm just not very good at this sort of thing so I wanted other opinions.

 

[Goro]

Stats, ECS and list are all fine. Work on the self-esteem.

C'mon Sandy, what's cool about you?

Hello,
I recently had a gap year for personal reasons. I'm concerned about how this might effect me. There are also some things i'm concerned about in my application, particularly that i'm extremely cookie cutter. I also was rather sporadic in a lot of my commitments. I'm working as a scribe in my gap year, but i'll get to that later.

Stats:
GPA: 4.0
MCAT: 34
Undergrad: State School, no prestige

Work Experiences
Gap year (now) - 2,000 hours of clinical scribing in an ED (Chief Scribe, leadership?) (40hrs per week, started in july, so i'm around 480 right now)

Research - 1,500+ hours (over 3 years, undergrad) - Did a presentation, poster, thesis, PI letter, received a fellowship

Shadowing - 50 hours - Pediatrician, Cardiologist, ENT Surgeon
Tutoring Job - 1 summer, 60 hours

Clinic Volunteering - 1 semester, 32 hours
Hospice Volunteering - 80 hours, 1 summer
Tutoring Underserved Volunteer - 70 hours - 1.5 years
Volunteer coordinator for benefit concert - 1 semester (30 hours)
Etc. Volunteering (AED, 2 other local undergrad programs (picking up litter)) - 50 hours, freshman year

*I also did a lot of private tutoring and maybe 20 hours of volunteer tutoring I forgot to include on my app. I wish I had consolidates all tutoring experience under one work experience to make it clear how much I did total.*

School List

Wake Forest
Keck
Pitt
Tufts
Miami
Cincinnati
Saint Louis
George Washington- On Hold
Loyola
Drexel
Albany
Oakland Beaumont
Hofstra
Cooper
Western Michigan
Eastern Virginia
VCU
Jefferson
Creighton
U Ohio
Temple
U Colorado
Rosalind Franklin

+3 in state schools

Complete Date
September 1st and 11th for most applications (LoR submission dates)

Summary/Concerns

My biggest concern is that i'm boring. My personal statement is good (checked over by professor and adviser), but boring. Nothing about me stands out at all. I also kind of skirted around a bunch of different places with my volunteering and maintained little commitments. Some of my LoRs may be weak too. My PI's is very strong as I topped his organic class before I worked with him, but aside from "did well in class" i'm not sure my other science class letter writer can contribute anything. I guess it comes down to how liberal she decides to be in her writing.

I really don't want to have to deal with another gap year, so I played it as safe as possible. I'm not sure what else I could do. Being put on hold at Washington made me sweat a little and provoked this thread. I would appreciate any input.

Thank you,
X

 

[sandy333]

Stats, ECS and list are all fine. Work on the self-esteem.

C'mon Sandy, what's cool about you?

I do like to sky dive! I think thats pretty cool. I was wondering if I could ask your opinion on something. Do you think overshooting schools is a serious concern? I've been reading a lot on here and some people seem to seriously think that schools don't necessarily send interview invitations to people with stats above their median. I really thought I professed my interest in the schools on their secondaries, but everyone tries to do that so i'm not sure about its effectiveness. My MCAT runs out after this year and honestly I can't afford to have to take a new one which is part of my fear. My financial situation is tight to say the least.

 

[GrapesofRath]

The median MCAT of many of these lower tier schools is around a 32. Sometimes a 31. Also a 33 as well. A 34 is not really high enough to be worrying about getting "screened" out. Now there are some low yield schools on here no doubt, but your list is thorough enough on top of your state programs that you'll be fine.

 

[Goro]

It depends upon the schools. It also depends upon how far above you are from the median. If you're 50-90th %ile, that's fine!

The lower tiers do engage in research protection because the yield of landing Yale-caliber candidates is not that good. Your state school is always a good safety. I also believe that if your stats are in the Harvard/Stanford range, then the neighboring state schools are worth doing as well. This doesn't work all the time, for example, if you live in AZ, don't bother with U NM.

I do like to sky dive! I think thats pretty cool. I was wondering if I could ask your opinion on something. Do you think overshooting schools is a serious concern? I've been reading a lot on here and some people seem to seriously think that schools don't necessarily send interview invitations to people with stats above their median. I really thought I professed my interest in the schools on their secondaries, but everyone tries to do that so i'm not sure about its effectiveness. My MCAT runs out after this year and honestly I can't afford to have to take a new one which is part of my fear. My financial situation is tight to say the least.