Hi everyone! I got my MCAT score yesterday and it was a bit lower than my last few practice exams (I definitely got unlucky with physics). I’m trying to figure out where to apply now.
Allopathic Schools:
Unfortunately I was unable to get a DO letter because my shadowing was cancelled due to COVID-19. I do have an MD letter. I love the philosophy and I learned a lot about the profession through my EMT partner who was a fourth year DO student.
My husband is applying to grad school this year. Luckily his application is a lot better than mine, but I do need to try and stay in suburban areas that are hopefully somewhat near a research university.
Any advice or other schools to consider would be very much appreciated.
- sGPA: 3.50 cGPA: 3.58
- Bad grades are from computer science classes (three C’s) and physics (C and B-)
- MCAT: 506 (125/127/127/127)
- Normally get a 510-513 on practice tests (126-127/128-130/128/128)
- Major: Global Health
- Arizona Resident
- ORM White Female
- Currently in Gap Year
- Clinical Volunteering:
- Hospital Volunteering ~120 hours
- Volunteer with Ski Patrol ~36 hours
- Research:
- DNA origami lab ~180 hours just in undergrad (started in high school)
- Capstone Research Project on Age and Ability/Obesogenicity ~100 hours
- Research on Minority Health Disparities: The Maori and Pacific Islanders ~150 hours
- Undergraduate honors thesis on the rape kit backlog. This was a group project with two other students. Worked with our forensics department developing a pipeline for universities to work alongside public crime labs to process rape kits. Created an efficacy study with IRB approval to show increased accuracy of test results over standard processing methods. Surveyed university students about their knowledge on how to respond to sexual assault scenarios and their previous exposure to assault trainings. ~370 hours
- Postbac fellow at the National Institutes of Health doing cancer research using atomic force microscopy. This is a biophysics lab. Presented two posters and presented once. ~1040 hours projected 2240 hours
- Shadowing
- Hematologist/Oncologist: 20 hours
- Hematologist: 10 hours
- Critical Care: 9 hours
- Paid-Employment Clinical
- EMT ~470 hours
- Non-clinical volunteering
- Started a competition to help register new organ donors in Arizona back in high school and helped continue it into the beginning of my undergraduate before passing it off to new leadership. Continued volunteering with Donate Life. ~150 hours
- Started a non-profit organization with my friends to help address how my university handles sexual assault cases (with the goal of local and eventual national expansion to the other universities). I ran out of room on my app so this is listed under my undergraduate honors thesis since it is a continuation and worked into the story. We are working with university police to develop an app to help guide victims after an assault, helping our university start up the first ever university forensics lab to process rape kits, currently reviewing and modifying the mandated student and faculty training, and attempting to expand sexual assault nurse training on our campus. My hours are listed with the research project.
- Helped organize and act as a volunteer victim for the Swift Water Rodeo. This is a training event for firefighters across the state to practice their rescue skills in simulated swift water incidents. ~96 hours
- Work Experiences
- Teaching Assistant for Anatomy and Physiology I & II ~900 hours
- Team leader of render farm management for a student animation company. I also worked on character modelling. We were trying to create a short animated series to increase LGBTQI+ representation but the company folded before it was finished. ~120 hours
- Other extracurricular activities (including athletics, military service, gap year activities, leadership, teaching, etc)
- I am really into outdoor recreation and highlight this in my application. I go snowboarding, white water rafting, rock climbing, and repelling.
- Immediate family members in medicine? (y/n): Healthcare yes. My dad is an EMT and does technical rescue but no doctors
- Specialty of interest: Man I don’t know. I was originally very set on emergency medicine but I hate the short patient interactions.
- Graduate degrees: none
- Interest in rural health (y/n): I am, but my husband is not! So basically no.
- I am very interested in pursuing an MPH
- My application is verified and ready to go, so I’ll be able to apply early in the cycle.
Allopathic Schools:
- U of A Tucson
- U of A Phoenix - I’m not sure if I have a shot anymore
- George Washington
- I know a lot of people apply here but it’s probably my number one choice. I really love their MPH program. Plus I work on the political side of things for the charity so it would be nice to stay close to congress. I also have a huge interest in healthcare legislation. It would also allow me to go back to the NIH to conduct small experiments for my project every so often during paper revisions.
- Georgetown
- Quinniapic
- Tufts
- University of Colorado
- Virginia Tech
- Thomas Jefferson
- Drexel
Unfortunately I was unable to get a DO letter because my shadowing was cancelled due to COVID-19. I do have an MD letter. I love the philosophy and I learned a lot about the profession through my EMT partner who was a fourth year DO student.
- ATSU - SOMA
- AZCOM
- WesternU/COMP
- TUCOM CA
- CHSU-COM
- RVUCOM
- BCOM
My husband is applying to grad school this year. Luckily his application is a lot better than mine, but I do need to try and stay in suburban areas that are hopefully somewhat near a research university.
Any advice or other schools to consider would be very much appreciated.
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