3.85 518 WAMC

[sealfriendo]

Hello all! I am preparing my application for the upcoming cycle and was wondering if you could give this a read for me. Thank you!

• Year in school: 4th
• Country/state of residence: CA
• Not URM
• Schools to which you are applying
  • UCSF
  • UCLA
  • UCSD
  • UCI
  • UC Davis
  • UCR
  • Stanford
  • USC-KECK
  • Harvard
  • Columbia
  • NYU
  • Cornell
  • Duke
  • Michigan
  • Pitt
  • Baylor
  • Emory
  • UVA
  • Boston U
  • Dartmouth
  • Einstein
  • Miami
  • Tufts
  • Colorado
  • USF Morsani
  • I could really use help with my school list, I don't really have any idea what I'm doing.
• Cumulative GPA: 3.85
• Science GPA: 3.81
• MCAT Scores: 518 (127 CARS)
• Research – include any abstracts/posters/publications and how you were credited (eg. First author, senior author, etc)
  • 2 Years in a Lung Cancer Lab, 1 poster at an undergrad presentation
  • 2 Years in a public health lab on undocumented patient experience, male contraceptive, methadone clinic and health attitudes. Expected publications in these labs.
  • 1 Years of research/program development of novel homeless health program
• Volunteering (clinical) – include hours/sites
  • 3 years of homeless clinic volunteering (500 hours+)
  • 2 years of developing novel homeless health program that connects homeless patients to primary care (heavy leadership role, on since founding). Also homeless patient advocate (100+ clinical hours)
  • Medical mission trip to my country of ethnicity (I know how these are regarded, but important to me for cultural reasons, leadership role)
  • TA for a biology laboratory class at my school
• Physician shadowing – include hours/specialties
  • Plastic surgery 40 hours
  • PNMR 20 hours
  • Cardiology 30 hours
• Non-clinical volunteering
  • Homeless food serving (3 years)
  • 2 years of camp counselor to undeserved populations
  • Music teacher to middle preschooler (1 semester)
• Extracurricular activities
  • Soccer, Tennis IM Player (14 years including childhood)
  • Piano (15 years)
  • Haven't missed the NYT crossword in ages (1 year)
• Employment history
  • Dishwasher in HS
  • County Intern for my home county (sizable county) focusing on health policy and health care delivery
  • 1 year county fellowship during my gap year with my county public health/insurance agency
• Immediate family members in medicine? Y, family and extended family in medicine

Do I need more clinical experience and/or basic wet lab experience? Thank you very much for reading this.

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[Python Forever]

Despite your good stats, your current list seems be quite top heavy, which would make your cycle even that much more of a crapshoot. I’d definitely add some schools with lower average GPAs/MCAT (or swap out schools if you’re set on a certain # of schools). Buy the MSAR!

Also, from what I’m aware of, if you’re not from IE it might be a waste of money to apply to UCR. They seem to be very focused on growing local individuals who have been around helping the community for a long time.

Other than that, if you apply broadly and early, I think you should see some love unless you have red flags (bad essays, letters, etc.). Good luck!

 

[sealfriendo]

Thanks m8, I haven't given a lot of thought, but I know it is quite top heavy! Def going to change that up.

 

[labscience]

I'm not an adcom or anything, but I have identical stats and pretty similar ECs hour-wise (also mentioned crossword puzzles in my app and have been asked about it at interviews haha). I would say you're good on wet lab involvement, but it's always nice to keep involved with clinical stuff. List-wise, I had a pretty similar one and have been pleasantly surprised with 6 interviews total, 2 at T10s, and 2 acceptances so far. One thing I regretted was applying to state schools that (I learned later) aren't very OOS friendly. Something to keep in mind re: Baylor, Colorado, etc.

Overall, I'm glad I aimed high, but my acceptances so far have been in the USC/Dartmouth/Einstein class of schools, so apply to all of those!

 

[chlorocruorin]

Temple, GW, IU, UNC, Jefferson,

 

[Goro]

Hello all! I am preparing my application for the upcoming cycle and was wondering if you could give this a read for me. Thank you!

• Year in school: 4th
• Country/state of residence: CA
• Not URM
• Schools to which you are applying
  • UCSF
  • UCLA
  • UCSD
  • UCI
  • UC Davis
  • UCR
  • Stanford
  • USC-KECK
  • Harvard
  • Columbia
  • NYU
  • Cornell
  • Duke
  • Michigan
  • Pitt
  • Baylor
  • Emory
  • UVA
  • Boston U
  • Dartmouth
  • Einstein
  • Miami
  • Tufts
  • Colorado
  • USF Morsani
  • I could really use help with my school list, I don't really have any idea what I'm doing.
• Cumulative GPA: 3.85
• Science GPA: 3.81
• MCAT Scores: 518 (127 CARS)
• Research – include any abstracts/posters/publications and how you were credited (eg. First author, senior author, etc)
  • 2 Years in a Lung Cancer Lab, 1 poster at an undergrad presentation
  • 2 Years in a public health lab on undocumented patient experience, male contraceptive, methadone clinic and health attitudes. Expected publications in these labs.
  • 1 Years of research/program development of novel homeless health program
• Volunteering (clinical) – include hours/sites
  • 3 years of homeless clinic volunteering (500 hours+)
  • 2 years of developing novel homeless health program that connects homeless patients to primary care (heavy leadership role, on since founding). Also homeless patient advocate (100+ clinical hours)
  • Medical mission trip to my country of ethnicity (I know how these are regarded, but important to me for cultural reasons, leadership role)
  • TA for a biology laboratory class at my school
• Physician shadowing – include hours/specialties
  • Plastic surgery 40 hours
  • PNMR 20 hours
  • Cardiology 30 hours
• Non-clinical volunteering
  • Homeless food serving (3 years)
  • 2 years of camp counselor to undeserved populations
  • Music teacher to middle preschooler (1 semester)
• Extracurricular activities
  • Soccer, Tennis IM Player (14 years including childhood)
  • Piano (15 years)
  • Haven't missed the NYT crossword in ages (1 year)
• Employment history
  • Dishwasher in HS
  • County Intern for my home county (sizable county) focusing on health policy and health care delivery
  • 1 year county fellowship during my gap year with my county public health/insurance agency
• Immediate family members in medicine? Y, family and extended family in medicine

Do I need more clinical experience and/or basic wet lab experience? Thank you very much for reading this.

You're golden; aim high.

I suggest:
NYU
Vanderbilt
WashU
Yale
JHU
Northwestern
U Chicago
U Penn
Columbia
Duke
Harvard
Sinai
Cornell
Stanford
U MI
U VA
BU
Case
Mayo
Pitt
ALL UC, but UCR only IF you’re from the Inland Empire
Hofstra
Ohio State
U Cincy
USC/Keck
USF Morsani
Albert Einstein
Dartmouth
Emory
Rochester
Jefferson
Miami
U IA
U VM
Western MI
CalU

 

[sealfriendo]

You're golden; aim high.

I suggest:
NYU
Vanderbilt
WashU
Yale
JHU
Northwestern
U Chicago
U Penn
Columbia
Duke
Harvard
Sinai
Cornell
Stanford
U MI
U VA
BU
Case
Mayo
Pitt
ALL UC, but UCR only IF you’re from the Inland Empire
Hofstra
Ohio State
U Cincy
USC/Keck
USF Morsani
Albert Einstein
Dartmouth
Emory
Rochester
Jefferson
Miami
U IA
U VM
Western MI
CalU

You're golden; aim high.

I suggest:
NYU
Vanderbilt
WashU
Yale
JHU
Northwestern
U Chicago
U Penn
Columbia
Duke
Harvard
Sinai
Cornell
Stanford
U MI
U VA
BU
Case
Mayo
Pitt
ALL UC, but UCR only IF you’re from the Inland Empire
Hofstra
Ohio State
U Cincy
USC/Keck
USF Morsani
Albert Einstein
Dartmouth
Emory
Rochester
Jefferson
Miami
U IA
U VM
Western MI
CalU

Thank you @Goro! I appreciate your input. Can I ask you how many schools you reckon I should be applying to? And I have no ties to the Inland Empire whatsoever, so no use applying to UCR?

 

[Goro]

Thank you @Goro! I appreciate your input. Can I ask you how many schools you reckon I should be applying to? And I have no ties to the Inland Empire whatsoever, so no use applying to UCR?

Yup, not worth for UCR.

I recommend 20-30 schools, including several Einstein and Keck class schools

 

[sealfriendo]

Yup, not worth for UCR.

I recommend 20-30 schools, including several Einstein and Keck class schools

Sorry to bother you again @Goro, but I really appreciate your advice. If I were to apply to 30 schools, how many of those do you reckon should be in that top tier and how many of the Keck/Dartmouth tier? Lower tiers? Thank you again for all your advice.

 

[Goro]

Sorry to bother you again @Goro, but I really appreciate your advice. If I were to apply to 30 schools, how many of those do you reckon should be in that top tier and how many of the Keck/Dartmouth tier? Lower tiers? Thank you again for all your advice.

15, 10, 5 respectively

 

[sealfriendo]

Hello All! I am having trouble crafting my school list at the fear that it is far too top heavy. Furthermore, I feel like I have too many schools on my list right now; I am thinking about axing some of the tier 1/2 schools. Here is my thought process:

Stanford: Really research heavy, (after all, has that notorious list your publications secondary). While I enjoy research, by far the most robust part of my app is my clinical volunteering and leadership.

WashU: Stats too low for a stat-heavy school? Research on the light side?

Johns Hopkins: Similar thought process for WashU.

Michigan/SUNY Downstate/Stony Brook: OOS. Resources best spent elsewhere?

UC Riverside: Ain't from the IE! Wasted money? Have heard conflicting reports from peers.

Worried that my MCAT score nowadays is lower than the median at all these schools and thus I am being to ambitious. I am very grateful for all the advice people are willing to give. @Goro @LizzyM @gyngyn

Thank you very much.

 

[Python Forever]

If you're not from the IE, almost no point applying to UCR.

 

[TempuraOreos]

Hello All! I am having trouble crafting my school list at the fear that it is far too top heavy. Furthermore, I feel like I have too many schools on my list right now; I am thinking about axing some of the tier 1/2 schools. Here is my thought process:

Stanford: Really research heavy, (after all, has that notorious list your publications secondary). While I enjoy research, by far the most robust part of my app is my clinical volunteering and leadership.

WashU: Stats too low for a stat-heavy school? Research on the light side?

Johns Hopkins: Similar thought process for WashU.

Michigan/SUNY Downstate/Stony Brook: OOS. Resources best spent elsewhere?

UC Riverside: Ain't from the IE! Wasted money? Have heard conflicting reports from peers.

Worried that my MCAT score nowadays is lower than the median at all these schools and thus I am being to ambitious. I am very grateful for all the advice people are willing to give. @Goro @LizzyM @gyngyn

Thank you very much.

Not adcom and I am low SES/URM so YMMV, but only one I'd consider dropping is UCR for the reason everyone has stated above. I have similar stats to you, applied to some of the schools you're considering dropping (i.e. Standard, Hopkins, Michigan, WashU), managed to get IIs from 3 of them and acceptances from 2 of them. As long as your within their percentile ranges for GPA and MCAT score, you have a shot. Those things help you get through any sort of cutoff points. The rest of your app is what gets you noticed and yours looks pretty good. Looks like you've used the wedgedawg tier system which I found really helped along with the advice from Goro, LizzyM, and others.

 

[Goro]

Hello All! I am having trouble crafting my school list at the fear that it is far too top heavy. Furthermore, I feel like I have too many schools on my list right now; I am thinking about axing some of the tier 1/2 schools. Here is my thought process:

Stanford: Really research heavy, (after all, has that notorious list your publications secondary). While I enjoy research, by far the most robust part of my app is my clinical volunteering and leadership.

WashU: Stats too low for a stat-heavy school? Research on the light side?

Johns Hopkins: Similar thought process for WashU.

Michigan/SUNY Downstate/Stony Brook: OOS. Resources best spent elsewhere?

UC Riverside: Ain't from the IE! Wasted money? Have heard conflicting reports from peers.

Worried that my MCAT score nowadays is lower than the median at all these schools and thus I am being to ambitious. I am very grateful for all the advice people are willing to give. @Goro @LizzyM @gyngyn

Thank you very much.

Somebody has to be below median....why not you.

Agree with dumping Stanford and the SUNYs EDIT: And UCR

 

[sealfriendo]

Not adcom and I am low SES/URM so YMMV, but only one I'd consider dropping is UCR for the reason everyone has stated above. I have similar stats to you, applied to some of the schools you're considering dropping (i.e. Standard, Hopkins, Michigan, WashU), managed to get IIs from 3 of them and acceptances from 2 of them. As long as your within their percentile ranges for GPA and MCAT score, you have a shot. Those things help you get through any sort of cutoff points. The rest of your app is what gets you noticed and yours looks pretty good. Looks like you've used the wedgedawg tier system which I found really helped along with the advice from Goro, LizzyM, and others.

Cheers M8. Congrats on your superb cycle my friend!!

 

[sealfriendo]

Somebody has to be below median....why not you.

Agree with dumping Stanford and the SUNYs EDIT: And UCR

Thank you for all your help as us terrified bunnies stumble our way through our cycle @Goro

 

[TempuraOreos]

Cheers M8. Congrats on your superb cycle my friend!!

Hope we've helped you out at all. Good luck to you too.

 

[FutureDPM123]

You are definitely going to get into one of those schools assuming you're interview goes fine. But add a few safety schools with lower standards such as Wake Forest or George Washington level schools.

 

[sealfriendo]

Hey my dudes, just bumping this. My paranoia is fueled by the release of the new MSAR which puts my MCAT firmly below median for a lot of schools. A lot of my schools on my school list are on here. For instance:

522 - NYU, Yale, WashU
521 - Chicago, Hopkins, Penn, Vandy
520 - Columbia, Harvard, Northwestern, Stanford, Mayo
519 - Sinai, UVA, Cornell
518 - Case, Michigan, Boston, UCSF, UCLA, Duke

Wow. Just looking at that freaks me out lol. My dear friends please throw in your two cents!

 

[TempuraOreos]

Hey my dudes, just bumping this. My paranoia is fueled by the release of the new MSAR which puts my MCAT firmly below median for a lot of schools. A lot of my schools on my school list are on here. For instance:

522 - NYU, Yale, WashU
521 - Chicago, Hopkins, Penn, Vandy
520 - Columbia, Harvard, Northwestern, Stanford, Mayo
519 - Sinai, UVA, Cornell
518 - Case, Michigan, Boston, UCSF, UCLA, Duke

Wow. Just looking at that freaks me out lol. My dear friends please throw in your two cents!

I panicked last year for a little. You have to look at the percentiles too. If your GPA/MCAT falls within at least the 10th percentile, you might have a shot. Just got to convince ADCOMs who look over your app "Why choose you?" I mean you got 90+% score! That's nothing to sneeze at. And, your ECs are solid!

 

[Walter Raleigh]

Your ECs are fairly strong and it's worth a shot. Get some primary care shadowing in before you submit. Multiple adcoms are telling you that you are competitive. Good luck!

 

[sealfriendo]

Your ECs are fairly strong and it's worth a shot. Get some primary care shadowing in before you submit. Multiple adcoms are telling you that you are competitive. Good luck!

Thanks M8. If I'm not mistaken you are either in the application cycle or about to apply. If that's the care I wish you the best of luck. This is just some scaaaarrryy shtuff huh lol.