CarryingBoats
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- Joined
- Jan 21, 2024
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Stats
Clinical
Shadowing
Hobby
My hours seem high because I was fortunate enough to knock out all of my GEs in high school and could focus on exclusively the prereq/major classes. I was able to take 12-13 credits a semester my entire undergrad and could really do things outside the classroom. To pay for college, I also needed to work during the semester and a ton during the summer. I also started most of these commitments started around the middle of my freshman year. I am loyal I guess.
I decided I do not want to take a gap year because I really am just so excited to get started with med school. I have loved undergrad so far and have been beyond lucky to have such rich experiences that will give me a ton to talk about.
As for schools, I know school name is unfortunately becoming a stronger element in residency applications which is why I am applying to some of these places in the first place. I do recognize, however, that I would be extremely lucky to get in. I really just want to go to a school that is a true P/F curriculum, basic science opportunities, and ability to get clinically involved somewhat early (my clinical job was literally the best part of my week without fail and I think I would get sad with no true patient exposure for two years). I also would like to stay in an urban environment if possible.
Very rough School List (planning on applying to between 22 and 26 ish schools)
Reaches (8-9)
Thank you for taking the time to go through all of this!
- cGPA: 3.91
- sGPA: 3.88
- MCAT: 518 (**expected based on how prep is going and practice scores. Taking official in April)
- Junior (Do not plan on taking a gap year)
- Major: Neuroscience
- White Male/ORM; First-gen college student
- State of Residence: Ohio
- Basic/translational Neurodevelopmental lab: 1800 hours
- 1 Publication; 2nd author, paper in top journal of field
- Currently leading independent project, will lead to first author publication by time I graduate undergraduate
- National Fellowship for 2 summers of funding to work in lab (1 of 5 selected in national pool of applicants), will allow me to travel to national conference fully paid for. In total ~$13,000 in funding for project
- Wrote grants under guidance of PI to get research funded through the university; received grant twice, totally $8,000
- 3 poster presentations (one of which is national), one award
Clinical
- Certified nursing tech since Dec 2020; have worked in a healthcare setting since the day I turned 18
- Nursing assistant at Alzheimer’s care facility senior year of high school (800 hours)
- I know high school hours are not recommended, but this is what I consider the first phase of my path towards healthcare. I learned so much about patience, compassion, death, and life that it truly laid the foundation of who I want to be as a care provider. It is an essential aspect of my story.
- PCA on pediatric burn, trauma, general surgery unit (2100 hours)
- I have had incredible experiences with this and will have endless topics to discuss during interviews
- Very into PCA education. Led workshops on various skills, created a video for a procedure known to be difficult, etc
- Won an award for clinical excellence at my PCA job; hospital paid for to go to a national conference because of this
- 5K Race Director for a free clinic - Planned the first large scale fundraiser from scratch for the university associated free clinic (350 hours), had to present at board meeting, apply for university grants, work with city officials, recruit and lead a team. Raised over $10,000 in the first year of the event.
- Free Clinic Outreach Team - planned outreach events and pop-up clinics under guidance of a medical student (125 hours)
- **NO clinical volunteering; I focused on the above service project because I was really invested, plus I already have thousands of paid clinical hours. Not sure if this will hurt me or not. Hope not lol
- Committee leader for university org that planned professional development events for a 150-student cohort (200 hours)
- First-Generation Student Mentoring through the university (75 hours)
- The aforementioned 5K Race Director role
- Considered a "leader" on the unit I work on
Shadowing
- 70 hours - variety of fields (surgery, primary care, internal medicine sub-specialties, PICU, ER)
- PI said he will write an excellent one, he has lots of connections which is nice (STRONG)
- Co/Director of a Trauma surgery program at Children's Hospital (SOLID)
- Nursing Manager on my inpatient unit (STRONG)
- Physician who I worked closely with during fundraiser planning process (STRONG)
- OChem professor I got an A from (this will probably be a very generic letter)
Hobby
- Fitness - During high school, I was very overweight and went through a very large weight-loss journey (lost 90 lbs). This is actually one of the (small) seeds that got me interested in the human body. I now am very into lifting weight and general fitness and longevity. Currently training for my first half-marathon!
My hours seem high because I was fortunate enough to knock out all of my GEs in high school and could focus on exclusively the prereq/major classes. I was able to take 12-13 credits a semester my entire undergrad and could really do things outside the classroom. To pay for college, I also needed to work during the semester and a ton during the summer. I also started most of these commitments started around the middle of my freshman year. I am loyal I guess.
I decided I do not want to take a gap year because I really am just so excited to get started with med school. I have loved undergrad so far and have been beyond lucky to have such rich experiences that will give me a ton to talk about.
As for schools, I know school name is unfortunately becoming a stronger element in residency applications which is why I am applying to some of these places in the first place. I do recognize, however, that I would be extremely lucky to get in. I really just want to go to a school that is a true P/F curriculum, basic science opportunities, and ability to get clinically involved somewhat early (my clinical job was literally the best part of my week without fail and I think I would get sad with no true patient exposure for two years). I also would like to stay in an urban environment if possible.
Very rough School List (planning on applying to between 22 and 26 ish schools)
Reaches (8-9)
- Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine (Dream school/top choice)
- Not super hopeful because of only 32 spots a year but I think I may be a "good fit" based on my experiences and interests)
- If someone has insight about the type of people that actually get in, it would amazing if you could state if I would be someone they are looking for based off the vibes
- Duke
- Northwestern
- U Chicago
- NYU
- since I heard almost everyone has a perfect 4.0 and a 523+ MCAT, I may remove this school but the chance of free tuition and a three-year program sounds very enticing
- UMich
- Stanford
- John’s Hopkins (trauma and general surgery background + desire to continue basic science makes me a “good fit” even though my GPA is on the lower side for them with their 25th percentiles being a 3.92 according to the MSAR)
- Mayo Clinic
- Ohio State
- Cincinnati
- Case Western
- UNC
- May remove do to bias towards in-state students; motivation for applying is my past extensive history working with burn patients and they are known to have one of the best inpatient units in the world
- Pitt
- Emory
- Penn State
- Jefferson
- Mt Sinai
- Eisenstein
- with the free tuition announcement, this is likely not a "target" anymore
- UV
- UCSF
- UCSD
- Colorado
- Boston
- NEOMED
- Toledo
- Wright State
- Drexel
- Wayne State
Thank you for taking the time to go through all of this!
