3.9cGPA, 39 MCAT - help with school list?

[dirty630]

IL resident at a state school studying molecular biology

3.9+ cGPA, 3.9 sGPA, 13/11/15 MCAT

ECs:
1.5 years of research in a cellular biology lab (no publications)

250+ hours of EMT volunteering through campus EMT club (includes working as an EMT and helping to train EMTs) (multiple leadership positions in club)

100 hours raising money and packing meals for the local needy (leadership position in club)

50 hours volunteering at a food bank over one summer

50 hours volunteering with medically fragile children over one summer

Working in the college office over the last two semesters

No shadowing but last summer I spent weeks in the hospital helping take care of my mother after MS complications and this summer I will be taking care of her every day (she cannot feed herself, is bedridden, needs diaper changes, cannot clean herself).

Schools:
Dartmouth
Georgetown
Harvard
Loyola
Northwestern
Penn
Rush
SLU
UChicago
UIC
Louisville
Michigan
Pittsburgh
Vanderbilt
WashU

I feel like this list is too top heavy. 20 schools is my maximum.

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[gmcguitar4]

If you feel like your list is too top heavy, then maybe add some lower research-ranked schools?

With no shadowing, how do you know you want to be a doctor if you have never worked alongside one? Did you just decide one day you were going to be one no matter what? More importantly, how can you prove to adcoms you want to be a doctor.

 

[dirty630]

If you feel like your list is too top heavy, then maybe add some lower research-ranked schools?

With no shadowing, how do you know you want to be a doctor if you have never worked alongside one? Did you just decide one day you were going to be one no matter what? More importantly, how can you prove to adcoms you want to be a doctor.

In my PS, I talk about my mom's illness and how it made me want to be a doctor. Also, when I was with my mom in the hospital, I had lots of interactions with the doctors who treated her.

 

[DokterMom]

With no shadowing, how do you know you want to be a doctor if you have never worked alongside one? Did you just decide one day you were going to be one no matter what? More importantly, how can you prove to adcoms you want to be a doctor.

There's no quicker fix for an obvious hole in your application than shadowing a doctor or two for a few days. Seriously - a few phone calls and a few days, and that gap is remedied sufficiently.

Don't leave something this fixable in an otherwise top-caliber application.

 

[Goro]

Throw in some state schools (if your state has one), and some in the neighboring states as well. No need to pay the extra tuition, after all.

To follow up the lack of shadowing discussion, you need to show adComs that you know what a doctor's life is like, and you know what you're getting into.

IL resident at a state school studying molecular biology

3.9+ cGPA, 3.9 sGPA, 13/11/15 MCAT

ECs:
1.5 years of research in a cellular biology lab (no publications)

250+ hours of EMT volunteering through campus EMT club (includes working as an EMT and helping to train EMTs) (multiple leadership positions in club)

100 hours raising money and packing meals for the local needy (leadership position in club)

50 hours volunteering at a food bank over one summer

50 hours volunteering with medically fragile children over one summer

Working in the college office over the last two semesters

No shadowing but last summer I spent weeks in the hospital helping take care of my mother after MS complications and this summer I will be taking care of her every day (she cannot feed herself, is bedridden, needs diaper changes, cannot clean herself).

Schools:
Dartmouth
Georgetown
Harvard
Loyola
Northwestern
Penn
Rush
SLU
UChicago
UIC
Louisville
Michigan
Pittsburgh
Vanderbilt
WashU

I feel like this list is too top heavy. 20 schools is my maximum.

 

[dirty630]

Throw in some state schools (if your state has one), and some in the neighboring states as well. No need to pay the extra tuition, after all.

To follow up the lack of shadowing discussion, you need to show adComs that you know what a doctor's life is like, and you know what you're getting into.

The only other state school would be Southern Illinois which I don't plan on applying to because they prefer people with a rural background. I will consider adding Wisconsin and Indiana. And I will do some shadowing soon.

 

[October88]

I would add Wisconsin - it is a great school! However, I do not think your list is too top heavy! Your scores are amazing! If you are looking for another top school to add I would go for Yale - it their program and curriculum are amazing! I would bet you would be surprised if you did not get into your state school, so I would not apply to that many other schools you would be less likely to attend than that. And I would keep up your clinical volunteering and trying to shadow would be good. I did not have any shadowing on my application and only in actuality probably shadowed less than 10 hours. When I brought this up to interviewers that I did shadow and just didn't know it was something you should list on the application they all said that they had just assumed I had... Good luck! You would do great!

 

[YoungProdigy]

What about UF?

 

[gmcguitar4]

In my PS, I talk about my mom's illness and how it made me want to be a doctor. Also, when I was with my mom in the hospital, I had lots of interactions with the doctors who treated her.

Gotcha.

Still need the shadowing though. Just calls some doctors and shadow them for a few days. Some is better than nothing. Need to see what it is like when doctors interact with patients that are not you or your family and see all the back end stuff that goes on. Hospitals are the best place for sure.