4.0/519/GA/URM. WAMC/School List Advice

[jjthrowaway225]

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Hi SDN,
I made a post a couple of years back with some projected stats and received some excellent feedback as far as what I needed to aim for. The time has come, and my stats/ECs are finalized. My MCAT score was a little lower than I predicted it would be initially, but I've managed to get what seems to me are better EC's than I previously estimated. Would greatly appreciate some input on my school list!


Here's what I'm working with:

GPA: 4.0
sGPA: 4.0
MCAT: 519 (129/127/131/132)
State: GA
Ethnicity: AA/Black
Undergrad: Private
Clinical Experience : ~500 hours total over 4 years (ER volunteering, sterilizing surgical instruments, transport)
Research: 3 years of Robotic Surgery research, >1000 hours (1 poster at national conference, paper submitted for publication); 2 years computational biology research,>750 hours; 1 Literature Review presented at undergrad conference
Shadowing: Neurosurgery, General Surgery, EM (120 hours across those 3)
Non-Clinical Volunteering: Co-founder and e-board for an organization dealing with homelessness/food insecurity, volunteer at and organize events frequently (~400 hours); Co-founded a high school mentorship organization (~500 hours); some scattered volunteering at food banks (~20 hours)
Other: Tutored/TA'ed various chemistry courses as part-time employment for my school for 2 years, (>1000 hours), e-board for pre-medical club (1 semester)

Not sure if this is worth noting (I've personally tried my best not to take this into account as I've gone throughout college- to the point that I've seriously considered not checking the disadvantaged box on AMCAS) but my background is SES disadvantaged.

My school list:

• Cleveland Clinic
• Columbia
• Cornell
• Duke
• Harvard
• JHU
• Mayo
• Miami
• Northwestern
• NYU
• Pitt
• Stanford
• UChicago
• UCSD
• UCSF
• UF
• UPenn
• USF
• Vanderbilt
• Yale

 

[candbgirl]

Wow! Congratulations! You’ve done well. Of course applying to med school is a crap shoot in general but I’d be really surprised if you didn’t get multiple II. Acceptances are on you, so work on those interview skills. Good luck and let us know what happens. Oh and check the box.

 

[jjthrowaway225]

Wow! Congratulations! You’ve done well. Of course applying to med school is a crap shoot in general but I’d be really surprised if you didn’t get multiple II. Acceptances are on you, so work on those interview skills. Good luck and let us know what happens. Oh and check the box.

Thanks candbgirl! Would love some input also from @Goro @Faha @LizzyM @gyngyn if possible!!

 

[Faha]

You should receive multiple interviews from your list.

 

[jadfaweradfasd]

I'd add UCF, Miami, FSU, FIU, Washu, and UCLA.

 

[LizzyM]

I would suggest adding WashU as they are best known for offering very generous scholarship offers for applicants who scored super-high on the MCAT. Other than that, your list is excellent and I'd love a f/u a year from now to find out where you interviewed, got offers, and picked. You will have your pick of several good schools.

 

[Goro]

Hi SDN,
I made a post a couple of years back with some projected stats and received some excellent feedback as far as what I needed to aim for. The time has come, and my stats/ECs are finalized. My MCAT score was a little lower than I predicted it would be initially, but I've managed to get what seems to me are better EC's than I previously estimated. Would greatly appreciate some input on my school list!


Here's what I'm working with:

GPA: 4.0
sGPA: 4.0
MCAT: 519 (129/127/131/132)
State: FL
Ethnicity: AA/Black
Undergrad: Private
Clinical Experience : ~500 hours total over 4 years (ER volunteering, sterilizing surgical instruments, transport)
Research: 3 years of Robotic Surgery research, >1000 hours (1 poster at national conference, paper submitted for publication); 2 years computational biology research,>750 hours; 1 Literature Review presented at undergrad conference
Shadowing: Neurosurgery, General Surgery, EM (120 hours across those 3)
Non-Clinical Volunteering: Co-founder and e-board for an organization dealing with homelessness/food insecurity, volunteer at and organize events frequently (~400 hours); Co-founded a high school mentorship organization (~500 hours); some scattered volunteering at food banks (~20 hours)
Other: Tutored/TA'ed various chemistry courses as part-time employment for my school for 2 years, (>1000 hours), e-board for pre-medical club (1 semester)

Not sure if this is worth noting (I've personally tried my best not to take this into account as I've gone throughout college- to the point that I've seriously considered not checking the disadvantaged box on AMCAS) but my background is SES disadvantaged. Parents have made ~$30K/year combined for a family of 4 since I was about 11.

My school list:

• Cleveland Clinic
• Columbia
• Cornell
• Duke
• Harvard
• JHU
• Mayo
• Miami
• Northwestern
• NYU
• Pitt
• Stanford
• UChicago
• UCSD
• UCSF
• UF
• UPenn
• USF
• Vanderbilt
• Yale

Any med school is yours! But add ALL FL schools and the HBCs as well

 

[jjthrowaway225]

@candbgirl @Faha @jadfaweradfasd @LizzyM @Goro Thank you all so, so very much for your replies! I appreciate it immensely. I'll certainly keep you updated in the coming months!

A couple of questions:

1) @LizzyM I've heard WashU has a VERY strong bias towards applicants from the WWAMI region. In light of this, do you still think it's worth applying even though I am from GA?

2) @Goro From what I've gathered over the years in my time perusing SDN, it seems that yield protection is important to consider, and that aside from applying to all state schools, one should choose schools for which their stats are close to the median. Since I am Black/African-American, would yield protection be less of an issue for me when applying to HBC's (i.e. Howard, Meharry, Morehouse)?

 

[candbgirl]

I think @LizzyM is referring to Washington University in St. Louis not University of Washington in the state of Washington ?
Good luck.

 

[jjthrowaway225]

I think @LizzyM is referring to Washington University in St. Louis not University of Washington in the state of Washington ?
Good luck.

Ah! Yes. I misread. Completely my fault.

 

[Goro]

@candbgirl @Faha @jadfaweradfasd @LizzyM @Goro Thank you all so, so very much for your replies! I appreciate it immensely. I'll certainly keep you updated in the coming months!

A couple of questions:

1) @LizzyM I've heard WashU has a VERY strong bias towards applicants from the WWAMI region.

2) @Goro From what I've gathered over the years in my time perusing SDN, it seems that yield protection is important to consider, and that aside from applying to all state schools, one should choose schools for which their stats are close to the median. Since I am Black/African-American, would yield protection be less of an issue for me when applying to HBC's (i.e. Howard, Meharry, Morehouse)?

1. You are confusing U WA and WashU. The latter is in St Louis

2. You are correct

 

[LizzyM]

I do think that the HBCU might yield protect unless you make a strong case for applying only to those schools and your state schools. That is to say that your personal statement strongly signaled that you were not interested in research and were strongly committed to a career aimed at providing care in the black community, reducing health disparities, etc. in other words, laser focused on the mission of those schools. If you are feeling drawn to a school that requires an original research project and thesis for graduation and if you have a yearning for a career in academic medicine, then you might want to focus on the T20 research schools on your list. I think you'll be plenty busy interviewing at those school and have at least 3 offers (maybe 9) to choose from next April.

 

[jjthrowaway225]

@LizzyM @Goro @Faha @candbgirl Update: Applied rather late (complete at most schools near the end of September). Have gotten 14 II & 2A's so far, one with full COA to a T5 where I'm essentially 100% certain I'll end up matriculating. Wanted to thank you all so very much for your advice & support over the years, and all you've done and continue to do for the pre-medical community. Will be giving back as much as I can in the future.

 

[candbgirl]

Ah, what good news. Congratulations. You’ve worked hard. Keep working. You’re going to be a doctor. Thanks for reporting back.

 

[Faha]

Congratulations !