(4.0/521) WAMC chances and school list help please!!

[micshell]

Hi everyone, thank you for reading! I am trying to refine my school list and would really like to apply to 30 schools max so I can prepare my secondaries to the best of my abilities. I would really like some advice on schools I could remove/not have the best chance at and maybe other schools that I would have a better chance of getting accepted into. I'm trying not to be too top heavy so let me know what you think.

Stats/Academics:

• 4.0 GPA, 521 MCAT
• OH resident, Asian female
• Biochemistry major, Studio art minor, from no name undergrad
• Other notes: will only be in college for 3 years and I am planning to matriculate directly after
• Recognitions: 2 awards from Chemistry department, 2 scholarships (1 from Chemistry department, 1 from pre-health)

EC’s: current hours (projected to matriculation hours)

• Clinical:
  • Paid, Scribing: 200 (400-500) for a dermatologist and endocrine surgeon
  • Volunteer, Hospice: 60 (150-200) helping out nurses and aides with baths, repositioning, feeding, etc
• Non Clinical volunteering:
  • Hospital front desk: 275 (300-400) hospital is in an underserved area, I think some could categorize this as clinical but my duties were mostly wayfinding and registration
  • Hospice: 120 (120) gardening, making cards, decorating the facility
  • Also will be starting an art-related service opportunity hopefully in April/May!
• Research:
  • Organic chemistry lab: 530 (700-800)
  • 1 publication, 2nd to last author
  • 1 poster presentation (but will occur after app submission)
• Tutoring/Teaching/Mentoring:
  • all volunteer work
  • ACS club tutor: 50 (70-80) for chemistry, tutored 1 on 1, small group, large group
  • Research mentor: 30 (60-70) Taught junior undergrads lab techniques, will be mentoring a high school student this May
  • MCAT group mentor: 15 (idk maybe 50-70 depending on how well it goes) just started doing this, helping out with 1 on 1 consultations and study group sessions with prepared practice questions
• Hobbies:
  • Art: don’t really know how to put hours on this one since it’s been a lifelong hobby
• Shadowing:
  • Shadowed my pediatrician in person: 20 (20, some was in high school but I continued in college)
  • Virtual shadowing: 12 (30)
• Clubs
  • Marketing chair for a new club, centered mostly on public health (we haven’t done much yet impact wise so I don’t know how much I can really talk about it in the app)
• Work Experience
  • Front of house staff in a restaurant: 120 (120)

School List:
Ohio State
Cincinnati
Toledo
Case Western
Wright State
University of Michigan
Western Michigan
Wayne State
Emory
NYU
Vanderbilt
Pitt
Mt. Sinai
Mayo
Rosalind Franklin
Duke (might remove?)
Wake Forest
Boston University
Loyola
Indiana
Einstein
Drexel
Georgetown
Temple
Rush
Dartmouth (might remove?)
USF Morsani

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[chilly_md]

Take out Rosalind Franklin, Wake, Loyola, Drexel and Rush. They will likely practice resource stewardship and save the limited interview slots for applicants who are less likely to get acceptances at more well-known schools. Rush and Loyola usually take students with many more volunteering hours to the underserved. I would recommend adding some in the form of helping at a homeless shelter, soup kitchen, food bank etc as a lot of schools do still like to see that since medicine is an altruistic field. Also, try to shadow in-person a bit more, with a different physician. The dermatologist and endocrine surgeon you work for might be the easiest options. You can keep Duke and Dartmouth.

You can add:
Iowa
Saint Louis
WUSTL
Hofstra
UVA
Jefferson
Wisconsin

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I'm intrigued by the upcoming art outreach, but I also concur... there is nothing that says altruism or community service from what has been disclosed. So much of your volunteering is still in a clinical or hospital environment. That's not enough to show you can stretch outside your comfort zone, and you need at least 100-150 hours (when you submit) to satisfy most schools. I know you want to try to get into medical school as soon as possible (graduating early) so these opportunities really need to be out of your comfort zone to show you have a sense of maturity and insight into societal needs.

 

[chilly_md]

It may be worthwhile to take a gap year and gain additional life experience as Mr. Smile is saying. That could likely help you get many more interviews in the following application cycle then.

 

[stinkycheeseperson]

Take another yr and live a little