Medical Advice Appreciated for My Gap Year (Low research, clinical, and shadowing, and 72 WARS)

[GoSpursGo]

I'm currently a graduating senior and my original plan was to apply this cycle while doing one year of master's in engineering, and hopefully get into a T15. But now I'm thinking if, alternatively, I should find a research assistant position or a master's program that is affiliated with a top school. The change of plan was prompted so that I could potentially get more research, clinical, and shadowing experiences, because the location of the engineering master's program is quite far from most clinical and shadowing experiences (especially the ones at my dream school).

Note: I understand the WARS system was not designed so that people could game the system and tailor their application accordingly, but I think my lack of clinical exposure is evident. I'm also aware of how unpredictable admissions can be, and that the contribution from my connections made during work and study at my dream school will be another variable, but ideally, all these efforts will help me eventually realize my dream, though I will still be glad if the result turns out otherwise.

To sum up:
Old plan: apply this cycle for 2022 entry, doing a one-year master's in engineering while applying, which limits the opportunities to make connections with top schools.
New plan: apply next cycle, doing a two-year master's or working as a research assistant affiliated with a top school (ideally my dream school), which can hopefully boost my chances by having more clinical and research experiences and having potential LOR writers affiliated with top schools.

Here's my background using the WAMC guidelines:
1. cGPA and sGPA as calculated by AMCAS or AACOMAS
cGPA: 3.83 , U-trend (3.83, 4.0, 3.69, 3.62, 4.0, expected 4.0) [I did my freshman year overseas so these are my sophomore to senior gpa's in the US.]
sGPA: projected to a 3.83. Got A's in all except B+ in multivariable calculus and biochem.

2. MCAT score(s) and breakdown
N/A (Planning to take an April exam)

3. State of residence or country of citizenship (if non-US)
One of the most populated Asian countries (that is India or China)

4. Ethnicity and/or race
ORM

5. Undergraduate institution or category
Non-HYP Ivy

6. Clinical experience (volunteer and non-volunteer)
Hospital volunteer for two separate semesters - one was during COVID at the screening table. Approximately 30-40 hours in total.

7. Research experience and productivity
2 months with e.coli outside the US (microbio lab) and 4 months with wheat (plant science lab). No pub.

8. Shadowing experience and specialties represented
110 hours in cardiology, located in Asia. None in the US.

9. Non-clinical volunteering
Mental health/peer-counseling organization on campus - co-developed another peer-counseling online service along the way that targeted college students from my country of origin.

10. Other extracurricular activities (including athletics, military service, gap year activities, leadership, teaching, etc)
Sang with choirs and individually in college for 3 years. Built a strong connection with a music faculty who witnessed my growth in music.

11. Relevant honors or awards
Nothing major. If I have to - Tau beta pi (engineering honor society), and Dean's list every semester.

12. Anything else not listed you think might be important
I could potentially explain in essays how I adapted my learning through mental health activities to the communication with Asian parents about my LGBTQ identity, which then inspired me to help more college students find a way to accept and believe in their own identities in my peer-counseling online service.

My current WARS score is 72 and if I take one more gap year and do one extra year of research, clinical, shadowing, I can get my WARS up to 90. Here's a breakdown of the 72:
Stats: 9
Research: 2
Clinical: 2
Shadowing: 1
Volunteering: 3
Leadership and Teaching: 3
Miscellaneous: 2
Undergrad school: 2
Underrepresented: 1
Upward GPA: 1

Besides my proposed "new plans", I'd also be open to hearing other suggestions. Thank you so much for this platform and all your inputs would be genuinely valued and appreciated!

God bless WedgeDawg, but his calculator is just a guide.

Frankly you need to take at least one gap year. You're not going to get accepted with 30-40 hours of clinical experience, to a T15 school or anywhere.

All other plans completely depend on your MCAT score. If you score well, make strong connections and are very productive in a research position, sure it's possible that you could get into a T15-type school. But right now you have a lot of work to do.

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[Goro]

Thanks for the input! Sounds like I should wait one more year before I apply and that gives me 2 gap years in total. I think my main concern is if I should commit to the master's engineering program that is location-wise very convenient for me, or if I should try to apply to a program or a research position affiliated with a top school that requires moving to a different city. Both options will give me comparable research experiences but the latter will make it easier to make connections with med schools or gain more clinical experiences.

Nonclinical volunteering on campus is not as impressive as getting out of your comfort zone and going to help people less fortunate than yourself.

Also, your job is to get into A medical school, not merely a T15 (which includes some 20 schools).

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

You should be aiming for medical school acceptance, period. It's good that you set your goals high and want to get into a T15 school, but the majority of applicants do not. If you get into your state school are you not going to go?

You need to work on both your nonclinical volunteer hours AND your clinical experience. These non-clinical hours should be in helping the less fortunate. As far as which master's programs to do, I am not 100% sold that this is the most beneficial route for you. Your classes you take during your masters are not going to count for your GPA. If you really believe that you are going to have killer connections that will undoubtedly propel you into these T15 schools, then maybe it's a good option?

There are other ways to get good clinical and shadowing experience (which I think you need more of since you have only shadowed a specialist and not in the US. I usually advise students to shadow in either FM/IM/ER.)

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

Thank you! I think working as a research technician in a lab affiliated with a med school will hopefully (at least location-wise) give me an edge in finding more diverse opportunities for clinical volunteering and shadowing. My undergrad is in a small rich white town with one regional hospital nearby so I really didn't get to give myself to the people that are the most in need.

Also, about the t15, I'm an international so more than half of the schools that take us are already t20. It's really a combination of ambition and reality.

Makes sense. Seems like the correct choice then. Good luck!