Advice for 2026 applicant

[calisizzle]

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Hello! This is my first SDN post, so I apologize in advance if I'm formatting things incorrectly or otherwise.

I'm planning on applying to med school next cycle (2026) and would like some advice on how best to bolster my application before then, aside from doing well in the rest of my classes and on the MCAT. Here's what I have so far:

GPA: cGPA 3.85 sGPA 3.5
Me: ORM male 4th year undergrad
State of Residence: CA
Clinical: 100 hours community ED scribing (over one summer), 150 hours hospital volunteering, 200 hours free health screening organization (leadership here as well)
Research: 500 hours paid bioethics research assistant, no publications
Shadowing: 30 hours hem/onc, 30 hours ortho, 10 hours neurology
Non-clinical: ~100 hours teaching health lessons to low-income elementary schoolers, ~100 hours mentorship
Other stuff: humanities major, 500+ hours interning for local government in health policy, 1000+ hours working side jobs like tutoring, food service, etc

Will be taking the MCAT around January of next year so I can finish off my remaining prereqs and study. Any advice for someone in my position would be great--I feel I could use some guidance. Thank you very much!

 

[AJS59]

Hello! This is my first SDN post, so I apologize in advance if I'm formatting things incorrectly or otherwise.

I'm planning on applying to med school next cycle (2026) and would like some advice on how best to bolster my application before then, aside from doing well in the rest of my classes and on the MCAT. Here's what I have so far:

GPA: cGPA 3.85 sGPA 3.5
Me: ORM male 4th year undergrad
State of Residence: CA
Clinical: 100 hours community ED scribing (over one summer), 150 hours hospital volunteering, 200 hours free health screening organization (leadership here as well)
Research: 500 hours paid bioethics research assistant, no publications
Shadowing: 30 hours hem/onc, 30 hours ortho, 10 hours neurology
Non-clinical: ~100 hours teaching health lessons to low-income elementary schoolers, ~100 hours mentorship
Other stuff: humanities major, 500+ hours interning for local government in health policy, 1000+ hours working side jobs like tutoring, food service, etc

Will be taking the MCAT around January of next year so I can finish off my remaining prereqs and study. Any advice for someone in my position would be great--I feel I could use some guidance. Thank you very much!

Other than the MCAT, I'd work on your non-clinical more. Look for more direct impact (food pantry/soup kitchen, shelter work, transport services, housing rehab, or job/tax preparation) for people in need

 

[wysdoc]

Welcome to the message boards, @calisizzle
I moved your post to the "what are my chances" forum for more comments.
When you know your MCAT score later, please come back to this message thread and get some help with a workable school list.

I agree with @AJS59, the community service should have you meeting the people you are helping, off campus, in a different way than teaching/tutoring

 

[chilly_md]

Shadowing primary care for a little bit is always good as well in addition to what's been mentioned already about service.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I want to know why you believe medicine is your purpose. How do you show this in your activities? Listing hours won't tell me the answer.

 

[calisizzle]

Welcome to the message boards, @calisizzle
I moved your post to the "what are my chances" forum for more comments.
When you know your MCAT score later, please come back to this message thread and get some help with a workable school list.

I agree with @AJS59, the community service should have you meeting the people you are helping, off campus, in a different way than teaching/tutoring

Thank you very much! The organization I'm part of is very comprehensive and has a very large non-clinical component as well--we travel to underserved communities, give presentations on chronic disease prevention/treatment, set people up with health insurance enrollment, hand out care packages, and have them seen by a physician at the screenings themselves.

This takes up a ton of time, and I'm not sure I'll have bandwidth for other nonclinical volunteering at the moment. Admittedly, this is still very centered on patient education; do you think it's necessary to stretch for other non-clinical activities over my gap year to demonstrate more varied/nuanced community service?

 

[wysdoc]

Thank you very much! The organization I'm part of is very comprehensive and has a very large non-clinical component as well--we travel to underserved communities, give presentations on chronic disease prevention/treatment, set people up with health insurance enrollment, hand out care packages, and have them by a physician at the screenings themselves.

This takes up a ton of time, and I'm not sure I'll have bandwidth for other nonclinical volunteering at the moment. Admittedly, this is still very centered on patient education; do you think it's necessary to stretch for other non-clinical activities over my gap year to demonstrate more varied/nuanced community service?

If this is what you are doing in this organization (and not just marketing them or being a board member) be sure to make the bulk of your description about the part where you sit with them and explain where they find resources, help them make appointments, etc.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Adding to wysdoc: focus on your service, not your teaching or organizing. What services did you provide? You mentioned helping to give access to insurance or the number of care packages distributed in person. Tell me more about that.