Advise with Schools List?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Get help with your application

Use all the free resources available to you from SDN: articles, guides, expert advising, forums discussions, and school research.

MedicalPhysicist

Full Member
5+ Year Member
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
Hi! I'm applying to MD/PhD programs and requesting advise on my schools list. I would like to optimize the list to maximize my chances while minimizing costs as I was not granted fee assistance though I am independent (parents made too much). Thanks in advance!

State of Residence: California
Social Background: Mexican-American male; economic disadvantage throughout childhood and undergrad
Graduate Record: Dual master's in chemistry and math
Graduate GPA: 3.71 (4.0 in chemistry, math was pretty tough)
Undergraduate Record: Triple bachelor's in biochemistry, physics, and chemistry with minors in biology and applied math
Undergraduate GPA: c3.67, s3.70 with significant upward trend
MCAT: 512 (130, 125... poop, 130, 127)
Research: Estimated 10,000+ hours with 7 years of experience across 3 labs (1 lab in undergrad, 1 lab for graduate thesis, and 1 more lab just for the sake of science). No publications, though 2 first-author manuscripts are in preparation; not much of a help for this application cycle I would assume. Over 20 presentations at international, national, and regional scientific and engineering conferences. Award for best oral student research presentation at an international conference. Several small competitive research scholarships. I was also first-author on a course supplement (don't think that counts for much here).
Teaching: Taught 6 semesters of chemistry at my university. Awarded outstanding TA award.
Clinical: Emergency department medical scribe ~2,500 hours (currently working full-time and loving every minute of it). Capsule endoscopy technician ~2,000 hours.
Physician Shadowing: Family/primary care physician ~100 hours.
Volunteering/Community Involvement: Volunteer for foundation that supports young adults with life-threatening illnesses ~1,000 hours; intermittent since high school until this day. Worked for local community and recreation services for over 10 years.
Extracurriculars: Minority-Focused Alliance for Pre-Health Students. Intercollegiate club baseball (not NCAA).
Research Interests: Biomedical Engineering or Biophysics
Current School List:
  • UCLA
  • UCI
  • USC
  • UC Davis
  • Einstein
  • Emory
  • UCSF
  • UCSD
  • Iowa - Carver
  • University of Washington
  • Case Western
  • Dartmouth
  • University of Wisconsin
  • University of Minnesota
  • Virginia Commonwealth
  • University of Florida
  • UNC-Chapel Hill
List was determined primarily based on research strengths of the institution and *reasonable* chances of admission due to my subpar stats. I haven't really considered any BMSs (best medical schools - anyone get that reference?) due to my numbers, though most of those institutions have desirable research opportunities.

Thanks again for your suggestions!