Medical Applicant with all the boxes checked seeking IMPROVEMENT

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Mr.Smile12

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I ask because people keep telling I am “all good” which is not helpful at all if I have goals beyond just getting in. I want details: by how much do my various hooks compound and how to become strongER.

Anyway here’s my info:

Current sophomore at a top20 (think Northwestern, UChicago, duke, etc)

The average GPA for premeds that get into med school here is 3.4 Average MCAT for same group is 514.
My own GPA is 3.9 and I’ve taken all prerequisites but one (biochem)

One parent is an immigrant from vietnam but I have an African American last name. Other parent grew up in a crime ridden neighborhood. Both extremely poor but worked themselves up to middle class. I identify as black and not Asian on applications for cultural reasons (i’ve always been excluded from the Asian community even compared to ppl that cant speak viet lol). Neither parents went to college. I come from a state that produces less than 200 matriculants per year.

I’ve been doing research since the summer before college, which informs research I’m doing now. If we’re talking college-only I have thee semesters of research, one summer, and a prestigious summer internship lined up at a top3 med school. I have two presentations and another one coming up all first author. I have a third author national presentation. I also won a fellowship for research valued in $10,000+. Two peer reviewed papers in review. Three of my will-be LOR writers have national recognition for their own research.

Volunteering:

50 hours basic non clinical volunteering, projected to be 200ish by the time i graduate
150 hours clinical volunteering projected to be 300ish

Several exec boards including a big picture, encompassing one having to do with underserved communities. I have independent projects underway regarding it. This spans over multiple years and is significant but details would be identifying—I’ve produced research and am leading a prototype team related to this.

Other activities:
Tutoring for biology and general chemistry
Multiple performative pieces on campus attended by 500+ people

Reposted because I would like more detailed responses.

Start establishing relationships.

I'm serious.

How many physicians have I met who pretty much look at the screen and not at me when it comes to getting my chief complaint and history? How did that make me feel?

As someone who may be your interviewer, your patient, or patient's caregiver: how do I know you have the capacity to care about my condition? My circumstances? My life?

Yes, keep yourself on track to doing well in class, getting leadership experience, finishing off research and clinical experience. But in the end you need to convince people that all this experience you are collecting is for someone else's benefit, not yours in the game of admissions. Make sure you develop your references into mentors who can champion you, now while in undergrad and into the future. Soft skills are the key to your resilience in professional school.

You need to figure out which schools on your wishlist are really going to help you and look at you as a care provider with feelings, emotions, and frailties as opposed to a future chief resident or hospital CEO. You need to connect with current students and know what it's like to establish trust with your peers in an environment that could be rather cliquish or cutthroat.

If you don't, you risk losing it all.

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