Average stats, late app, chance me?

[moocow19]

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[JeetKuneDo]

I'm still waiting for 2/4 letters of recommendation, so many of my secondaries are still incomplete. How much of a disadvantage will this be?


My stats are

cGPA: 3.91, BCPM GPA: 3.80, MCAT: 32S


Extracurriculars on my AMCAS:

Certified Pharmacy Technician (3.5 years)
Hospice Inpatient Volunteer (1.5 years)
Tutor for children at graduate housing community center (2.5 years)
Peer Mentor for Honors Biology series of courses (1 year)
Undergraduate Research (1 year, no publications)
Third Place in Beijing Summer Chinese Speech Contest
Shadowed a PCP for ~40 hours
Mountaineering Club member (3 years)



I'm a WI state resident and my top choice is UW-Madison SMPH. The list of schools I'm planning on applying to is a little ridiculous (28 schools, don't want to take any chances) and I'm nervous if my ECs are too weak (not a whole lot of shadowing) or if my application will be too late. I'd be very grateful for any input.



Below is my (massive) school list:
Designated School: Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Scien Regular M.D.

University of Wisconsin
Medical College of Wisconsin
Loyola
Wayne State
Iowa Carver
Minnesota Twin Cities/Duluth
Rosalind Franklin
Howard
Georgetown
George Washington
Rush
University of Kansas
University of North Carolina
University of Michigan
Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine
Creighton University School of Medicine
Meharry Medical College
Saint Louis University School of Medicine
Temple University School of Medicine
Tulane University School of Medicine
University of Arizona College of Medicine-Tucson
Eastern Virginia Medical School
Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine
Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine
Marshall Univ Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine
Drexel University College of Medicine
Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine

Man, if your stats are average...

 

[Catalystik]

I'm under the impression that Kansas wants to see significant state ties, Wright and Northeastern are not OOS friendly, and that Marshall prefers regional OOS applicants or those with strong state ties. OOSers for UNC may be held to higher standards than in-staters, but I'm not as sure about that one.

I think you did a good job of picking schools in your stats range.

From your statement, "The list of schools I'm planning on applying to . . . ," I assume you haven't submitted to AMCAS yet, so be aware that at this time of the season it historically has taken 4+ weeks for verification. That will make you terribly late for SDN aficionados, but only a few days into late by the standards of the other 90% of applicants. But then you say you haven't finished the Secondaries yet, so I'm not certain of your application status.

But for a lack of leadership experience and 10 more hours of shadowing of another specialty, I think your ECs are fine if your tutoring of the children or the mentoring was a community service.

 

[moocow19]

Thanks so much for the reply and for the information on those schools. I'll keep that in mind and bump those down in my list of secondaries. Sorry for the ambiguity; I've already submitted my AMCAS and am currently working on my mass of secondaries. The main thing delaying my application right now is the letters.

Every activity aside from the pharmacy technician job was done on a volunteer basis. Would the peer mentoring not be considered a leadership activity? I listed it under that in my AMCAS, since my mentees were all my age. Also, at this point would you recommend looking for another doctor to shadow or to just concentrate on finishing secondaries?

 

[Catalystik]

Would the peer mentoring not be considered a leadership activity? I listed it under that in my AMCAS, since my mentees were all my age.

Also, at this point would you recommend looking for another doctor to shadow or to just concentrate on finishing secondaries?

I'd say peer mentoring is probably more commonly listed under Teaching, but if the nature of the activity was more leadership-y, as supported by your convincing description of what you did, then Leadership is fine. There are many activities that qualify for more than one category, so you get your choice, based on what balances your application best.

I'd finish the Secondaries first, and maybe in the fall get in the additional shadowing. You could mention it in the fall update letter and/or at your interviews along with new news about any of your other pertinent ongoing activities.