Hello! I posted a while ago and didn't get any feedback because I didn't have my official MCAT score yet (which makes sense), but now since I do, I'd appreciate any advice y'all have!! (PLEASE DO NOT QUOTE FOR PRIVACY REASONS)
State: NJ
Ties to other places: none
URM: no (ORM)
Year: class of 2022 (junior, public undergraduate university)
Undergrad major/minor: mol bio & biochem major, creative writing minor
GPA: 3.799 cGPA, 3.65 sGPA (great upward trend)
MCAT: 515
Research experience:
~1300 hours at a mol bio lab on campus; got a one-year fellowship for my research and was supposed to present a poster before covid hit
Pubs/abstracts/posters:
none (except for the would-have-been poster before covid hit); I am a published writer though (not STEM-related); I have a lot of my poems and fiction published in the past (one Pushcart nomination). I'll likely mention my creative publications in my artistic endeavors section.
Clinical Experience:
- volunteered at a hospital near my campus for 20 hours (supposed to be 100 before covid hit); i got to interact with a lot of underserved patients there
- volunteering right now at a different hospital during covid (started Jan 2021, will have ~50-60 hours before applying; i plan on continuing to volunteer over this summer and this fall, which will be an additional 100 hours projected)
Physician shadowing:
i've shadowed for ~20 hrs virtually with a pediatric surgeon, orthopedic surgeon, and ER physician (all through my college virtual shadowing program)
Non-clinical volunteering:
i've been a mentor for 3 years (~150 hrs) as part of my college's first-year student mentorship program; was a mentee myself my first-year of college and moved up as a mentor and senior mentor
Leadership:
- co-president of an academic science club, founded the club's first mentorship program and brought the club to social media for the first time; helped create the club's first journal club, too (~100 hrs)
- participated in my school's competitive teaching program that allows undergraduates to make and teach their own 1-credit course; I got to teach creative writing (really really loved this experience, will be one of the "most meaningful"); I also taught first-years (ties back to first-year mentorship), because the teaching program incorporated an RA-style mentorship aspect to it all (guiding students through their first year of college, pointing them to resources, etc.) (~200 hrs)
Other ECs:
- rock climber (recreational and competitive) (~100 hrs)
- member of a national STEM association (one of 20 undergrads selected in the nation to attend an international science conference; fully funded, paid-for trip) (~150 hrs)
- artistic endeavor: creative writing (masthead positions, 7-year creative writing education, summer programs, publications & awards) (~1000 hrs)
Other employment history:
- none (the teaching experience mentioned above came with a stipend, though, as well as the research fellowship ofc)
Immediate family members in medicine: none
Here's my current school list right now, I bolded some I really would like to get an interview from (not interested in any DOs right now):
Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Albany Medical College
Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple
Drexel University College of Medicine
Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine
University of Connecticut School of Medicine
Georgetown
Sidney Kimmel
Albert Einstein
Tufts
University of Illinois
Carle Illinois
University of Maryland
West Virginia University School of Medicine
University of Wisconsin
Medical College of Wisconsin
St. Louis in MO
Virginia Commonwealth
State: NJ
Ties to other places: none
URM: no (ORM)
Year: class of 2022 (junior, public undergraduate university)
Undergrad major/minor: mol bio & biochem major, creative writing minor
GPA: 3.799 cGPA, 3.65 sGPA (great upward trend)
MCAT: 515
Research experience:
~1300 hours at a mol bio lab on campus; got a one-year fellowship for my research and was supposed to present a poster before covid hit
Pubs/abstracts/posters:
none (except for the would-have-been poster before covid hit); I am a published writer though (not STEM-related); I have a lot of my poems and fiction published in the past (one Pushcart nomination). I'll likely mention my creative publications in my artistic endeavors section.
Clinical Experience:
- volunteered at a hospital near my campus for 20 hours (supposed to be 100 before covid hit); i got to interact with a lot of underserved patients there
- volunteering right now at a different hospital during covid (started Jan 2021, will have ~50-60 hours before applying; i plan on continuing to volunteer over this summer and this fall, which will be an additional 100 hours projected)
Physician shadowing:
i've shadowed for ~20 hrs virtually with a pediatric surgeon, orthopedic surgeon, and ER physician (all through my college virtual shadowing program)
Non-clinical volunteering:
i've been a mentor for 3 years (~150 hrs) as part of my college's first-year student mentorship program; was a mentee myself my first-year of college and moved up as a mentor and senior mentor
Leadership:
- co-president of an academic science club, founded the club's first mentorship program and brought the club to social media for the first time; helped create the club's first journal club, too (~100 hrs)
- participated in my school's competitive teaching program that allows undergraduates to make and teach their own 1-credit course; I got to teach creative writing (really really loved this experience, will be one of the "most meaningful"); I also taught first-years (ties back to first-year mentorship), because the teaching program incorporated an RA-style mentorship aspect to it all (guiding students through their first year of college, pointing them to resources, etc.) (~200 hrs)
Other ECs:
- rock climber (recreational and competitive) (~100 hrs)
- member of a national STEM association (one of 20 undergrads selected in the nation to attend an international science conference; fully funded, paid-for trip) (~150 hrs)
- artistic endeavor: creative writing (masthead positions, 7-year creative writing education, summer programs, publications & awards) (~1000 hrs)
Other employment history:
- none (the teaching experience mentioned above came with a stipend, though, as well as the research fellowship ofc)
Immediate family members in medicine: none
Here's my current school list right now, I bolded some I really would like to get an interview from (not interested in any DOs right now):
Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Albany Medical College
Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple
Drexel University College of Medicine
Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine
University of Connecticut School of Medicine
Georgetown
Sidney Kimmel
Albert Einstein
Tufts
University of Illinois
Carle Illinois
University of Maryland
West Virginia University School of Medicine
University of Wisconsin
Medical College of Wisconsin
St. Louis in MO
Virginia Commonwealth
