Chances for Stanford, WashU in St. Louis, and Yale?

[ninini]

Hello all,

I submitted primaries late and just got verified. I just submitted secondaries for stanford, washu, and yale because they are my dream schools. Aside from the excellent resources and opportunities available at these schools, my family lives in Palo Alto, my best friend goes to Wash U, and I love the Yale system.

I currently have a 3.94 GPA and a 39M MCAT score.

I have two years of research but no publications. This worries me a bit because all of these schools, especially Stanford, really focus on research (Stanford even asks for a list of publications ) However, after working for my PI for a year, he allowed me to conduct original research (my own ideas) and even put me in charge of four other ppl in his lab to pursue these ideas. I'm not sure if that makes up for my lack of publications...

I am the president of two campus clubs dedicated to community service and teaching. I am the founder and the president of a third club that is now working on a pretty huge project to provide adequate healthcare to the underserved. I am very interested in obtaining an MPH and working with underserved communities (talked this in my personal statement).

I have ~200 volunteer hours at the hospital. My main job involves constant interaction with patients.

I have shadowed three doctors for ~40 hours.

These things worry me:
- my late submission (this doesn't really bother me for yale since it doesn't have rolling admissions)
- my small amount of shadowing
- I have two typos on my AMCAS (bangs head)
- no publications


I know that getting into these schools is very hard. Numbers alone don't guarantee anything. What are my chances?

Thank you.

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[Morsetlis]

Good chances, but you need to come off as original. These schools get a lot of qualified applications every year (and a lot of unqualified ones, but those aren't the problem).

Be sure to be able to talk for 20-30 min about your research if need be.
Be sure to have something original and interest thing to discuss besides research / I love medicine / I love the patients.

 

[dartmed]

I believe there is a restriction on what age you can start practicing medicine...you might want to look into this.

 

[Catalystik]

I know that my age will make an impact on my app but I don't know how big that impact will be or how I should try and dispel any suspicions about my maturity.)

UChicago admitted a 12 year old some years back.

On age at the time of application:

we don't discriminate based on age, and we consider applicants as individuals, at least at my school.

All applicants' maturity is under intense scrutiny. Regardless of age, if you don't have significant clinical experience, that's a red flag. Regardless of age, if you can't reasonably articulate why you want to go to med school, that's a red flag. Regardless of age, if you show signs of inability to cope appropriately under intense stress, that's a red flag. Regardless of age, if you have an inconsistent academic record that suggests you might flunk out of school or not pass the boards, that's a red flag. Regardless of age, if you seem to only think about yourself and demonstrate no interest in entering a service profession at least in part to serve others, that's a red flag.

There are people of all ages who have one or more of these red flags. The OP's age itself is *not* the red flag here.