MD Does my plan for the rest of college make me competitive?... and other questions

[learningcurve1]

Hey guys, so I'm a rising sophomore CA resident at a T30 university planning to apply to med school my senior year (so w/ gap year). I know that med school ranking isn't everything, but since I'm already putting the work in to get into med school, I don't want to limit myself and want to put myself in the best position possible for T20 schools. My dream would is to go to UCSF or the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College. I've mapped out what I have done/plan to before I apply in terms of extracurriculars, and was hoping for some feedback on what's missing and what could be better. My concern is that I'm not going to stand out and I'd appreciate any tips on whether I should be worried and what I can do! I am incredibly interested in doing the Peace Corps after graduating, but I'm hesitant because of the number of years it would put me back. Obviously that would look impressive, but if I decided against it I'd still like my application to be strong.

I want to note that as much as this post might make it sound like I just want to do things to get into med school, that is not the case. I care deeply about and love all the things I have done so far, it's just nice to know what I am setting myself up for success at the same time.

Chemistry Major with Medicinal Chem Concentration
cGpa -- 3.91
sGPA -- 3.89

Freshman year (21-22)
- joined research lab in december -- medicinal chemistry lab synthesizing novel platinum based cancer drugs. I already have a great relationship with the PI and will be an author (second?) on a publication in the next few months. Plan to stick with this as a huge commitment all four years
- member of exec board of Red Cross Club. Very low commitment, run two blood drives a year so not many hours

Summer 2022
- currently completing 100 hour externship in phlebotomy to get certified
- family med shadowing lined up
- hope to volunteer through august at org that houses families of sick kids receiving medical treatment at UCSF (continuation of high school work)

Sophomore Year
- Selected to participate in Public Health Corps program inaugural year (by AmeriCorps... I'm hoping that sounds really impressive to ADCOMs bc it's a big commitment). Will be 900 paid service hours at clinics/hospitals ect. around my uni. Hopefully can work as a phlebotomist through this
- continuing research, continuing red cross club
- shadowing with crit care surgeon lined up

Summer 23
- stay on campus for paid research (stipend) where I'll continue in my lab // finish Public health corp

Junior Year
- get phlebotomy job // research // volunteer

Senior Year
- research // phlebotomy job? // MCAT and apply

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[voxveritatisetlucis]

Is the school Stanford or Caltech? If so, you’re probably on the right track. From my experience, 3.9+s at these and peer schools can generally get into a T20 without anything extraordinary.

If it’s Berkeley, UCLA, USC, you still have a chance but it will be less of a sure thing (especially for Cleveland clinic and UCSF) and you may need an X factor to get accepted.

X favor could be a lot of publications, a few pubs in good journals, founding s successful nonprofit etc.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

If you're at a T30, chances are you have a prehealth office. Have you had any significant interactions with them about your plans?

 

[learningcurve1]

Is the school Stanford or Caltech? If so, you’re probably on the right track. From my experience, 3.9+s at these and peer schools can generally get into a T20 without anything extraordinary.

If it’s Berkeley, UCLA, USC, you still have a chance but it will be less of a sure thing (especially for Cleveland clinic and UCSF) and you may need an X factor to get accepted.

X favor could be a lot of publications, a few pubs in good journals, founding s successful nonprofit etc.

I'm at CA resident but I'm actually at Wake Forest in NC. While it's highly regarded in the south, not many people seem to know about it on the west coast which is worrying. However, I didn't think that where you went to undergrad was all that much of a factor after a point, I thought it was just GPA and the benefit of the opportunities that come with going to a higher ranked uni that mattered.

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

I'm at CA resident but I'm actually at Wake Forest in NC. While it's highly regarded in the south, not many people seem to know about it on the west coast which is worrying. However, I didn't think that where you went to undergrad was all that much of a factor after a point, I thought it was just GPA and the benefit of the opportunities that come with going to a higher ranked uni that mattered.

There isn’t a clear consensus about this on sdn. From what I’ve seen, people from the top undergrads get more leeway in terms of ECs and unique stories (lack thereof) than other applicants. Maybe it’s because people at top UGs tend to get higher MCATs, but I don’t think this can explain all of the variance. Med schools probably just like to say we have z from Harvard, y from Stanford, x from Yale. This is more prevalent amongst top private schools than lower and or public schools.

But don’t worry, people get in to T20s from a wide range of schools. They generally just have better ECs and or unique stories

 

[candbgirl]

The whole applying to med school is a crap shoot. People with stellar applications are out right rejected every cycle. Each cycle less than 40% of all applicants are accepted to medical school and about half of those people are accepted to one school. So that means around 60% of all applicants are rejected each cycle.
So your focus should be to get into medical school, any medical school. Your plans scream “I’m trying to impress ADCOMS even though I don’t really care about some of this”. You even say you hope ADCOMS will be really impressed. The activities don’t necessarily seem to weave a story of medicine and you. But then again your descriptions are so limited that maybe they do. Your descriptions don’t tell us what you are really doing. Is there any nonclinical volunteering to the unserved/underserved in your community? It might be buried somewhere(the Americorps gig) but you seem to think it’s more clinical in nature.
It’s fine to have a plan of sorts but as you mature and get more experience be open to shifting gears. Remember you need to get face to face with the sick, injured and dying. You have to shadow docs, especially primary care, to decide if you even want to spend the next 35+ years being a doc. And always remember that medicine is a service profession. You have be able to deal with people that are very different from you.
You have years before you apply so relax, enjoy college and work on developing a great application. It will all come together.
Good luck.

 

[learningcurve1]

The whole applying to med school is a crap shoot. People with stellar applications are out right rejected every cycle. Each cycle less than 40% of all applicants are accepted to medical school and about half of those people are accepted to one school. So that means around 60% of all applicants are rejected each cycle.
So your focus should be to get into medical school, any medical school. Your plans scream “I’m trying to impress ADCOMS even though I don’t really care about some of this”. You even say you hope ADCOMS will be really impressed. The activities don’t necessarily seem to weave a story of medicine and you. But then again your descriptions are so limited that maybe they do. Your descriptions don’t tell us what you are really doing. Is there any nonclinical volunteering to the unserved/underserved in your community? It might be buried somewhere(the Americorps gig) but you seem to think it’s more clinical in nature.
It’s fine to have a plan of sorts but as you mature and get more experience be open to shifting gears. Remember you need to get face to face with the sick, injured and dying. You have to shadow docs, especially primary care, to decide if you even want to spend the next 35+ years being a doc. And always remember that medicine is a service profession. You have be able to deal with people that are very different from you.
You have years before you apply so relax, enjoy college and work on developing a great application. It will all come together.
Good luck.

Thanks for your response! I'm sorry if it came across like I don't care and am only doing these things for admissions, I'm involved in these pursuits out of genuine interest and enjoyment — impressing ADCOMs is just what I'd like the extra outcome of that to be.

For example, the research lab I'm in works on synthesizing platinum cancer drugs that could replace cisplatin, and I got involved in it because of a lot of personal experience with cancer's effects that has inspired me to learn more. I've absolutely LOVED working in the lab thus far and the bonds I've formed through the work.
My work with the volunteer organization that provides housing for families with kids seeking medical treatment at UCSF has also given me one on one experience with kids struggling with cancer, and the relationships I've formed with them has also been a source of my interest in medicine.
The phlebotomy doesn't really fit with a theme or have a reason besides me needing clinical experience, but that doesn't mean I'm not fully appreciating every moment, learning, and confirming my fit in the medical field with each day.
The Americorps gig is definitely more underserved volunteering than clinical! I just hope to be able to put some of my phleb. skills to work through it but that's by no means my only goal. And I'm interested in the peace corps because of the stories I've heard from my mom who served years ago, and the ability to form deep relationships with communities while using my resources to help them meet their needs.

They might seem fragmented, but I truly care about each thing I'm involved in. Do you think I'll be able to get that across to admissions and have as strong of a case for "why me" as an applicant with a cohesive story? Or should I attempt to build a spike/focus to my app?

Thanks so much for your response, again. I absolutely agree with your sentiment that it will all come together, I just fall into the trap of being a little neurotic about all this out of fear of not doing enough.