Help Generating a Realistic List

[Fr4nklin]

Would really appreciate help generating a list of schools!

Undergraduate: 3.96/4.0 chemical engineering, middle tier undergrad
MCAT: 521 (132/130/131/128)
Research: Full time research associate @ MIT/Harvard (~5000 hrs)
Clinical Volunteering: (~50 hrs)
Extracurriculars: 4 year varsity athlete, campus tour guide, professional societies, etc
Misc: LGBT, MA resident, white male

The clinical volunteering is pretty low and I am currently not a first author on any publications. I think I am a competitive applicant numerically, but I'm not sure how strongly the other factors play in the admissions process. I would be grateful for any school or resume suggestions!

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[vrazzles]

Your metrics are great and the varsity athlete is cool.

You come across as a researcher. Your lack of clinical exposure will likely be lethal. You also didn't list any non clinical volunteering or shadowing. How are you going to explain your desire to be a doctor in the context of your experiences? You will need a year (maybe better two) to accumulate the kind of experiences that befit an applicant with your stats. It's also mildly concerning that you have 5k research hours and no pubs. Do you have presentations? Regardless, that pales in comparison to the other aforementioned issues.

Best of luck!

edit: I see you said no FIRST author pubs. That is of no concern if you have something to show for research productivity

 

[candbgirl]

Your research is great, your varsity athlete stint is cool and interesting but that’s about all you’ve got. You need about 50 hours of physician shadowing including some with a primary care doc. You also need at least 150 hours of clinical experience with direct patient contact. How are you going to know you want to spend the next 30-40 years dealing with the sick, injured and dying without some hand on experience.And you need at least 150 hours of nonclinical volunteering with the unserved/underserved in your community. Medicine is a service focus profession and you have to show your altruism to ADCOMS. Your stats are great and it would be such a shame to apply with those stats and nothing else and get rejected. Do what you have to do to complete your application and you’ll have lots of options for schools. Currently , I don’t think you should even bother applying until you do something about your ECs.
Good luck.

 

[brownsfan999]

If you're good with T40 schools, I'd get some clinical volunteering and shadowing ASAP and apply this cycle. If you're gunning for T10, I'd probably take a gap year to rack up some ECs. You can still apply to some top schools this cycle but might be at a bit of a disadvantage with your lack of clinical experience and volunteering. Just be cognizant that another gap year is a lost year of attending salary. Good luck!

 

[972210]

Your stats are great! The concern is how will you describe why you want to go to medical school in your personal statement and interviews, if you have very minimal clinical experience. Trust me, once you start writing, you will see the importance of recounting some of those experiences and explaining how they fuel your desire to become a doctor