Help me finalize my school list!

[ArtisticInterp]

WA Resident
3.95 c/sGPA
524 MCAT (132/130/131/131)
ORM
Junior in biomedical engineering major at my state school, hoping to apply without a gap year

Experiences:
~4000 hrs paid EMT, running 911 calls in urban area
200 hrs volunteering at local search and rescue
25 hrs volunteering as an interpreter at a free clinic
250 hrs TAing in bioengineering class

Research:
1000 hrs at a bioengineering lab
3rd author pub in a high-impact journal
Maybe another mid-author pub in same journal, depends on how quick the review process will be

Shadowing:
25 hrs - orthopedic surgery and anaesthesiology
I will hopefully get this up to 40 hours by app season

High quality LORs from engineering prof I'm TAing, English prof I had a good relationship with, biochem prof, PI, and doc I shadowed.

School list:

Reach:
John Hopkins
UPenn
Boston U
Harvard
Yale
Northwestern
U Chicago
NYU
Columbia

Target:
Geisinger
Cooper
Drexel
George Washington
Georgetown
Temple
Penn State
Tufts
U Mass
U Mich
Western Mich
Carle Illinois
MC Wisconson
U Vermont
U Washington
WSU
U Colorado

Just in Case:
PCOM Philly
Rowan COM
CCOM
MSU DO
I'm not the biggest fan of DO schools but I'm not gunning for any particularly competitive specialties and I would rather deal with OMM than with another application cycle and I think I selected schools that would still give me a quality education.

What do yall think about my school list? Is it too top-heavy or do my stats justify it? Any schools that I should remove/add to my list?
Thanks in advance for the help!

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[Faha]

Some of your schools will "yield protect" with your stats. I suggest these schools from your list:
John Hopkins
UPenn
Boston U
Harvard
Yale
Northwestern
U Chicago
NYU
Columbia
George Washington
Georgetown
Temple
Tufts
U Mass
U Mich
Western Mich
Carle Illinois
U Vermont
U Washington
WSU
U Colorado
You could add these schools:
Washington University (in St. Louis-almost a guaranteed interview with your stats)
St. Louis
Vanderbilt
USF Morsani
Miami
Duke
Pittsburgh
Hofstra
Einstein
Mount Sinai
Rochester
Mayo
Cincinnati

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Hold off submitting your AACOM application until later in the cycle if you have no early interviews (which would surprise me). Your DO list should include PNW and Western-COMP. Maybe Rocky Vista. Because of region, I feel they are more willing to consider you than the schools you listed.

Make sure everything is in by July and prioritize your list. Work on your secondaries and make sure you articulate your mission fit.

The concern I have is your non-clinical community service. You have first-responder activities with EMT and search-and-rescue, but I would like more information about what responsibilities demonstrate service orientation that adcoms might recognize.

You clearly want to go to schools with strong biomed/engineering programs, and UW has a strong department. You need to convince schools like WashU, Hopkins, Duke, and Penn (probably a few others) that you would seriously go to their programs. I don't know if you are a strong fit with WSU which is very community-oriented, but I would hope you get a shot.

You will likely get yield protected from schools with high volumes and not a strong engineering emphasis (looking at Drexel, Georgetown, George Washington) so you need to show why you are drawn to their programs with your community advocacy and impact, which is not apparent from the description. (I disregard activities with fewer than 50 hours unless it's shadowing.)

Once you determine what you expect from your education in medical school, seek out the programs at recruitment events before applying, and make the schools recruit you.

 

[pablo213]

Hold off submitting your AACOM application until later in the cycle if you have no early interviews (which would surprise me). Your DO list should include PNW and Western-COMP. Maybe Rocky Vista. Because of region, I feel they are more willing to consider you than the schools you listed.

Make sure everything is in by July and prioritize your list. Work on your secondaries and make sure you articulate your mission fit.

The concern I have is your non-clinical community service. You have first-responder activities with EMT and search-and-rescue, but I would like more information about what responsibilities demonstrate service orientation that adcoms might recognize.

You clearly want to go to schools with strong biomed/engineering programs, and UW has a strong department. You need to convince schools like WashU, Hopkins, Duke, and Penn (probably a few others) that you would seriously go to their programs. I don't know if you are a strong fit with WSU which is very community-oriented, but I would hope you get a shot.

You will likely get yield protected from schools with high volumes and not a strong engineering emphasis (looking at Drexel, Georgetown, George Washington) so you need to show why you are drawn to their programs with your community advocacy and impact, which is not apparent from the description. (I disregard activities with fewer than 50 hours unless it's shadowing.)

Once you determine what you expect from your education in medical school, seek out the programs at recruitment events before applying, and make the schools recruit you.

Would UVA be a good addition too?

~4000 hrs paid EMT, running 911 calls in urban area
200 hrs volunteering at local search and rescue
25 hrs volunteering as an interpreter at a free clinic
250 hrs TAing in bioengineering class

Research:
1000 hrs at a bioengineering lab

You have great stats and good ECs (research and clinical, in particular). I also echo Mr.Smile's concerns about the nonclinical volunteering. Do you have any leadership experiences? Also these are some pretty crazy hours for a trad applicant. Were you working full-time the past 3 years?

 

[ArtisticInterp]

Search and rescue was something that I felt was service oriented-we often searched for missing persons, Alzheimers patients, and such, as well as the standard rescuing of hikers. Does that not fit the bill of service-oriented volunteering?
The only semi-leadership experiences I have is the TAing and leading a quiz section.
I worked full-time for a year and a half before switching to 24 hrs/wk-I had to put myself through college.
Is yield protection really a thing I should be looking out for? Do I need to apply to more stat-oriented med schools?

Would UVA be a good addition too?

You have great stats and good ECs (research and clinical, in particular). I also echo Mr.Smile's concerns about the nonclinical volunteering. Do you have any leadership experiences? Also these are some pretty crazy hours for a trad applicant. Were you working full-time the past 3 years?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Would UVA be a good addition too?

You have great stats and good ECs (research and clinical, in particular). I also echo Mr.Smile's concerns about the nonclinical volunteering. Do you have any leadership experiences? Also these are some pretty crazy hours for a trad applicant. Were you working full-time the past 3 years?

I like UVA too, and I would need a better idea if the OP's project interests align with what is available in their department. I was hesitant because as an OOS applicant, the OP could get yield-protected there (could OP go to more "prestigious" programs with BME departments, like Hopkins or Duke which are geographically in the area)? Vanderbilt is also in range with a strong BME program, and VT-Carillion too (but more likely to yield protect the OP).

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Search and rescue was something that I felt was service oriented-we often searched for missing persons, Alzheimers patients, and such, as well as the standard rescuing of hikers. Does that not fit the bill of service-oriented volunteering?

It is very similar to EMT. Like Wilderness Training where you have to look for and find people who are injured hiking or rock climbing or skiing. You aren't given a chance to address someone's situation/distress. People should be coming to you for help. You can list it as such, but as a whole, it might be debatable among faculty.

Another analogy is that it's like the National Guard, which would better fit service orientation IMO. Your training and commitment description will be critical.

The only semi-leadership experiences I have is the TAing and leading a quiz section.

Those fall under typical academic culture practices, i.e., teaching/tutoring. Not really leadership.