Help with school list - NJ resident

[fisher22]

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1. cGPA and sGPA as calculated by AMCAS or AACOMAS
   1. cGPA + sGPA both 4.00
2. MCAT score(s) and breakdown. Include all (non-voided) attempts.
   1. 520 (131/127/130/132)
3. State of residence or country of citizenship (if non-US)
   1. grew up in NJ, but currently going to college in PA
4. Ethnicity and/or race
   1. ORM
5. Undergraduate institution or category
   1. Large public school; nothing special
6. Clinical experience (volunteer and non-volunteer)
   1. Medical Assistant (paid) - 750 hours over 8 months; worked in primary careened is one of my most meaningful experiences. Really solidified my interest in medicine and taught me about the responsibility of a job in healthcare. Unfortunately, wasn't able to continue because of scheduling conflicts with my classes.
   2. Rehabilitation Hospital Volunteer - just started this a few weeks ago and will continue doing it throughout the summer and next year, basically work alongside PT/OT/speech to engage inpatient in leisure activities
7. Research experience and productivity
   1. Summer Fellowship - 400 hours in a cancer biology lab the summer of my freshman year through a school sponsored research fellowship that only 15 students in the college are selected for. did two college/university poster presentations.
   2. Dry Lab Computing - about 450 hours in a genomics lab, really didn't like it and I was doing this during sophomore yr with approx 20 credits a sem and 2 other jobs (including my medical assistant work) so not sure if I should even include it?
   3. currently reaching out to labs for the summer as I really enjoyed wet lab basic science research but was unlucky and unable to fit it into my schedule
8. Shadowing experience and specialties represented
   1. primary care (30 hours); ob/gyn (30 hours); cardiology (25 hours)
9. Non-clinical volunteering
   1. 60 at food prep soup kitchen for low-income chronically ill individuals + 30 hours at restaurant style kitchen where I serve homeless individuals. I am actively continuing these experiences right now weekly/twice a week and will continue to do so throughout the summer.
10. Other extracurricular activities (including athletics, military service, gap year activities, leadership, teaching, etc)
    1. Pre-health organization - 450 hours; been on executive board since freshman year
    2. College Ambassador (paid) - 150 hours; work with the admissions department for prospective student recruitment and help with open house events
    3. Athletic Tutoring (paid)- 130 hours; tutored the student athletes in bio and chem
    4. Organic Chemistry TA (initially volunteer, now paid) - 160 hours so far; started with just tutoring and group review but now I'm basically the professor's right hand, I create practice materials, figure out test proctoring schedules, and organize and lead all the volunteer TAs. Applied to get a stipend to continue doing this at a greater capacity next semester.
11. Relevant honors or awards
    1. The previously mentioned research fellowship; half tuition merit scholarship. I applied to some university awards and scholarships that my advisors told me I have a good shot at and will be hearing from those in the next month or so.

My school list is extremely top heavy right now, so would love some feedback about which schools are too unrealistic and what "mid-tier" (??) schools I should add.

Harvard Medical School
Yale School of Medicine
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Rutgers, RWJMS
Rutgers, NJMS
NYU Grossman
Columbia
Cooper Medical School
Drexel
Icahn SOM (Mt. Sinai)
Stony Brook
NYMC
Cornell
Jefferson
Albany Medical College
Boston University
Case Western
Hofstra
Duke
Emory
Hackensack
Johns Hopkins
Mayo Clinic
Northwestern
UPenn
PSU
Ohio State

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Welcome to the forums.

Boost your soup kitchen + shelter volunteer to 150 by submission. For a shot at the brand schools, you should aspire for 250 minimum by submission.

What's your purpose as a physician? How should I follow your interest in medicine from all your clinical shadowing and experience?

 

[fisher22]

Welcome to the forums.

Boost your soup kitchen + shelter volunteer to 150 by submission. For a shot at the brand schools, you should aspire for 250 minimum by submission.

What's your purpose as a physician? How should I follow your interest in medicine from all your clinical shadowing and experience?

I have had a rocky relationship with the healthcare system, having been left undiagnosed for a condition for over a decade, and ultimately receiving that diagnosis as a result of my own research and persistence in finding answers. It was not anyone's fault, simply a product of circumstance, but as you can imagine, was deeply impactful. While that was the seed for my interest in healthcare, my clinical experiences (most directly, medical assisting) and shadowing are what have allowed me to learn about the responsibilities of a physician, and in contrast to my own experiences, the impact a dependable physician-patient relationship can have.

I also have a lot of teaching/mentoring experience (I don't think I really included the mentoring I do in some different orgs in my initial post). It's not something I've done only because it's "easy" work to find, but because I love teaching and education and really hope to be able to incorporate that into my long term career goals.

Where I think my narrative gets tricky is the fact that, although I have limited experience with basic science research, it was something I loved, and I want to be able to delve more into research in medical school. A combination of unlucky factors (class schedule and time, finances, unsupportive PIs), led to research being put on the back burner. So now I'm in a tricky spot where I would love the opportunities provided by schools or programs with a research focus (for example CCLCM), but I feel like my relative lack of experience precludes me from that.

 

[Faha]

Increase your non clinical volunteering hours to 150+ before you apply. Otherwise, you could be screened out at some schools. You could add these schools to your application:
Tufts
Rochester
USF Morsani
Cincinnati
Washington University (in St. Louis-almost a guaranteed interview with your stats)

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I have had a rocky relationship with the healthcare system, having been left undiagnosed for a condition for over a decade, and ultimately receiving that diagnosis as a result of my own research and persistence in finding answers. It was not anyone's fault, simply a product of circumstance, but as you can imagine, was deeply impactful. While that was the seed for my interest in healthcare, my clinical experiences (most directly, medical assisting) and shadowing are what have allowed me to learn about the responsibilities of a physician, and in contrast to my own experiences, the impact a dependable physician-patient relationship can have.

General advice: don't harp on the negatives about the healthcare system too much. We all know aspects of "the system" that deserve a lot of four-letter curse words (and not limited to just the four-letter words). Balance aspects of your "patient journey" with your "doctor journey"; read a few physician narratives that discuss the role reversal in the other direction if you want to see how to do that.

To that end, you can leverage your experience and help patients and caregivers as patient advocates or community health workers. Would this interest you? Perhaps become a supporter/fundraiser for a national patient advocacy organization focused on your condition?

I also have a lot of teaching/mentoring experience (I don't think I really included the mentoring I do in some different orgs in my initial post). It's not something I've done only because it's "easy" work to find, but because I love teaching and education and really hope to be able to incorporate that into my long term career goals.

Trust us... you'll get plenty of experience with teaching and education in med school and beyond. It is "academic medicine."

Where I think my narrative gets tricky is the fact that, although I have limited experience with basic science research, it was something I loved, and I want to be able to delve more into research in medical school. A combination of unlucky factors (class schedule and time, finances, unsupportive PIs), led to research being put on the back burner. So now I'm in a tricky spot where I would love the opportunities provided by schools or programs with a research focus (for example CCLCM), but I feel like my relative lack of experience precludes me from that.

I think you are mistakenly fading the summer fellowship you did. Granted, you didn't publish a peer-reviewed paper, but you also didn't blow up the lab. Research also is not limited to bench work, as your genomics work reveals. Most medical students and residents don't spend their time in a wet lab unless they intend to be physician-scientists running a lab. Most students will do lit reviews or community survey analysis. You can find student research at the schools you want to attend, but we know you paid for your buttered bread (while most graduate students are on tuition waivers).

 

[fisher22]

General advice: don't harp on the negatives about the healthcare system too much. We all know aspects of "the system" that deserve a lot of four-letter curse words (and not limited to just the four-letter words). Balance aspects of your "patient journey" with your "doctor journey"; read a few physician narratives that discuss the role reversal in the other direction if you want to see how to do that.

Oh definitely, I appreciate the reminder. Striking that balance is something I'm currently working on in the revision process and struggling a bit with, so take you for the suggestion about physician narratives, I hadn't thought of that! Are there any you recommend?

To that end, you can leverage your experience and help patients and caregivers as patient advocates or community health workers. Would this interest you? Perhaps become a supporter/fundraiser for a national patient advocacy organization focused on your condition?

This is something I would definitely be interested in! My condition is extremely rare (which is the main reason why it was undiagnosed for so long), and I looked into getting involved with rare disease organizations like NORD, but it seems as though they didn't have a lot of opportunities beyond setting up a college chapter. I considered doing that, but I feel like my interest in making an impact would be bogged down by organizational and administrative hoopla (blanking on a better word right now)

I think you are mistakenly fading the summer fellowship you did. Granted, you didn't publish a peer-reviewed paper, but you also didn't blow up the lab. Research also is not limited to bench work, as your genomics work reveals.

Do you think not receiving a letter from the genomics research PI, which was more recent, would be a red flag? I am planning on asking the post-doc I worked with during my fellowship to write an LOR, but the genomics research didn't really end on the best note and I'm hesitant to ask that PI.

Furthermore, it seems like everyone applying to these top schools with high stats have a TON of research hours compared to mine, and I hear people say that for these schools, research is sometimes more important than clinical experience? (although I don't know if that's true)

Additionally, would the activities I take on this summer have any impact on my application? I'm waiting to hear back from a health education internship for pre-health students, and applied to some clinical jobs, both of which are pretty flexible hours and would give me time to work on secondaries, but not sure if I should pivot and take up something more time intensive, like another research program funded by my school.

 

[fisher22]

Increase your non clinical volunteering hours to 150+ before you apply. Otherwise, you could be screened out at some schools. You could add these schools to your application:
Tufts
Rochester
USF Morsani
Cincinnati
Washington University (in St. Louis-almost a guaranteed interview with your stats)

Thank you so much! Are there any schools on the list you recommend removing?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Oh definitely, I appreciate the reminder. Striking that balance is something I'm currently working on in the revision process and struggling a bit with, so take you for the suggestion about physician narratives, I hadn't thought of that! Are there any you recommend?

There are so many you can pick from. When I worked in admissions, my bookshelf had many for a prehealth student to borrow. (They're still in boxes.)

Here are some articles from SDN:

You searched for author - SDN

www.studentdoctor.net

I like Damon Tweedy and Sandeep Jauhar, but there are so many choices. On my Kindle device, I have to read "Legacy" by Uche Blackstock (from Social Mission Action bookclub) and "The Bodies Keep Coming" by Brian Williams.

This is something I would definitely be interested in! My condition is extremely rare (which is the main reason why it was undiagnosed for so long), and I looked into getting involved with rare disease organizations like NORD, but it seems as though they didn't have a lot of opportunities beyond setting up a college chapter. I considered doing that, but I feel like my interest in making an impact would be bogged down by organizational and administrative hoopla (blanking on a better word right now)

Well, you don't need to set up a college chapter. You can stay involved with their organization's advocacy and promotion efforts.

Do you think not receiving a letter from the genomics research PI, which was more recent, would be a red flag? I am planning on asking the post-doc I worked with during my fellowship to write an LOR, but the genomics research didn't really end on the best note and I'm hesitant to ask that PI.

You aren't applying to a +PhD, so it's not a red flag. If it's not central to understanding why you want to be a doctor, it's fine.

Furthermore, it seems like everyone applying to these top schools with high stats have a TON of research hours compared to mine, and I hear people say that for these schools, research is sometimes more important than clinical experience? (although I don't know if that's true)

Research is a sign of academic competency/mastery. Your applicant pool includes gap year researchers so they'll have an additional thousand or so hours of research plus papers and posters. Do you want to do that to get into a highly recognizable brand name school? Great! They want to know you're big into the nuances of academic culture, including expectations for research. Rest assured, you don't need it; you will be enticed to do student research even as an M1. Rest assured, there are other students at these same schools with a TON of community service hours because they want to make a huge impact on community health. That's their purpose, and they have the chops and receipts to show it.

Additionally, would the activities I take on this summer have any impact on my application? I'm waiting to hear back from a health education internship for pre-health students, and applied to some clinical jobs, both of which are pretty flexible hours and would give me time to work on secondaries, but not sure if I should pivot and take up something more time intensive, like another research program funded by my school.

What do you feel you need more of? What does the internship provide that adds insight to your purpose as a physician vs. your research program choice? It only has impact if it adds value to your purpose as a physician. Don't do it to make your application appear "better." Otherwise, projected hours are meaningless on the application.

 

[Faha]

Thank you so much! Are there any schools on the list you recommend removing?

No. Your list is otherwise good.

 

[Student2025!]

Work on non clinical volunteering