Help With School List Please! 3.86/518

[glarekid]

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Year in school: co2020, taking gap year, BS in Biology from Tufts University, Transfer student from UC Berkeley
Country/state of residence: Hawaii, Asian
Cumulative GPA: 3.86 (1st year: 3.69, transferred: 3.89)
Science GPA: 3.87
MCAT Scores: 518 (130, 129, 130, 129)

Schools to which you are applying:

• University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine
• Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
• Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine
• Mayo Clinic School of Medicine
• University of California, Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine
• Duke University School of Medicine
• Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
• Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine
• Weill Cornell Medicine
• University of Michigan Medical School
• University of Virginia School of Medicine
• Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
• Boston University School of Medicine
• University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
• Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California
• Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
• University of Hawaii, John A. Burns School of Medicine
• Tufts University School of Medicine
• University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry
• Albert Einstein College of Medicine
• The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
• Rush Medical College of Rush University Medical Center
• Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University
• Drexel University College of Medicine
• Creighton University School of Medicine

Also considering St Louis and U of Cincinnati, would really appreciate help with school list/don't really how many schools I "should" apply to

Research – include any abstracts/posters/publications and how you were credited (eg. First author, senior author, etc):

Wet Lab:

• Undergrad Research Assistant, Tufts University: research on novel TNBC treatment, name on one poster presentation at conference
• Summer Research Intern, University of Hawaii Cancer Center: Made recombinant luciferase reporter for drug screening, poster at program presentation

Clinical:

• Summer Student Researcher, Hawaii Pacific Health: Fertility preservation in cancer patients, poster at program presentation, presented to Straub Hospital Cancer Committee, talked about research on Hawaii Public Radio

Volunteering (clinical) – include hours/sites:

• Kaiser Permanente, ~215 Hours

Physician shadowing – include hours/specialties:

• Radiologist, Pediatric Pulmonary Specialist, OB/GYN, Neurosurgeon, Internist, Nephrologist, Pediatrician, Oncologist, General Surgeon, Pediatric Surgeon, Geriatrician, Urologist: ~200 Hours total (Longest I've shadowed a single doctor is probably ~20-30 hours, a lot of surgery shadowing done through summer program)

Non-clinical volunteering:

• Volunteered at Elementary School over the course of 5 years (during summers), 130 total hours

Extracurricular activities:

• Co-coordinator for campus mental health support hotline (past year), could also fall under volunteering (10 hours a week manning hotline), joined in 2017
• Co-president (past year) and publicity chair (past 2 years) for Taiwanese club
• Outreach coordinator (past 2 years) and site leader (past year) for an after school care female empowerment/mentoring club for middle schoolers, could also count as volunteering? (1.5 hours a week working directly with students)
• Club tennis (treasurer last year)

Employment history:

• Patient Care Associate at hospital (kind of like a nurse assistant), from November to march (then covid19 said hi), 8.5hr/week
• Academic resource center tutor for gen bio/genetics/biochem (from 2018), 5hr/week
• RA (last year), don't know how to calculate hours, do I just count on-duty hours

Immediate family members in medicine? (y/n): No
Specialty of interest: maybe something peds related/gen surg, but honestly still exploring
Interest in rural health (y/n): open, but not sure

Idk how to feel about my school list, is it too many? Am I aiming too high? Are there schools I shouldn't apply to? Also, would love advice on which aspects I should try to strengthen over my gap year or focus on highlighting in my app. Thank you so much!

 

[Faha]

You have a good list and should receive several interviews.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I was going to say, where's your in-state (Hawaii)? Then I found it in your list. Good luck! Use the WARS system to help you pare down and identify your tiers. You should do a little bit of networking and make sure your chances as an OOS student are good for the public schools on your list. What were your gap year plans?

 

[LeaveNoTrace]

Put the mental health coordinating work down as nonclinical volunteering; you need more of that.

 

[glarekid]

I was going to say, where's your in-state (Hawaii)? Then I found it in your list. Good luck! Use the WARS system to help you pare down and identify your tiers. You should do a little bit of networking and make sure your chances as an OOS student are good for the public schools on your list. What were your gap year plans?

Thank you! I used the WARS but was hesitant about applying to so many Category 1/2 schools, especially since I'm not the strongest writer. For my gap year, I am interviewing for medical assistant-like jobs in Hawaii and New York. Also applying for clinical research jobs. If I don't get an offer, I will return to Boston to work as a PCA full time