Junior App Review No Gap Year (3.98, 522)

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TK1121

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2+ Year Member
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  • cGPA: 3.98, sGPA: 4.0
  • MCAT score: 522
  • State Residency: PA
  • Race/Ethnicity: White
  • T25 School (Public State School)
  • Clinical experience (volunteer and non-volunteer)
    1. Clinical Experience:
      1. Family Medicine Scribe (Both in Office and Nursing Home Visits with Provider)- 800 Hours
      2. Hospice Volunteer in a Dementia Unit- 200 Hours
      3. Rural Medicine Free Clinic Volunteer (Volunteered with Vision and Medical Services)- 200 Hours
  • Research experience and productivity
    1. Colorectal Cancer Public Health Research- 500 Hours
      • Involved in a colorectal cancer iniative that designed and ran a mailed FIT test iniative which involved distributing FIT tests to over 2000 patients in underserved communities without health insurance - In the process of publishing a paper and a FIT test intervention guide for other organizations to start up the program both of which my name will be on. Should be published by the time I apply.
    2. Public Health Research Lab- 200 Hours
      • Focused on developing an online phone based program to help people in rural communities looking to quit using tobacco- No papers/posters
      • Performed data input and statistical analysis for a regional survey done across rural southern virginia high schools looking to determine the most effective messaging to reduce drug use- No papers/posters
  • Shadowing experience and specialties represented
    1. Over 200 Hours Across Several Specialties:
      1. Family Medicine, General Surgery, Ophthalmology, Dermatology, Physical Medicine and Rehab, Pain Management, Addiction Medicine
  • Non-clinical volunteering
    1. Student Ran Mental Health Hot Line Volunteer- 200 Hours
    2. Peer Financial Counselor (Provide a resource for students looking for financial advice, underwent training by Financial Services)- 400 Hours
  • Other extracurricular activities (including athletics, military service, gap year activities, leadership, teaching, etc)
    1. A part of a community host group that organized and ran a free healthcare clinic in a rural part of VA, saw over 400 patients and provided over $200,000 in services
    2. Club Field Hockey President (previous secretary) Our team is the most recent national champions and ranked #1 in the country- 800 Hours
    3. All Female Investing Group (Underwent financial literacy course)- 100 Hours
    4. Real Estate Investing Group (Underwent financial training, listened to speakers)- 100 Hours
    5. TA for Physics
  • Relevant honors or awards
    1. Member of Honors College (only 5% of a class)
    2. Accepted to an academically prestigious secret society on campus
Schools of Interest:
  • University of Pittsburgh
  • Penn State
  • Geisinger Commonwealth
  • Jefferson
  • Drexel
  • Temple
  • Cooper Rowan Medical School
  • University of Virginia
  • Virginia Commonwealth
  • Eastern Virginia
  • Wake Forest
  • Dartmouth
  • Michigan
  • West Virginia
  • Ohio State
  • Marshall
  • University of Cincinnati
Osteopathic Medical Schools:

  • PCOM
  • DUQCOM
  • WVSOM
  • VCOM
  • Rowan-Virtua SOM
If I could get some input on how my school list looks that would be great. Also looking for some more school suggestions! Also if there is anything that I should beef up in my application let me know! Thank you!
 
You do not need to apply to DO schools with your stats. Some MD schools may "yield protect" with your stats. I suggest these schools:
Pittsburgh
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Commonwealth Geisinger
Penn State
U Penn
Rochester
Hofstra
Einstein (free tuition)
Mount Sinai
NYU (free tuition)
Columbia
Cornell
Johns Hopkins (free tuition)
Harvard
Yale
Boston University
Tufts
Dartmouth
Brown
U Virginia
Duke
Vanderbilt
Washington University (in St. Louis-almost a guaranteed interview with your stats)
Northwestern
U Chicago
U Michigan
Case Western
Cincinnati
Mayo
 
Clearly on the metrics side, you're doing great! Congratulations on the c'hip!

Let's go to the list. Why are you considering DO schools, and specifically the ones on your list? With your metrics you shouldn't wind up at the DO schools on your list, so is it a question of mission fit? Why is LECOM off the list? I agree with your stats, MD is clearly in sight if you demonstrate strong mission fit.

On mission fit: did you grow up in a rural, medically underserved area? Do you feel this is your purpose as a physician? Read
Application Advice for Future Rural Health Professionals - SDN. Also check if there are three-year tracks that you might be interested in...

Next steps

Also, on the community service side, I suggest you need more off-campus impact unrelated to your free clinic work. You can leverage your social work connections at the free clinic to volunteer at other social services non-profits (food distribution, shelter volunteer, job/tax preparation [leveraging your financial education], transportation services, or housing rehabilitation). Your public health work will help you with this.

You also have more than enough shadowing, so keep building on your clinical experience or diversify the patient communities where you have exposure a bit more.
 
You do not need to apply to DO schools with your stats. Some MD schools may "yield protect" with your stats. I suggest these schools:
Pittsburgh
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Commonwealth Geisinger
Penn State
U Penn
Rochester
Hofstra
Einstein (free tuition)
Mount Sinai
NYU (free tuition)
Columbia
Cornell
Johns Hopkins (free tuition)
Harvard
Yale
Boston University
Tufts
Dartmouth
Brown
U Virginia
Duke
Vanderbilt
Washington University (in St. Louis-almost a guaranteed interview with your stats)
Northwestern
U Chicago
U Michigan
Case Western
Cincinnati
Mayo
Thank you so much for the advice! If you were to look at my list, which schools would you say would probably yield protect me? Also would DO schools yield protect against me as well?
 
Clearly on the metrics side, you're doing great! Congratulations on the c'hip!

Let's go to the list. Why are you considering DO schools, and specifically the ones on your list? With your metrics you shouldn't wind up at the DO schools on your list, so is it a question of mission fit? Why is LECOM off the list? I agree with your stats, MD is clearly in sight if you demonstrate strong mission fit.

On mission fit: did you grow up in a rural, medically underserved area? Do you feel this is your purpose as a physician? Read
Application Advice for Future Rural Health Professionals - SDN. Also check if there are three-year tracks that you might be interested in...

Next steps

Also, on the community service side, I suggest you need more off-campus impact unrelated to your free clinic work. You can leverage your social work connections at the free clinic to volunteer at other social services non-profits (food distribution, shelter volunteer, job/tax preparation [leveraging your financial education], transportation services, or housing rehabilitation). Your public health work will help you with this.

You also have more than enough shadowing, so keep building on your clinical experience or diversify the patient communities where you have exposure a bit more.
Thank you so much for the advice! In regards to your questions:
1) I have spent a lot of time shadowing with DO physicians and I have a lot of respect for the DO philosophy as a whole. As someone very interested in Family Medicine and preventative care, I don't really see it as a step down to apply to DO schools hence why I am interested in applying. I am just potentially concerned they may yield protect against me.

2) I did not grow up in a rural community however through college I have gotten a ton of experience volunteering and working in these communities and it is something I am very intersted in continuing post med school. Specifically thinking family medicine within rural communities which I think I can portray well in my application. I am definitely very interested in some accelerated programs and am looking into them! Do you have any specific three year programs that you have heard really good thigs about?

Will definitelty look into getting off campus for more volunteering activities.
 
If you haven't taken classes focused on rural communities or sociology, subscribe to podcasts focused on rural health.

In the spaces I listen to, all the accelerated tracks sound great, so you should all students currently in them.
 
Thank you so much for the advice! If you were to look at my list, which schools would you say would probably yield protect me? Also would DO schools yield protect against me as well?
Cooper Rowan, Wake Forest, Eastern Virginia and Virginia Commonwealth will probably "yield Protect". You do not need to apply to DO schools.
 
You do not need to apply to DO schools with your stats. Some MD schools may "yield protect" with your stats. I suggest these schools:
Pittsburgh
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Commonwealth Geisinger
Penn State
U Penn
Rochester
Hofstra
Einstein (free tuition)
Mount Sinai
NYU (free tuition)
Columbia
Cornell
Johns Hopkins (free tuition)
Harvard
Yale
Boston University
Tufts
Dartmouth
Brown
U Virginia
Duke
Vanderbilt
Washington University (in St. Louis-almost a guaranteed interview with your stats)
Northwestern
U Chicago
U Michigan
Case Western
Cincinnati
Mayo
OP
Add Baylor, U VM, SUNY.SB, U MA, OH STATE.
You can do better than Drexel or Temple. Delete U WV
 
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