MD/PhD Advice on School List

[immunogobbling]

Hi all!

I am applying to MD/PhD programs this upcoming cycle and wanted some feedback on my school list so far (i.e. schools you would think are worth adding or removing). Some background:

MD or MD/PhD: MD/PhD
Overall GPA: 3.99
Science GPA: 4.00
MCAT: 522

State of Residence: TX
Undergrad Attended: Large public university in Texas
Major: Biology, Public Health
Minority: LGBTQ

SES: Upper middle class
Reapplicant: No
Nontraditional: 3 gap years by matriculation

Shadowing Experience:
2 hours immunology
3 hours critical care/ICU
10 hours infectious disease
20 hours hospitalist (IM)

Volunteering Experience (As of now):
105 hours volunteering at nonprofit antique store
60 hours + 20 hours volunteering at 2 different hospice agencies
~250 hours volunteering at a local hospital

Employment:
-Working as a peer mentor for a research lab class (~200 hours)
-a few research jobs (#2 and #3 in research below)

Research:
~300 hours in wet lab for diagnostics
~300 hours writing a literature review on COVID therapeutics during the pandemic
~4160 hours in a B-cell biology lab (with another 2080 hours by matriculation)

-2 Poster presentations, 3 oral presentations, 2 video presentations
-1 first-author literature review in a small journal
-Contributing to a manuscript currently as a likely 2nd author; aiming for a decently high-impact journal (CNS?)

Leadership:
-PR officer and finances manager for two different on-campus science orgs
-Member of on-campus

Other Extracurriculars: Award-winning baker, some amateur weightlifting, political advocacy through voter registration (will not mention this most likely)

Relevant Honors or Awards: Got a college-wide recognition when graduating, summa cum laude, a handful of small scholarships, multiple small poster awards

Misc Info/Things not stated elsewhere/Red Flags: My big PS story is taking care of my grandmother over a summer through sickness. I know my shadowing hours are decently low, but this is partly pandemic-related (I've lost ~10-15 hours of shadowing because multiple doctors have gotten COVID before I shadow them). I don't think I'm going to be able to squeeze the last 15 hours I wanted out.

School list so far:
Alabama-Heersink
Stanford
UCLA-Geffen
Yale
Iowa-Carver
Illinois
Harvard
Michigan
Washington U St Louis
Duke
Cornell-Weill
Mount Sinai-Icahn
Rochester
Cincinnati
Penn State
Pennsylvania-Perelman
Pittsburgh
Baylor
UT Houston-McGovern
UT Southwestern
U Washington
MC Wisconsin

My research interests are focused on host-pathogen interactions (particularly related to B-cell biology), and this is a pretty big theme in my app as written so far. I know this is a super top-heavy list, which is why I wanted some feedback. A lot of these places have a great research fit for me (i.e. Harvard and Cornell/Rockefeller have some really awesome B-cell biology research going on), but I want to add some "lower-tier" places in case I'm being overly ambitious. Any feedback would be appreciated!

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[ddhopeful]

You already have mid to low tier programs such as McGovern, MCW and Penn State. You have amazing stats and research and have a minority sexual orientation. Would be shocked if you don't land multiple As from T10.

 

[immunogobbling]

You already have mid to low tier programs such as McGovern, MCW and Penn State. You have amazing stats and research and have a minority sexual orientation. Would be shocked if you don't land multiple As from T10.

Thank you for the feedback! Might add in a couple of extra safeties just to satisfy my paranoia- I know there's a ton of insanely talented people applying as well, so better safe than sorry. :^) Thanks again!