1. 3.95 cGPA and ~3.92 sGPA
2. 517 MCAT (126/131/130/130)
3. State of residence or country of citizenship (if non-US)
4. White Male, low SES (accepted FAP application), son of a single mother
5. Villanova University
6. Clinical experience (volunteer and non-volunteer)
- Approximately 150 hours of clinical volunteering in a hospital in Philly's emergency department (enrolling patients into clinical trials in ED)
7. Research experience and productivity
- Approximately 650 hours spent in undergrad labs across all 3 ½ years (2 separate labs)
8. Shadowing experience and specialties represented
- Approximately 100 hours spent shadowing ENT and neuro surgeries at Hospital of UPenn
9. Non-clinical volunteering
- Pre-medical Student Advisor - 90 hours
- Students Against Slavery Modern Human Trafficking Club Leader - 100 hours
- Student-Run Emergency Housing Unit of Philadelphia Volunteer Transport - 60 hours
- MLK Day of Service Special Olympics Volunteer - 10 hours
10. Other extracurricular activities (including athletics, military service, gap year activities, leadership, teaching, etc)
- Italian Club Executive Board Member (Leader) - 200 hours
- SPARK: A Club for the Advancement of Psychology/Neuro Majors (Academic Talks/Networking) - 30 hours
- Improvisational Comedy Actor, consistently acted in many paid shows on campus as well as in Philadelphia and other state, also did collegiate comedy competitions - ~250 hours
11. Relevant honors or awards
Medallion of Excellence (May 2018)
- Each department in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at VU nominates one graduating senior per year to receive a medallion. This student has generally earned the highest GPA in their major.
Dean's List (every semester)
- Awarded to students with >3.5 GPA
Villanova University Honors Program (fall 2018-spring 2021)
- Requires application. If accepted, must maintain >3.33 GPA and attend at least one honors class per year.
Professional Memberships:
- Phi Beta Kappa Academic Honor Society
- Alpha Epsilon Delta Pre-Health Honor Society
- Psi Chi International Honor Society in Psychology
Academic Scholarship:
- W. Gordon Dunning Scholarship (~$2000/year)
12. Anything else not listed you think might be important
I would like to stay within a 5-10 hour drive of Philadelphia if possible, as I want to be there for my aging grandparents on weekends when they need me to do housework or help them as their health begins to fail. I am trying to keep my list as competitive as possible while also taking this into consideration. If you could do the same, I would be very grateful.
Most importantly, please include a list of schools you are interested in applying to. It is much easier for users to help you when you have taken the time to construct your own school list first!
This is where things get a lot harder for me. So far, I know that I am going to apply to all 6 medical schools in Pennsylvania (I worked in Jeff’s ED for a whole summer, and also have ties to Drexel). Other than that, most things are up in the air. I am considering the following T20s (I think they are all T20?):
Mayo (kinda far for my taste)
Michigan (kinda far)
Penn (my dream, shadowed here, mother had surgery here, but low chance)
Pitt (very interested)
Duke
Cornell
Northwestern (maybe? Kinda far)
Yale (maybe? Not sure if Ihave a chance)
Icahn
Other than the above schools, I was also considering the following:
Case Western
Boston U
Dartmouth
Brown (very interested)
Rochester
Albert Einstein
Hofstra (very interested)
Tufts (really interested)
USF Morsani SELECT (but I am not sure I would want to be in FL, too far)
Larner (Vermont)
Eastern Virginia
Cincinnati
Ohio State (not really sure b/c state school + out of state tuition is hefty)
WMed (a bit far)
Another main question I have is… do I have enough “safe” schools on my list, or is there a good shot I’ll just kinda… not get in anywhere? Any advice on applying to some safer schools, and what these schools would be (if they even exist) is something I would REALLY appreciate. If there is anything you guys think I should narrow down or add on, I am open to anything. I am new to all of this and very overwhelmed.
Thank you all very much for your time and effort,
Chris
