Narrowing Down School List (CA reapplicant)

[WhalesAreCool]

Hi guys,

I am a CA resident and reapplication trying to figure out my MD and DO school list for this cycle. My cGPA is 3.65 and my sGPA is 3.63 with an MCAT of 512. Here are my following EC's with my new EC's for this application cyle marked with a *

Lab Research - 1250 hours of 3 summer internships at the same neural stem cell translational research lab, 1 third author publication, 1 paper publication in a prominent science journal deep in author listings, 3 poster presentations. 1 summer was volunteering, 1 summer was funded by the lab, and 1 summer was externally funded with a grant I applied for in that order.

Urgent Care Clinical Volunteering - 3 summers totaling 220 hours at an urgent care being an extra hand on deck to help with patient flow and communication directly with a physician.

Club Sports - Intercollegiate club sports involvement for 4 years finishing with being captain of the team. It wasn't NCAA but still competitive at the intercollegiate level. I did a lot of work organizationally and turned the team around to have our first winning season in 7 years. Totaling 1000 hours.

Student Club Co-Director - International aid organization chapter at my college totaling 250 hours. We organize a medical volunteer trip every year to a Latin American country bringing medical supplies and help them with personnel shortages for a week.

Physician shadowing - 100 hours of outpatient consultations with a surgeon. I'm sure everyone knows how these go. 50 hours out of 100 new for this cycle.

*Primary Care Scribing - my current job with 100 hours so far

*Student Club mental health community volunteering - 70 hours

*Peer tutoring/TAing for a literature class - 40 hours

*Peer mentoring/underclassmen guidance - 130 hours

Powerlifting Hobby - 150 hours

*Patient Escort/Transfer Volunteering in a large hospital - 100 hr

I'm planning on listing the research, club sports, and patient transport as my most meaningful activities. I also had 1 alcohol IA in my freshman year and a noise violation during my sophomore year.
One of the points of feedback I heard was that my application was too research focused and did not match well with the missions for the lower-tier medical schools I applied for. I tried to address these concerns with my new activities above and fundamentally changing my PS to emphasise community involvement and volunteering.
Please let me know which schools to add/remove from my current list below:
EDIT: schools where I am a reapplicant are marked by *
Marshall University
USHS SOM
*UC Davis
*UCLA Geffen
*UCSD (hold for interview, then rejected)
*UCI
*UCR
Wayne State
Univesity of North Dakota
*Quinnipiac University SOM
University of Toledo COM
U of Nevada SOM
*New York Medical College
*The Commonwealth Medical College
*George Washington SOM
Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson SOM
VCU SOM
*Rosalind Franklin at Chicago SOM
UoTexas Rio Grande
*Albany University SOM
U of Utah SOM
*Drexel University SOM
Medical College of Wisconsin
Central Michigan SOM
*Tulane University SOM
*Cal Northstate SOM
*FIU Herbert Wertheim SOM
Northeast Ohio Medical University
*Loyola Stritch SOM
Wake Forest SOM
*interviewed - WL - Virginia Tech Carilion SOM
*interviewed - rejected after hold - University of Arizona at Tucson
*interviewed - rejected - Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
*University of Arizona at Phoenix
*Wright State Boonshoft SOM
Cooper Rowan Medical School

Thanks everyone!

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[ndafife]

Unless you are Native American you should remove North Dakota.

I can't really speak to the other schools on your list, but make sure they are schools that are welcoming to OOS applicants.

 

[gyngyn]

At which of these are you a re-applicant?
* is fine.

 

[WhalesAreCool]

Thanks for checking out my post! I put a * by schools where I am a reapplicant. I'll edit this post later today to include my previous cycle's school list

 

[Goro]

Here is a more realistic list


USHS SOM Are you aware of the military serve requirements?
*UC Davis
*UCI
*UCR

*Quinnipiac University SOM
*New York Medical College
*George Washington
VCU SOM
*Rosalind Franklin at Chicago SOM
*Albany University SOM
*Drexel University SOM
Medical College of Wisconsin
*Tulane University SOM

*Loyola Stritch SOM
Wake Forest SOM

How on earth did you get an interview at VA Tech and Rutgers??????

 

[WhalesAreCool]

@Goro I wish I knew, I guess they liked me. Also shouldn't I apply to more than 14 schools? The advising I received was to apply broadly since my stats are subpar.

I am also aware and open to USHS SOM's service requirement.

 

[Goro]

Add DO schools, EVMS, Gtown, the Philly Triplets, Loyola, Creighton, SLU, U VM, U Miami, Wake

 

[precisiongraphic]

So do you know why you didn't have much luck this last cycle? I think that might be an important question.

@Goro I wish I knew, I guess they liked me. Also shouldn't I apply to more than 14 schools? The advising I received was to apply broadly since my stats are subpar.

I am also aware and open to USHS SOM's service requirement.

 

[WhalesAreCool]

So do you know why you didn't have much luck this last cycle? I think that might be an important question.

Right, so what I heard from a couple schools that were able to give me feedback was that my app was too research focused and did not match well with the mission and resources of low tier schools I applied to. My PS included a relatively large paragraph about the impact research had on my desire to become a physician and one of my "most meaningful" activities was also research. I was also told by an adviser that putting in a paragraph about my sports injuries and a "most meaningful" slot for my sport made me seem a bit two dimensional. Also I did had some clinical volunteering but was a couple years removed from the application. My lack of non-clinical volunteering clearly was not helpful either. These factors combined with my two IA's I'm guessing were the bulk of the reason that I was not admitted.

So changes for this year include: revamping my PS to focus on community involvement and volunteering, becoming more active in the community (tutoring, peer mentoring, patient escort, mental health advocating), and working as a medical scribe. It's hard to say how well I was able to address the issues with my previous app, but hopefully it'll make some difference for this cycle. Also I feel that it's worth mentioning that I do legitimately feel a greater desire to serve others after my community involvement and clinical volunteering experiences

I don't think my frazzled nerves during interviews particularly helped either haha

 

[ndafife]

These factors combined with my two IA's I'm guessing were the bulk of the reason that I was not admitted.

Uhhhhh... What are these? Probably would have been worth including in your first post.

 

[WhalesAreCool]

Uhhhhh... What are these? Probably would have been worth including in your first post.

I'm not sure exactly what you're asking. My IA was for an alcohol violation in a dorm my freshman year and a noise violation in a dorm in my sophomore year.

 

[Pusheen]

You need to add a lot more lower tier schools where you are not a reapplicant. I would remove the more competitive UC's

 

[WhalesAreCool]

You need to add a lot more lower tier schools where you are not a reapplicant. I would remove the more competitive UC's

Honestly, I would love to add more low tier schools but I don't think there are any more than the ones I've listed. I listed schools by lowest GPA on the MSAR and included any schools with high OOS interview. If I am missing some schools please let me know.