Hello,
I am an applicant for this current cycle with a
LizzyM score of 73.3 (3.84/516 {129/126/131/130}) as a recent graduate and CA ORIM. I completed my primary and secondary at 14 schools between 9/7 and 9/11, and I have no updates besides an R from UCLA. My school list:
Albert Einstein
Rosalind Franklin
George Washington
Kaiser
USC
UCSD
UCLA (R)
UCI
UCSF
SUNY
Tufts
Tulane
U of Illinois
I just wanted to know how I can best use the rest of this and next year to augment my application in preparation for a reapp.
Looking at my school list, I think that's a significant problem for my lack of success this cycle as I should've applied to way more and way earlier. My EC's are:
Minigrant funded Research in Astrocyte Dynamics in Epilepsy (500 hours): Project cut short by covid, no pub
Peer mentor for Highlander Gloves and On the Rise (277 hours): Mentored impoverished kids academically and through boxing
Science Academic Tutor for my University (700 hours): Taught and established close relationships with underclassmen at my school
Opthamology and Family Medicine Shadowing (160 hours)
Food Delivery and Preparation (80 hours): Homeless food prep while in school, delivery driver during Covid for Feeding America
Drug Discovery and Protein Crystallography Lab (300 hours): First research gig, protein crystallization and x-ray diffraction, no pub
Summer Clinical Volunteering (325): I volunteered at an ED for 240 hours, then at the optho clinic for 45, then a FM practice for 40.
Musician(~600 hours): Wrote and performed with a friend as a duo at a couple shows in guitar/vocals around campus/city.
Honors: Chancellor/Dean List, Minigrant Research Award, BJJ Blue Belt
My EC's are spread out over the course of the 4 years, and if timeline matters I would be happy to elucidate that. I don't think my EC's are the problem, but I may have a weak PS or LOR's. My PS had to do with my pursuit of music instead of medicine originally, but how my experiences with medicine have led me to want to pursue that to heal people in a more complete and tangible way. I think it was a decent idea, but the way I wrote it may have indicated a lack of maturity and did not show enough conviction to medicine. My most meaningfuls were the top 3 EC's I listed, but I think the research one was the weakest one as I do not have a letter from my PI, and I did not get any presentation or pub. Instead, I wrote about learning the value of tenacity and being able to find solutions to a novel problem.
In regards to my LOR's, I think I have 2 strong letters (Tutoring work supervisor, and class professor letter) and one neutral-positive letter (Lab Class Professor) and I think that has hurt me a lot in this application cycle at these very competitive schools/cycle. I think my secondaries were decent, I had my sisters (who are in medicine) look over them before I submitted.
TLDR: My stats/EC's/School List above, how can I improve for the next cycle to be a stronger applicant in the next couple years? I'm a little lost on what to pursue for my gap year to augment parts of my application. I feel like sustained clinical jobs like a Patient Care Tech would be best to demonstrate commitment to the field, but I also have been taking computer science classes with an interest in a Neuroscience masters in Machine Learning/AI. I've been looking at Americorp, but the fact that you don't have a real say over your project seems to be a red flag for me, and so I've been volunteering as a food delivery driver and online tutoring for underprivileged families. Besides that, I know that next cycle I NEED to apply as soon as the AMCAS window opens, submit secondaries much quicker, and greatly expand my school list (and maybe AACOMAS, I don't want to do this cycle again).
Sorry for espousing my life, I just would like a little advice or guidance. My family is in medicine, but my parents don't quite understand how crazy competitive the process is, and give me conflicting logic about what I should do. Thank you so much for your time, and I hope you have a happy and healthy holiday.
