BananaMan1
New Member
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2021
- Messages
- 10
- Reaction score
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Hello! I applied to 36 MD schools this past cycle (all secondaries in by July/early August) and received 4 interview invites which resulted in 3 waitlists and 1 rejection. The 1 rejection was from a T5 school.
Weaknesses/concerns:
-I believe my school list is fairly top heavy, I will definitely focus on the schools closer to my MCAT range next cycle. However, I thought I had enough lower stat schools that would've liked my volunteer experience. I will also add DO schools next cycle.
-I was worried about only having ~10 total activities on my application (even after listing each research lab and position at homeless clinic as a different activity). Though, my hours in the activities I did list were fairly high. I thought the number of hours would make up for the smaller number of activities but maybe not.
-Interviews: I got 4 interviews which was reassuring but most ended in waitlists. Because of this I'm unsure I interviewed as well as I thought, or if I just didn't stand out enough to be given an acceptance.
I am looking for advice on if I should try to add more activities to my application next time around. I am thinking of quitting my medical assistant/clinical research position to start an MPH and have more time to volunteer on the side to beef up my activities section of my app. Any other advice is much appreciated though, thanks!
- cGPA: 3.80, sGPA: 3.65
- MCAT: 514 (129/129/128/128)
- State of residence: CA
- Race/ethnicity: ORM
- Undergraduate institution or category: top CA public school
- Clinical experience: 1000+ hours medical assistant/clinical research assistant (now 2000+ hours by start of new cycle)
- Research experience: 600+ hours in 3 different labs w/ 2 publications (not first author on either)
- Shadowing experience: 60 hours in 3 specialties
- Non-clinical volunteering: 700+ hours at homeless clinic with leadership position across all 4 years of undergrad, 70 hours volunteering at other homeless shelters.
- Other extracurricular activities: 100 hours teaching a class on health disparities, 200 hours of sports clubs at undergrad, and 1 non-sport hobby.
- School List: UCSF, UCLA, UCSD, UCI, Pitt, Emory, Cornell, Michigan, USC, Dartmouth, Einstein, Hofstra, NYMC, Kaiser, Rochester, VCU, Stony Brook, Wake Forest, BU, Colorado, Maryland, Albany, Rosalind Franklin, Eastern Virginia, Medical College of Wisconsin, Arizona- Phoenix, Vermont, Oakland Michigan, Tulane, Tufts, Jefferson, Temple, Drexel, GW, Georgetown, St. Louis.
- Personal Statement: Focused on my volunteer experiences at the homeless clinic I worked at which put me on a path to medicine for the underserved. Also talked about my work as a medical assistant re-assuring my desire to work with patients.
- Secondaries: Felt confident in my secondaries overall, sent them back within a 2 week timeframe for all.
- LOR: Very confident in all of my letters from 3 professors, 1 PI from undergrad, 1 PI from current job.
Weaknesses/concerns:
-I believe my school list is fairly top heavy, I will definitely focus on the schools closer to my MCAT range next cycle. However, I thought I had enough lower stat schools that would've liked my volunteer experience. I will also add DO schools next cycle.
-I was worried about only having ~10 total activities on my application (even after listing each research lab and position at homeless clinic as a different activity). Though, my hours in the activities I did list were fairly high. I thought the number of hours would make up for the smaller number of activities but maybe not.
-Interviews: I got 4 interviews which was reassuring but most ended in waitlists. Because of this I'm unsure I interviewed as well as I thought, or if I just didn't stand out enough to be given an acceptance.
I am looking for advice on if I should try to add more activities to my application next time around. I am thinking of quitting my medical assistant/clinical research position to start an MPH and have more time to volunteer on the side to beef up my activities section of my app. Any other advice is much appreciated though, thanks!
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