qualifications for aoa other than grades

[afib123]

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To people that are involved in selection of AOA candidates or have experience applying to AOA, I have some questions for you.
In our school, 25 percent of the people are eligible through grades and step 1 and I think 15 percent of those actually get AOA. I looked online and it seems other factors that are looked at are research, service, leadership. Does anyone know which category out of those is ranked more heavily? Is AOA selection from the top 25 percent of the class very biased towards the popular kids in school involved in various clubs and activities, or do they try to be fair to students whose application might be more strong in research and academics (like me)?

I have 25 hours of community service and decent amount of research but no leadership (Basically didn't bother to lead the interest groups or join various committees like med-formal committee). I now regret this since it's such an easy and silly thing I could have done in 2nd year to check off a box. Are my chances pretty much gone for an AOA without leadership and significant university involvement?

I will for sure be eligible grades wise. I got 5 honors, around 90th percentile step 1, 1 near honors, and possibly another honors depending on how my last clerkship goes.

 

[FindMeOnTheLinks]

Will vary by school. It’s all about clinical grades and step scores at my school. Only if the grades and scores are basically identical will they look at extracurricular stuff. Apparently that almost never occurs.

 

[afib123]

Will vary by school. It’s all about clinical grades and step scores at my school. Only if the grades and scores are basically identical will they look at extracurricular stuff. Apparently that almost never occurs.

Lucky

 

[Dr. Doctor MD]

To people that are involved in selection of AOA candidates or have experience applying to AOA, I have some questions for you.
In our school, 25 percent of the people are eligible through grades and step 1 and I think 15 percent of those actually get AOA. I looked online and it seems other factors that are looked at are research, service, leadership. Does anyone know which category out of those is ranked more heavily? Is AOA selection from the top 25 percent of the class very biased towards the popular kids in school involved in various clubs and activities, or do they try to be fair to students whose application might be more strong in research and academics (like me)?

I have 25 hours of community service and decent amount of research but no leadership (Basically didn't bother to lead the interest groups or join various committees like med-formal committee). I now regret this since it's such an easy and silly thing I could have done in 2nd year to check off a box. Are my chances pretty much gone for an AOA without leadership and significant university involvement?

I will for sure be eligible grades wise. I got 5 honors, around 90th percentile step 1, 1 near honors, and possibly another honors depending on how my last clerkship goes.

Every school is different in how they select AOA

Some are fair and objective and go solely on grades/step 1. Others use grades for the nomination and then all the subjective stuff to pick who actually gets it. Others do different breakdowns with weight on Grades/Step 1/Community Service/Leadership/Research.

Basically there is no way at all to know how your school specifically does it unless you ask them. Some schools even have the criteria posted online. Here is an example from UT Southwestern.

Criteria for Selection for Class of 2020

Some schools are fair, others are not, and many are in between. Regardless you should find out the criteria and prepare yourself to meet them. Best of luck!

 

[MSTP18]

To people that are involved in selection of AOA candidates or have experience applying to AOA, I have some questions for you.
In our school, 25 percent of the people are eligible through grades and step 1 and I think 15 percent of those actually get AOA. I looked online and it seems other factors that are looked at are research, service, leadership. Does anyone know which category out of those is ranked more heavily? Is AOA selection from the top 25 percent of the class very biased towards the popular kids in school involved in various clubs and activities, or do they try to be fair to students whose application might be more strong in research and academics (like me)?

I have 25 hours of community service and decent amount of research but no leadership (Basically didn't bother to lead the interest groups or join various committees like med-formal committee). I now regret this since it's such an easy and silly thing I could have done in 2nd year to check off a box. Are my chances pretty much gone for an AOA without leadership and significant university involvement?

I will for sure be eligible grades wise. I got 5 honors, around 90th percentile step 1, 1 near honors, and possibly another honors depending on how my last clerkship goes.

It is completely up to each individual school. The only thing "AOA" mandates is a limit on what percentage of the class can be selected.