Radio silence this cycle. What are my chances?

[ganginguponthesun2020]

Hi guys! I'm applying this cycle and submitted most of my apps by mid/late July. I have yet to hear anything at all (besides being put on hold at GW), and it's starting to freak me out a little. I realize that it's still very early, but it concerns me that I haven't heard anything, even from schools that I submitted to very early (like UC Davis on 7/6/19). I guess I'm looking for a little bit of reassurance, or advice for beefing up my application for next cycle. I really appreciate any help and good luck to anyone else applying this cycle 🙂

1. cGPA=3.9 sGPA=3.85
2. MCAT= 512. 126, 127, 128, 131 (took July 2017)
3. CA resident, originally from Maine
4. Caucasian
5. Pitzer College in Claremont, CA (part of the Claremont colleges consortium)
6. -100 hours at 2 clinics in Quito, Ecuador during semester abroad
   -Training to be a doula (30 hour class/training, 30+ hours volunteering teaching birth education classes to parents, 14 hours attending first hospital birth as doula)
7. -400 hours as summer research intern at UCSF in cancer lab, --> 3rd author Nature Cell Bio paper
   -800 hours at Maine Med Research Inst. over 2 summers --> a 3rd and 4th author papers in low tier journals
   -4000+ hours working full time in a lab at UCSF/UCSD, no papers yet, but a 1st author abstract
8. No shadowing 🙁 (unless you count the 14 hours I spent in the hospital delivery room as a doula w/ my client)
9. 250 hours volunteering as a peer support volunteer for a women's cancer program over the course of 1+ year
10. -Chemistry TA one semester (100 hours)
    -Biology tutor 2 semesters (100 hours)
    -Private tutor for middle schoolers off and on (30 hours)
    -Have played violin since I was 8. Attended a chamber music workshop for 4 years. One semester in college orchestra.
11. Fulbright scholar finalist/waitlist
12. Human Bio Major w/ emphasis on Cross Cultural Health & Healing. Studied Spanish and studied abroad. Took Health Psychology and Health Disparities classes.

School list:

Keiser Permanente

Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin

University of California, Riverside School of Medicine

Albany Medical College

University of California, Davis, School of Medicine

Rush Medical College of Rush University Medical Center

Tulane University School of Medicine

Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine

University of Vermont College of Medicine

Drexel University College of Medicine

George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences

California University of Science and Medicine

New York Medical College

Quinnipiac

Georgetown University School of Medicine

Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University

Tufts University School of Medicine

Stony Brook University School of Medicine

University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine

The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University

University of Massachusetts Medical School

Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth

Albert Einstein College of Medicine

University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine

Hofstra

University of California, Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine

University of California, San Diego School of Medicine

Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California

University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine

Boston University

Weill Cornell Medicine

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[Faha]

Do you have any clinical volunteering or employment with patient contact in this country ?

 

[ganginguponthesun2020]

Do you have any clinical volunteering or employment with patient contact in this country ?

Just the 14 hours as a doula. I provided emotional and physical support to my client through labor and delivery, and got to observe the nurses and doctors work during the process.

Also, I am a peer support volunteer for a breast cancer patient (250 hours), but this doesn't take place in a clinical setting

 

[MyOdyssey]

Just the 14 hours as a doula. I provided emotional and physical support to my client through labor and delivery, and got to observe the nurses and doctors work during the process.

Also, I am a peer support volunteer for a breast cancer patient (250 hours), but this doesn't take place in a clinical setting

That’s a concern as is the dearth of non clinical volunteering with the underserved.

CA is a competitive state.

Might want to work on that and send updates to your schools.

 

[candbgirl]

Just the 14 hours as a doula. I provided emotional and physical support to my client through labor and delivery, and got to observe the nurses and doctors work during the process.

Also, I am a peer support volunteer for a breast cancer patient (250 hours), but this doesn't take place in a clinical setting

So you applied with essentially no shadowing and no clinical experience? That’s not good. You might want to start working on these areas . Same goes for nonclinical volunteering to the unserved/underserved in your community. You can update schools as the cycle continues(if a school accepts updates) and if you have to reapply, you’ll have improved your application. Get out of your comfort zone and learn about people unlike yourself. Try to get about 50 hours of physician shadowing(including some with a primary care doc), 150+ in clinical experience and 150+ in nonclinical volunteering.

 

[Faha]

Your complete lack of shadowing and minimal clinical volunteering hours will limit your chances for interviews. I recommend accumulating 50 hours of physician shadowing (including primary care) in the coming year as well as 200+ hours of clinical volunteering or employment with patient contact. These activities will help you considerably if you need to reapply.

 

[Goro]

Hi guys! I'm applying this cycle and submitted most of my apps by mid/late July. I have yet to hear anything at all (besides being put on hold at GW), and it's starting to freak me out a little. I realize that it's still very early, but it concerns me that I haven't heard anything, even from schools that I submitted to very early (like UC Davis on 7/6/19). I guess I'm looking for a little bit of reassurance, or advice for beefing up my application for next cycle. I really appreciate any help and good luck to anyone else applying this cycle 🙂

1. cGPA=3.9 sGPA=3.85
2. MCAT= 512. 126, 127, 128, 131 (took July 2017)
3. CA resident, originally from Maine
4. Caucasian
5. Pitzer College in Claremont, CA (part of the Claremont colleges consortium)
6. -100 hours at 2 clinics in Quito, Ecuador during semester abroad
   -Training to be a doula (30 hour class/training, 30+ hours volunteering teaching birth education classes to parents, 14 hours attending first hospital birth as doula)
7. -400 hours as summer research intern at UCSF in cancer lab, --> 3rd author Nature Cell Bio paper
   -800 hours at Maine Med Research Inst. over 2 summers --> a 3rd and 4th author papers in low tier journals
   -4000+ hours working full time in a lab at UCSF/UCSD, no papers yet, but a 1st author abstract
8. No shadowing 🙁 (unless you count the 14 hours I spent in the hospital delivery room as a doula w/ my client)
9. 250 hours volunteering as a peer support volunteer for a women's cancer program over the course of 1+ year
10. -Chemistry TA one semester (100 hours)
    -Biology tutor 2 semesters (100 hours)
    -Private tutor for middle schoolers off and on (30 hours)
    -Have played violin since I was 8. Attended a chamber music workshop for 4 years. One semester in college orchestra.
11. Fulbright scholar finalist/waitlist
12. Human Bio Major w/ emphasis on Cross Cultural Health & Healing. Studied Spanish and studied abroad. Took Health Psychology and Health Disparities classes.

School list:

Keiser Permanente

Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin

University of California, Riverside School of Medicine

Albany Medical College

University of California, Davis, School of Medicine

Rush Medical College of Rush University Medical Center

Tulane University School of Medicine

Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine

University of Vermont College of Medicine

Drexel University College of Medicine

George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences

California University of Science and Medicine

New York Medical College

Quinnipiac

Georgetown University School of Medicine

Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University

Tufts University School of Medicine

Stony Brook University School of Medicine

University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine

The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University

University of Massachusetts Medical School

Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth

Albert Einstein College of Medicine

University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine

Hofstra

University of California, Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine

University of California, San Diego School of Medicine

Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California

University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine

Boston University

Weill Cornell Medicine

of your list the following are donations:
Cornell
UCSF
UCSD
UCLA
U MA
Brown

Patience is a virtue, the need for instant gratification is not.

Schools stratify the apps as they come in and don't send out secondaries or IIs merely in chronological order.

 

[ganginguponthesun2020]

Your complete lack of shadowing and minimal clinical volunteering hours will limit your chances for interviews. I recommend accumulating 50 hours of physician shadowing (including primary care) in the coming year as well as 200+ hours of clinical volunteering or employment with patient contact. These activities will help you considerably if you need to reapply.

Thank you for the clear and helpful advice. I've been trying to find some shadowing opportunities, and will continue to do so. If it starts looking like I will need to reapply I will unfortunately need to retake the MCAT since I took it in July 2017. My tentative plan is to quit my research job around January and begin studying, while continuing to volunteer as a peer support volunteer for the women's cancer program (this would put me at ~420+ hours), and then starting to volunteer at a local hospital for their doula program for the underserved (could easily amass 200+ hours since the shifts are 12 hrs). If I do these things, and find 50 hours of shadowing do you think that would put me in a good position? I'm worried that not working for a few months may look bad, but I don't think I could manage studying for MCAT, working full time and obtaining all the shadowing/clinical hours I need.

 

[Faha]

Not working for a few months has no effect on your chances.

 

[MyOdyssey]

Thank you for the clear and helpful advice. I've been trying to find some shadowing opportunities, and will continue to do so. If it starts looking like I will need to reapply I will unfortunately need to retake the MCAT since I took it in July 2017. My tentative plan is to quit my research job around January and begin studying, while continuing to volunteer as a peer support volunteer for the women's cancer program (this would put me at ~420+ hours), and then starting to volunteer at a local hospital for their doula program for the underserved (could easily amass 200+ hours since the shifts are 12 hrs). If I do these things, and find 50 hours of shadowing do you think that would put me in a good position? I'm worried that not working for a few months may look bad, but I don't think I could manage studying for MCAT, working full time and obtaining all the shadowing/clinical hours I need.

Is your women’s cancer program volunteering done in a clinical setting?

 

[ganginguponthesun2020]

Is your women’s cancer program volunteering done in a clinical setting?

It is not. The organization is independent of any hospital. I mostly go to my client's home. On occasion I'll attend doctors appointments with her, but very rarely. So I'm assuming this would be considered non-clinical volunteering, right?

 

[candbgirl]

It is not. The organization is independent of any hospital. I mostly go to my client's home. On occasion I'll attend doctors appointments with her, but very rarely. So I'm assuming this would be considered non-clinical volunteering, right?

What do you do at the patients home? You only have one person you are working with?

 

[MyOdyssey]

It is not. The organization is independent of any hospital. I mostly go to my client's home. On occasion I'll attend doctors appointments with her, but very rarely. So I'm assuming this would be considered non-clinical volunteering, right?

I'm pretty sure.

I asked a question about this. I posted on SDN whether attending group activities as part of an organization that organized outings with young adults on the autism spectrum would be considered "clinical" volunteering. This organization was part of a medical school's psychiatry department and I thought what we were doing would be considered "treatment."

Several ad coms responded and shot down my interpretation noting that there would be at least some ad com members who expected a clinical experience to involve the administration of health care in a healthcare setting.

You have to consider whether you're dealing with an individual as a patient or not.

Another example. Volunteering at retirement home for the elderly is nonclinical volunteering. Volunteering at the geriatric ward of a hospital is clinical volunteering.