Reapp School List Help/WAMC

[queseralemon]

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hi everyone, i think I'm posting this late. it took me a while to mentally process/prepare for the idea of not getting off a waitlist this cycle and actually reapplying. Last cycle I interviewed at Western Michigan (did not make past phone interview, R), Wayne State (Waitlist -> R last week *top choice, this was esp heartbreaking), Michigan State CHM (Waitlist -> R on Monday), MSU DO (Waitlist since January). Everything else was an R
The major differences between my reapp and original app is I have more clinical hours under my belt and have started volunteering at a local food pantry (non-clinical volunteering which I didn't have originally). Would love general feedback, to know how people worked on their interview skills and also feedback on my school list. for context, I struggle with confidence and think that was probably noticeable to interviewers.


cGPA and sGPA:

• cGPA: 3.71
• sGPA: 3.60 (AMCAS-verified)
• Graduate GPA (Health Informatics): 3.90

MCAT score(s):

• 01/12/2024:511 (82%)
  • C/P: 129 (92%)
  • CARS: 127 (83%)
  • B/B: 127 (75%)
  • P/S: 128 (76%)
• 09/01/2022: 484 (9%) [Retake addressed with significant improvement]

State of residence: Michigan
Ethnicity/Race: South Asian (Indian), Female
Undergraduate institution: University of Michigan – Ann Arbor

• Direct Care worker for elder adults with disabiltiies: 1000 hours completed, 1000 projected
• Hospice Volunteer (2023–present): ~100+ hours. Provided end-of-life companionship and emotional support; developed deep understanding of holistic patient care, especially for marginalized elderly women. *meaningful
• HOPE Ambassador Volunteer at UMHS (2019–2020): 50 hours. Served as hospital wayfinder and support presence for patients and families in a high-volume hospital setting.
• Medicaid Application Counselor at Free Clinic (2020–2021): 50 hours. Helped low-income, uninsured patients navigate insurance, pharmacy, and specialist costs during COVID-19. Contributed to case management and care coordination.
• Physiology tutor During undergrad (paid)
• South Asian American Health Initiative Student Org (2020-22): co-founder, finance director
• Deputy Editor/Copy Editor for college newspaper
• Undergraduate Neuroscience Lab 500 hours. Conducted Drosophila-based aging and sensory signaling research. Gained independent lab skills and presented findings internally.
• Health Informatics Graduate Summer Internship Research (CKD & Pregnancy Project): Leading mixed-methods analysis on reproductive decision-making and patient risk perception among women with chronic kidney disease. Manuscript in progress with faculty mentorship. Helped Design a prototype decision-aid tool addressing physician bias in reproductive health counseling for female CKD patients.
• Shadowing experience: 55 hours total. Shadowed internal medicine, cardiology and radiology
• Anti-Racism Education Intern (2021): Helped reform introductory biology curriculum to incorporate anti-racist pedagogy.
• Reproductive Justice Education & Advocacy (WORTH Project) Student Org: Created maternal education content for young and low-income mothers
• Food Pantry: 30 hours completed, 100 projected (non-clinical volunteering)

Other extracurricular activities:

• Violinist/Pianist: 3,000+ hours over a decade. Member of Residential College Chamber Orchestra. continuing to take lessons

Relevant honors or awards:

• Full-Tuition Merit-based scholarship for Masters graduate program.
• undergrad Honors

Anything else not listed you think might be important:

• Strong interest in the intersection of health policy, gender disparities, and informatics.
• Focused on women’s health, especially barriers to low-income populations.
• Applying MD only

Original School List:
WAYNE STATE
UMICH
MSU MD
MSUCOM (DO) *
CMU
OAKLAND BEAUMONT
WESTERN
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
Medical College of Wisconsin
Rush Medical College of Rush University Medical Center
Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine (Never submitted Secondary, not sure if I should reapply)
University of Illinois College of Medicine
Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine & Science
Indiana University School of Medicine
University of Toledo
George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences
Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine (Never submitted Secondary, not sure if I should reapply)
University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
University of Pittsburgh
Stanford University School of Medicine
Penn State
Wake Forest University School of Medicine
Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine

New School List. 25 Schools Total (Need to finalize before primary is verified. Submitted reapp primary on May 28th):
Michigan State University College of Human Medicine
Wayne State University School of Medicine
Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine
Central Michigan University College of Medicine
Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine
Morehouse School of Medicine
Meharry Medical College
Eastern Virginia Medical School
East Tennessee State University James H. Quillen College of Medicine
Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine
Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine at the University of South Alabama
Thomas F. Frist, Jr. College of Medicine at Belmont University
Albany Medical College
Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo
Drexel University College of Medicine
Temple University Lewis Katz School of Medicine
Quinnipiac University Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine
Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine
Tulane University School of Medicine
New York Medical College
Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University
Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine
Medical University of South Carolina College of Medicine

 

[Faha]

How many hours do you have at the food pantry? You have many state public schools on your list that admit few non residents with your stats and no connection to the state. Why are you applying to Mercer, Brody and Southern Illinois since they admit zero non residents?

 

[queseralemon]

How many hours do you have at the food pantry? You have many state public schools on your list that admit few non residents with your stats and no connection to the state. Why are you applying to Mercer, Brody and Southern Illinois since they admit zero non residents?

I have completed 30 but anticipate 100 in the next year at the food pantry. Also thank you I will take those 3 schools off the list I didn't know that they don't admit non-residents 🙏

 

[Faha]

I have completed 30 but anticipate 100 in the next year at the food pantry. Also thank you I will take those 3 schools off the list I didn't know that they don't admit non-residents 🙏

Your main weakness is your low non clinical volunteering hours and some schools screen at 150 hours. I suggest these schools with your stats:
Oakland Beaumont
Western Michigan
Central Michigan
Wayne State
Michigan State
U Michigan
Toledo
Medical College Wisconsin
Ponce (St. Louis)
TCU
Roseman
Alice Walton
Belmont
NOVA MD
Wake Forest
Methodist (when it opens)
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Penn State
Albany
Vermont
Quinnipiac
As a reapplicant you should apply broadly to DO schools and I suggest these:
MSUCOM
CCOM
MU-COM
DMU-COM
ATSU-KCOM
KCU-COM
AZCOM
TUNCOM
CUSOM
NYITCOM
Touro-NY
PCOM (all schools)
LECOM (all schools)

 

[queseralemon]

Your main weakness is your low non clinical volunteering hours and some schools screen at 150 hours. I suggest these schools with your stats:
Oakland Beaumont
Western Michigan
Central Michigan
Wayne State
Michigan State
U Michigan
Toledo
Medical College Wisconsin
Ponce (St. Louis)
TCU
Roseman
Alice Walton
Belmont
NOVA MD
Wake Forest
Methodist (when it opens)
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Penn State
Albany
Vermont
Quinnipiac
As a reapplicant you should apply broadly to DO schools and I suggest these:
MSUCOM
CCOM
MU-COM
DMU-COM
ATSU-KCOM
KCU-COM
AZCOM
TUNCOM
CUSOM
NYITCOM
Touro-NY
PCOM (all schools)
LECOM (all schools)

thank you so much I appreciate the feedback!

 

[PickaGodnPray]

Did you get feedback from Umich or any of the other programs you applied to? Umich and MSU give feedback. I am not sure about Oakland as they used to, but maybe not now...? Either way as previously discussed your non-clinical hours are low for most of the programs on the list and your other hours also on the low side, especially for Umich.
You got interviews which indicates that your application was competent. I would aim to improve your interview skills over the next year and streamline your story for medicine.
The above school list looks good to me, however there are some newer programs (Belmont, Roseman, Ponce, Alice Walton) there that may be risky and others that are low yield (Wake Forest, Umich). I still say try Umich as they will at least give you feedback and you have connections to the university. The others is totally up to you and how you feel about them.

 

[queseralemon]

Did you get feedback from Umich or any of the other programs you applied to? Umich and MSU give feedback. I am not sure about Oakland as they used to, but maybe not now...? Either way as previously discussed your non-clinical hours are low for most of the programs on the list and your other hours also on the low side, especially for Umich.
You got interviews which indicates that your application was competent. I would aim to improve your interview skills over the next year and streamline your story for medicine.
The above school list looks good to me, however there are some newer programs (Belmont, Roseman, Ponce, Alice Walton) there that may be risky and others that are low yield (Wake Forest, Umich). I still say try Umich as they will at least give you feedback and you have connections to the university. The others is totally up to you and how you feel about them.

thank you for the feedback! Reached out to Umich and Oakland earlier this week for feedback- hoping to hear back soon. I can adjust my gap year schedule to do 200 projected hours at the pantry rather than 100 and potentially mention that in update letters? Not sure if that will be effective since schools screen primary apps based on those hours... I've been focused on clinical hours for so long I didn't realize non clinical volunteering was so important when I submitted my reapp primary.

 

[PickaGodnPray]

thank you for the feedback! Reached out to Umich and Oakland earlier this week for feedback- hoping to hear back soon. I can adjust my gap year schedule to do 200 projected hours at the pantry rather than 100 and potentially mention that in update letters? Not sure if that will be effective since schools screen primary apps based on those hours... I've been focused on clinical hours for so long I didn't realize non clinical volunteering was so important when I submitted my reapp primary.

Honestly I don't know how much schools care about update letters and I am sure it differs based on the school. For example, I won a major award for mentorship at the university I work at, mentioned it in an update letter, and the schools I got feedback at last cycle didn't know that I had received it. Best to just add it as projected hours, but even then users like Goro say adcoms don't count those (which makes perfect sense to me tbh)

 

[PickaGodnPray]

Additionally, based on your school list, I would remove Whiddon (strong IS bias), Morehouse (strong push for URM), and MUSC (strong IS bias). I also say add Creighton, U of Illinois, Geisinger, Tucson Arizona, and Rush

 

[queseralemon]

Additionally, based on your school list, I would remove Whiddon (strong IS bias), Morehouse (strong push for URM), and MUSC (strong IS bias). I also say add Creighton, U of Illinois, Geisinger, Tucson Arizona, and Rush

thank you!! appreciate the advice so much!

 

[Mr.Smile12]

OP: sorry if the cycle didn't quite get you to a promised land. You're on the right track getting more clinical hours and more food pantry hours. (Any more hospice?) Your short hospital volunteer stints of around 50 hours barely crosses my threshold to notice you did those activities.

Morehouse and Meharry are HBCU programs, so unlikely program fit. I agree USA (South Alabama) is focused geographically on in-states, as is Boonshoft Wright State. I also would not include UBuffalo.

Can you point out the schools on your new list that also offer a master's in medical/clinical informatics?