Hello all,
I applied this past cycle (2019-2020), and only received one interview that will turn into a WL/R (the school has finished sending out their last acceptances). From looking at my app, I think that my weak areas are clinical volunteering my top-heavy school list, but any other insight/advice would be appreciated! I am also unsure if my app is too research-heavy - If I apply the next cycle I am planning on substituting some of my lab work in my W&A for my volunteer work. I am currently not sure if I should apply this next cycle or in 2021 as I am not sure my app has changed enough. Any advice is appreciated!
Here's some of my general stats, as well as my school list
CA ORM
Verified end of July, Secondaries Complete throughout August
Undergrad: Top Liberal Arts
cGPA, sGPA: 3.75, 3.72
MCAT: 517
On this cycle's primary app:
Clinical Volunteering: Service Trip (~60 hours)
Non-Clinical Volunteering: Community Leader/Mentor (~1000 hours)
Leadership: Leadership program (~20 hrs)
Shadowing: Various (~200 hrs)
Research: Basic Science Lab (~2000 hrs - summer/gap year job), Undergraduate Basic Science Lab (~800 hrs), Summer Basic Science Lab (~200), Clincal Lab (~200 hrs)
- two abstracts, no papers
Other: Varsity Athlete
Gap Year: Continued Basic Lab job, picked up some volunteering
What I have improved:
Clinical Volunteering: ER volunteer (~100 hrs by submission), Hospice Volunteer (~50 hrs by submission)
Non-Clinical Volunteering: Homeless Shelter (~150 hrs), Sports Mentor (~250 hrs by submission)
Research: part-time public health-related research (first author, paper most likely submitted after primary submission), high impact paper for current lab job (paper most likely submitted after primary submission)
Upcoming Gap Year: considering a part-time scribe job
School List for the last cycle:
GW
Yale
Michigan
Wake
Kaiser
Tufts
Columbia
USC
Georgetown
Cornell
Emory
Riverside
Mount Sinai
Dartmouth
UMass
Duke
Case Western
Stanford
Oregon
Irvine
UCSD
Brown
Vanderbilt
Northwestern
UCSF
Davis
UCLA
Washington
Pitt
BU
Any feedback/advice you have would be immensely appreciated. Thank you so much in advance! I truly am very grateful for this community and for your time!
I applied this past cycle (2019-2020), and only received one interview that will turn into a WL/R (the school has finished sending out their last acceptances). From looking at my app, I think that my weak areas are clinical volunteering my top-heavy school list, but any other insight/advice would be appreciated! I am also unsure if my app is too research-heavy - If I apply the next cycle I am planning on substituting some of my lab work in my W&A for my volunteer work. I am currently not sure if I should apply this next cycle or in 2021 as I am not sure my app has changed enough. Any advice is appreciated!
Here's some of my general stats, as well as my school list
CA ORM
Verified end of July, Secondaries Complete throughout August
Undergrad: Top Liberal Arts
cGPA, sGPA: 3.75, 3.72
MCAT: 517
On this cycle's primary app:
Clinical Volunteering: Service Trip (~60 hours)
Non-Clinical Volunteering: Community Leader/Mentor (~1000 hours)
Leadership: Leadership program (~20 hrs)
Shadowing: Various (~200 hrs)
Research: Basic Science Lab (~2000 hrs - summer/gap year job), Undergraduate Basic Science Lab (~800 hrs), Summer Basic Science Lab (~200), Clincal Lab (~200 hrs)
- two abstracts, no papers
Other: Varsity Athlete
Gap Year: Continued Basic Lab job, picked up some volunteering
What I have improved:
Clinical Volunteering: ER volunteer (~100 hrs by submission), Hospice Volunteer (~50 hrs by submission)
Non-Clinical Volunteering: Homeless Shelter (~150 hrs), Sports Mentor (~250 hrs by submission)
Research: part-time public health-related research (first author, paper most likely submitted after primary submission), high impact paper for current lab job (paper most likely submitted after primary submission)
Upcoming Gap Year: considering a part-time scribe job
School List for the last cycle:
GW
Yale
Michigan
Wake
Kaiser
Tufts
Columbia
USC
Georgetown
Cornell
Emory
Riverside
Mount Sinai
Dartmouth
UMass
Duke
Case Western
Stanford
Oregon
Irvine
UCSD
Brown
Vanderbilt
Northwestern
UCSF
Davis
UCLA
Washington
Pitt
BU
Any feedback/advice you have would be immensely appreciated. Thank you so much in advance! I truly am very grateful for this community and for your time!
