School List and Advice

[squabblingduck]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hi everyone! I was trying to narrow down my school list as I get ready to apply for this upcoming cycle. I would appreciate any input, as I think my school list might be too top-heavy and could some more balance.

Also, I was considering applying for MD/PhD programs. I don't know if this makes sense given my research hours (I'm applying straight through) and if it would negatively impact my chance at MD consideration at some of the schools I'm already applying to. Should I consider applying to MD/PhD programs concurrently or just stick with MD programs?

1. cGPA: 3.99 and sGPA: 3.98
2. MCAT score(s): 523 (132/128/131/132)
3. State of residence: NC
4. Ethnicity and/or race: ORM male
5. Undergraduate institution: T20 public university
6. Clinical: 450 hours as a CNA at a hospital
7. Research: 1000 hours in neuroscience research (3 posters w/ 1 national conference, 1 co-author pub but not sure if it will be published before applications open)
8. Shadowing: 30 hours in neurosurgery (in clinic)
9. Non-clinical volunteering: 140 hours (100 hours at an org working with kids from disadvantaged backgrounds, 40 hours at org working with kids and adults with autism)
10. Other extracurricular activities: 400 hours as a resident advisor working with freshmen
11. Relevant honors or awards: received travel award to present at conference
12. Anything else not listed you think might be important: I think my app is focused on my experiences working with kids and acting as a mentor figure.

School List:

1. Harvard
2. Stanford
3. Hopkins
4. UCSF
5. Penn
6. WashU
7. Yale
8. Columbia
9. Duke
10. Chicago
11. Michigan
12. UCLA
13. NYU
14. Vanderbilt
15. Pitt
16. Cornell
17. Northwestern
18. Mt Sinai
19. Mayo
20. Case Western
21. USF-Morsani
22. Cincinnati
23. Indiana
24. Miami
25. Wisconsin
26. Wake Forest
27. UVA
28. Ohio State
29. USC-Keck
30. Einstein
31. UNC

Thanks again for your help and let me know if any more info is needed.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Welcome to the forums.

Bump your nonclinical volunteering up. With your stats you need 250 hours of food distribution, shelter volunteer, job and tax preparation, legal support, transportation services, or housing rehabilitation to keep up with your fellow applicants. But your vague description (working with???) suggests you could have zero hours, which means your file can get screened out by most schools. You are probably not working with your residents as you would with these children and adults with autism.

It's not clear if you have this since you are working with children. You will work mostly with adults for the bulk of your medical school training so make sure your have experience with other adults in need.

Sure, you could be okay for MD/PhD. Check out the physician scientists forum where the MSTP community hangs out. But your mission doesn't really fit with academic medicine.

 

[squabblingduck]

Thank you for your input! I will look into boosting my hours in the coming months. Do you have any recommendations for my school list, assuming I can bump up my non-clinical volunteering hours?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Thank you for your input! I will look into boosting my hours in the coming months. Do you have any recommendations for my school list, assuming I can bump up my non-clinical volunteering hours?

You are going after top-tier brand name schools with your metrics. You need at least 250 hours of service orientation activities to remain on pace with the rest of the applicant pool in that range.

You have two different patterns: neurosurgery and being an RA. But you like working with kids and being a mentor... that's only 140 hours compared to the 400 hours as an RA. Your hours don't match your stated "why medicine", and that's where you risk getting relegated to a lower priority in each school's screening process. You could also be a mentor for kids by being a teacher or a youth minister; you don't need to be a doctor to have that type of impact, especially a neurosurgeon.

So I can't make a specific school recommendation unless you have a solid mission fit somehow, but you need to clarify your purpose first. Otherwise, the screeners will just come out confused. Your metrics say you should have a strong shot at any school you want, but your lack of experience will sabotage that. It's not just your metrics that get you to an interview or an offer. The top schools have their pick of 3.95+/520+ neurosurg wannabes, and you have to give them a reason to be interested in you.

 

[Faha]

Indiana will "yield protect" with your stats. You could add these schools:
UMass
Hofstra
Rochester
Colorado