School List Help (3.82/518), FL ORM

[deleted1200829]

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Hi all! I recently got my MCAT back, and I will be applying in the upcoming cycle starting in June 2025. Decided to get a head start on my school list, and would appreciate any suggestions; all the hours below are what my application will look like upon sending them out to medical schools in June

Stats:

cGPA: 3.82, sGPA: 3.74
MCAT: 518 (128/128/130/132)
PREview: 8 (I was going to apply last cycle, but changed my mind – this score is from a few months ago, and I was told it is still valid for the June 2025 cycle)
State of residence: FL (strong ties to New York)
Ethnicity and/or race: ORM / Female
Undergraduate: T30 -> B.A. in Psychology (Minors in Chemistry and Child Mental Health)
Gap Years: 2 yrs upon matriculation (graduated in May 2024)

Clinical Experience: 1320 hrs

• During undergrad:
  • Pediatrics MA (250 hrs)
  • Emergency Department Volunteer (220 hrs)
• During gap year:
  • Ophthalmologist technician (700 hrs, projecting 2400)
    • has not started yet, but I was already hired and will replace the current technician when they leave
  • Hospice Volunteer (150 hrs, projecting 300)

Research Experience: 520 hrs (during undergraduate, and a little into post-graduate, but has ended now)

• Affective Neuroscience Lab (520 hrs)
  • Volunteer research assistant
  • 1 poster presentation at undergraduate conference

Shadowing Experience: 105 hrs

• During undergrad:
  • Ophthalmologist (40 hrs)
  • Neurologist (40 hrs)
• During gap year:
  • PCP (25 hrs)

Non-Clinical Volunteering: 800 hrs

• During undergrad:
  • Crisis Text Line (250 hrs)
  • Food pantry (50 hrs)
    • Have some leadership, as I led some of my own projects with this organization
  • Social awareness project (40 hrs)
    • Via my undergraduate; spread awareness about voter suppression during the 2020 presidential election
  • Sports with special needs children (50 hrs)
• During gap year:
  • Tutoring special needs children (270 hours, 120 projected)
    • remote position, so it started during undergrad, but is continuing into post-grad
    • received 2 volunteer awards from this nonprofit (not major awards)
  • Sports with special needs children (150 hrs, 180 projected)
    • different organization from during undergrad

Misc/Leadership:

• Position in my undergraduate student council for a semester (60 hrs)
• Hobbies: cooking/baking/running

Awards:

• Dean's List
• Cum Laude
• Honors scholar
• Psi Chi International Psychology Honors Society
• 2x volunteer awards from one of the nonprofits as mentioned before

LORs:

• Biology Lab prof (Mid); Neuroscience prof (Strong); Developmental psychology prof (Strong)
• Ophthalmologist MD (Strong)
• Volunteer Coordinator at hospital I volunteered at (Strong)
• Committee Letter

Current School List:
Because I am in-state in Florida and have strong ties to New York, my current school list includes all MD schools in Florida, as well as Albany, Albert Einstein, Hofstra, Buffalo, NYMC, Icahn, Stony Brook, and SUNY Upstate with the additions of UCLA, UCI, UCSD, and UCSF (because I love California lol).

I'm looking for more suggestions to build up my school list and look into schools that my application may particularly appeal to. I am open to applying to a lot of schools just to ensure this is a one and done for me. Any school list suggestions or advice on my application would be appreciated!

Notes About Me:
Lots of my interests lie in mental health and children (especially those that are special needs) due to my own personal life experiences. Hopefully this is reflected in my activities, as I will talk about it in my apps as well!

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Welcome to the forums.

Explain your strong ties to New York.

Could you emphasis what your post-graduation/gap activities are? I don't understand how your hours add up to include pre-graduation and post-graduation activities. By the way, any non-shadowing activity under 50 hours, I usually ignore.

 

[deleted1200829]

Welcome to the forums.

Explain your strong ties to New York.

Could you emphasis what your post-graduation/gap activities are? I don't understand how your hours add up to include pre-graduation and post-graduation activities. By the way, any non-shadowing activity under 50 hours, I usually ignore.

Oh, I was told that living in NY for 4 yrs due to attending my undergraduate there would be considered "strong ties" but I guess not. Most of the NY schools I listed are OOS friendly, so I'll consider eliminating the few that are not.

I have edited my post so that it is more obvious what are pre-graduation and post-graduation activities. And the social awareness project was something I was considering replacing with a hobby anyways since I think my current activity list is over 15, so I appreciate the input! 🙂

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Oh, I was told that living in NY for 4 yrs due to attending my undergraduate there would be considered "strong ties" but I guess not. Most of the NY schools I listed are OOS friendly, so I'll consider eliminating the few that are not.

Confirm with the schools, but being a college student doesn't usually benefit you.

 

[deleted1200829]

Confirm with the schools, but being a college student doesn't usually benefit you.

Ok, thanks for the input! Do you by any chance have any other advice for my application?

 

[deleted1200829]

@Goro @Faha @LizzyM would love advice if you have the chance too!

 

[Faha]

I suggest these schools with your stats:
U Florida
Florida State
Miami
USF Morsani
Florida Atlantic
Florida International
Central Florida
Emory
Tulane
Vanderbilt
Duke
U Virginia
Georgetown
Hofstra
Einstein
Mount Sinai
Columbia
Cornell
New York Medical College
Rochester
Pittsburgh
Dartmouth
Brown
Boston University
Case Western
Cincinnati
U Michigan
Northwestern
U Chicago
Mayo
Washington University (in St. Louis)
UCLA
USC Keck

 

[Goro]

Agree with the wise Fafa

 

[deleted1200829]

I suggest these schools with your stats:
U Florida
Florida State
Miami
USF Morsani
Florida Atlantic
Florida International
Central Florida
Emory
Tulane
Vanderbilt
Duke
U Virginia
Georgetown
Hofstra
Einstein
Mount Sinai
Columbia
Cornell
New York Medical College
Rochester
Pittsburgh
Dartmouth
Brown
Boston University
Case Western
Cincinnati
U Michigan
Northwestern
U Chicago
Mayo
Washington University (in St. Louis)
UCLA
USC Keck

Hi! Thank you so much for making a school list for me 🙂 Do you think it would be worth it for me to add a few more schools that would make the list a little less top heavy? I'm only worried because my stats fall in the 10th or 25th percentile for a lot of these schools, and my research background is not super strong

 

[Faha]

Hi! Thank you so much for making a school list for me 🙂 Do you think it would be worth it for me to add a few more schools that would make the list a little less top heavy? I'm only worried because my stats fall in the 10th or 25th percentile for a lot of these schools, and my research background is not super strong

You can add more schools that appeal to you but the list is not top heavy since you are competitive for all your Florida schools.