- Joined
- Jan 13, 2012
- Messages
- 78
- Reaction score
- 16
Hello,
I'm applying this coming cycle (for matriculation in 2016)
I was a science major at a top 20 LAC
GPA: ~3.9 Science GPA: ~3.9
MCAT: 38 (14 PS / 12 VR / 12 BS)
Residency: Indiana, with ties to New York and the west coast.
Clinical Experience: ~120 hours, 40 hours each in 3 different hospitals. I worked same position each time (child life assistant /pediatrics department) but switched hospitals often due to relocation for school, jobs, etc.
Shadowing: ~25 hours
Research Experience: ~550 hours. Two different projects. Two posters and presentations. Both were one time, summer REU-type programs. First project was chosen for publication in an undergrad research magazine, but no REAL publications lol. I highly doubt either PI would remember who I am as it was 6 years ago.
Extracurriculars: 1 year varsity athlete in college (~400 hours) and current hobby athlete, music groups (~400 hours), theater groups (~100 hours)
College employment: Employed as a peer tutor, selected for excellent performance in classes.
I graduated two years ago and have spent the past two years working with an Americorps organization (~3000 hours), where I have also volunteered (~300 hours). I have taken a few graduate courses as a requirement for my Americorps position.
I am undecided about what I want to do this coming year but will either continue in that position, or try to find a job as a scribe.
What I want in a school:
I would like to attend a school with an emphasis on teaching. I like close-knit learning environments. I think I prefer a traditional curriculum, and am open to PBL as long as I learn what I need to for boards.
I would like to attend a school with a non-competitive atmosphere but where students hold themselves to really high expectations (i. e. ambitious but NOT competitive). I prefer a smaller school. I attended a liberal arts college with this type of environment and found that it was a good fit for me.
As a career, I am pursuing an MD only but would like to be involved in clinical research---I shadowed a doc that worked at a medical school clinic, lectured at that medical school, and was involved in clinical research....that seems like the perfect balance to me.
However, it's been hard to figure out which schools fit this bill through the MSAR.
My current list of schools is as follows. It's too long! If anyone could help me whittle off a few (Ideally, I would like to apply to 15 schools or less), that would be so helpful. At the same time, I would like to apply to a balanced list so I can get at least one acceptance, so if there are any schools that would be a good fit that I'm missing please suggest!
School list:
Brown (Alpert)
Case Western
Columbia
Emory
Dartmouth (Geisel)
Duke
Harvard
Indiana University
Loyola University Chicago (Stritch)
Mayo
Medical College of Wisconsin
Mount Sinai
New York University
Northwestern (Feinberg)
Oregon Health / Sciences University
University of Pennsylvania
Stanford
Ohio State
UC San Diego
UC San Francisco
University of Chicago - Pritzker
University of Colorado
University of Iowa
University of Michigan
University of Washington
University of Wisconsin
Vanderbilt
WashU
Weill Cornell
Yale
I'm applying this coming cycle (for matriculation in 2016)
I was a science major at a top 20 LAC
GPA: ~3.9 Science GPA: ~3.9
MCAT: 38 (14 PS / 12 VR / 12 BS)
Residency: Indiana, with ties to New York and the west coast.
Clinical Experience: ~120 hours, 40 hours each in 3 different hospitals. I worked same position each time (child life assistant /pediatrics department) but switched hospitals often due to relocation for school, jobs, etc.
Shadowing: ~25 hours
Research Experience: ~550 hours. Two different projects. Two posters and presentations. Both were one time, summer REU-type programs. First project was chosen for publication in an undergrad research magazine, but no REAL publications lol. I highly doubt either PI would remember who I am as it was 6 years ago.
Extracurriculars: 1 year varsity athlete in college (~400 hours) and current hobby athlete, music groups (~400 hours), theater groups (~100 hours)
College employment: Employed as a peer tutor, selected for excellent performance in classes.
I graduated two years ago and have spent the past two years working with an Americorps organization (~3000 hours), where I have also volunteered (~300 hours). I have taken a few graduate courses as a requirement for my Americorps position.
I am undecided about what I want to do this coming year but will either continue in that position, or try to find a job as a scribe.
What I want in a school:
I would like to attend a school with an emphasis on teaching. I like close-knit learning environments. I think I prefer a traditional curriculum, and am open to PBL as long as I learn what I need to for boards.
I would like to attend a school with a non-competitive atmosphere but where students hold themselves to really high expectations (i. e. ambitious but NOT competitive). I prefer a smaller school. I attended a liberal arts college with this type of environment and found that it was a good fit for me.
As a career, I am pursuing an MD only but would like to be involved in clinical research---I shadowed a doc that worked at a medical school clinic, lectured at that medical school, and was involved in clinical research....that seems like the perfect balance to me.
However, it's been hard to figure out which schools fit this bill through the MSAR.
My current list of schools is as follows. It's too long! If anyone could help me whittle off a few (Ideally, I would like to apply to 15 schools or less), that would be so helpful. At the same time, I would like to apply to a balanced list so I can get at least one acceptance, so if there are any schools that would be a good fit that I'm missing please suggest!
School list:
Brown (Alpert)
Case Western
Columbia
Emory
Dartmouth (Geisel)
Duke
Harvard
Indiana University
Loyola University Chicago (Stritch)
Mayo
Medical College of Wisconsin
Mount Sinai
New York University
Northwestern (Feinberg)
Oregon Health / Sciences University
University of Pennsylvania
Stanford
Ohio State
UC San Diego
UC San Francisco
University of Chicago - Pritzker
University of Colorado
University of Iowa
University of Michigan
University of Washington
University of Wisconsin
Vanderbilt
WashU
Weill Cornell
Yale
