school list help! (4.0/515 TN resident)

[tacticalduckie]

Hi everyone! I will be applying for the first time this cycle and I was hoping for some advice!
I am currently a senior and I will be taking a gap semester (graduating this coming fall to do more research/ finish up thesis).

ORM (Asian), low SES, TN resident (no ties elsewhere)

Stats: 4.0 at public state university, 515 MCAT (128/127/130/130)

ECs:
Clinical: 2500 PCT, 120 CMA extern, 200 Hospital Volunteer

Nonclinical: 120 Volunteer tutor (virtual), 30 Free store (more hours anticipated over gap year)

Research: 170 biochem lab, 75 analytical lab, 75 psychology thesis in progress (more hours anticipated over gap year, no pubs, one campus poster presentation before applying, another presentation, regional conference during gap year).

Shadowing: Total 70 hours anticipated with surgery opportunity (currently 50 with ER, rheumatology, peds, post-anesthesia)

Other: 1500 customer service/retail, 500 Supplemental Instruction (leadership position for two semesters), 200 Chemistry TA

Other Relevant?: Won an award in clinical position, won a few campus chemistry and academic scholarships.

Preference for east or southeast region

Current School List:

Emory University School of Medicine	GA
Albert Einstein College of Medicine	NY
Brown University School of Medicine	RI
UNC Chapel Hill	NC
Vanderbilt School of Medicine	TN
Geisel at Darthmouth	NH
Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin	IL
University of Tennessee Health Science Center	TN
Wake Forest University School of Medicine	NC
Tulane	LA
St Louis University School of Med	MO
ETSU Quillen College of Medicine	TN
LMU DCOM (DO)	TN
Meharry Medical College (DO)	TN
Belmont	TN

I know I need to add more target schools, but I wasn't sure which ones to add! Also, should I add any more DO schools?

Thanks so much!

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[Mr.Smile12]

Non-clinical volunteering is suboptimal. Virtual tutoring... every premed student tutors, teaches, or mentors, so this won't help your application stand out. What are you doing with the Free store?

Regardless you are under 150 hours of service orientation activities: food distribution, shelter volunteer, job/tax preparation, legal support, transportation services, or housing rehabilitation. You must have 150 hours by submission to avoid getting screened out at most schools.

What is your purpose as a physician?

 

[tacticalduckie]

Non-clinical volunteering is suboptimal. Virtual tutoring... every premed student tutors, teaches, or mentors, so this won't help your application stand out. What are you doing with the Free store?

Regardless you are under 150 hours of service orientation activities: food distribution, shelter volunteer, job/tax preparation, legal support, transportation services, or housing rehabilitation. You must have 150 hours by submission to avoid getting screened out at most schools.

What is your purpose as a physician?

Thanks so much for your feedback! I understand that my nonclinical volunteering hours are low. I plan on increasing these hours during my gap year, but do you think I should take another gap year to up these hours for the time I apply? I was hoping to avoid this but I am flexible to doing so. At the free store, I am helping to organize donations and keep the store clean while serving customers. I am also hoping to get some hours at either a soup kitchen or food bank, but I am currently having a hard time fitting in these hours with school.

As a physician, I would like to provide care to low-income individuals like myself so that they are not burdened by seeking care. When my father died, we really struggled financially and though we were eventually able to have his medical bills forgiven, we lived in fear of those bills for a long time. We also recently lost Medicaid and lived every day in fear of avoiding a hospital visit without insurance until we found an affordable plan. My hope is at some point to be able to provide low-cost affordable care to others.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Thanks so much for your feedback! I understand that my nonclinical volunteering hours are low. I plan on increasing these hours during my gap year, but do you think I should take another gap year to up these hours for the time I apply? I was hoping to avoid this but I am flexible to doing so. At the free store, I am helping to organize donations and keep the store clean while serving customers. I am also hoping to get some hours at either a soup kitchen or food bank, but I am currently having a hard time fitting in these hours with school.

What have you planned for your gap year? How will you balance your needs for clinical exposure and non-clinical community service? Projected hours are meaningless for an application.

As a physician, I would like to provide care to low-income individuals like myself so that they are not burdened by seeking care. When my father died, we really struggled financially and though we were eventually able to have his medical bills forgiven, we lived in fear of those bills for a long time. We also recently lost Medicaid and lived every day in fear of avoiding a hospital visit without insurance until we found an affordable plan. My hope is at some point to be able to provide low-cost affordable care to others.

Have you checked out HPSP or NHSC? How many hours have you spent working at FQHC's or AHEC's? RAMUSA (they are based out of Tennessee)? While you should not need to apply to DO schools, your intentions match with many DO programs, so I would consider including them.