School list help for 2026-2027 Cycle

[calikiki]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hi everyone! I'm starting to build my school list for next cycle and wanted some advice. I'm aiming to apply to about 30-35 schools. Would love to go to a school that is more research oriented. Hours are what I think I'll have by May 2026 but also included how many hours I have currently. I'm currently in my first gap year.

1. cGPA: 3.97 sGPA: 3.95
2. MCAT score(s) and breakdown. Include all (non-voided) attempts: 523 (131/128/132/132)
3. State of residence or country of citizenship (if non-US): CA
4. Ethnicity and/or race: ORM
5. Undergraduate institution or category: UC (not Berkeley or UCLA)
6. Clinical experience (volunteer and non-volunteer): ~350 hospital volunteer hours possibly more (207 hours now, also has a lot of pt interaction as opposed to just stocking supplies), ~100 paid clinical research hours (~10 hours now, separated from my research hours)
7. Research experience and productivity: 700 hours bench research from undergrad (finished), 1800 hours translational research (580 hours now, same job as my paid clinical, main coordinator for this study) no pubs or presentations at the moment, may have a second author pub from undergrad research before applying but not sure
8. Shadowing experience and specialties represented: 50 hours (36 hours now, across four to five specialties)
9. Non-clinical volunteering: 150 hours (80 hours now, split between two experiences for underserved communities)
10. Other extracurricular activities (including athletics, military service, gap year activities, leadership, teaching, etc): ~3500 hours D1 athletics for 4 years (finished), 200 hours non-clinical job (finished)
11. Relevant honors or awards: several academic and athletic awards
12. Anything else not listed you think might be important: no formal leadership positions but I have experiences I can talk about through my athletics, research, and my non-clinical volunteering
13. LOR: three science prof, one non-science prof, two PIs, head coach

School list so far (29 so far, can add up to 6 more preferably more attainable schools):
Stanford
UCSF
Harvard
Columbia
Johns Hopkins
NYU Grossman
WashU
University of Michigan
Yale
UCLA
Weill Cornell
Albert Einstein
Icahn
Northwestern
UCSD
UVA
Kaiser
USC
UCI
NYMC
University of Rochester
Temple
Albany
Tufts
Tulane
Hackensack
Hofstra
USF
University of Arizona

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Welcome to the forums.

You shouldn't need to apply to more than 30 schools as long as you choose ones that align with your vision as a future physician. However, as a high-metrics applicant, you need more clinical experience (on your way) and non-clinical community service (250+ hours). The profile doesn't give me insight about where you could thrive and excel; you should be able to handle the basic academics, but it's not clear why you would fit at Stanford, Harvard, Hopkins, Columbia... or other brand schools. I also don't know why you would rather go to Albany, Temple, Tulane, or Hackensack. How did you come up with your list?

 

[calikiki]

Welcome to the forums.

You shouldn't need to apply to more than 30 schools as long as you choose ones that align with your vision as a future physician. However, as a high-metrics applicant, you need more clinical experience (on your way) and non-clinical community service (250+ hours). The profile doesn't give me insight about where you could thrive and excel; you should be able to handle the basic academics, but it's not clear why you would fit at Stanford, Harvard, Hopkins, Columbia... or other brand schools. I also don't know why you would rather go to Albany, Temple, Tulane, or Hackensack. How did you come up with your list?

Thank you for the feedback! I'm definitely looking for more non-clinical opportunities that I'm passionate about to add on before next May but the 150 hours I'm projecting is the bare minimum I'll reach by then. It's also hard to find opportunities that fit with my current full-time research tech job, hospital volunteering, other non-clinical volunteering, and finding time for myself. I want to be a clinician investigator but still want to see patients more than an MD/PhD would, so that's why I'm interested in attending a school with a lot of research opportunities and funding. I'd also love to either stay in California or move to a bigger city. I made my school list using a combination of admit.org and pre-health advising, but I wasn't 100% on it (especially with so much time until I apply I don't need to be right now) so that's why I was looking for more feedback.