Volunteering for top 20s

[HeLaDeala]

This is my first post since I am afraid that my unique ECs/degrees might identify me.

3.74cGPA / 3.66sGPA with a strong upward trend that I'm looking to continue (Junior at a top 25 university with a prestigious scholarship); I know this isn't very good

Double Major in Neuroscience and a school specific liberal arts major (see above fear :/)

MCAT - 37 - 14/11/12

I started doing neuroscience research my freshman year. This is my fourth semester working for 12hrs/week in a research lab for credit. By the time I graduate, I expect to be published 3 times, once as a first author.

I held very serious and unique leadership roles for the past two and a half years that drained a lot of my time.

I have shadowed a well-known neurologist for ~35hours and a radiologist for ~10 hours.

I have a couple volunteer experiences totaling to ~40 hours non-clinical and ~20 hours clinical (w/o direct patient contact). Most of this has been within the last couple of months.

I consistently pushed off volunteer experience to pursue leadership and research roles. How much does this matter at top 30 schools? Does it hurt my chances at mid-tier schools? Finally, I have heavily considered MSTP, and am attracted to it, but I do not want to hurt my chances at top schools by applying to their insanely competitive MD/PHD programs. Do I have a better shot MD or MSTP at top 20 schools?

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[nemo123]

Your numbers are solid, and you have a good amount of research and leadership. The lack of clinical experience will hurt though. You need to be able to convince adcom members that you know what the field of medicine is like and without much exposure to it besides shadowing and 20 hours of clinical volunteering is very thin. Is there some way you can integrate non-clinical volunteering with your leadership position?

As for MSTP, you have the numbers to be competitive for MSTP, and I have read that they tend to be a little more forgiving about a lack of volunteerism, but ultimately, it is your decision. You should base your decision on applying to MD or MSTP depending on whether you envision a career as a physician scientist and whether you think the PhD will be helpful to you career wise first and foremost.

 

[Oso]

I'm not sure how much those 20 hours of volunteering count as clinical if you didn't interact with patients. Like nemo said, the lack of clinical experience will probably hurt your application a bit. Is there a way you can find a clinical volunteering position at a hospital or hospice? I would try to find something soon, especially if you're applying this summer.

Again going off what nemo said, you need to decide whether you're actually interested in MSTP or not. There's nothing wrong with aiming for top schools, but you can't base the MD/PHD vs MD decision solely on your chances of getting into top schools.

 

[chillaxbro]

So the only ec you do amount to ~15 hours a week? You can do better than that...