WAMC 3.6/517 ORM F, GA Resident, 2026-27 Cycle (1 Gap Year)

[itsgonnabemed]

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Hi all! New to SDN, heard y'all give great advice! I'm currently finalizing my school list and would appreciate some critique or suggestions for schools to add. I'm in a bit of a tough spot as I have a low-ish GPA but a good MCAT. I would appreciate any advice at all!

I would love to get in anywhere, open to both MD and DO. Admit said not to apply to DO but planning on applying regardless since my end goal is to become a physician no matter what. I'm worried about not having more "baseline" MD schools (although I realize no MD school is really baseline with my stats) and would welcome any suggestions.

Also curious why Admit suggested that I apply Emory as that seems veryyyy out of reach given accepted applicant profiles, do GA residents have a slight advantage?

ORM F, GA resident, FAP recipient

MCAT 517, cGPA 3.63 with upward trend (3.38 -> 3.55 -> 3.76 --> hopefully 4.0), sGPA 3.56

Clinical: 800 hrs

• ED Medical Scribe and Scribe Trainer (800 hours)

Non-Clinical: 160 hrs

• Suicide prevention instructor on campus (50 hours)
• Medically tailored meal packing and delivery (80 hours projected)
• STEM outreach through school (30 hours)

Leadership: 1,200 hrs

• Campus activities organization (largest org on campus), multi-year commitment including presidency, represented organization at national conference (1000+ hours, likely most significant activity)
• TA for introductory lab course (100 hours)
• Pre-health organization (100 hours)

Shadowing: 65 hrs

• 65 hours across multiple specialties

Research: 400 hrs

• Pedagogical research leading to tangible changes in undergraduate lab curriculum, projected poster (150 hrs)
• Undergraduate research scholarship in quantitative genomics (250 hours projected by time of application, until December 2026)

Hobbies:

• Weightlifting
• Fiber arts

MD School List:
Emory
MCG
Morehouse
University of GA
Mercer
Rosalind Franklin
Quinnipiac
Drexel
Temple
Eastern Virginia
University of Vermont
Texas Christian University
Albany Medical College
Medical College of Wisconsin
Wake Forest
Penn State
Thomas Jefferson
VCU
George Washington
Western Michigan
Nova Southeastern MD
Hackensack Meridian
Tufts
UCF
University of Cincinnati
Colorado
UMiami
Geisinger
Virginia Tech
Creighton
Belmont
University of Illinois
Tulane
Alice Walton
Georgetown

DO List:
PCOM, all campuses
VCOM AL
LECOM, all campuses
NOVA, all campuses
Rowan, all campuses
UNECOM ME Portland
DUQCOM
MSUCOM, all campuses
NYITCOM NY

Any advice is appreciated! Thank you 🙂

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Welcome to the forums.

1) Can't you access the AAMC MSAR?
Emory's last entering class published stats: Your MCAT is above the matriculant average, GPA below. Emory is private so there is no outright advantage for Georgia applicants.

2) Your non-clinical activities are very health-oriented or health-adjacent. I'll include your food distribution work, but it would be helpful having something that is not tied into health promotion or prevention (acknowledging that is important too, but it is teaching/tutoring). Furthermore, 80 hours is low; you should have 150 hours at submission or your file risks getting screened out at most schools.

3) Morehouse is an HBCU medical school, so I presume you identify as an underrepresented minority in medicine? If so, you should include all HBCU programs. If not, you should cross off Morehouse.

Mercer explicitly favors applicants who want to practice in rural Georgia counties. Most of the Georgia schools like applicants who are rural-health focused given the future workforce challenges in the state. Likewise for many DO programs, especially PCOM-South Georgia. What does your national leadership position address?

Your metrics suggest DO Is not necessary, but consider it if you don't want to be a reapplicant. This assumes you can get your non-clinical service orientation activities.

 

[Faha]

Tulane, Creighton and Georgetown expect far more non clinical volunteering hours than you have. I suggest these schools with your stats:
Emory
MCG
University of GA
Mercer
Rosalind Franklin
Quinnipiac
Drexel
Temple
Eastern Virginia
University of Vermont
Texas Christian University
Albany Medical College
Medical College of Wisconsin
Wake Forest
Penn State
Thomas Jefferson
VCU
George Washington
Western Michigan
Nova Southeastern MD
Hackensack Meridian
Tufts
UCF
University of Cincinnati
Colorado
UMiami
Belmont
University of Illinois
Alice Walton
Methodist
USF Morsani
Oakland Beaumont
Hofstra
New York Medical College
You do not need to apply to that many DO schools. I suggest these:
PCOM Georgia and South Georgia
CUSOM
VCOM AL
LECOM

 

[itsgonnabemed]

Welcome to the forums.

1) Can't you access the AAMC MSAR?
Emory's last entering class published stats: Your MCAT is above the matriculant average, GPA below. Emory is private so there is no outright advantage for Georgia applicants.

2) Your non-clinical activities are very health-oriented or health-adjacent. I'll include your food distribution work, but it would be helpful having something that is not tied into health promotion or prevention (acknowledging that is important too, but it is teaching/tutoring). Furthermore, 80 hours is low; you should have 150 hours at submission or your file risks getting screened out at most schools.

3) Morehouse is an HBCU medical school, so I presume you identify as an underrepresented minority in medicine? If so, you should include all HBCU programs. If not, you should cross off Morehouse.

Mercer explicitly favors applicants who want to practice in rural Georgia counties. Most of the Georgia schools like applicants who are rural-health focused given the future workforce challenges in the state. Likewise for many DO programs, especially PCOM-South Georgia. What does your national leadership position address?

Your metrics suggest DO Is not necessary, but consider it if you don't want to be a reapplicant. This assumes you can get your non-clinical service orientation activities.

Hello and thanks for the welcome and detailed advice!

1) I do have the MSAR, but my worry stemmed from the fact that schools that I'm similarly under GPA/over MCAT medians for weren't recommended to me whereas Emory was. I've seen students get into Ivies and rejected from Emory which is what led to the trepidation. I'll apply regardless!

2) Great point, I was worried that my application seemed too one-note. My main leadership activity (campus activities organization) took up most of my undergraduate time and definitely veered from health-adjacent; we organized large-scale events on campus such as festivals, movie nights, excursions to nearby attractions in the city, etc. I wouldn't say I transitioned into a leadership role in this org until the past two years; should I split this activity to help bring variety to the non-clinical category?

3) I've had several ORM friends get interviews/acceptances from Morehouse. I realize n=3 isn't great, but would you still recommend leaving it off of my list?

Unfortunately not much of my application is geared to rural health. I am however interested in primary care, peds, and EM which I feel would be needed in rural areas, and I'd be happy to practice in rural Georgia for at least a few years after graduation. Thank you for the input on DOs as well.

Thank you for taking the time to write such a detailed analysis!

 

[itsgonnabemed]

Tulane, Creighton and Georgetown expect far more non clinical volunteering hours than you have. I suggest these schools with your stats:
Emory
MCG
University of GA
Mercer
Rosalind Franklin
Quinnipiac
Drexel
Temple
Eastern Virginia
University of Vermont
Texas Christian University
Albany Medical College
Medical College of Wisconsin
Wake Forest
Penn State
Thomas Jefferson
VCU
George Washington
Western Michigan
Nova Southeastern MD
Hackensack Meridian
Tufts
UCF
University of Cincinnati
Colorado
UMiami
Belmont
University of Illinois
Alice Walton
Methodist
USF Morsani
Oakland Beaumont
Hofstra
New York Medical College
You do not need to apply to that many DO schools. I suggest these:
PCOM Georgia and South Georgia
CUSOM
VCOM AL
LECOM

Hello and thank you for your insight on the service-heavy schools! I'll hold back from keeping those on my list. I hadn't considered Methodist, USF, Oakland, and Hofstra so I'll make sure to look into those schools. I was told that I should have a good shot at MD if I apply to enough schools, do you think this is sound advice?
I also hadn't considered CUSOM-- is there any particular reason that you think this would be a good fit for me?
Thank you again for taking the time to refine my list!

 

[Faha]

Hello and thank you for your insight on the service-heavy schools! I'll hold back from keeping those on my list. I hadn't considered Methodist, USF, Oakland, and Hofstra so I'll make sure to look into those schools. I was told that I should have a good shot at MD if I apply to enough schools, do you think this is sound advice?
I also hadn't considered CUSOM-- is there any particular reason that you think this would be a good fit for me?
Thank you again for taking the time to refine my list!

Hello and thank you for your insight on the service-heavy schools! I'll hold back from keeping those on my list. I hadn't considered Methodist, USF, Oakland, and Hofstra so I'll make sure to look into those schools. I was told that I should have a good shot at MD if I apply to enough schools, do you think this is sound advice?
I also hadn't considered CUSOM-- is there any particular reason that you think this would be a good fit for me?
Thank you again for taking the time to refine my list!

CUSOM has a good reputation and match list among DO schools.. The GPA-MCAT grid shows you have ~80% chance for a MD acceptance.