WAMC: 3.82/ 520

[pearcheesecrackers]

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PLEASE DO NOT QUOTE THIS MESSAGE

3.82 cGPA, 3.64 sGPA
520 (131/130/130/129)
OH resident, ORM, attending state school
Clinical volunteering:

• 215 hours in transporting patients to imaging appts, collecting vitals, rooming pts, helping them navigate the hospital

Paid clinical:

• 480 hours as a clinical research assistant with an immunology/ allergy focus
• Starting an MA position at urgent care soon, and will continue to work full time throughout my gap year

Research experience:

• 800 hours in an immunology lab since freshman year, including 3 poster presentations and 3 manuscripts currently in progress. Hopefully at least one publication will be finalized by the end of May.

Shadowing:

• 58 hours split across nephrology, cardiology, ophthalmology, pediatrics, and internal medicine

Non-clinical volunteering:

• 250 hours at a food pantry, including much of that time as the shift lead. (Planning to continue to accrue hours here, so likely 350 by application submission)
• 400 hours with an impactful health advocacy campus organization, including 3 years on exec with an ongoing leadership role training new members

Other activities:

• 300 hours as a foreign language teacher for young students
  • I’m not sure if this is beneficial to my app in any way, but I have a second major studying this language, spent a semester abroad to take language courses, and am involved in the cultural club on campus. I also won a nationwide scholarship linked to these activities/ my cultural involvement.
• 100 hours in aforementioned cultural club, including community involvement and volunteering
• 400 hours working in a bakery (HS through first year of undergrad)
• 150 hours in an intramural sport throughout undergrad

Honors

• Various merit-based university scholarships and two undergraduate research scholarships
• Dean’s list each semester
• National cultural scholarship

Tentative school list
- OSU
- Cincinnati
- Case Western
- Virginia Tech
- Vanderbilt
- Colorado
- Upstate medical
- Indiana
- Michigan State
- WVU? (I know they have a strong rural focus, which I'm not sure my application aligns with)
- Neomed
- Penn state
- Albany
- Maryland
- Umass
- Umich
- Nebraska
- Pitt
- Rochester
- Toledo
- Vermont
- UVA
- Wayne state
- Wright state

I think my gpa, especially my sgpa, is somewhat low relative to my mcat, so I would appreciate some feedback on schools to add/remove from my list. Ideally, I would love to attend a school with a focus on research, whether that be through a fifth year or a majority of students working on research projects during the summers. Additionally, are there any areas of my application that need improvement before May? Thank you!!

 

[Faha]

SUNY Upstate and Nebraska admit few non residents with no connection to the state. You could add these schools:
Washington University (in St. Louis-almost a guaranteed interview with your stats)
Vanderbilt
Tufts
Hofstra
Einstein (free tuition)
Mount Sinai
USF Morsani

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Foundationally, things look solid with activities. I would look at your science coursework in your last 1-2 years to see what you took.

I warn that if you don't think your profile fits rural medicine much, you may want to reconsider Nebraska, VTech, and Indiana IMO. I am also unsure about Colorado, but you should check them out if they align with your purpose as a physician. Why is it important that you attend a program with a focus on research? Would you be okay if you did research that had nothing to do with your immunology work?

 

[pearcheesecrackers]

Foundationally, things look solid with activities. I would look at your science coursework in your last 1-2 years to see what you took.

I warn that if you don't think your profile fits rural medicine much, you may want to reconsider Nebraska, VTech, and Indiana IMO. I am also unsure about Colorado, but you should check them out if they align with your purpose as a physician. Why is it important that you attend a program with a focus on research? Would you be okay if you did research that had nothing to do with your immunology work?

I grew up in a mostly rural area and would have absolutely no hesitation to attend a school with a mission oriented towards serving rural communities. However, I don't think this would be at all evident from my application because none of my activities have taken place in rural areas. At most, I have several hundred hours volunteering with underserved communities, but from my understanding this is not what these schools are looking for?
In terms of research, my undergrad school is pretty research-oriented, and I really enjoyed taking classes that were related to topics I'd studied in research projects. I would love to continue this, although not necessarily in an immunology lab. I'm moreso interested in continuing to pursue research because of the way planning and adapting throughout experiments forces you to think. Many of the med students and physicians I've talked with have mentioned the importance of research when applying to residency, and I hoped aiming for more research-oriented schools would make finding a lab easier. This is really far in the future, but I've also worked with a couple physicians who had research projects in addition to their clinical work, and I find that appealing.