WAMC: 3.83 cGPA, 3.7sGPA, 511 MCAT, MD resident, URM

[cristinayanginthemaking]

Hello everyone! I plan to apply during the upcoming 2025-2026 cycle and looking for help solidifying my school list. I graduated college in May 2024. I am now working as a physical therapy aide in my gap year. I appreciate any feedback and suggestions. Thank you 🙂

• cGPA: 3.83
• sGPA: 3.7
  • I did receive 2 C+ grades for Orgo 2 and Anatomy 2 in the fall semester of my junior year, so my cumulative GPA trajectory is 4.0, 3.8, 3.45, and 4.0, which is a weird V trend.
• MCAT: 511 (126/128/127/130)
• State of residence: MD
• URM: Black female and SES-disadvantaged
• Undergraduate institution: State School
• Clinical experience (volunteer and non-volunteer):
  • ER Patient Registration: 500 hours this was an eye-opening experience and could get a bit crazy at times since I worked evenings in Baltimore
  • Physical Therapy Aide: 600 hours +1200 hours projected (gap year job)
• Research experience and productivity:
  • 350 hours of global health survey research (research summer grant and 2 posters)
  • 130 hours of maternal health research using data from a national database (2 posters)
• Shadowing experience: 80 hours (Family medicine, Internal Medicine, and Pediatrics)
• Non-clinical volunteering:
  • Food bank volunteer: 50 hours +150 hours projected
  • Volunteer in a clubhouse for kids with cancer: 120 hours
  • Volunteer reading tutor for a kid affected by a behavioral disorder: 30 hours
  • Honors Orientation Mentor: 75 hours
  • High School Students Mentor: 80 hours
• Non-Clinical Paid Experience: 200 hours for Summer Internship for the city Health Department where I screened patients over the phone for health disparities and social needs to see if they were eligible for resources/programs
• Leadership:
  • Fundraising chair of a diversity club: 300 hours
  • President of a book club: 100 hours
• Hobbies: Reading and had a YouTube channel centered around books during lockdown (was featured in an article by a popular publishing house)
• Anything else not listed you think might be important: Studied abroad in Costa Rica

My goal was to apply to 25 schools and my current list is 26. I didn’t qualify for FAP so I am paying out of pocket for these applications. So if any schools don’t make sense please be honest so I can save some money lol. Also, a lot of schools I’m applying to are low-yield, but I don’t know what to swap them with.

Current School List:
DREAM
Duke
UChicago
Northwestern

REACH
Pittsburgh
Emory
UVA
Boston
Brown
Albert Einstein
Mount Sinai
Rochester
Cincinnati
Ohio State

TARGET
George Washington
Georgetown
VCU
EVMS
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Tufts
Wake Forest

HBCUs
Howard
Morehouse
Meharry

STATE SCHOOLS 🙁
Maryland

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[Faha]

You have a good list and should receive several interviews. You could add any of these schools:
Miami
Tulane
St. Louis
Hofstra
Dartmouth

 

[cristinayanginthemaking]

You have a good list and should receive several interviews. You could add any of these schools:
Miami
Tulane
St. Louis
Hofstra
Dartmouth

@Faha Thanks for your advice! It’s interesting that you suggested Hofstra because I actually considered the school before deciding to take it off. Rochester, Hofstra, and UVA are known stat ***** schools so I’m debating if my MCAT is strong enough for these 3 schools. What do you think?

 

[Faha]

@Faha Thanks for your advice! It’s interesting that you suggested Hofstra because I actually considered the school before deciding to take it off. Rochester, Hofstra, and UVA are known stat ***** schools so I’m debating if my MCAT is strong enough for these 3 schools. What do you think?

Yes. You could receive interviews at those schools.You could even try NYU and Johns Hopkins which both have free tuition. The reason is that the Black applicant pool is small and only ~250 per year apply with a GPA of 3.6+ AND a MCAT of 508+. There are only 150 MD schools so the competition is intense for those applicants.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I would encourage you to reach out to SNMA chapter officers or attend regional or national meetings. Start with their social media accounts and reach out to officers involved with premedical mentoring. They can also give you insights about your school list too.

 

[cristinayanginthemaking]

I would encourage you to reach out to SNMA chapter officers or attend regional or national meetings. Start with their social media accounts and reach out to officers involved with premedical mentoring. They can also give you insights about your school list too.

@Mr.Smile12 Yes I’ve seen you comment this on other WAMCs of Black applicants. I was planning to email the SNMA with different questions about their specific school. Maybe I should email Maryland’s SNMA about my school list. Also planned on asking my advisor about my school list just need to set up a meeting. Then as it gets closer to application time I will probably email the SNMA for each school on my list about different concerns about like diversity and the support their school provides. Does that sound good?

 

[cristinayanginthemaking]

Yes. You could receive interviews at those schools.You could even try NYU and Johns Hopkins which both have free tuition. The reason is that the Black applicant pool is small and only ~250 per year apply with a GPA of 3.6+ AND a MCAT of 508+. There are only 150 MD schools so the competition is intense for those applicants.

@Faha Okay that’s good to know! Do you think I should switch Wake Forest with Hofstra. I know that Wake Forest is really low yield and has in state bias, but idk.

 

[Faha]

@Faha Okay that’s good to know! Do you think I should switch Wake Forest with Hofstra. I know that Wake Forest is really low yield and has in state bias, but idk.

Apply to both.

 

[cristinayanginthemaking]

Apply to both.

@Faha I wanted to apply to less schools not more lol. Thank you for all your help!

 

[Mr.Smile12]

@Mr.Smile12 Yes I’ve seen you comment this on other WAMCs of Black applicants. I was planning to email the SNMA with different questions about their specific school. Maybe I should email Maryland’s SNMA about my school list. Also planned on asking my advisor about my school list just need to set up a meeting. Then as it gets closer to application time I will probably email the SNMA for each school on my list about different concerns about like diversity and the support their school provides. Does that sound good?

Sure! SNMA chapters should have a committee involved with supporting premeds (individually or at undergrad clubs). See if they host recruitment fairs and campus tours so you can ask them more casually. If you are able to go to their regional or annual meetings (I know they have opened registration recently), it is a nice networking opportunity. Of course, national SNMA is very involved on social media so get on their mailing list or follow their accounts for upcoming webinars.

 

[cristinayanginthemaking]

Sure! SNMA chapters should have a committee involved with supporting premeds (individually or at undergrad clubs). See if they host recruitment fairs and campus tours so you can ask them more casually. If you are able to go to their regional or annual meetings (I know they have opened registration recently), it is a nice networking opportunity. Of course, national SNMA is very involved on social media so get on their mailing list or follow their accounts for upcoming webinars.

@Mr.Smile12 I think you have to pay to be a member for the mailing list but I’ll talk with my advisor because I think my school did have an SNMA premed club. I’ll follow them on social media though. Thanks for your help!

 

[jvquarterback]

Add Charles Drew.

 

[cristinayanginthemaking]

Add Charles Drew.

@jvquarterback I originally wanted to apply there but they have a calculus requirement and I only took precalculus and statistics.

 

[jvquarterback]

@jvquarterback I originally wanted to apply there but they have a calculus requirement and I only took precalculus and statistics.

Call them to see what they say. You can always take Calc over the summer at a cc.