WAMC 3.86/524 + school list recommendations

[xNinjaBurrito1]

Hello everyone! I've just recently joined SDN but I'm so happy to be here. I've been stressing non-stop about my application (applying May 2024) considering I barely participated in the undergrad admissions process (applied to 1 school, didn't edit my essay), so any and all advice is welcome! I am currently focusing on research for my gap year, but looking to add clinical in my free time if able.

1. cGPA: 3.86 and sGPA: 3.80
2. MCAT score: Second attempt 524 (132, 132, 129, 131) First attempt: 508
3. Oregon Resident
4. Multiracial: Black, latino, and white (I've been advised to drop the last one when I apply. The issue is that I'm white-passing for the most part.)
5. School: No name university in Oregon
6. Clinical experience: 250 hours volunteer, 0 paid clinical
7. Research experience and productivity: 250 hours research, no pubs or presentations, one poster. Like I mentioned above, I'm applying to Research Assistant jobs right now. Hoping to add another 1000 hours, though it very likely will come at the cost of paid clinical. Not sure which to prioritize, so any advice is welcome!
8. Shadowing experience and specialties represented: 20 hours anesthesia/cardiothoracic surg, 20 hours geriatrics, 8 hours IM, 30 hours community/family medicine
9. Non-clinical volunteering: 50 hours Meals on Wheels (ongoing)
10. Other extracurricular activities: 2000 hours in an intercollegiate, competitive activity, 200 hours in a noncompetitive sport, 100 hours as a chem TA, 200 hours club leadership in said intercollegiate activity.
11. Relevant honors or awards: Tri-beta honor society, Alpha Lamda Delta honor society)
12. Additional: Legacy at a T3, will apply as bilingual

I'm hoping for some guidance in forming a school list, though I know that will be difficult since my research and clinical experience is not yet set in stone. The ARS calculator from SDN recommends 45% T20, but I imagine that my lack of clinical and research changes that. I am obviously applying to OHSU and the legacy school, but I'm lost on the rest. I would love to live in California, and my only hangups in school location would be deep south (Alabama, Mississippi, etc.) though Georgia would be fine. I hope its okay to @ @Faha and @Goro ; your advice on past threads look invaluable

Thank you,

xNinjaBurrito1

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[Mr.Smile12]

Make sure to consider Becoming a Student Doctor for building more depth about your leadership and mission fit for your school list.

You have a ticking clock with the MCAT scores, but you admit you don't have enough experience yet (clinical, community service, research). We don't have details about your activities to determine your mission fit or your geographic preferences. You need to do networking with schools on your list to see if moving out to Alabama makes sense. Virtual fairs are coming up so sign up.

 

[Faha]

What is the nature of your 250 hours of clinical experience ?

 

[xNinjaBurrito1]

What is the nature of your 250 hours of clinical experience ?

I volunteered in a hospital, specifically the surgery unit, for about a year during COVID. Some patient interaction, but not much.

 

[Goro]

Suggest getting more service to communities of color.

 

[Faha]

I suggest these OOS schools with your stats:
Hofstra
Einstein
Mount Sinai
Tufts
Boston University
Brown
Rochester
Pittsburgh
Jefferson
U Virginia
Ohio State
Cincinnati
Case Western
Duke
Emory
Vanderbilt
USF Morsani
Miami
Washington University (in St. Louis-almost a guaranteed interview with your stats)
Northwestern
U Michigan
UCSF
UCLA
USC Keck
Kaiser
You should accumulate another 150+ hours of non clinical volunteering and more clinical exposure hours would also help.

 

[LeaveNoTrace]

Yeah. Get 300+ hours of clinical and nonclinical volunteering each. Your stats are stellar. Speaking a foreign language fluently will only help you, especially if it is Spanish. As far as what boxes to check for the race category...that is a personal decision although it seems more respectable to answer with what you feel is truthful and honest. That aside...a white dude with a 3.85 and 524 is at worst pack fodder at top 20 schools and therefore a strong applicant anywhere else! Just make sure your ECs are up to snuff for top 20s and you're going to do great.

I didn't apply to any medical schools or residency programs in the South, either - I don't like the climate there.

 

[xNinjaBurrito1]

I suggest these OOS schools with your stats:
Hofstra
Einstein
Mount Sinai
Tufts
Boston University
Brown
Rochester
Pittsburgh
Jefferson
U Virginia
Ohio State
Cincinnati
Case Western
Duke
Emory
Vanderbilt
USF Morsani
Miami
Washington University (in St. Louis-almost a guaranteed interview with your stats)
Northwestern
U Michigan
UCSF
UCLA
USC Keck
Kaiser
You should accumulate another 150+ hours of non clinical volunteering and more clinical exposure hours would also help.

Thank you so much for the list! To clarify, do you think I'd have a shot at these schools as my stats currently stand, or is the additional volunteering and clinical exposure accounted for? The additional volunteering will be easy, but its looking like I will have to choose between clinical and research. My current impression is that additional research (750ish more hours) would make me a more competitive applicant to schools like Penn and NYU. Am I off base?

 

[xNinjaBurrito1]

Yeah. Get 300+ hours of clinical and nonclinical volunteering each. Your stats are stellar. Speaking a foreign language fluently will only help you, especially if it is Spanish. As far as what boxes to check for the race category...that is a personal decision although it seems more respectable to answer with what you feel is truthful and honest. That aside...a white dude with a 3.85 and 524 is at worst pack fodder at top 20 schools and therefore a strong applicant anywhere else! Just make sure your ECs are up to snuff for top 20s and you're going to do great.

I didn't apply to any medical schools or residency programs in the South, either - I don't like the climate there.

Thank you so much for the kind words and the advice! Yes I've honestly struggled with my racial identity my entire life, so I'm not sure I even have a preference on what race(s) I identify with on my app. As for the Southern schools, I just don't want to end up somewhere that I'd discourage my black family members from visiting.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Thank you so much for the kind words and the advice! Yes I've honestly struggled with my racial identity my entire life, so I'm not sure I even have a preference on what race(s) I identify with on my app.

If you haven't already, I strongly recommend the NPR Code Switch podcast.

 

[Faha]

Thank you so much for the list! To clarify, do you think I'd have a shot at these schools as my stats currently stand, or is the additional volunteering and clinical exposure accounted for? The additional volunteering will be easy, but its looking like I will have to choose between clinical and research. My current impression is that additional research (750ish more hours) would make me a more competitive applicant to schools like Penn and NYU. Am I off base?

You need the additional non clinical volunteering (150 hours minimum or you could be screened out at some schools). Your 250 hours of clinical are adequate but more is always better so try to fit in some hours while you are doing research,

 

[atriablack]

Agree with needing more non-clinical volunteering but, also, see if you can work out a schedule alongside research. That extra research will also be important. See how you can balance both?

 

[xNinjaBurrito1]

Hello everyone,

I've taken the above advice and have shaped my weekly schedule from now until at least May to address some of the recommendations you all have given me. I want to update my WAMC post with the new ECs, provide additional info in a few categories, and ask a few questions about where I currently stand as an applicant and determine what else (if anything) needs to be addressed. Would it be best to update here, or make another WAMC post? I'm still learning the etiquette here.

 

[xNinjaBurrito1]

Also, when providing projected hours, what date should I project to? I've been calculating hours to May 31st, but perhaps projecting to June/July would be more accurate?

 

[xNinjaBurrito1]

Okay, here's my WAMC update with projected hours in the categories you all recommended I address, along with some questions at the end. I've decided to project all hours to May 31st, which I think is when I would send in my primaries. Not sure though. Thank you all so much for the advice you've given me thus far!

Research: I was able to land an RA position in a startup pharmaceutical company run by a professor. Largely cancer research. 1500 hours expected between my previous research project and my current job. I still have the poster from the previous project, but publications aren't likely before May, though I could try to write a review article (first author, my two PIs would also be authors) if you all think it would be a significant boon to my application.

Clinical volunteering: I've started volunteering in the ED at a nearby hospital again. Same types of tasks (some patient-centered activities, but mostly supporting hospital staff). I estimate between 300 and 400 hours, depending on if I volunteer once or twice a week. Any thoughts on if the difference between 300 and 400 will matter to adcoms?

Non-clinical volunteering: I started volunteering at a houseless shelter. I prepare food and then serve it the residents, as well as help out around the shelter. I also go with them once a week where we setup underneath a bridge and provide various resources and services in multiple stations. I volunteer for various stations, but my favorite so far has been footwashing. I'm not religious but the intimate human connection and restoration of dignity is pretty powerful stuff. I think it might end up as one of my most meaningful activities (though I'm a little worried adcoms will chalk it up as weirder than it really is). I project 310 hours by May 31st between my houseless shelter work and Meals on Wheels work.



Questions:

1. Are there any other changes I should make to my weekly schedule? I am making this WAMC update so soon after the original post to make sure I can make any necessary pivots before it's too late.

2. My goal is to be as competitive as an applicant as I can without taking any additional gap years. I'm specifically trying to break into pack fodder for T20s, despite my GPA being a bit low for them. Is there anything else I can do to make that happen?

3. My school list is.... top heavy

Harvard

Johns Hopkins

U Penn

Columbia

Duke

Stanford

UCSF

Vanderbilt

Washington St-Loo

Yale

Cornell

NYU

Mayo

Northwestern

Pittsburgh

U Michigan

Mount Sinai

U Chicago

UCLA

UCSD

Emory

Case Western

Colorado

Ohio State

USC Keck

OHSU

Boston University

Rochester

Brown

Cincinatti

UW Madison

Einstein

Miami

Dartmouth

USF Morsani

and it's top heavy because I would rather attend my state school than most others. This list obeys the 45%,35%,15% split that WARS recommends, but if I need a reality check, please let me know.


Thank you!

 

[xNinjaBurrito1]

oops, forgot @Faha @Mr.Smile12 @LeaveNoTrace

 

[LeaveNoTrace]

I think you're solidly at pack-fodder level if you get the hours you say you will. Some schools average MCATs but others do not and a 524 is no joke. A 3.86 GPA might be a tiny bit below average by stratospheric top-20 standards, but a 3.8 isn't keeping anyone out of any medical school in the country. As cliche as it might sound, your being mixed-race also adds diversity; you may or may not get a leg up from adcoms there. That's a crapshoot.

I also think that you should switch out about three of those top-20 schools with midtiers as a T20 pack-fodder applicant. Good luck - your application is quite strong for mid-tiers, and the top 20 schools are a crapshoot for pack fodder.

 

[xNinjaBurrito1]

I think you're solidly at pack-fodder level if you get the hours you say you will. Some schools average MCATs but others do not and a 524 is no joke. A 3.86 GPA might be a tiny bit below average by stratospheric top-20 standards, but a 3.8 isn't keeping anyone out of any medical school in the country. As cliche as it might sound, your being mixed-race also adds diversity; you may or may not get a leg up from adcoms there. That's a crapshoot.

I also think that you should switch out about three of those top-20 schools with midtiers as a T20 pack-fodder applicant. Good luck - your application is quite strong for mid-tiers, and the top 20 schools are a crapshoot for pack fodder.

Thank you so much! Yes the more I think about it UPenn and Mayo (probably also Harvard) are looking like donations so I'm adding in Georgetown, Tufts, and George Washington. I think between being mixed-race (and the stories I have to tell about it) and my intercollegiate activity (which would unfortunately doxx me if I described it), I'm hoping I'll perk someone's ears at a T20, but I guess we'll see!

Thanks again