WAMC (3.93/512/military service)??

[CaliforniaBear21]

Residence: California
Race: Asian

Undergrad: Chemistry Major w/ Biochemistry concentration @ one of the service academies (will serve as military doctor following medical school)
GPA: 3.93
MCAT: 512 (127/124/130/131)

Research: ~ 1 month every summer since coming to The Academy (limited options on what we can do during our summer trainings); 1 year during senior year as a part of the chem major
Shadowing: ~ 1 hour/week (limited because rigid schedules @ Academy)
Volunteering: 1hr/month (limited... I think you get the trend here. We're not allowed to leave a whole lot but I volunteer when I can get away), military service? (I'm considered active duty at the Academy)

Leadership: My pride and joy; lots of leadership opportunities at the Academy, including training Freshman, leading peers and upperclassmen, and taking on many billets both during the academic year and during summer trainings since coming to the Academy; 3 semesters of leadership classes
LOR: 3 from professors, 1 from the Pre-medical board @ The Academy (do I need more?)

Overall: I definitely feel disadvantaged because at the Academies, we are limited in what we are allowed to do during our time here, including the summers. I have taken every research opportunity allowed for me. I have shadowed when I can go home for leave. Regardless, this doesn't change the fact that I have an egregious deficient in my research, shadowing, and volunteering hours compared to some of the other applicants I have seen. I'm hoping that maybe the fact that I volunteered to serve my country as a military physician/surgeon will give me some boost. I will not be permitted a gap year (i.e. if I do not get into medical school, I will be transferred into another community). I will definitely apply to USUHS.

School List: Definitely a work in progress
Stanford University
UCSF
UCSD
UCLA
USC Keck
UC Irvine
UC Davis
UC Riverside
USUHS
Georgetown
George Washington


What other schools should I look into applying? How much of a disadvantage do I have when compared to more traditional applicants?

Any and all advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance!

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[Mr.Smile12]

More details on your clinical experiences would be helpful. How many total hours per experience?

 

[m1redsox]

You have much more of an advantage than a disadvantage, being in the military. However, you will want to add a lot more schools and try to get some clinical experience (shadowing doesn’t really count- it’s more of its own category) and more volunteer work too. I’d recommend removing UCR from your list, unless you are from the inland empire. Otherwise, that is just a donation to their program haha.
Since this is kind of an all or nothing deal for you, I’d try applying to 25-30+ schools around your stat range. There are a ton of veteran-friendly schools out there too. You should start with Case, Pitt, Cincy-type schools as reaches/high targets and then add some Wake Forest, Drexel, Temple, MCW-type schools as low targets/safeties. If you’re really desperate to get in this round, you can throw in 3-4 DO schools too, but I don’t really think that’s necessary.

 

[Faha]

I suggest adding these schools to your list:
Kaiser
California
Tufts
Dartmouth
Hofstra
Einstein
New York Medical College
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Eastern Virginia
Virginia Commonwealth
NOVA MD
Miami
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
Medical College Wisconsin
Rosalind Franklin
TCU-UNT