WAMC (3.98/513) School List Help/Gap Year Advice

[1234premed4321]

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1. cGPA = 3.98 sGPA = 3.98
2. 513 (127/130/128/128)
3. New Hampshire residency
4. Ethnicity: Caucasian, female
5. University of New Hampshire for undergraduate; double major in Biomedical Science and Nutritional Sciences
6. Volunteer EMT with 716 hours currently, projecting at least 1000 (also thinking of being a medical assistant for my gap year, haven't decided yet)
7. Was accepted into the Research Experience and Apprenticeship Program (REAP) and conducted research with dairy calves over a summer (about 140 hours). Was published in a peer-reviewed journal as the second author of this manuscript. Currently conducting an Honors Senior Thesis with a projected 300 hours, which I will present at the Undergraduate Research Convention at my university. (will be getting a letter of rec from the Advising professor)
8. Will be shadowing over this coming winter break: hoping to shadow GI, neurology, ED, and a primary care physician
9. Working in a food repurposing kitchen, putting together meals that are sent throughout the local communities. About 150 hours projected of this, but short shifts spread throughout about 3 years of consistent involvement (will be getting a letter of rec from the coordinator)
10. Very involved with the club volleyball team, have been a member for four years and a captain for two. General estimate of 1000 hours including practices, tournaments, fundraising, etc. Also have been a PLTL leader, working with 6-10 students weekly, guiding their learning of Organic Chemistry. Will have been involved with this for two years, the second year having been a coordinator for the other Orgo leaders. Around 70 hours as a regular leader and a projected 80 more as a coordinator. Also, was involved with an afterschool project and went to an afterschool program to help a young student gain confidence in their reading skills for one semester (this was only about 12 hours so I am not sure if I should include this even though I did enjoy it)
11. Presidential Scholarship Recipient, Honors Program, REAP Program Recipient, Interdisciplinary Honors, Honors in Major, Undergraduate Research Award
12. I will be applying this coming summer and taking a gap year, any advice for things I could do to shore up by application would be awesome! I do not have a fully developed school list yet, but these are some of the ones I am thinking about, let me know if you have any thoughts!

Target:
University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix
Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine
Loma Linda University School of Medicine
University of California Irvine School of Medicine
University of California Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine
University of California San Diego School of Medicine
University of Colorado School of Medicine
Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University
University of Connecticut School of Medicine
Georgetown University School of Medicine
University of Central Florida College of Medicine
University of Florida College of Medicine
Emory University School of Medicine
University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine
Carle Illinois College of Medicine
Indiana University School of Medicine
Tufts University School of Medicine
University of Massachusetts Medical School
Saint Louis University School of Medicine
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine
Wake Forest University School of Medicine
Creighton University School of Medicine
Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University
New York Medical College
New York University Long Island School of Medicine
Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University
The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Medical University of South Carolina College of Medicine
University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Medicine
Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Paul L. Foster School of Medicine
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine
University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School
University of Texas Medical Branch John Sealy School of Medicine
Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine
West Virginia University School of Medicine

Reach:
Boston University School of Medicine
Baylor College of Medicine
University of Texas Southwestern Medical School at Dallas
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

 

[Mr.Smile12]

So I'm curious... you haven't done any shadowing, but you took your MCAT. This won't be an issue on applicant review, but what if you don't like the doctors' work? What makes you confident you will find the work interesting enough to handle a $400K+ debt? Have you done any journaling for your experiences?

Practicing the Art of Reflection with a Prehealth Journal (or Podcast, or Online Blog) | SDN

This article focuses on reflective practices for health professional education and training. This advice can apply to developing a prehealth journal,

www.studentdoctor.net

If you are taking a gap year, is it too early to think about your school list? (Of course, on the admissions side, the answer is "no it's never too early!") Have you done any outreach to the schools on your list above? How about current students?

I'll let others come up with lists, but what strikes me first:
1) Your lack of a clear "purpose" as a physician. Hopefully this comes with your shadowing and your gap year. I have a suspicion based on what you have given us you may be attracted to food security and nutrition, so perhaps "lifestyle medicine" is where you want to go as a philosophy, regardless of specialty you decide.

Charting Your Purpose by Writing Your Professional Oath | SDN

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2) As a NH resident, check the OOS stats through the MSAR. This includes number of OOS students in the class (and distribution, which may be a little less important) and OOS tuition/cost of attendance.

To that end, why do you want to go to Texas? It's not that your profile isn't strong enough... it's that I'm not sure what you know about the patients who you will work with there. Do you have some fluency in Spanish or other languages?

3) Niche schools

• Loma Linda: do they still require a spiritual leader LOR?
• UC schools: You need a higher MCAT for a reasonable shot IMO. It's difficult even for IS applicants. Most like applicants from their home regions because of their focus on social mission to their communities. How does NH compare?
• Carle: read our interview with their admissions team: Q&A with Carle Illinois College of Medicine: Developing Innovation and Entrepreneurship as Health Professionals - SDN
• Texas: read up on the TMDSAS application process (including on these forums).
• West Virginia: I haven't thought about how similar NH and WV are.... I don't get that impression.