WAMC - 513/3.81 mcat retake?

[zcmed]

(PLEASE DO NOT QUOTE THIS MESSAGE)

Hi all! Here is my info:

cGPA: 3.82
sGPA: 3.81
MCAT: 513 (128,127,128,130)
State of residence: NC, Strong ties (currently doing graduate program/involved with extracurriculars) with NY (NYC)
Ethnicity/race: White female, child of eastern european immigrants
Undergraduate category: State school, competitive but not in pre-med focus area
Major: Biology (Integrative Physiology/Neurobiology concentration) + Statistics minor
extra: current student in MPH program at ivy league university (graduate cGPA: 3.87, sGPA: 4.0, unsure if this matters though)

Clinical Experience:
Medical assistant at dermatology clinic: 835 hours
Clinical science internship sponsored by ivy league school (different state than residence): 80 hours
Chief medical scribe (management + regular scribe duties) at cardiology clinic: 760 hours
Physician shadowing at a university (different state than residence) hospital: 40 hours
Employment as clinical research intern at pharma company: 400 hours
(not on primary app) Current intern at government health agency in disease surveillance: 140 hours, anticipated additional 1000 hours over course of next year

Research experience
Neuroscience research: 500 hours (one project presented at research symposium, another project with journal submission in review)

Research productivity:
Papers: One 2nd author in review
Posters: 1 local (first)

Shadowing experience:
Hepatology, GI, neurology, neurosurgery, cardiology, dermatology: 120 hours

Non-clinical volunteering:
Volunteer tutoring organization, founded and run by students during COVID-19: 200 hours.
Health literacy organization: not started yet, currently in talks about job responsibilities so will know better about anticipated hours later.

Bit weaker in volunteering, sought out other volunteering opportunities during COVID but many were closed to new volunteers b/c of pandemic. Currently in graduate program in a geographical area with large focus in my interest areas for volunteering (especially health literacy).

Tutoring/ teaching assistant:
Volunteer tutoring organization (mentioned above): 200 hours

Other extracurricular activities:
Advocacy: President of gun violence initiative, however only just started so by time of primary was 10 hours, anticipated extra 100(?) hours prior to next summer.
Leadership: President of student organization in undergraduate, student wellness focused. Approx 450 hours.
Hobbies:
- Ballroom dance: 1000+ hours
- Photography: 600 hours
- Foreign language learning (current self-study: korean, chinese; learned through school + continuing improvement: spanish): 250 hours post HS

Relevant honors/awards:
Dean's list all semesters of undergrad besides study abroad semester and last semester (took 2 statatistic elective classes P/F b/c of COVID semester, did not have enough graded classes that semester to qualify)
Summa cum laude graduate

LOR:
Undergraduate neuroscience prof (also my neuroscience research PI) - very strong, physician worked under as a medical assistant - very strong, physician assistant worked under as medical assistant - strong, current professor in public health graduate program - strong

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My narrative centers around resilience and lifelong learning, as well as supreme interest in health literacy because of immigrant background and personal experience with the immigrant struggle in recieving healthcare.

Any advice in terms of how to leverage application to mitigate weaknesses (e.g. volunteering, both clinical and non-clinical) would be appreciated.

I'm also wondering in case I need to reapply next year, would MCAT retake be helpful or what additional things should I focus on to strengthen application (i.e. will be continuing health literacy volunteering, so anticipating a stronger app in terms of that next time around)

Thank you so much for any feedback you can provide!

School list:

1. Albany
2. UArizona - Tuscon
3. UArizona - Phoenix
4. Boston uni
5. Carver
6. Case Western
7. Columbia
8. Cooper Rowan
9. Cornell
10. Duke
11. ECU
12. Emory
13. Geisinger Commonwealth
14. George Washington
15. Georgetown
16. Hofstra
17. Icahn
18. Northwestern
19. NYU
20. NYU Long Island
21. Oregon Health and Science
22. Rochester
23. Rush
24. Rutgers
25. Rutgers Piscataway (Robert Wood)
26. Sidney Kimmel
27. Spencer Fox
28. St. Louis
29. Stanford
30. Toledo
31. Tufts
32. U Cincinnati
33. U Connecticut
34. U Florida
35. U Maryland
36. U Minnesota
37. U Nebraska
38. U Pitt
39. U Vermont
40. U Wisconsin
41. UCLA
42. UCSD
43. UMass Chan
44. UNC
45. Virginia Tech
46. Wake Forest
47. Wayne State

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[Faha]

You many state public schools on your list that admit few non residents with no connection to the state.
I suggest these MD schools with your stats:
UNC
East Carolina
Wake Forest
Emory
NOVA MD
Belmont
Tulane
TCU
Creighton
Arizona (phoenix)
St. Louis
Rosalind Franklin
Loyola
Medical College Wisconsin
Western Michigan
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
Georgetown
George Washington
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Penn State
Pittsburgh
Hackensack
New York Medical College
Albany
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Tufts
UMass

 

[KaiBuzz]

Agree with Faha with one exception: I don’t think your MCAT is high enough for UA PHX as an OOS applicant.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Sorry to tell you, but pandemic excuses aren't going to fly. Food banks were open and were in dire need of volunteers during the pandemic, so the pandemic excuse rings hollow. No, it wasn't easy, and hours may be limiting until vaccines were more common, but we all had that. It's now how you bounce back to get opportunities.

Your non-clinical community service address the critical importance of health literacy, but some faculty may find that you aren't stretching beyond your preferred comfort zone with a clinical-adjacent activity. I agree lifestyle/wellness medicine is important, but it may not move the needle enough compared to other applications with bonafide service orientation community service where you actually are helping or comforting people in dire situations that are not related to their health/wellness (food distribution, shelter volunteer, job/tax preparation, transportation services, or housing rehabilitation).

What are you doing in your MPH, which obviously will have a lot with health literacy and education? How much of your described activities is done as a capstone vs. an adjacent extracurricular activity? That will be considered in terms of your service orientation as more an obligation as your identity in your MPH program versus something with more intrinsic motivation.

 

[zcmed]

You many state public schools on your list that admit few non residents with no connection to the state.
I suggest these MD schools with your stats:
UNC
East Carolina
Wake Forest
Emory
NOVA MD
Belmont
Tulane
TCU
Creighton
Arizona (phoenix)
St. Louis
Rosalind Franklin
Loyola
Medical College Wisconsin
Western Michigan
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
Georgetown
George Washington
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Penn State
Pittsburgh
Hackensack
New York Medical College
Albany
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Tufts
UMass

I appreciate the help, thank you so much! Is there somewhere in particular besides the MSAR that has more information as far as OOS acceptances for schools? I had mostly just used calculations based on OOS matriculants/total matriculants from MSAR but it was likely inaccurate as you say.

 

[zcmed]

Sorry to tell you, but pandemic excuses aren't going to fly. Food banks were open and were in dire need of volunteers during the pandemic, so the pandemic excuse rings hollow. No, it wasn't easy, and hours may be limiting until vaccines were more common, but we all had that. It's now how you bounce back to get opportunities.

Your non-clinical community service address the critical importance of health literacy, but some faculty may find that you aren't stretching beyond your preferred comfort zone with a clinical-adjacent activity. I agree lifestyle/wellness medicine is important, but it may not move the needle enough compared to other applications with bonafide service orientation community service where you actually are helping or comforting people in dire situations that are not related to their health/wellness (food distribution, shelter volunteer, job/tax preparation, transportation services, or housing rehabilitation).

What are you doing in your MPH, which obviously will have a lot with health literacy and education? How much of your described activities is done as a capstone vs. an adjacent extracurricular activity? That will be considered in terms of your service orientation as more an obligation as your identity in your MPH program versus something with more intrinsic motivation.

Thank you so much for the advice, I really appreciate the honesty. Throughout the years, I had gone volunteering at my local food bank a few times here and there (including during the pandemic), but it was nothing consistent enough for me to think it warranted a place on my application. In terms of the MPH, my advocacy experience (gun violence group president) is through a club at the school, but it is not a part of program requirements and is solely extracurricular on my part. The health literacy experience I sought outside of my program as well so it is not connected/not a requirement. I know that advocacy and non-clinical volunteering is counted separately on the primary application - does that mean that the unpaid time I spend in the gun violence advocacy group would not be considered non-clinical volunteering, but instead separate as advocacy hours (that is, in the eyes of any admissions committees)?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

In my opinion, gun advocacy is advocacy, not community service. Unless you are literally taking guns out of people's hands (ideally voluntarily). Gun violence is public health and as such an issue requiring health literacy.

 

[Faha]

I appreciate the help, thank you so much! Is there somewhere in particular besides the MSAR that has more information as far as OOS acceptances for schools? I had mostly just used calculations based on OOS matriculants/total matriculants from MSAR but it was likely inaccurate as you say.

You should be aware that for many state public schools a significant number of the non residents admitted are those who attended undergraduate school in the state, former residents, legacies, URM, etc. . I included state public schools where it is less prominent.