- cGPA (Undergraduate): 3.76 (w/ upward trend) (Graduate): 3.91; sGPA (Undergraduate Only) 3.74,
- MCAT 515, Winter 2020 (130/128/129128)
- Lifelong Michigan Resident
- ORM (white)
- Both undergraduate and graduate school were competitive (University of Michigan)
- Nothing from undergrad, 2500+ hours as a clinical trial coordinator at academic medical institution (lots of in person contact sustained throughout pandemic, scheduling appointments, explaining consents to patient, ordering labs, etc.)
- Ecology/Entomology Lab - 200Hrs (one co-authorship), Evolutionary Genetics Lab - 400Hrs (two authorships and one coauthorship in press), Virus Pathology in Mouse Model/Research - 300Hrs (part of my graduate capstone project, one co-authorship for another project)
- only about 20 hours of shadowing from my undergrad, between 2 internal medicine physicians and one infectious disease specialist.
- About 200 hours with my college rotary club doing local service volunteering (also counting leadership hours) during my undergraduate
- Board Representative on student cooperative housing organization (501(c)s non-profit) for about 2 years while completing my MPH program, subsequent 2 years as House President at graduate student cooperative I lived in (conflict resolution between housemates, facilitating meetings, etc). Was on the school's rowing team my whole freshman year (and why my freshman grades weren't so hot haha).
- Relevant honors or awards
- My major in undergrad was Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, my graduate degree is an MPH in epidemiology.
University of Michigan
Northwestern
Case Western
Wayne State University
Western Michigan
Ohio State
Oakland University
Michigan State (CHM),
Rush
Loyola
Rosalind Franklin,
Pritzger
Indiana
For additional context, I applied late in the 2020-2021 cycle (mid-August) and due to stress on my job and role in cooperative living situation, didnt have time for secondaries until mid October, at which point I decided to cut my losses and only send out secondaries for the two schools I was super passionate about (one a T20 and the other a mid-tier). R from one and had an interview with the other approx. 3 weeks ago. Currently on the waitlist so I don't think my interview went horribly! If I receive an acceptance from there I will certainly take it, but in case I get the R or waitlisted, I'd like to start working on polishing my 2020-2021.
My biggest lesson was - APPLY WAY EARLIER. I plan on being much more on top of this and submitting by mid-July as has been emphasized to me. I will likely request another LOR from a clinician/trial investigator I work with who I feel confident would write a positive and personal note on my behalf. However, I'm wondering if there's anything else I can do to improve my application besides a polished app (further editing of PS and secondaries), applying EARLY, and an additional letter of rec? I work a 9-5 as a clinical trial coordinator and don't have a ton of time outside of that for additional opportunities, but would love any input y'all have. Additionally, if I reapply, I will be a 29 year old candidate when starting. it took me a while to figure out this was exactly what I wanted do.
