WAMC & Advice: 516 / 3.72 cGPA / 3.82 sGPA

[uaena123]

Hi all, I made a WAMC last year, but there have been some updates to my application. I graduated Spring of 2022 and am currently in my first gap year. I'd appreciate any advice.

cGPA: 3.71 (Upward trend: 3.54->3.89)
sGPA: 3.82
MCAT: 516 (131/127/129/129)
Residency: MD
Ethnicity: Asian male
Undergraduate: State school
Clinical Experience:
ER scribe: ~700 hours
PACU volunteer (ongoing): 10 hours (projected 40 hours by the end of May)
Volunteer scribe at a nonprofit clinic for underserved patients mostly of hispanic heritage (ongoing): ~25 hours (projected 60 hours by the end of May)
Research Experience:
Two separate summers at the same basic research lab at NIH (collective ~1000 hours, no publications, 1 poster presentation)
Currently in my first of two years in the NIH Post Bac Research Program in a molecular biology lab (since Oct 2022)
Shadowing Experience:
Orthopedic Surgeon: 15 hours (looking to shadow a surgeon I like for another 10-20 hours before applying)
Looking for PCP shadowing opportunities
Non-clinical Volunteering:
Online tutor for underprivileged middle-high school students: ~15 hours
Prison tutor (ongoing): ~15 hours (projected 20 hours by the end of May)
Volunteer for an elderly village providing accompaniment phone calls and visits (ongoing): ~5 hours (projected 15 hours by the end of May)
Volunteer middle school tutor: ~30 hours

Concerns:
For starters, I am lacking in shadowing hours and specialty diversity. I am trying to boost these numbers before applying in May, but with my volunteer commitments and busy schedule at NIH, it's difficult to fit in more than 4-5 hours a week. However, I have had a lot of clinical experience watching and working with physicians particularly from my ER scribing and volunteer scribing at the nonprofit clinic.

In addition, most of my volunteering has begun very recently. I started volunteer at the nonprofit clinic, PACU, and elderly village early this year.

Lastly, I am concerned about my LORs. I have strong LORs from my current PI and the PI I did research for over two summers. However, I will have an OK letter from a biochemistry professor I talked with but did not do any research for, and mediocre letters from another science professor and a history professor for whom I did very well in the class but did not extend into otherwise.

Should I divert my time doing research into shadowing and volunteering before applying? Personally I also wouldn't mind taking another year to boost these hours and increase the longevity of my volunteering. Should I even take a science and nonscience course with the goal of obtaining stronger LORs?

School List:
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine & Science
Creighton University School of Medicine
Drexel University College of Medicine
Emory University School of Medicine
Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University
Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences
Georgetown University School of Medicine
Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine
Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University
Ohio State University College of Medicine
Robert Larner, M.D., College of Medicine at the University of Vermont
Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University
The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Tufts University School of Medicine
University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
University of Maryland School of Medicine (In state)
University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry
University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine
USF Health Morsani College of Medicine
Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine
Wake Forest University School of Medicine
Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine

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[Faha]

You would benefit from accumulating 20 hours of primary care shadowing and more non clinical volunteering. You should receive some interviews from your list. You could add any of these schools:
West Virginia
Eastern Virginia
New York Medical College
NOVA MD
Oakland Beaumont
Medical College Wisconsin

 

[Mr.Smile12]

In general, listing many activities where you had fewer than 50 hours doesn't really impress screeners and committees. Build more hours for the activities you are doing but remember that most applicants tutor. Tutoring doesn't help you stand out.

 

[uaena123]

In general, listing many activities where you had fewer than 50 hours doesn't really impress screeners and committees. Build more hours for the activities you are doing but remember that most applicants tutor. Tutoring doesn't help you stand out.

Good to know. Would you recommend I take another year to make sure the hours are stronger before applying? There's a limited amount of time before apps this year to work on these hours.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Good to know. Would you recommend I take another year to make sure the hours are stronger before applying? There's a limited amount of time before apps this year to work on these hours.

I would be interested to hear what the advisors at NIH tell you. You are always safe to take more time. Medical schools aren't going anywhere. The issue is that you have an MCAT clock to manage since you will have to retake once you are 3 cycles away from your test date. You also may have to prepare for Casper or Preview. The extra time also could help you secure stronger LORs.

Also focus your activities. I like the opportunity to tutor incarcerated individuals as this is clearly outside most people's comfort zones, and you are more likely helping them with their education once they are done with their time. Volunteering as a scribe is clinical exposure from your description. I'm not sure if you actually met the elderly residents, but the more in-person interaction, the more I can argue for service orientation.

 

[uaena123]

I would be interested to hear what the advisors at NIH tell you. You are always safe to take more time. Medical schools aren't going anywhere. The issue is that you have an MCAT clock to manage since you will have to retake once you are 3 cycles away from your test date. You also may have to prepare for Casper or Preview. The extra time also could help you secure stronger LORs.

Also focus your activities. I like the opportunity to tutor incarcerated individuals as this is clearly outside most people's comfort zones, and you are more likely helping them with their education once they are done with their time. Volunteering as a scribe is clinical exposure from your description. I'm not sure if you actually met the elderly residents, but the more in-person interaction, the more I can argue for service orientation.

Thanks for the input! I'll definitely think about the benefits/risks of taking one more year since I'd still have 2 cycles on my MCAT expiration. I'll also work on consolidating my extracurriculars.