WAMC and school list for next cycle 3.97 gpa 526 mcat

[name6507]

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Hi, just wanted to know chances for this upcoming cycle 26-27

1. cGPA = 3.98, sGPA = 3.98
2. MCAT = 526 - lost the points in biology section
3. Midwest state origin
4. ORM
5. Ivy undergrad, no gap years, double major in math + science
6. Only clincical is at a hispanic nonprofit where I interpret, volunteer, take vitals, and help patients. Around 250-300 hours by application date.
7. 2000+ hours reseraching - expected submission of first author by may, and probable second/mid author submission. Research is basic science.
8. Shadowing at nonprofit and large hospital, where I shadowed different specialties 10 hours each, total 50 hours
9. 250 hours nonclinical volunteering at local food service for homeless people
10. project lead for club where we work with biotech companies to implement more sustainable solutions to their projects, managed work of ~5 people during semester. also a math ta and won a teaching award. also wrote a blog explaining simply the math behind some medical stuff like CT scans and MRI reconstruction
11. no huge honors or awards
12. summarize - no gap years, high stats, high reserach, low clinical. how ****ed am I?

School List:
please help me for my school list; I'm thinking I have a good shot at T20's, but I have no idea

 

[Mr.Smile12]

First, welcome to the forums.

Second, when did your AMCAS get verified?

Third, what feedback did you get from your prehealth advising office/committee? Your metrics should yell "good shot at T20's", but you know better that it takes more than numbers.

Fourth, Why do you want to be a physician, especially since your leadership and campus impact seem low. I don't see much passion in this WAMC profile for anything to entice me to interview you. Then again, this isn't your true application.

 

[wysdoc]

Hi, just wanted to know chances for this upcoming cycle 26-27

1. cGPA = 3.98, sGPA = 3.98
2. MCAT = 526 - lost the points in biology section
3. Midwest state origin
4. ORM
5. Ivy undergrad, no gap years, double major in math + science
6. Only clincical is at a hispanic nonprofit where I interpret, volunteer, take vitals, and help patients. Around 250-300 hours by application date.
7. 2000+ hours reseraching - expected submission of first author by may, and probable second/mid author submission. Research is basic science.
8. Shadowing at nonprofit and large hospital, where I shadowed different specialties 10 hours each, total 50 hours
9. 250 hours nonclinical volunteering at local food service for homeless people
10. project lead for club where we work with biotech companies to implement more sustainable solutions to their projects, managed work of ~5 people during semester. also a math ta and won a teaching award. also wrote a blog explaining simply the math behind some medical stuff like CT scans and MRI reconstruction
11. no huge honors or awards
12. summarize - no gap years, high stats, high reserach, low clinical. how ****ed am I?

School List:
please help me for my school list; I'm thinking I have a good shot at T20's, but I have no idea

Hi to get a helpful school list name your state of residence and the kind of school you want (more clinical care -vs- research oriented.)
I noticed you’re applying for the 2026-27 cycle so you have time to read up on schools too

 

[name6507]

First, welcome to the forums.

Second, when did your AMCAS get verified?

Third, what feedback did you get from your prehealth advising office/committee? Your metrics should yell "good shot at T20's", but you know better that it takes more than numbers.

Fourth, Why do you want to be a physician, especially since your leadership and campus impact seem low. I don't see much passion in this WAMC profile for anything to entice me to interview you. Then again, this isn't your true application.

Our committee isn't great with feedback. My amcas is not verified - i want to apply in the next cycle.

For your last question, I want to be a physician based on my experiences with shadowing and through volunteering at the nonprofit i mentioned. I worked as an interpreter and took vitasl for patients who don't have health insurance or documentation. Through this experience, Ive been able to see how MDs help improve patients livelihood through various illnesses while keeping the patientfirst and prioritizing their quality of life with other restrictions like ICE and paying out of pocket. I'm also specifically interested in improving health outcomes since I've seen how important improving health-related outcomes are for these populations and how much it can affect their life when they are also dealing with several other problems in todays government. I also want to specify that I want to become a physician scientist as well, and my acadmic interests are in utilizing novel technologies to improve treatments using machine learning and other computational methods.

I agree my leadership and campus involvement is low, but to be honest a lot of people on my campus are sociopaths, and I never really found my community here. I feel like my leadership has been super helpful for me since rarely do you really get to lead a team like I did, but you are right all my expereinces are off campus except for research.

 

[name6507]

Hi to get a helpful school list name your state of residence and the kind of school you want (more clinical care -vs- research oriented.)
I noticed you’re applying for the 2026-27 cycle so you have time to read up on schools too

I can't name the state of residence for doxxing, but Im interested in academic medicine, and my state has no academic hospitals that I'm interested in.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Our committee isn't great with feedback. My amcas is not verified - i want to apply in the next cycle.

For your last question, I want to be a physician based on my experiences with shadowing and through volunteering at the nonprofit i mentioned. I worked as an interpreter and took vitasl for patients who don't have health insurance or documentation. Through this experience, Ive been able to see how MDs help improve patients livelihood through various illnesses while keeping the patientfirst and prioritizing their quality of life with other restrictions like ICE and paying out of pocket. I'm also specifically interested in improving health outcomes since I've seen how important improving health-related outcomes are for these populations and how much it can affect their life when they are also dealing with several other problems in todays government. I also want to specify that I want to become a physician scientist as well, and my acadmic interests are in utilizing novel technologies to improve treatments using machine learning and other computational methods.

I agree my leadership and campus involvement is low, but to be honest a lot of people on my campus are sociopaths, and I never really found my community here. I feel like my leadership has been super helpful for me since rarely do you really get to lead a team like I did, but you are right all my expereinces are off campus except for research.

While your work at the non-profit is admirable, most of your time in medical school will likely be spent in traditional hospital settings. I suppose you can choose a medical school program that puts you in community health settings, but then it doesn't really work with your desire to be a physician scientist involved with innovation and technology without a more direct connection. Explain how physicians help patients prioritize quality of life when ICE and out-of-pocket expenses are more pressing concerns; have there been threats of raids on the non-profit clinic? How connected to the non-profit clinic is the food bank you also work at?

I don't think I can give you a strong school list without more information and a clearer purpose as a physician that suggests you would thrive even in a one of the 50 Top 10 programs. If community health is your primary motivation for becoming a physician, you'll need to demonstrate more community involvement and impact to effectively present your case to the Chicago-area schools I'm considering (I need more details about the 250 hours you claim to have, but places like Loyola and Rush typically require closer to 1000). I presume the Chicago-area or similar metropolitan health systems are your focus, and not the rural health places where you might be more familiar, right? I surmise that you don't want rural health.

I don't know much about your student community in college. I don't know if medical school would have fewer psychopaths... we're all a bit unusual but tend to do a lot together on-campus. If you're not comfortable with your fellow students in college, what makes me think you would be better off in medical school? You don't have to be around everyone 24/7 (thank goodness), but you will be put in situations where you must work together.

 

[Faha]

I suggest these schools with your stats:
Northwestern
U Chicago
Washington University (in St. Louis-almost a guaranteed interview with your stats)
Vanderbilt
Iowa
U Michigan
Case Western
Cincinnati
Emory
Duke
U Virginia
Johns Hopkins (free tuition)
U Penn
Pittsburgh
Hofstra
Einstein (free tuition)
Mount Sinai
NYU (free tuition)
Columbia
Cornell
Harvard
Yale
Boston University
Tufts
UMass
Dartmouth
Brown
UCSF
Mayo

 

[name6507]

While your work at the non-profit is admirable, most of your time in medical school will likely be spent in traditional hospital settings. I suppose you can choose a medical school program that puts you in community health settings, but then it doesn't really work with your desire to be a physician scientist involved with innovation and technology without a more direct connection. Explain how physicians help patients prioritize quality of life when ICE and out-of-pocket expenses are more pressing concerns; have there been threats of raids on the non-profit clinic? How connected to the non-profit clinic is the food bank you also work at?

I don't think I can give you a strong school list without more information and a clearer purpose as a physician that suggests you would thrive even in a one of the 50 Top 10 programs. If community health is your primary motivation for becoming a physician, you'll need to demonstrate more community involvement and impact to effectively present your case to the Chicago-area schools I'm considering (I need more details about the 250 hours you claim to have, but places like Loyola and Rush typically require closer to 1000). I presume the Chicago-area or similar metropolitan health systems are your focus, and not the rural health places where you might be more familiar, right? I surmise that you don't want rural health.

I don't know much about your student community in college. I don't know if medical school would have fewer psychopaths... we're all a bit unusual but tend to do a lot together on-campus. If you're not comfortable with your fellow students in college, what makes me think you would be better off in medical school? You don't have to be around everyone 24/7 (thank goodness), but you will be put in situations where you must work together.

I get along with people well, and I was joking about the psycopath comment. I just wasn't drawn to the traditional premed clubs here at my school, and the other clubs are immensely preprofessional - basically everyone leaves once they have a job, usually around sophomore-junior year. I think I will have an easy time connecting with and working wtih people in medical school.

I also wanted your feedback on my application as is - do I even have a shot at T20? I don't have those 1000+ hour clinical experience, but I'm also not taking a gap so I feel like it's not necessarily expected.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I get along with people well, and I was joking about the psycopath comment. I just wasn't drawn to the traditional premed clubs here at my school, and the other clubs are immensely preprofessional - basically everyone leaves once they have a job, usually around sophomore-junior year. I think I will have an easy time connecting with and working wtih people in medical school.

I also wanted your feedback on my application as is - do I even have a shot at T20? I don't have those 1000+ hour clinical experience, but I'm also not taking a gap so I feel like it's not necessarily expected.

Your metrics put you in the ballpark. Your hours will determine what seats you'll get, and your interview will determine if you get to stay for the whole game. Your mission will tell us how much you can play the field. (Not the most perfect extension of the metaphor, but it will do for now.)