WAMC and School List Suggestions with 3.97 GPA

[RockyRoad78]

Hello all! I just recently graduated this past December and am thinking about applying this upcoming 23-24 cycle. However, due to some bumps with my clinical experience, I don't know if I should hold off my application until next year, or just try my luck for this year and reapply if necessary. I also would love suggestions for some schools since I only really have the bigger name schools in my list.

Demographics
-21 y/o Asian female, Arizona resident

Academics
-GPA: 3.97 cGPA, 3.9 sGPA
-MCAT: haven't taken it yet, but will be in a couple weeks. I am scoring around 516, with 129/127/130/130
-Major: Neuroscience
-Minors: Biochemistry, Humanities

Clinical
-~70 hrs hospital volunteering (wheeling patients, delivering gifts, etc) right before the pandemic hit
-I just started as a clinical research volunteer in the emergency department where I interact with patients to tell them about different studies and answer their questions. I'll have ~70 hrs by the time I apply and will continue this during my gap year.
- Flu clinic/COVID-19 Vaccine clinic volunteer for 7 months, 100 hours
- I am also thinking about starting a medical scribing job once I finish my MCAT, so I might have some hours for that by the time I apply, but will definitely be doing this during my gap year.

Shadowing
30 hrs in family medicine
30 hours of virtual shadowing (diff specialties like cardio and internal med)
15 in peds

Research
- 900+ hours of undergraduate research, spanned 2.5 years
-Poster presentation and some abstract submissions

Extracurriculars
-Taught 3rd-6th graders about Earth Science (Paid, 1 semester, 100 hrs)
- Student Health Advocacy Club (3 years, 250 hrs)
- Cofounded organization on campus that provided women's health resources to students and tried to destigmatize talking about sexual health/women's health. (Lasted 1 yr, 150 hrs)
- Academic Coaching/Tutoring (Paid, 1.5 years, 550 hrs)
- Lab facilitator, mentored high schoolers and taught them about basics of research (1.5 yrs, 115 hrs)

Community Service
-Bundling and distributing diapers for families in need (2 yrs, 150 hrs)
- *** I also have some community service here and there through the club I was in, but each activity wasn't enough to list as its own entry. Are these experiences negligible on my application?

Relevant honors or awards
-Dean's List with Highest Distinction

Early stages of school list:
University of Arizona-Tucson
University of Arizona-Phoenix
Mayo- Arizona
UCSD
UCLA
UCSF
Yale
USF
Washington University (in St. Louis)

Thank you so much for taking some time to help!

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[Mr.Smile12]

First note is you need more in person shadowing. I guess scribing helps there but you need to get closer to 100 hours shadowing rather than 45.

Second community service: you hit the threshold of 150 hours so I would really build this up since you graduated. Do you get to meet and talk with the mothers who benefit from the diaper drives? Can you do more volunteering at a women's shelter in your home area?

Let us know when your MCAT is posted.

 

[RockyRoad78]

First note is you need more in person shadowing. I guess scribing helps there but you need to get closer to 100 hours shadowing rather than 45.

Second community service: you hit the threshold of 150 hours so I would really build this up since you graduated. Do you get to meet and talk with the mothers who benefit from the diaper drives? Can you do more volunteering at a women's shelter in your home area?

Let us know when your MCAT is posted.

Thank you for your input! I definitely will work on getting as much in person shadowing as I can before I apply in a few months.

Unfortunately, we don’t get to meet with the people who benefit from the drive. The Diaper Bank distributes these bundles to other partners and people receive the bundles that way, but we do get to hear about some of them. And I have been thinking about volunteering at a women’s shelter! If I started next month, would that look bad on medical school applications as I’d only have 2-3 months of experience before applying?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

You graduated in December so you have more time to volunteer.

 

[Aksea23]

I agree with @Mr.Smile12 above. Are you currently working, or are you just studying for the MCAT? If the latter, I recommend reaching out to the women's shelter, food banks, or soup kitchens in your city/area to see if you can get 10+ hours per week of volunteering. A quick google search shows many women's shelters and shelters/day centers for the houseless in the Phoenix area, but you could also find others near you if you're not in Phoenix. Day Centers are a great way to interact with the community, and there are many roles from helping in the kitchen to helping individuals job search online. Try to get 100+ hours between now and submitting your application (hours should be at the same place over the next few months, not several different places).

 

[gyngyn]

We can't help with a list without a real MCAT.
Your current list is not feasible with a 516, though both of your state publics will be good.