WAMC? Applying this May

[creativead777]

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First-time applicant applying straight through (no gap year), preparing AMCAS. More info:

• Age: 21 (traditional applicant)
• State of residence: Missouri
• Citizenship: U.S.
• Ethnicity/Race: ORM (North African so I list white)
• Education: Currently completing undergraduate degree at a Midwestern private university.
  • cGPA (AMCAS): 3.90
  • sGPA (AMCAS): 3.99
• MCAT: 522 (single attempt)
• Clinical experience:
  • 500 hours as a Patient Care Technician
  • 260 hours hospital volunteering (patient transport)
• Research:
  • ~2,000+ total hours across basic science, clinical/translational, and qualitative health policy research
  • Productivity: peer-reviewed educational microbiology chapters (co-first author on two), 3 poster presentations, one oral presentation, internal competitive research grant
• Shadowing:
  • ~170 hours total
  • Transplant hepatology, pediatric neurology (PICU/NICU), general pediatrics, pediatric cardiology
• Non-clinical volunteering / service:
  • ~120 Mental health policy advocacy pod (worked with city officials on suicide prevention outreach)
  • ~550 Founder & Treasurer of a university blood drive organization
  • ~120 hours hospice bereavement support volunteering
  • ~200 Private STEM tutoring for underserved local children
• Teaching / leadership / other extracurriculars:
  • ~165 Biology TA
  • [COLOR=rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.6)]~120 hrs Chemistry teaching lab preparatory assistant[/COLOR]
  • Long-term fitness/weightlifting hobby
• Letters of recommendation:
  
  • Committee letter from my university, with my basic science and health policy PIs both contributing (as well as the professor I was a TA for)

I am primarily applying MD and am interested in research-heavy and academic medicine programs. As a straight-through applicant, I am unsure whether my school list is too top-heavy and whether I should broaden my mid-tier options.

Here is my current school list:

• Harvard (MD)
• Johns Hopkins (MD)
• Stanford (MD)
• Yale (MD)
• UPenn Perelman (MD)
• Duke (MD)
• UCSF (MD)
• Columbia (MD)
• Washington University in St. Louis (MD)
• NYU Grossman (MD)
• Vanderbilt (MD)
• Mayo Clinic (MD)
• Weill Cornell (MD)
• Northwestern (MD)
• UCLA (MD)
• University of Michigan (MD)
• University of Pittsburgh (MD)
• Emory (MD)
• Icahn at Mount Sinai (MD)
• University of Chicago Pritzker (MD)
• Case Western Reserve (MD)
• USC Keck (MD)
• University of Virginia (MD)
• Georgetown (MD)
• Alice Walton (MD)
• Boston University (MD)
• Ohio State (MD)
• Albert Einstein (MD)
• University of Miami (MD)
• University of Colorado (MD)
• Saint Louis University (MD)
• University of Missouri–Columbia (MD)
• University of Missouri–Kansas City (MD)

Do I have a realistic chance across this MD list as a straight-through applicant, or should I expand my school list further? Are there specific schools here that stand out as particularly good or poor fits?

 

[RockClimberMed]

Youll be good bruv

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Welcome to the forums.

What's your narrative? Where's your service orientation activities? Your research is lumped together and very broad, so I can't tell if you understand hypothesis-based research. The profile shows me a Jack of all trades but could be a master of none from what is given. And still no service orientation that is not health adjacent.

I would expect you getting a lot of attention, but mission fit is a challenge to me. You need 250 hours of service orientation, and I don't see anything that would make your application stand out.