MD WAMC as nontrad?

[taberis]

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Hi all, I am applying this cycle (decided a bit late, I know) and was hoping to get some feedback on my school list, and if anyone has any advice on how to input into AMCAS some of the experience listed below! Let's just say I was never expecting myself to be in a position where I would have to look back upon my hours spent on papers/research 🙂 Any help is appreciated!

- Undergraduate: cGPA 3.6, sGPA 3.56 (Masters: cGPA 3.87 sGPA 3.78)
- UPDATE: MCAT 517 (129/127/131/130)
- CT resident, Asian, female (is this ORM?) - Grad program was in CA, was considered resident at one point
- Undergrad: top 25 public
- Clinical: 1280 hrs mid level clinician in genetics (full time job since Jan this year, peds/adult), additional clinic time from grad school rotations in genetics (cancer, prenatal, general), additional volunteer time from undergrad in multiple sclerosis clinic (do I need to include this on the app??).
- Research: undergrad thesis (neuropsych), masters thesis (healthcare survey type) - also published as first author (not sure how to translate this into hours..please help! do I just make something up like 40 hrs??), ~5 additional publications, 2 more in the works
- Other random things: ultimate frisbee (club level), was also involved in local org ~2 years as coach/event coordinator. Guest lecture in clinical genomics, panel speaker at a conference, was a rotation supervisor for Masters students. In various genetics related working groups from national orgs, hold leadership in a small subcommittee.

School list:

Yale

Quinnipiac

UConn

Vanderbilt

UCI

UMiami

Stanford

UCSD

Kaiser

Tufts

Brown

UCLA

Wake Forest

 

[GoPenguinsGo]

I’m gonna be the first to suggest to take Yale off your list unless you get a 520+ on that MCAT. Its gonna be hard for anyone like Goro or Faha to make suggestions without a concrete MCAT to work with rather than a theoretical one.

 

[Faha]

You need a real MCAT score before you can decide which schools to apply to. You can apply to one school now to have your application verified and add more schools later on when your score is available.

 

[taberis]

Thanks for the reply! Unfortunately, my score will be released past some of the deadlines (UCLA and Kaiser). Should I apply to these schools even before knowing or better to not bother? Many of the other schools have deadlines 2 days after the score release so I'm hoping to have some vague sort of plan since it will be crunch time during then.

 

[Faha]

Thanks for the reply! Unfortunately, my score will be released past some of the deadlines (UCLA and Kaiser). Should I apply to these schools even before knowing or better to not bother? Many of the other schools have deadlines 2 days after the score release so I'm hoping to have some vague sort of plan since it will be crunch time during then.

This an example of why it is a bad strategy to apply late with a September MCAT. If you should score 507 on the MCAT only UConn, Quinnipiac and Wake Forest would be realistic. Post your actual score here in the future.

 

[taberis]

This an example of why it is a bad strategy to apply late with a September MCAT. If you should score 507 on the MCAT only UConn, Quinnipiac and Wake Forest would be realistic. Post your actual score here in the future.

My MCAT was a 517 (129/127/131/130).

I also was asked to be a subject matter expert for a set of education modules made for physicians between the time I posted - if it means anything!
Thanks in advance and the advice thus far!

 

[Isomerase]

1. @Goro and @Faha will have much more valid advice than me and supersedes anything I'm about to say. Honestly, it might just be too late to apply at this point. That being said, here are my thoughts, sorry if this comes off as harsh.
2. "Do I need to include my MS volunteering?" Absolutely, this is your only volunteering right? Clinical volunteering is one of the most important parts of a med school app
3. "Do I make something up like 40 hours?" - No, you should do you your best to calculate an accurate number. (That being said, did you really only spend 40 hours on a first author publication? Or do you just mean the writing process itself?)
4. Onto your list. As you know, it's already very late. Honestly your best chance at getting in might be to apply to DO schools, but again defer to an adcom like @Goro for his advice. Your best chances at getting in MD school is to make your list dramatically longer and better. Breaking it down:

Yale - Major reach, you are well below MCAT and GPA averages, maybe they have a subtle soft spot for CT residents?

Quinnipiac - Fair

UConn - Your best chance

Vanderbilt - Major Reach like Yale

UCI - They will prefer Ca residents

UMiami - I would keep, though they are fairly low yield

Stanford - They might like your research but obvioulsy still a huge reach

UCSD - They will prefer Ca residents

Kaiser - extremely low yield school

Tufts - low yield

Brown - they prefer Brown students

UCLA - They will prefer Ca residents

Wake Forest - also low yield

Spend significant time on the MSAR looking at which schools your stats fit in with. It's imperative that you apply to more reasonable schools if you want to maximize your chances. If you don't believe me, head over to the no interview invites thread and look at how many people with higher stats who applied to 30+ schools still have 0 or a single interview.
If it were me, I would
-remove Vanderbilt, Yale, Brown, probably the Cali schools although I'm not sure how much previous residency affects things
-maybe remove some of the other low yield schools
-consider adding Western Michigan, Hofstra, Vermont, St. Louis, Creighton, South Florida, USC, Albert Einstein, Dartmouth, Pittsburgh, Rochester maybe any new school, DO schools if @Goro recommends it. Maybe Ohio State, Cincinnati, UTSW
,

 

[Faha]

My MCAT was a 517 (129/127/131/130).

I also was asked to be a subject matter expert for a set of education modules made for physicians between the time I posted - if it means anything!
Thanks in advance and the advice thus far!

Which schools have you applied to ?

 

[Goro]

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School list:

Yale

Quinnipiac

UConn

Vanderbilt

UCI

UMiami

Stanford

UCSD

Kaiser

Tufts

Brown

UCLA

Wake Forest

OP, I'm worried that it's too late in the cycle to add more MD schools, but you're fine for DO, as our cycle is longer.

 

[taberis]

Thanks all thus far! @Faha Here is the list I revised and am currently working on secondaries (I took a risky leap of faith and added these schools ~mid September):

Yale - perhaps there is the employee soft spot? At this point a few department chiefs should know my name from our interdepartmental conferences...one can only hope! I also don't want to divulge too much about my background online but happy to speak privately.
Harvard - urged by my LORs but not holding my breath
Stanford
Quinnipiac
UConn
UCLA
UCI - this was my MS program, hoping the stronger graduate coursework there helps!
UCSD (no secondary)
Kaiser
UMiami - my freshman year of college, had academic scholarship and 3.9 GPA prior to transferring
Dartmouth
Brown
Tufts
Wake Forest

@Isomerase I will definitely look into the other schools mentioned, and regarding research hours yes I think I confused the question and did end up putting more hours counting the actual data/analysis time and whatnot. And I absolutely do not hold myself in a position thinking that I will receive interviews, I'm fully prepared for applying for much earlier next cycle!

I am at peace with not getting in this cycle as I know it is late, I'm hoping for programs with a stronger academic medicine curriculum and my mentor suggested it would be better to wait and apply early next year if I don't get in this year (and he also gets to keep me for another year). Then I can also prepare more financially and +1000 clinical hours and a few more papers which I'm sure never hurt anyone!

 

[Faha]

You have many reaches on your list. I suggest adding more schools this week and consider these:
Albany
New York Medical College
Hofstra
Einstein
Rochester
Seton Hall
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Pittsburgh
George Washington
Georgetown
Western Michigan
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
Medical College Wisconsin
Loyola
St. Louis
Creighton
TCU-UNT
NOVA MD