WAMC as re-applicant: 3.7 GPA, 519 MCAT

[myaccount123]

I’m a re-applicant from last cycle after getting 1 II --> W --> R. Most of my secondaries are submitted so I have nothing to do now but give into my neuroticism and post here.

The main things that have changed since my last app: my volunteer and clinical experience (besides shadowing) were previously pretty non-existent and I recently had a presentation at a big conference in my field of interest. I applied to 35 schools with a mix of T20s, T50s, while trying to keep in mind residency bias and mission fit and all that.

cGPA: 3.70, sGPA: 3.65
519 MCAT (129/129/129/132)
24F ORM, CA resident
Top 10 Undergrad

Clinical experience (volunteer and non-volunteer):

• Volunteer at free clinic (150 hours at time of AMCAS submission, ongoing)
• Other volunteer work that involved phone calls with patients (50 hours)

Research experience and productivity

• clinical research internship (3 mid-author pubs)
• 2 years full-time translational research
  • 1 mid-author pub in top journal with ~40 impact factor
  • about to submit co-first author pub to top journal
  • some co-first author abstracts
  • first-author oral presentation at top conference

Shadowing experience and specialties represented

• Neurology - 100 hours
• Hem/Onc - 100 hours

Non-clinical volunteering

• Volunteer at food pantry (300 hours at time of AMCAS submission, ongoing)

Other extracurricular activities (including athletics, military service, gap year activities, leadership, teaching, etc)

• global health research abroad (~800 hours)

Relevant honors or awards
No
Anything else not listed you think might be important
No

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[Mr.Smile12]

List? Where was the II? what's your mission fit?

 

[myaccount123]

Last cycle I applied to 22 schools and the interview was at a top 30ish CA school. My mission fit is definitely research-heavy, interested in academic medicine but not PhD route. My school list for this cycle:

Einstein
BU
Case Western
Columbia
Duke
Emory
GW
Georgetown
Harvard
Mount Sinai
USC Keck
Loyola Chicago
Mayo Clinic
NYU
Northwestern
Penn
Stanford
Brown
Tufts
UC Davis
UC Irvine
UCLA
UCSD
UCSF
UChicago
Colorado
UMichigan
Pitt
WashU
Cornell
Yale
UMass
Rochester
Dartmouth
UVA

 

[Mr.Smile12]

How far away was the CA medical school that interviewed you from the communities where you lived? The location of the free clinic or food pantry where you volunteered?

Any primary care shadowing?

 

[myaccount123]

How far away was the CA medical school that interviewed you from the communities where you lived? The location of the free clinic or food pantry where you volunteered?

Any primary care shadowing?

It was in LA/SoCal area, and I live in SF bay area where the free clinic and food pantry are too. I don't have any primary care shadowing but the free clinic I volunteer at provides primary care.

 

[Faha]

I suggest adding a few more schools to your application this week:
Hofstra
Jefferson
USF Morsani
Miami
Western Michigan
Cincinnati
Kaiser

 

[myaccount123]

I suggest adding a few more schools to your application this week:
Hofstra
Jefferson
USF Morsani
Miami
Western Michigan
Cincinnati
Kaiser

Thanks so much for your input. I will consider adding some of these, although I already have 35 schools which is already a big commitment both work-wise and financially.. Do you not think adding these schools now would not look like an afterthought to them? If they can see when my AMCAS was verified (before June 30)? Or does it just matter how quickly I can turn around the secondaries?

 

[Faha]

Thanks so much for your input. I will consider adding some of these, although I already have 35 schools which is already a big commitment both work-wise and financially.. Do you not think adding these schools now would not look like an afterthought to them? If they can see when my AMCAS was verified (before June 30)? Or does it just matter how quickly I can turn around the secondaries?

When you submit the secondaries is more important.

 

[thecascadian]

@Faha can you elaborate? I've always thought of submitting secondaries to be important in the sense that you'd want to get your app in the review pile as soon as possible.

Also tangentially, do you think there's a substantial difference between submitting secondaries in 5 vs 15 vs 30 days?

 

[Faha]

@Faha can you elaborate? I've always thought of submitting secondaries to be important in the sense that you'd want to get your app in the review pile as soon as possible.

Also tangentially, do you think there's a substantial difference between submitting secondaries in 5 vs 15 vs 30 days?

Your application will not be reviewed until you submit your secondaries. In early July, 1 week versus 3 weeks does not matter since interview season does not begin until September. However, submitting August 1st is better than August 31st since August 31st is already too late for September and even some October interviews.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

For the record, many IIs for TMDSAS are already reporting October dates filling up quickly, it seems. Usually by end of August, fall interview dates at some schools may be filled up.

 

[James Griffin]

I think culling some of the T20s might be a place to start - maybe beginning with NYU/Penn/WashU. They have a reputation for loving stats, and not that your stats are bad by any stretch of imagination (they're great!), but at NYU for example, their 25th %ile MCAT is a 519, and 10th %ile BCPM GPA is 3.73.

 

[MyOdyssey]

I think culling some of the T20s might be a place to start - maybe beginning with NYU/Penn/WashU. They have a reputation for loving stats, and not that your stats are bad by any stretch of imagination (they're great!), but at NYU for example, their 25th %ile MCAT is a 519, and 10th %ile BCPM GPA is 3.73.

Are those NYU numbers for admitted students or enrolled students?

 

[MyOdyssey]

OP

Penn/Wash U/NYU are super stats oriented.

Loyola Chicago/Georgetown are super service oriented - lots of nonclinical volunteering required

Perhaps add Dartmouth (reputation for liking Ivy-esque undergrads) and Tulane (not super stats or super service oriented + no in state preference).

Also Cleveland Clinic (will appreciate your research heavy background) and Cincinnati.

 

[myaccount123]

OP

Penn/Wash U/NYU are super stats oriented.

Loyola Chicago/Georgetown are super service oriented - lots of nonclinical volunteering required

Perhaps add Dartmouth (reputation for liking Ivy-esque undergrads) and Tulane (not super stats or super service oriented + no in state preference).

Also Cleveland Clinic (will appreciate your research heavy background) and Cincinnati.

Yeah.. Penn/WashU/NYU are a bit of a stretch. And I knew Loyola and Georgetown were not a perfect fit but still hopeful. I actually do have Dartmouth and UVA as well, not sure why they got chopped off the list I copied and pasted above... And I am applying to Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine through Case Western!

 

[myaccount123]

I think culling some of the T20s might be a place to start - maybe beginning with NYU/Penn/WashU. They have a reputation for loving stats, and not that your stats are bad by any stretch of imagination (they're great!), but at NYU for example, their 25th %ile MCAT is a 519, and 10th %ile BCPM GPA is 3.73.

Yeah I definitely understand this. I thought maybe my strong research background could help me out with having the lower end GPA and MCAT but definitely understand these are reaches. I've already submitted secondaries to these schools, but do you have any input on if I have enough reasonable target schools as is or if there are more I should add?

 

[James Griffin]

Yeah I definitely understand this. I thought maybe my strong research background could help me out with having the lower end GPA and MCAT but definitely understand these are reaches. I've already submitted secondaries to these schools, but do you have any input on if I have enough reasonable target schools as is or if there are more I should add?

Yeah super fair - I totally missed out on the part that you had already sent in secondaries, so my bad on that! If you were looking to add a few more target schools, I know Cincinatti is big on research, Ohio State is OOS friendly and would probably show you some love; Hofstra too as a private.