MD WAMC at this point in the cycle? 508/3.73

[svk7]

I count myself blessed to have received acceptances at two well-respected DO programs. I would be honored to attend either of these programs; however, it is no secret that MD programs historically yield more competitive applicants for residency programs and open more doors (even with the upcoming merger).

With that being said, hoping you lovely people out here (especially @Goro) might help shed some light onto what my MD hopes for the rest of this cycle might be.

Year in school:

Gap year​

Country/state of residence:

Ohio​

Schools to which you are applying:

Hold -- Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine
R -- Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
R -- Cleveland Clinic Learner College of Medicine
R -- Georgetown University School of Medicin
R -- Indiana University School of Medicine
R -- University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
R -- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine
R -- University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
R -- Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine
Silence -- Central Michigan University College of Medicine
Silence -- Drexel University College of Medicine
Silence -- Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine
Silence -- Medical College of Wisconsin
Silence -- Medical University of South Carolina College of Medicine
Silence -- Michigan State University College of Human Medicine
Silence -- Ohio State University College of Medicine
Silence -- Rush Medical College of Rush University Medical Center
Silence -- The University of Toledo College of Medicine
Silence -- University of Illinois College of Medicine
Silence -- University of Minnesota Medical School
Silence -- Wayne State University School of Medicine
Silence -- Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine
Waitlist -- Northeast Ohio Medical University

I submitted my secondaries to all of these in the month of September (I know...).​

GPA:

sGPA: 3.64
cGPA: 3.73​

MCAT Scores:

Summer 2015: 500 (124/126/125/125), 49%ile
Summer 2018: 508 (125/124/129/130), 76%ile​

Research – include any abstracts/posters/publications and how you were credited (eg. First author, senior author, etc):

First author on abstract which was accepted for oral presentation at international conference (I attended said conference)
First author on submitted manuscript (Impact Factor of 20; unfortunately, I don't think I'll hear back until February/March on acceptance)
Co-author on two manuscripts
Co-author on three abstracts/posters
1.5 years in undergrad lab - wrote a capstone paper/presented a poster but nothing "published" published in a real scientific journal​

Volunteering (clinical) – include hours/sites:

Clinical volunteer at local children's hospital - 100 hours over 2 years​

Physician shadowing – include hours/specialties:

See employment history
Bioethics clinical observation - 25 hours over one semester
Dermatology clinical observation - 10 hours over one winter​

Non-clinical volunteering:

Scoutmaster at 3-week-long sleep away camps for a few years - 1000 hours over 2 summers
Counselor at 3-week-long sleep away camps for a few years - 1300 hours over 3 summers
Scouting - many many hours (for what it's worth) over lifetime
Tutoring - 200 hours over 2 years​

Extracurricular activities:

Intercollegiate Athletics (Co-Founder / VP of club soccer) - 200 hours over 2 years
Director of Review for our undergrad institution's research journal over 2.5 years
Varsity Soccer assistant coach - 600 hours over 6 years
Language Saturday school - 1500 hours over 12 years
Piano - 2000 hours over lifetime​

Employment history:

Clinical Research Assistant at a top U.S. hospital - 3200 hours (5000 by the time cycle is over)​

Immediate family members in medicine? (y/n):

Yes​

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[Goro]

Chances best at:

Not sanguine about:

Hold -- Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine
Silence -- Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine
Silence -- Ohio State University College of Medicine
Silence -- Rush Medical College of Rush University Medical Center
Waitlist -- Northeast Ohio Medical University
Silence -- The University of Toledo College of Medicine
Silence -- Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine


Donations:

Silence -- Central Michigan University College of Medicine
Silence -- Drexel University College of Medicine
Silence -- Medical College of Wisconsin
Silence -- Medical University of South Carolina College of Medicine
Silence -- Michigan State University College of Human Medicine
Silence -- University of Illinois College of Medicine
Silence -- University of Minnesota Medical School
Silence -- Wayne State University School of Medicine

Your median MCAT score is 504. That's circling the drain for MD schools.
​

This may sound a little harsh, but I would not call your sports ECs and research to make up for the lack of your more important ECs. You have been simply crowded out by applicants with stronger apps. 100 hrs of clinical volunteering is on the low side, and you have no ECs that show off your altruism. Tons of research, which says that this is more important to you than the clinical side.

tl;dr, a lot of defects for MD schools in your app, and some bad targets to begin with.

 

[svk7]

Thanks for the candid feedback! I was hoping a 3 year gap in MCAT scores might be significant enough for schools to ignore the first one (especially since it is considered expired for this cycle).

At the end of the day the MCAT score is my screw up: when I took it the first time after my junior year I went in thinking it was like the SAT/ACT, for which I didn’t study and did really well. As I began to look over the formatting of the test starting 2 weeks before the test date it occurred to me that I might need to prepare for more than just the 2 weeks after the semester ended and wasn’t sure I could approach it the same way I did for the aforementioned exams; however, I was talked into taking it and not voiding to “see how I do” since I had already spent $300 on it…

 

[svk7]

This may sound a little harsh, but I would not call your sports ECs and research to make up for the lack of your more important ECs. You have been simply crowded out by applicants with stronger apps. 100 hrs of clinical volunteering is on the low side, and you have no ECs that show off your altruism. Tons of research, which says that this is more important to you than the clinical side.

tl;dr, a lot of defects for MD schools in your app, and some bad targets to begin with.

Sorry, was in between patients when I saw your reply pop up, and responded so quickly that I didn't reply to the above point.

Does the CRA position not sufficiently show my interest in the clinical side? Not only has it provided opportunities for publications/presentations but it has also (and primarily) provided excellent and daily opportunities for patient care: I work closely with physicians, research nurses, and research staff on research study related tasks (e.g., consenting patients to translational research trials, taking ECGs, preparing research kits, phlebotomy, etc.), especially for genomics-driven and Phase I studies); and I have also assisted over 800 patients in obtaining genomics testing (meeting with them to help them understand the purpose/rationale behind testing, helping them navigate cost/financial assistance, and when those results come back compiling them and preparing them for our weekly genomics tumor board).

The above is much better articulated in my primary and personal statement (in which I have expressed my love for patient-centered care as my primary drive for pursuing medicine).

Thanks again for your time!

 

[Goro]

Sorry, was in between patients when I saw your reply pop up, and responded so quickly that I didn't reply to the above point.

Does the CRA position not sufficiently show my interest in the clinical side? Not only has it provided opportunities for publications/presentations but it has also (and primarily) provided excellent and daily opportunities for patient care: I work closely with physicians, research nurses, and research staff on research study related tasks (e.g., consenting patients to translational research trials, taking ECGs, preparing research kits, phlebotomy, etc.), especially for genomics-driven and Phase I studies); and I have also assisted over 800 patients in obtaining genomics testing (meeting with them to help them understand the purpose/rationale behind testing, helping them navigate cost/financial assistance, and when those results come back compiling them and preparing them for our weekly genomics tumor board).

The above is much better articulated in my primary and personal statement (in which I have expressed my love for patient-centered care as my primary drive for pursuing medicine).

Thanks again for your time!

In your case, they're not patients, they're research subjects....and you're not actually doing anything for them, other than obtaining consent.

 

[svk7]

In your case, they're not patients, they're research subjects....and you're not actually doing anything for them, other than obtaining consent.

I mean, at this point I guess we'd be arguing over semantics.

Maybe it would have helped to specify that I work with cancer patients and their families who are making end-of-life decisions, families with whom I have cried as their loved ones passed after long (and even short) battles with cancer? For me, our cancer patients are seeking the next best treatment options for them chemotherapy after immunotherapy after chemotherapy. To me, they're not strictly 'research subjects' like one might find undergoing some lung O2 study or some sleep apnea study.

Would rooming patient after patient or cleaning the sheets after each is discharged be considered more patient-centered care over helping someone obtain genomics results, helping guide physicians towards possible targeted treatment options based on patient results, and forming meaningful connections with patients and their families over the course of their treatments? I think both are valid forms of patient experience.

Again, not arguing for the sake of it, and I greatly appreciate all your insight! Just saying that as far as my clinical experiences go, I believe that the work we do here (i.e., the one I put down for 3200 hours) not only qualifies but is also one of the most meaningful ECs out of my entire application, EC/work that has been one of the biggest talking point at the three interviews I've attended so far.

 

[Goro]

I mean, at this point I guess we'd be arguing over semantics.

Maybe it would have helped to specify that I work with cancer patients and their families who are making end-of-life decisions, families with whom I have cried as their loved ones passed after long (and even short) battles with cancer? For me, our cancer patients are seeking the next best treatment options for them chemotherapy after immunotherapy after chemotherapy. To me, they're not strictly 'research subjects' like one might find undergoing some lung O2 study or some sleep apnea study.

Would rooming patient after patient or cleaning the sheets after each is discharged be considered more patient-centered care over helping someone obtain genomics results, helping guide physicians towards possible targeted treatment options based on patient results, and forming meaningful connections with patients and their families over the course of their treatments? I think both are valid forms of patient experience.

Again, not arguing for the sake of it, and I greatly appreciate all your insight! Just saying that as far as my clinical experiences go, I believe that the work we do here (i.e., the one I put down for 3200 hours) not only qualifies but is also one of the most meaningful ECs out of my entire application, EC/work that has been one of the biggest talking point at the three interviews I've attended so far.

If you explain it like the bold, that will help your case. The red bold is coming off a bit int he wrong way... you're not designing the experiments or interpreting the data, and especially not curing cancer; you're enrolling research subjects. And Medicine is a service profession, so yeah, rooming the patients and changing their sheets, bringing them ice or reading to them IS better.