WAMC, CA ORM Looking to advice for cycle

[Kingfisher999]

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I recently graduated and am looking to apply this cycle. I'm looking for particular advice on a school list. I do not really have a regional preference.

State of residence: Northern CA
Race: Asian
sGPA/cGPA: 4.00/4.00
MCAT: 520
Undergraduate: UC

Research (2000+ hours)
Several publications w/ 1 first author publication
Several abstracts w/ 2 as first author and oral presentations at national conference
Also had some hours with patient enrollment for research

Clinical Exposure/Volunteering (400 hours)
Split between volunteering in the ER and a memory care center

Non-clinical volunteering (around 200 hours all within the last 2 years)
Serving food to homeless at a soup kitchen
Food bank volunteering during COVID & sewing masks for donations

Shadowing (around 80 hours)
All with one cardiology physician

Awards
Dean's list and an abstract award

Hobbies
Swimming/sports/gym

Tentative school list
UCSD
UCSF
UCLA
UCI
UCD
Stanford
Kaiser
CUSM
Yale
UChicago
Northwestern
Cornell
Columbia
NYU
Sinai
Vanderbilt
WashU
Penn
Baylor
Case
Michigan
Ohio State
Cincinatti
Boston University
SLU
Tulane
NYMC
Downstate
Creighton
Quinnipac
Maryland
Wake Forest

Thanks for the help in advance!

 

[Davidfromcali]

Great profile and good list; sell yourself well on the application and submit early.

You should get multiple II

Consider UMiami, Jefferson, Iowa and Tufts

 

[Kingfisher999]

Great profile and good list; sell yourself well on the application and submit early.

You should get multiple II

Consider UMiami, Jefferson, Iowa and Tufts

Thanks for the kind words. I will look into those schools. Do you think my list is too top heavy and/or extensive (too many schools)?

 

[deleted688779]

Make sure you have something about yourself that is unique or special. Be sure to write about it well, don’t be too modest when it comes to sculpting the narrative of your ECs and highlight your strengths and uniqueness. I believe this comes with deep reflection and reasonable confidence.

I had a very similar app but Asian-URM at some schools and with additional strengths in other areas (in my opinion). I ended up being very humbled by this application cycle. Looking back and also discussing with other similar applicants who arguably had more success, I wasn’t able to translate the true value of my ECs into writing and speech.

 

[Faha]

You could remove schools such as Wake Forest, Quinnipiac, Creighton, NYMC since they will yield protect. You could add Einstein, Pittsburgh, Rochester.

 

[Kingfisher999]

You could remove schools such as Wake Forest, Quinnipiac, Creighton, NYMC since they will yield protect. You could add Einstein, Pittsburgh, Rochester.

I will replace those schools with the ones you suggested.

 

[Kingfisher999]

Make sure you have something about yourself that is unique or special. Be sure to write about it well, don’t be too modest when it comes to sculpting the narrative of your ECs and highlight your strengths and uniqueness. I believe this comes with deep reflection and reasonable confidence.

I had a very similar app but Asian-URM at some schools and with additional strengths in other areas (in my opinion). I ended up being very humbled by this application cycle. Looking back and also discussing with other similar applicants who arguably had more success, I wasn’t able to translate the true value of my ECs into writing and speech.

What should I do in the event that there really isn't much uniqueness in my application aside from, maybe, my research portfolio. I believe I have very standard extracurriculars (hospital volunteering, food banks, etc.) that many other applicants probably have participated in.

 

[deleted688779]

What should I do in the event that there really isn't much uniqueness in my application aside from, maybe, my research portfolio. I believe I have very standard extracurriculars (hospital volunteering, food banks, etc.) that many other applicants probably have participated in.

I actually think that most applicant EC profiles aren't that unique on the surface, Olympian-level ECs exist but aren't very common. What ends up making the "typical" 4.0/520 applications unique is how they write about it and how they incorporate their ECs into their theme. Perhaps "unique" isn't the exact word (although uniqueness does help), I think it can be interchanged with "passion" or "perspective".

With research, what makes you interested in it? Could it be tied to a population or an issue you are interested in working with? Does it tie into your background or some challenge or some significant life experience?

Same with your clinical volunteering. I would bet many other 4.0/520s have some plain clinical volunteering. But what is special about your experience? What perspective, lesson, experience, etc can you offer? You can still be able to find these elements in not-so-fancy clinical volunteering.

It also helps a lot to sell yourself. Don't simply write about what you did...that doesn't show a lot about you and certainly doesn't give you a leg up on the other 4.0/520/ORMs. Why was this experience meaningful? Does it tie back to your own story? What skills did you learn? What challenges did you overcome or how did you grow? What results did you produce and how did it make a change? Many of these schools aren't looking for just any student who will become just any doctor, they're looking for people who they are confident will make some sort of positive change or innovation in the community, field, or world.

 

[Kingfisher999]

I actually think that most applicant EC profiles aren't that unique on the surface, Olympian-level ECs exist but aren't very common. What ends up making the "typical" 4.0/520 applications unique is how they write about it and how they incorporate their ECs into their theme. Perhaps "unique" isn't the exact word (although uniqueness does help), I think it can be interchanged with "passion" or "perspective".

With research, what makes you interested in it? Could it be tied to a population or an issue you are interested in working with? Does it tie into your background or some challenge or some significant life experience?

Same with your clinical volunteering. I would bet many other 4.0/520s have some plain clinical volunteering. But what is special about your experience? What perspective, lesson, experience, etc can you offer? You can still be able to find these elements in not-so-fancy clinical volunteering.

It also helps a lot to sell yourself. Don't simply write about what you did...that doesn't show a lot about you and certainly doesn't give you a leg up on the other 4.0/520/ORMs. Why was this experience meaningful? Does it tie back to your own story? What skills did you learn? What challenges did you overcome or how did you grow? What results did you produce and how did it make a change? Many of these schools aren't looking for just any student who will become just any doctor, they're looking for people who they are confident will make some sort of positive change or innovation in the community, field, or world.

Hmmm. I think I see what you are getting at. It all plays into the narrative you have and being able to explain how these experiences either add or support this narrative. The EC's in and of itself doesn't create the uniqueness, but adding your own personal experiences is what does it.

Thanks a lot for your advice and help!

 

[deleted688779]

Hmmm. I think I see what you are getting at. It all plays into the narrative you have and being able to explain how these experiences either add or support this narrative. The EC's in and of itself doesn't create the uniqueness, but adding your own personal experiences is what does it.

Thanks a lot for your advice and help!

Yup. Though there are certainly ECs out there that are inherently unique.