WAMC for MD (cGPA 3.85, 515), TX resident and first-time app!

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tankitpork

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Hi yall! I'm a first time applicant from Texas applying both IS and OOS, and I was hoping to get some feedback on my application. I submitted my IS secondaries late june and my OOS ones in mid-july. I haven't heard back for interviews yet.
  1. TMDSAS: (sGPA 3.72, cGPA 3.85) || AMCAS: (sGPA 3.80, cGPA 3.85). AMCAS seems to have calculated a different science GPA for me, which I think is due to how they classified my engineering courses as science/non-science?
  2. MCAT: 515 (129, 127, 130, 129), took only once.
  3. Texas resident
  4. South Asian
  5. UT Austin, I'm majoring in biomedical engineering.
  6. Clinical experience: 150 hours volunteering at Dell Seton medical center (hospital environment, assisting nurses/doctors with patient requests and forms, I worked in med surg, palliative care, hem/onc, and burn clinic floors).
  7. Research: 720 hours Virology/Immunology lab at UT Austin (unpaid academic research, I presented 2 posters), 400 hours at a gene therapy company in Research Triangle Park (internship developing a therapeutic for a rare disease, it involved translational science research on clinical trials results, 1 presentation and pending pub), 100 hours for misc. school project (instrumentation, medical device development), 70 hours for UTSW's STARS program.
  8. Shadowing: 90 hours (37 Derm, 21 Ped Cardiology, 4 ENT, 8 Optometry, 5 Opthalmology, 5 Orthopedic Surg, 10 Family Medicine).
  9. Non-clinical volunteering: 50 hours at a local food pantry, 50 hours at a school organization that does exploratory engineering projects with underprivileged elementary schools in Austin (both activities are scheduled for only once a week).
  10. ECs: Mentor/Officer (2 roles) for the elementary school volunteering org listed above, pre-med coordinator for our major's engineering society (I host workshops explaining the pre-med/engineering process and host volunteering opportunities with a cohort of students), 700 hours tutoring (I worked at a company and did private tutoring across 3 years, 15 total students, science/math/writing classes. For my private tutoring, I made all of my content from scratch), summer job at a pet store, guitar/piano/weightlifting/running too in my free time.
  11. UT College Scholar for 2024 (ranked top 20% in engineering school) and won a Young Scientist award at UTSW (which allowed me to research at the university the summer prior to my freshman year). I also got 4th place at a competitive business pitch comp at UT.
  12. Additional: I wrote about my severe skin condition for my TX primaries if that matters? I also didn't list anything for non-academic recognition in my primaries. Otherwise nothing else.
School List: all are MD and 2 are DO
IS (TX):
UTSW
A&M (not EnMed, just reg MD)
McGovern
Long
Dell
UH Fertitta
Texas Tech Lubbock
Baylor
UT Rio Grande
UTMB
UT Tyler
Sam Houston (DO)
UNT (DO)

OOS:
UI Chicago
Duke
Chapel Hill
Sinai

I think my clinical volunteering and non-clinical volunteering could be much higher, and I'm continuing to increase my hours in these sections as a senior. Another issue is I feel like my app is too research heavy and I'm not applying MD/PhD. I had my primaries reviewed by a reviewer and used the suggestions offered. Overall, I think my essays were decent. I know it's early in the cycle, and interview invites are super confusing, but I am worried about some of the weak points in my app. I'm not sure what counts as "too many" or "too few" hours as well. I would appreciate any advice and suggestions! Thanks yall.

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AMCAS seems to have calculated a different science GPA for me, which I think is due to how they classified my engineering courses as science/non-science?
That's likely.

So you haven't heard anything from the Texas schools at this point?

Your non-clinical volunteering seems a little light. Sure 50 hours in a food pantry is good (add at least 100 more before submitting), but the engineering project sounds like it's a club-related activity (for a good cause), but it may only be a plus for EnMed or Dell. Indeed, I could call the club activity an extension of your academic competency as an engineer. You also have tons of tutoring/teaching, which is more focused on academic competency.

Your instincts are right: you would have benefitted from more clinical exposure and true non-clinical community service orientation experiences. All I can say now is "trust the process."
 
That's likely.

So you haven't heard anything from the Texas schools at this point?

Your non-clinical volunteering seems a little light. Sure 50 hours in a food pantry is good (add at least 100 more before submitting), but the engineering project sounds like it's a club-related activity (for a good cause), but it may only be a plus for EnMed or Dell. Indeed, I could call the club activity an extension of your academic competency as an engineer. You also have tons of tutoring/teaching, which is more focused on academic competency.

Your instincts are right: you would have benefitted from more clinical exposure and true non-clinical community service orientation experiences. All I can say now is "trust the process."
Thanks for your response! Yes, I haven't heard from TX schools yet. Unfortunately, I already submitted, but I did mention I'd be taking on new roles at the food pantry this semester and would be getting more hours as a result (I doubt planned activities have much bearing though? Correct me if I'm wrong.). For the club activity and my tutoring, I tried to emphasize the interpersonal communication aspects of the experiences in my essays/short responses to avoid stressing the engineering/teaching side of it too much.

Because I already submitted, will my low non-clinical hours hurt me in the screening process? I know that apps are holistically reviewed, but I'm unsure of what the "minimum" is from what you've seen. Thanks again.
 
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