WAMC for the Upcoming Cycle?

[skippersails]

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Hello everyone- I am looking to flesh out a school list and was wondering if anyone might be able to advise me/ suggest other possible places to apply and just generally let me know what my chances might be. TIA!

1. cGPA 3.68/ sGPA 3.64
2. MCAT:
   1. Retaking in the spring, current median on practice exams is a 521 (130/131/130/130); took earlier this year, received a 508 (126/128/126/128); long story but I should not have taken the exam when I did and I am worried this may negatively impact my chances even if I score 520+ this spring; was wondering if anyone might have thoughts on this
3. State of residence: NV, ties to VA
4. Ethnicity and/or race: White
5. Undergraduate institution: T30
6. Clinical experience (volunteer and non-volunteer):
   1. 50 hours volunteering at a COVID vaccine clinic my freshman year of college
   2. 1000 hours volunteer EMT in a rural, underserved area
7. Research experience and productivity:
   1. 1800 hours in undergrad lab- One mid-author mid-tier publication as well as two posters: one at my university, one at a national conference
   2. 4000 hours in gap year lab (2000 complete, 2000 projected at time of application)- 2 posters presented so far and hopefully some publication productivity but likely none complete by the time of application
8. Shadowing experience:
   1. 100 hours: 40 Pediatric Endocrinology, 20 EM, 20 Trauma Surg, 20 Medical Geneticist
9. Non-clinical volunteering
   1. 150 hours: working with sick children; had two large leadership roles relating to this organization, but did not count hours dedicated to those positions as volunteering as they were more focused on fundraising/organizational activities
   2. 80 hours: coaching running for youth
   3. 20 hours: online science tutoring for kids during COVID
10. Other extracurricular activities
    1. Research position in a structured program for 2 gap years (mentioned above)
    2. Chem TA for two years
    3. Chem Tutor for one year
    4. Club sport w/ leadership
    5. Run marathons
11. Relevant honors or awards:
    1. Award related to a high level of competency as an EMT
    2. Award related to fundraising for the volunteer organization
12. Anything else not listed you think might be important:
    1. I had a humanities minor that I really enjoyed; none of my extracurriculars are super related but I really enjoy the field and spend a lot of time learning about it/immersing myself in it
    2. I would say my narrative is clear, cohesive, and interesting

I know my combination of lower GPA and higher MCAT can make creating a school list a bit more complex, and I am truthfully at a loss of what kinds of schools I should be applying to. I am very fortunate to have had some great opportunities in the research world, and I considered applying MD/PhD for quite some time, but ultimately came to the conclusion that I enjoy clinical care much more than the lab environment in the long term. I am concerned because I am wanting to pursue a specialty like Trauma Surgery or maybe EM after having spent a significant amount of time with a highly diverse patient population, and I worry about being too "research-heavy" for some of the more service/community oriented schools while not being "research-driven" enough for some of the research heavy institutions if that makes any sense. My narrative ties together the two passions well, but I still worry about being overlooked. I also would ideally like to attend a school in the Northeast.

Current School List (It is pretty hefty, but I am trying to be thorough):
Einstein
BostonU
Pitt
Harvard
Mt. Sinai
Yale
UVT
Cornell
Dartmouth
Tufts
Georgetown
GW
UConn
Brown
UMass
Temple
Jefferson
NYU
Columbia
Duke
UVA
VCU
UNR
UNLV
Colorado
UofArizona
Stanford
UCSD
Case
Cleveland Clinic
WashU
Michigan
Northwestern

Thank you again!

 

[LunaOri]

Your list looks kind of top-heavy to me for your GPA. Remove UConn, which accepts very few OOS applicants, and add a few more mid and low tier schools.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

It would help us to know your real MCAT after you retake it.

 

[candbgirl]

It really isn’t a good thing to count on a 521+. Until you have a real score there are no predictions. And besides many schools will average your two scores. So there is that too
Post your MCAT score when you get it next year. Good luck.