WAMC/Gap year advice 3.99/523

[argori]

Hi! I am a senior and will be applying this May/June after I graduate, but I'm not sure what to do for my gap year. Here's my application so far:

NV resident, ORM, private T20 undergrad, first gen college student/low-income
cGPA: 3.99, sGPA: 4.0
MCAT: 523 (131/128/132/132)
Research:
- RA for a clinical research/psych lab, 450 hours
- summer internship at a private biomedical tech company, 400 hours
- senior honors thesis, 280 hours? (not sure how much to count for this, I haven't been tracking)
Paid Clinical:
- ER scribe, 640 hours
Non-clinical volunteering:
- after school program in an inner city school (basically tutoring and social-emotional development), 600 hours
Teaching/Leadership:
- lead a chemistry problem solving group at college (paid), 140 hours
Shadowing: about 50 hours in nephrology and internal medicine (want to look for more)
Other things:
- 1 poster/presentation (if I present the same poster at two symposiums, it counts as 1, right?)
- 1 abstract publication
- patent application filed from internship
- Dean's list for a few semesters but not all
- Latin honors, summa cum laude (hopefully)
- hobbies: strength training, cooking (may not include these)
- to be honest, I don't think my LORs will be stellar, only average

School list:
UNLV
UPenn
UPitt
Columbia
NYU
Cornell
Mount Sinai
University of Rochester
Hofstra
Stony Brook
Harvard
BU
Tufts
Stanford
UCSF
UCLA
UCSD
UCI
USC
Kaiser
UChicago
Northwestern
WashU
Georgetown
George Washington

On the fence about these:
Vanderbilt
UMichigan
Duke

Final thoughts:
- Cost and location are most important to me. I hope to go to school in California, but I'd like to hear any input on if I should or shouldn't. I am hoping that a school will give me need-based aid, as I qualify for it in undergrad.
- I think my list is top heavy or not very OOS friendly, so any school suggestions are helpful! Are there any lower tier schools that give merit aid?
- I'm not sure what I should do in my gap year. I don't want to spend the time or money getting certified for something clinical and not sure if I would enjoy a full time job in research. Thinking about a "normal" job (like restaurant server) to make money and take a break from school. Would this look bad on my app?
- Thank you in advance!

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[Faha]

You should accumulate 150+ hours of non clinical volunteering (food bank, homeless shelter, etc.) before you submit your application. You have a good list and should receive several interviews. You could add Vanderbilt, Duke and U Michigan.

 

[argori]

You should accumulate 150+ hours of non clinical volunteering

Thanks for your reply! I have about 600 hours of non-clinical volunteering at an after school program. Do you have any recommendations for what I should do in my gap year?

 

[Faha]

Thanks for your reply! I have about 600 hours of non-clinical volunteering at an after school program. Do you have any recommendations for what I should do in my gap year?

Any job involving patient contact (hospital or office setting) would be helpful. You need non clinical volunteering other than in a school setting.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

NV resident, ORM, private T20 undergrad, first gen college student/low-income
cGPA: 3.99, sGPA: 4.0
MCAT: 523 (131/128/132/132)
...
I think my list is top heavy or not very OOS friendly, ...

Your metrics are worthy of attention at all schools. Your mission and activities are not, and your letters may not (if I take your word).

This is not college applications. You need to show a passion for serving others not like you who are in need. The Tutoring you described does not fulfill this expectation as showing service orientation. Food distribution, shelter volunteering, job/tax preparation, transportation services, or housing rehabilitation are preferred. You clearly do well in a classroom or academic setting, but we don't see you willing to go beyond your comfort zone.

You have achievements in your biotechnology internship so it follows why you don't want to continue??