AnalystAt3AM
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Hi everyone, I would really appreciate feedback on my MD chances, how to strengthen my application, and how to build a realistic school list. I am a California applicant and recent UCLA graduate planning to apply to medical school. I am primarily planning to apply MD and would appreciate honest feedback on my school list, overall competitiveness, and what I should improve before applying.
**cGPA and sGPA as calculated by AMCAS**
* Community college cGPA before transferring: approximately 3.6.
* UCLA GPA after transferring: approximately 3.9.
* Overall AMCAS cGPA: not fully calculated yet, but likely in the high 3.7 to 3.8+ range depending on final transcript calculation.
* sGPA: approximately 3.7.
* Strong upward trend after transferring to UCLA.
**MCAT score(s) and breakdown**
* MCAT: 520.
* Breakdown: 128 C/P, 131 CARS, 131 B/B, 130 P/S.
* C/P was my weakest section.
**State of residence or country of citizenship**
* California resident.
**Ethnicity and/or race**
* Prefer not to disclose here for privacy.
**Undergraduate institution or category**
* UCLA, recent graduate.
* Transfer student from a California community college.
* Bachelor’s degree in Human Biology & Society.
* Associate’s degree from community college.
* Strong academic interests in medicine, health systems, patient communication, clinical research, neuroscience, and health literacy.
**Clinical experience, volunteer and non-volunteer**
* Medical Assistant, outpatient neurology clinic: approximately 1,200 hours.
* Neurology clinical observership: approximately 300+ hours. Observed neurological care, diagnostics, and procedures.
* Orthopedic surgery clinical observership: approximately 150+ hours. Observed orthopedic and regenerative treatment procedures.
* Total clinical exposure: approximately 1,650+ hours.
**Research experience and productivity**
* UCLA Health stroke outcomes research, Research Study Assistant: approximately 150 hours. Work focused on ALDS use to improve stroke outcome measurement sensitivity compared with the modified Rankin Scale.
* UCLA Health / Olive View-UCLA Medical Center surgery research, Research Study Assistant: approximately 800 hours. Authored a systematic review and meta-analysis on small bowel obstruction in patients without prior abdominal surgery in collaboration with UCLA Surgery, Olive View, and the UCLA Biomedical Library.
* Chagas cardiomyopathy research: included within UCLA/Olive View research hours. Contributed to work focused on Chagas-induced heart failure, patient data analysis, and emerging diagnostic/therapeutic strategies.
* Keck Medicine of USC AI/medicine research, Research Study Assistant: approximately 450 hours. Contributed to development and testing of an AI-assisted mammogram lesion detection tool, including model performance evaluation and iterative refinement.
* American Society of Neuroradiology research, Research Study Assistant: approximately 500 hours. Analyzed corpus callosal lesions using MRI and CT, including infarcts, anomalies, disconnection syndromes, alien hand syndrome, and alexia without agraphia.
* UCI School of Medicine Skull Base Laboratory, Laboratory Assistant: approximately 240 hours. Performed cadaver brain dissection for neuroanatomy training under faculty supervision.
* Community college research symposium presenter: approximately 120 hours. Conducted and presented independent research on MGMT promoter methylation in WHO Grade-IV glioblastoma multiforme as a biomarker for temozolomide resistance.
* UCLA Anthropology 199 independent research: approximately 150 hours. Completed a faculty-mentored research paper on clinical language, genetic risk communication, patient understanding, metaphor, framing, hedging, and health literacy.
* Total research hours: approximately 2,400+ hours.
**Research productivity**
* Third-author systematic review/meta-analysis submitted to a peer-reviewed surgical journal.
* First-author ASNR abstract accepted on corpus callosal lesion analysis using MRI and CT.
* First-author educational exhibit submitted/developed on callosal blood supply and hemispheric communication.
* Independent UCLA faculty-mentored research paper completed.
* Community college research symposium presentation on MGMT promoter methylation and glioblastoma treatment resistance.
**Shadowing experience and specialties represented**
* Neurology: approximately 300+ hours through formal clinical observership.
* Orthopedic surgery/regenerative orthopedics: approximately 150+ hours through clinical observership.
* Neurology exposure also continued through MA work, but I am counting that separately as clinical employment.
* Planning to add more formal primary care shadowing before applying.
* Total formal shadowing/observership: approximately 450+ hours.
**Non-clinical volunteering**
* Community outreach volunteer through church-based service organization: approximately 800 hours over 3.5+ years.
* Activities included community outreach, events, and charitable service.
**Leadership**
* Elected Senator, Associated Students of community college: approximately 350 hours.
* Elected Vice President of Finance, Associated Students of community college: approximately 500 hours.
* Served on Hiring Committee, Budget Committee, Safety Committee, OES Committee, and Study Abroad Committee.
* NASA Techrise Student Challenge Team Lead: approximately 400 hours. Led design/build work for a methane-detection high-altitude balloon experiment.
* High school Neuro-society Club President: not planning to emphasize heavily unless appropriate, since it was pre-college.
**Teaching / coaching / paid employment**
* Surf Instructor: approximately 600 hours. Taught students of varying skill levels with emphasis on water safety and individualized coaching.
* Medical Assistant work listed above under clinical experience.
**Other extracurricular activities**
* Premed/research access project: approximately 150 hours so far. Developing a tool/resource to help premeds improve research outreach, receive feedback, and better access research opportunities.
* Strong interest in medical communication, patient understanding, health literacy, clinical research, AI in medicine, neuroscience, and patient-centered care.
* Self-directed academic interests in medicine, biology, psychology, neuroscience, ethics, health systems, and communication.
**Relevant honors or awards**
* Dean’s Honor List at UCLA.
* Ron Comins Memorial Alumni Scholarship.
* Alumni Class Reunion Scholarship.
* Alena Ruther Memorial Scholarship.
* Patrons Club Scholarship.
* Elected Senator and Vice President of Finance in student government.
* SkillsUSA National Competition: led ozone research study; awarded 1st Gold and 2nd Overall nationally.
* NASA Techrise Student Challenge: national gold award / Artemis Award.
* National Honor Society in high school.
**Certifications and skills**
* BLS Certification.
* Adult & Pediatric CPR/AED/First Aid.
* HIPAA training.
* CITI GCP Social & Behavioral Clinical Research.
* CITI GCP Biomedical Research & Clinical Staff.
* Olive View Medical Center Biomedical Research training.
* PAPR/CAPR Usage & Application.
* UCLA NSF REU Health & Safety Training.
* Epic and athenahealth EHR experience.
* Patient chart review and clinical documentation support.
* R programming, statistical analysis, meta-analysis, systematic review methodology, STROBE criteria.
* AI-assisted diagnostic tool testing.
* MRI/CT image interpretation in an observational/research context.
* Languages: English and Armenian.
**Anything else important**
* My application is likely strongest in MCAT, research productivity, clinical exposure, upward GPA trend, and medically relevant academic interests.
* I want to make sure my school list is realistic as a California applicant and not too top-heavy despite the 520 MCAT.
* I would also appreciate advice on how to frame my upward academic trend as a transfer student.
**Preliminary MD school list**
I have not finalized my list yet, but I am interested in feedback on a balanced MD list. Tentatively, I am considering:
California / West Coast MD:
* UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine
* UC Irvine
* UC Davis
* UC Riverside, if mission fit applies
* UC San Diego
* UCSF
* USC Keck
* Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine
* California University of Science and Medicine
* Stanford
Other MD schools I may consider:
* University of Arizona Phoenix
* University of Arizona Tucson
* University of Colorado
* Oregon Health & Science University, if appropriate
* Saint Louis University
* Creighton
* Loyola Chicago
* Rosalind Franklin
* Rush, if volunteering becomes strong enough
* Medical College of Wisconsin
* Wayne State
* Oakland Beaumont
* Vermont
* Drexel
* Temple
* Jefferson
* George Washington
* Georgetown
* Virginia Commonwealth
* Eastern Virginia
* Wake Forest
* Tulane, if service hours improve
* Hofstra
* Einstein
* Rochester
* Cincinnati
* Case Western
* University of Pittsburgh
* Emory
* Mount Sinai
* Cornell
* Columbia
* NYU Grossman
* Vanderbilt
* Northwestern
* Mayo Clinic Alix
* University of Michigan
* Duke
* WashU
* Yale
Main questions:
1. With a 520 MCAT, 128 C/P, 131 CARS, 131 B/B, 130 P/S, approximately 3.7 sGPA, high 3.7 cGPA, and a strong upward trend from community college to UCLA, how competitive am I for MD schools?
2. Is applying MD-only realistic with this profile?
3. Is my school list too top-heavy, too broad, or missing schools that would fit my profile?
4. Would adding more direct non-clinical service before applying meaningfully improve my application?
5. How should I frame my upward GPA trend as a transfer student?
6. Which schools should I remove, and which schools should I add?
**cGPA and sGPA as calculated by AMCAS**
* Community college cGPA before transferring: approximately 3.6.
* UCLA GPA after transferring: approximately 3.9.
* Overall AMCAS cGPA: not fully calculated yet, but likely in the high 3.7 to 3.8+ range depending on final transcript calculation.
* sGPA: approximately 3.7.
* Strong upward trend after transferring to UCLA.
**MCAT score(s) and breakdown**
* MCAT: 520.
* Breakdown: 128 C/P, 131 CARS, 131 B/B, 130 P/S.
* C/P was my weakest section.
**State of residence or country of citizenship**
* California resident.
**Ethnicity and/or race**
* Prefer not to disclose here for privacy.
**Undergraduate institution or category**
* UCLA, recent graduate.
* Transfer student from a California community college.
* Bachelor’s degree in Human Biology & Society.
* Associate’s degree from community college.
* Strong academic interests in medicine, health systems, patient communication, clinical research, neuroscience, and health literacy.
**Clinical experience, volunteer and non-volunteer**
* Medical Assistant, outpatient neurology clinic: approximately 1,200 hours.
* Neurology clinical observership: approximately 300+ hours. Observed neurological care, diagnostics, and procedures.
* Orthopedic surgery clinical observership: approximately 150+ hours. Observed orthopedic and regenerative treatment procedures.
* Total clinical exposure: approximately 1,650+ hours.
**Research experience and productivity**
* UCLA Health stroke outcomes research, Research Study Assistant: approximately 150 hours. Work focused on ALDS use to improve stroke outcome measurement sensitivity compared with the modified Rankin Scale.
* UCLA Health / Olive View-UCLA Medical Center surgery research, Research Study Assistant: approximately 800 hours. Authored a systematic review and meta-analysis on small bowel obstruction in patients without prior abdominal surgery in collaboration with UCLA Surgery, Olive View, and the UCLA Biomedical Library.
* Chagas cardiomyopathy research: included within UCLA/Olive View research hours. Contributed to work focused on Chagas-induced heart failure, patient data analysis, and emerging diagnostic/therapeutic strategies.
* Keck Medicine of USC AI/medicine research, Research Study Assistant: approximately 450 hours. Contributed to development and testing of an AI-assisted mammogram lesion detection tool, including model performance evaluation and iterative refinement.
* American Society of Neuroradiology research, Research Study Assistant: approximately 500 hours. Analyzed corpus callosal lesions using MRI and CT, including infarcts, anomalies, disconnection syndromes, alien hand syndrome, and alexia without agraphia.
* UCI School of Medicine Skull Base Laboratory, Laboratory Assistant: approximately 240 hours. Performed cadaver brain dissection for neuroanatomy training under faculty supervision.
* Community college research symposium presenter: approximately 120 hours. Conducted and presented independent research on MGMT promoter methylation in WHO Grade-IV glioblastoma multiforme as a biomarker for temozolomide resistance.
* UCLA Anthropology 199 independent research: approximately 150 hours. Completed a faculty-mentored research paper on clinical language, genetic risk communication, patient understanding, metaphor, framing, hedging, and health literacy.
* Total research hours: approximately 2,400+ hours.
**Research productivity**
* Third-author systematic review/meta-analysis submitted to a peer-reviewed surgical journal.
* First-author ASNR abstract accepted on corpus callosal lesion analysis using MRI and CT.
* First-author educational exhibit submitted/developed on callosal blood supply and hemispheric communication.
* Independent UCLA faculty-mentored research paper completed.
* Community college research symposium presentation on MGMT promoter methylation and glioblastoma treatment resistance.
**Shadowing experience and specialties represented**
* Neurology: approximately 300+ hours through formal clinical observership.
* Orthopedic surgery/regenerative orthopedics: approximately 150+ hours through clinical observership.
* Neurology exposure also continued through MA work, but I am counting that separately as clinical employment.
* Planning to add more formal primary care shadowing before applying.
* Total formal shadowing/observership: approximately 450+ hours.
**Non-clinical volunteering**
* Community outreach volunteer through church-based service organization: approximately 800 hours over 3.5+ years.
* Activities included community outreach, events, and charitable service.
**Leadership**
* Elected Senator, Associated Students of community college: approximately 350 hours.
* Elected Vice President of Finance, Associated Students of community college: approximately 500 hours.
* Served on Hiring Committee, Budget Committee, Safety Committee, OES Committee, and Study Abroad Committee.
* NASA Techrise Student Challenge Team Lead: approximately 400 hours. Led design/build work for a methane-detection high-altitude balloon experiment.
* High school Neuro-society Club President: not planning to emphasize heavily unless appropriate, since it was pre-college.
**Teaching / coaching / paid employment**
* Surf Instructor: approximately 600 hours. Taught students of varying skill levels with emphasis on water safety and individualized coaching.
* Medical Assistant work listed above under clinical experience.
**Other extracurricular activities**
* Premed/research access project: approximately 150 hours so far. Developing a tool/resource to help premeds improve research outreach, receive feedback, and better access research opportunities.
* Strong interest in medical communication, patient understanding, health literacy, clinical research, AI in medicine, neuroscience, and patient-centered care.
* Self-directed academic interests in medicine, biology, psychology, neuroscience, ethics, health systems, and communication.
**Relevant honors or awards**
* Dean’s Honor List at UCLA.
* Ron Comins Memorial Alumni Scholarship.
* Alumni Class Reunion Scholarship.
* Alena Ruther Memorial Scholarship.
* Patrons Club Scholarship.
* Elected Senator and Vice President of Finance in student government.
* SkillsUSA National Competition: led ozone research study; awarded 1st Gold and 2nd Overall nationally.
* NASA Techrise Student Challenge: national gold award / Artemis Award.
* National Honor Society in high school.
**Certifications and skills**
* BLS Certification.
* Adult & Pediatric CPR/AED/First Aid.
* HIPAA training.
* CITI GCP Social & Behavioral Clinical Research.
* CITI GCP Biomedical Research & Clinical Staff.
* Olive View Medical Center Biomedical Research training.
* PAPR/CAPR Usage & Application.
* UCLA NSF REU Health & Safety Training.
* Epic and athenahealth EHR experience.
* Patient chart review and clinical documentation support.
* R programming, statistical analysis, meta-analysis, systematic review methodology, STROBE criteria.
* AI-assisted diagnostic tool testing.
* MRI/CT image interpretation in an observational/research context.
* Languages: English and Armenian.
**Anything else important**
* My application is likely strongest in MCAT, research productivity, clinical exposure, upward GPA trend, and medically relevant academic interests.
* I want to make sure my school list is realistic as a California applicant and not too top-heavy despite the 520 MCAT.
* I would also appreciate advice on how to frame my upward academic trend as a transfer student.
**Preliminary MD school list**
I have not finalized my list yet, but I am interested in feedback on a balanced MD list. Tentatively, I am considering:
California / West Coast MD:
* UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine
* UC Irvine
* UC Davis
* UC Riverside, if mission fit applies
* UC San Diego
* UCSF
* USC Keck
* Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine
* California University of Science and Medicine
* Stanford
Other MD schools I may consider:
* University of Arizona Phoenix
* University of Arizona Tucson
* University of Colorado
* Oregon Health & Science University, if appropriate
* Saint Louis University
* Creighton
* Loyola Chicago
* Rosalind Franklin
* Rush, if volunteering becomes strong enough
* Medical College of Wisconsin
* Wayne State
* Oakland Beaumont
* Vermont
* Drexel
* Temple
* Jefferson
* George Washington
* Georgetown
* Virginia Commonwealth
* Eastern Virginia
* Wake Forest
* Tulane, if service hours improve
* Hofstra
* Einstein
* Rochester
* Cincinnati
* Case Western
* University of Pittsburgh
* Emory
* Mount Sinai
* Cornell
* Columbia
* NYU Grossman
* Vanderbilt
* Northwestern
* Mayo Clinic Alix
* University of Michigan
* Duke
* WashU
* Yale
Main questions:
1. With a 520 MCAT, 128 C/P, 131 CARS, 131 B/B, 130 P/S, approximately 3.7 sGPA, high 3.7 cGPA, and a strong upward trend from community college to UCLA, how competitive am I for MD schools?
2. Is applying MD-only realistic with this profile?
3. Is my school list too top-heavy, too broad, or missing schools that would fit my profile?
4. Would adding more direct non-clinical service before applying meaningfully improve my application?
5. How should I frame my upward GPA trend as a transfer student?
6. Which schools should I remove, and which schools should I add?
