MD WAMC MD? / School List Suggestions? Low GPA / High MCAT / Good(?) Vibes

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nontoxicology

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CA, 27M, ORM.
  1. ~3.39 cGPA and ~3.3 sGPA. Trend is bad --> worse, w/ nadir in jr yr and then did well senior yr. So ~3.2 in ugrad many moons ago, then 4.0 in a full time postbacc w/ 50 credits this past year. Took tough classes + was mcat studying half the yr.
  2. 523 (132/129/132/130).
  3. CA.
  4. White.
  5. UC Berkeley.
  6. Clinical Exps:
    1. 7 mo as a psych clinical research asst.
    2. 3.5 years as a clinical research assistant at an academic cancer center = ~7200 hr where about half those hrs was coordinating patient care / shadowing physician visits w/ trial pts. Was promoted to senior for last yr & trained two other CRCs = leadership experience.
    3. +~45hr in a Free Clinic as volunteer.
  7. First author pup (review article, but mostly just a lit review.). Plus a co-first author case report getting published any day now. Maybe a middle / lower author on one one or two qualitative papers during the application cycle / year from new job I could talk about in update letters.
  8. Psychiatry clinical research 7 months, oncology clinical research 3.5 years. Spent two days w/ burn surg, but not putting on app.
  9. Non-Clinical Volunteering: depth, but not a ton of hrs yet. Is 260 critically low or normal? I can't really tell, but am uneasy about it.
    1. Mentor to underserved student for 3 years, but only ~100 hr per my volunteer portal d/t pandemic and school year I guess.
    2. Tutor for refugee/asylum students recently resettled in my area at after school program for past two years. Only ~110 hrs d/w working full time for most of that + only needed during school yr for the most part.
    3. ~50 hrs from club doing health policy advocacy work. Participated in ~5 meetings w/ MOC, personally organized 2.
    4. Going to be a volunteer research assistant for a health NGO in a different country from now till Jan = ~900 hrs, but these are "future".
  10. Presented at old job to whole department ~= leadership. Selected for a QI project. Attended mol tumor board on my own time ~120 hr and still attend weekly heme/onc fellow lectures over zoom ~160 + future hrs.
  11. No honors or awards since high school lol.
  12. Letters will be strong to uncommonly strong. Personal Statement pretty good / not boring / cookie cutter, but not spectacular.
  13. Basically outing myself w/ the specificity so please do not take it as an opportunity to be mean spirited / dox me.
I'd appreciate any and all advice!

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I suggest these schools with your stats:
The UCs (except Riverside unless you are from that region)
Kaiser
California University
Loma Linda (if you fit their mission)
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Dartmouth
Tufts
Hofstra
Einstein
Mount Sinai
New York Medical College
Albany
Rochester
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
George Washington
Georgetown
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
Wake Forest
NOVA MD
USF Morsani
Miami
Tulane
TCU-UNT
Creighton
Loyola
Medical College Wisconsin
Western Michigan
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
Cincinnati
Ohio State
 
260 hours is okay, but "tutoring and teaching" is a separate category, even though you are working with populations in critical need. That leaves you with your future NGO work, so applying with fewer than 100 hours is not going to help you. Ideally, you need to be embedded or immersed within a community in great need working on something that is not directly related to healthcare.
 
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