WAMC: NC Applicant (3.99 523)

[novacrest42]

Hey everyone! I'm applying MD in the upcoming 2026 application cycle (2025 grad, gap year during application cycle). I wanted some advice on my school list and application: mainly what schools to remove and add (it feels top heavy right now) and what are the big red flags of my application.

GPA: cGPA: 3.99 / sGPA: 4.0
MCAT Score: 523 (131/131/130/131)
State of Residence: North Carolina (NC)
Ethnicity/Race: Mixed: Asian/White F
Undergraduate Institution: T25 Public Institution
Clinical Experience (Volunteer & Non-Volunteer)

• Volunteer Rescue Squad - EMT-B
  • 1475 hours (current), 625 projected during gap year
  • Leadership roles: Crew Captain, Preceptor (BLS Clinical and Driving), Community Outreach Committee, Uniforms Committee Lead, and Wellness Committee.
• Emergency Department Tech (EDT) - Preceptor, EDT Precepting Committee
  • 1445 hours (current), 1800 projected during gap year

Research Experience & Productivity

• Neuroscience/Psychology Research Lab - NICU Study RA, Peer Mentor (train new RAs), Assistant Lab Coordinator
• 900 hours
• Research on autism, infant social development, and neurodevelopmental variability (EEG + molecular assays)
• No publications / posters

Shadowing Experience & Specialties Represented

• 30 hours total: Spine Surgery ; Pediatric Hospitalist ; Invasive Cardiology

Non-Clinical Volunteering

• Non-profit mobile medical clinics - Spanish Interpreter (Main role), Dental Assistant, Patient Registration
  • 125 hours
• Red Cross - Blood Donor Ambassador (assist with donor check ins and record filing)
  • 40 hours
• Kidney Disease Screening Awareness Program (KDSAP)
  • 12 hours
• Sorority Philanthropy - Domestic abuse treatment center / shelter fundraising
  • 20 hours
• Food Bank - Sort, pack, and distribute food boxes to elderly community members not qualifying for federal assistance
  • 15 hours (100 hours projected during gap year)

Other Extracurricular Activities (Leadership, Athletics, Teaching, Gap Year, etc.)

• Organic chemistry undergraduate teaching assistant
  • 360 hours
• Medical fraternity
  • 250 hours
  • Service Programming Chair (2023), Alumni Relations Chair (2024-2025)
• Beach Volleyball Club (BVC) + Community Recreation Volleyball League
  • 200 hours
  • Vice president of BVC
• Running
  • 75 hours
  • 2 half marathons, 10 miler, 3 5ks

Additional:
Recipient of University $2,500 scholarship for leadership, merit, service, and citizenship in 2023.

Recommendation letters from:
- My PI
- Organic chemistry professor I TA for
- Rescue squad chief
- Biology professor (taken 3 classes with)
- Emergency med attending MD I work with
- Spanish professor (potentially)

SCHOOL LIST
Reaches:
UCSF
Columbia
Duke
Icahn Mount Sinai
Johns Hopkins
Northwestern
NYU Grossman
Perelman
Stanford
Vanderbilt
WashU
Boston University
Case Western
University of Michigan
University of Pittsburgh
UCLA

Targets:
University of North Carolina
Brody School of Medicine at ECU
Rosalind Franklin University
Hofstra
Georgetown
Ohio State University
Penn State
University of Virginia
Wake Forest

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[Faha]

You have a good list and should receive several interviews.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

First things first: where did you grow up in North Carolina? Where are you working now?
Second: when did you graduate from college? I'm guessing in 2024/last year?
Third: What is your purpose as a physician?

Some general warnings: I don't pay attention to non-shadowing activities with fewer than 50 hours. You have a lot of short-term non-clinical volunteering activities listed. I'd argue Spanish interpreter can be clinical, but I'm guessing you were serving as an interpreter for registration or general clinic management, not for doctor-patient conversations, yes? If so, that puts you at 125 hours of community service orientation-type activities, but it's a little blurry. I'm giving you leeway as a community EMT, depending on your purpose as a physician. Ideally, you should have 250 hours of service orientation at submission.

I agree the list seems very reasonable. I'm unsure about wanting to move to the Bay Area (UCSF, Stanford) to achieve your purpose. If you just want to be in emergency med, you don't have to go that far. The beach volleyball is so much better in Los Angeles... and not just near UCLA. (Why not UCSD, for example?)

 

[novacrest42]

First things first: where did you grow up in North Carolina? Where are you working now?
Second: when did you graduate from college? I'm guessing in 2024/last year?
Third: What is your purpose as a physician?

Some general warnings: I don't pay attention to non-shadowing activities with fewer than 50 hours. You have a lot of short-term non-clinical volunteering activities listed. I'd argue Spanish interpreter can be clinical, but I'm guessing you were serving as an interpreter for registration or general clinic management, not for doctor-patient conversations, yes? If so, that puts you at 125 hours of community service orientation-type activities, but it's a little blurry. I'm giving you leeway as a community EMT, depending on your purpose as a physician. Ideally, you should have 250 hours of service orientation at submission.

I agree the list seems very reasonable. I'm unsure about wanting to move to the Bay Area (UCSF, Stanford) to achieve your purpose. If you just want to be in emergency med, you don't have to go that far. The beach volleyball is so much better in Los Angeles... and not just near UCLA. (Why not UCSD, for example?)

1: Grew up in a suburb about 30 minutes north of Charlotte. Currently work at UVA Health in Virginia.
2: Graduating this year in 2025.
3: Ideally, I want to follow the mindset of "medicine +" and go beyond my clinical practice to get out into the community and make healthcare more accessible. I want to continue the outreach I’ve done through my rescue squad, like providing Narcan, CPR training, and Stop the Bleed education so that more people can step in and take charge of their health. A big part of my purpose is bridging gaps in care, especially for Spanish-speaking communities, to ensure no one gets left behind because of language or access barriers. Emergency medicine is very appealing, but through my work in the ED, I've also gotten interested in other specialties like INR, trauma surgery, and ortho as mechanisms to boost patient return to normalcy within their communities. Overall, I'd love to use my role as a physician to help organize local outreach programs, work with groups like Doctors Without Borders, or aid in public health solutions.

As for the Spanish interpretation - a couple hours were in the medical tents (doctor/dentist-patient interaction), but the bulk was registration and general clinic management.

As for UCSD - I wasn't sure about the California in-state bias as an NC applicant (and didn't want to apply to tons of UC schools OOS)- do you think it's still worthwhile to add to the school list?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

3: Ideally, I want to follow the mindset of "medicine +" and go beyond my clinical practice to get out into the community and make healthcare more accessible. I want to continue the outreach I’ve done through my rescue squad, like providing Narcan, CPR training, and Stop the Bleed education so that more people can step in and take charge of their health. A big part of my purpose is bridging gaps in care, especially for Spanish-speaking communities, to ensure no one gets left behind because of language or access barriers. Emergency medicine is very appealing, but through my work in the ED, I've also gotten interested in other specialties like INR, trauma surgery, and ortho as mechanisms to boost patient return to normalcy within their communities. Overall, I'd love to use my role as a physician to help organize local outreach programs, work with groups like Doctors Without Borders, or aid in public health solutions.

As for the Spanish interpretation - a couple hours were in the medical tents (doctor/dentist-patient interaction), but the bulk was registration and general clinic management.

As for UCSD - I wasn't sure about the California in-state bias as an NC applicant (and didn't want to apply to tons of UC schools OOS)- do you think it's still worthwhile to add to the school list?

I originally suggested UCSD because of the beach volleyball, but they also have a lot of community outreach. See MSROP, Asylum Clinic, and the School of Surf. (okay, that's not beach volleyball, but it is the beach.)

Community & Service