Hi everyone...I need some help creating a school list and would love any input on what my chances are in general. All of the hours and info listed here do not include what I'll be doing during my gap year. Here's my info:
I'll definitely be applying to:
- USC
- UCLA
- UC San Diego
- UC Irvine
- UC Davis
- Loma Linda
- CUSM
- UC Riverside
- UCSF
- Stanford
I want to stick with MD, so I don't know if I should also apply to WesternU (DO) since its in CA. I also don't know which OOS schools I should be applying to/am competitive for, so any insight into that would be fantastic. Also, I'd appreciate any insight into how competitive I seem to be for the CA schools!
Thanks!
- GPA: 3.92 cGPA and 3.89 sGPA as a STEM major + humanities minor graduating in 3 years
- MCAT: 517 (129/130/127/131)
- State of residence: CA
- Ethnicity and/or race: White
- UG: Top 25
- Clinical experience: ~600 hrs (includes hospital + other clinical volunteering)
- Research: ~1800 hrs (2.5 years), multiple published abstracts/posters [some of which won awards] + couple of papers, a few currently submitted or awaiting submission; no first author work yet though, will be starting independent project during gap year
- Shadowing: ~20 official hrs, more "unofficial" hrs from clinical + hospital volunteering experience
- Non-clinical volunteering: ~1000 hrs (very large focus on serving the underserved/homeless/etc.; on the exec. board of one of these orgs)
- Other extracurricular activities: leadership roles in a couple of honor societies; membership in a couple of other clubs
- Relevant honors or awards: graduating Summa Cum Laude + Phi Beta Kappa + Honors; entered UG with the top scholarship awarded to freshman admits; Dean's List every quarter; about $20K in scholarships; a few other misc. awards
- LORs: amazing non-science letter; 2 very generic science letters; good letters from PI and from a MD who I did research with
- Work Experience: A LOT! part-time tutoring/consulting/proctoring work for 3 years, grading work for 1.5 years, notetaker for 1 year, unpaid TA-ing gig for a few months, unpaid internship for 3 summers
- Misc.: GAP YEAR => will be working full-time as a front+back medical office receptionist [will get some shadowing/chaperoning hrs during this] while continuing my tutoring/consulting/proctoring work, some hospital volunteering, and research; will also be working on some random, miscellaneous projects throughout the year as well
- Misc.: HIGH SCHOOL => I know that we are generally not supposed to include things from high school, but I was involved in an activity related to humanitarian activism throughout HS (in which I had a large leadership role) which was both extremely significant to me and pretty unique -- and which had a huge role in influencing my professional goals -- so I definitely want to include it in my app...
I'll definitely be applying to:
- USC
- UCLA
- UC San Diego
- UC Irvine
- UC Davis
- Loma Linda
- CUSM
- UC Riverside
- UCSF
- Stanford
I want to stick with MD, so I don't know if I should also apply to WesternU (DO) since its in CA. I also don't know which OOS schools I should be applying to/am competitive for, so any insight into that would be fantastic. Also, I'd appreciate any insight into how competitive I seem to be for the CA schools!
Thanks!
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