WAMC: ORM, 3.96 GPA, 518 mcat Montana resident

[Devboy]

1. 3.96 GPA
2. 518 MCAT (128/128/131/131) this was a retake from a 508
3. Montana resident so I don't have a whole lot in terms of in state schools besides the WWAMI program, very rural background, FAP approved.
4. ORM
5. No name small rural college
6. 670 hours as a CNA in the hospital, lots to talk about in essays here. 1076 hours as an MA and projected out another 2,000
7. 760 hours of research in a inorganic chemistry lab with two poster presentations, no pubs
8. 130 hours of shadowing between a few different specialties
9. 500 hours of tutoring for organic chem and gen chem, 100 hours salvation army meals on wheels, 50 hours habitat for humanity
10. 1500 hours in student government as student body president, 50 hours as a COVID-19 lab tech at my campus
11. hobbies, rock climbing, computer programming 5,000 hours, competed in highschool at a national competition placing top 20 in the nation.

Would love any advice! Also applied to 46 schools and drowning in secondaries right now lol.

School list:

Sidney Kimmel

Ohio State

Hofstra

Albany

Albert Einstein

Boston University Aram V. Chobanian & Edward Avedisian School of Medicine

Carle Illinois College of Medicine did not know they require Calc 2 🙁

Case Western

Central Michigan University

Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine & Science

Columbia (dream reach school)

Cooper Medical School of Rowan University

Creighton

Duke (not excited for their secondary)

Eastern Virginia

Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University

Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine

Harvard (Big reach)

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Indiana University School of Medicine

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (Huge reach)

Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine

Mayo

Medical College of Wisconsin (have some ties to Wisconsin)

North Western (reach)

Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine

Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine (applying through the WICHE program)

ennsylvania State University College of Medicine

Robert Larner, M.D., College of Medicine at the University of Vermont

Saint Louis University School of Medicine

Stanford University School of Medicine (reach)

SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University College of Medicine

The University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences

The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University (reach)

Tufts University School of Medicine

University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson (Have some ties to Arizona, but did not realize they require A&P 🙁

University of Colorado School of Medicine (applying through WICHE)

University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine

University of Maryland School of Medicine

University of Michigan Medical School

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

University of Washington School of Medicine (applying through WWAMI program)

University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health (Ties to Wisconsin)

Wake Forest University School of Medicine

Wayne State University School of Medicine

Weill Cornell Medicine (reach)

West Virginia University School of Medicine

Yale School of Medicine (reach)

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[Faha]

You have several state public schools on your list that admit few non residents with no connection to the state or region. 46 secondaries is far too many and not needed. I suggest doing the secondaries for these schools that you applied to:

Sidney Kimmel
Ohio State
Hofstra
Albany
Albert Einstein
Boston University Aram V. Chobanian & Edward Avedisian School of Medicine
Case Western
Central Michigan University
Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine & Science
Columbia (dream reach school)
Creighton
Eastern Virginia
Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University
Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Indiana University School of Medicine
Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine
Mayo
Medical College of Wisconsin (have some ties to Wisconsin)
North Western (reach)
Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine
Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine (applying through the WICHE program)
Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine
Robert Larner, M.D., College of Medicine at the University of Vermont
Saint Louis University School of Medicine
The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University (reach)
Tufts University School of Medicine
University of Colorado School of Medicine (applying through WICHE)
University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine
University of Maryland School of Medicine
University of Michigan Medical School
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
University of Washington School of Medicine (applying through WWAMI program)
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health (Ties to Wisconsin)
Wake Forest University School of Medicine
West Virginia University School of Medicine

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I'm not sure what feedback you want. You've already submitted 46 schools, so you want us to suggest more for you?

So let's start off with the fact you have to apply to your WWAMI schools. For them and for schools like Wisconsin where you claim a connection, you need to be really clear about why you want to be a doctor, especially in caring for rural communities. If you don't want to work in rural health, what is your mission as a physician, and how are you going to show you are really prepared?

Your non-clinical volunteering: okay, you have 150 hours for Meals on Wheels and H4H. But you also have 500 hours of tutoring. Once you get avoid getting screened out for the minimum threshold of hours, you then have to be "average" with the applicants you are applying with in each school. To that end, many of your service-oriented schools (I can see Loyola, at least) would like many more hours. The brand-name schools usually have applicants with at least 250 or more hours, especially in service orientation activities like MoW and H4H. Build more hours on this, but I think you don't have enough for your "reach" schools.

The big question is how much you have been exposed to an immersive diverse environment. The big cities in Montana have some diversity (thanks to the influx of relocating Californians), but it's not as much as NYC, SF, or Chicago, or other cities in the east and south. So you might be a bit naive, but can you handle diversity-related conversations to get a better understanding of what other communities challenges are? Be very mindful of what you bring to their learning communities.

Brown usually takes other Ivy students from the East Coast. Stanford likes innovation a bit more, so maybe your computer science stuff is cool, but I don't know if that's enough. Columbia and Yale... maybe but would you actually enjoy being a student in the Northeast? How diverse of a population have you been exposed to in Montana compared to the Upper West Side of Manhattan or New Haven? I'm a little worried there. (This would also apply to the other NYC schools like Mt. Sinai, Einstein, SUNY?, and Cornell). Maybe you get a shot at Mayo, but you need to really be outstanding and love the culture. Geographically I don't know how you connect with CMU, WVU, Toledo, Pittsburgh, or Wayne State.

Prioritize and push those secondaries out. So you've spent more than you should... I'm sure every applicant buys a Powerball ticket.

 

[Devboy]

You have several state public schools on your list that admit few non residents with no connection to the state or region. 46 secondaries is far too many and not needed. I suggest doing the secondaries for these schools that you applied to:

Sidney Kimmel
Ohio State
Hofstra
Albany
Albert Einstein
Boston University Aram V. Chobanian & Edward Avedisian School of Medicine
Case Western
Central Michigan University
Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine & Science
Columbia (dream reach school)
Creighton
Eastern Virginia
Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University
Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Indiana University School of Medicine
Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine
Mayo
Medical College of Wisconsin (have some ties to Wisconsin)
North Western (reach)
Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine
Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine (applying through the WICHE program)
Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine
Robert Larner, M.D., College of Medicine at the University of Vermont
Saint Louis University School of Medicine
The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University (reach)
Tufts University School of Medicine
University of Colorado School of Medicine (applying through WICHE)
University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine
University of Maryland School of Medicine
University of Michigan Medical School
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
University of Washington School of Medicine (applying through WWAMI program)
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health (Ties to Wisconsin)
Wake Forest University School of Medicine
West Virginia University School of Medicine

Thank you! I originally applied to this many not knowing what my updated mcat score was so I was trying to cast a very large net. Still have a bit of that premed neuroticism and think that I applied way to top heavy and worried that may ruin my cycle.

 

[Devboy]

I'm not sure what feedback you want. You've already submitted 46 schools, so you want us to suggest more for you?

So let's start off with the fact you have to apply to your WWAMI schools. For them and for schools like Wisconsin where you claim a connection, you need to be really clear about why you want to be a doctor, especially in caring for rural communities. If you don't want to work in rural health, what is your mission as a physician, and how are you going to show you are really prepared?

Your non-clinical volunteering: okay, you have 150 hours for Meals on Wheels and H4H. But you also have 500 hours of tutoring. Once you get avoid getting screened out for the minimum threshold of hours, you then have to be "average" with the applicants you are applying with in each school. To that end, many of your service-oriented schools (I can see Loyola, at least) would like many more hours. The brand-name schools usually have applicants with at least 250 or more hours, especially in service orientation activities like MoW and H4H. Build more hours on this, but I think you don't have enough for your "reach" schools.

The big question is how much you have been exposed to an immersive diverse environment. The big cities in Montana have some diversity (thanks to the influx of relocating Californians), but it's not as much as NYC, SF, or Chicago, or other cities in the east and south. So you might be a bit naive, but can you handle diversity-related conversations to get a better understanding of what other communities challenges are? Be very mindful of what you bring to their learning communities.

Brown usually takes other Ivy students from the East Coast. Stanford likes innovation a bit more, so maybe your computer science stuff is cool, but I don't know if that's enough. Columbia and Yale... maybe but would you actually enjoy being a student in the Northeast? How diverse of a population have you been exposed to in Montana compared to the Upper West Side of Manhattan or New Haven? I'm a little worried there. (This would also apply to the other NYC schools like Mt. Sinai, Einstein, SUNY?, and Cornell). Maybe you get a shot at Mayo, but you need to really be outstanding and love the culture. Geographically I don't know how you connect with CMU, WVU, Toledo, Pittsburgh, or Wayne State.

Prioritize and push those secondaries out. So you've spent more than you should... I'm sure every applicant buys a Powerball ticket.

Thank you for the insight! I agree I have been worried about my volunteering and I am definitely concerned it will hold me back at a fair number of schools. In terms of a diverse environment you are correct Montana does not have much in the way of this. However, I have had a large amount of experience working with Native American culture as I live twenty minutes away from the largest reservation, seen alot of patients in the hospitals, helped volunteer at PowWows on the reservation, and raised funding for a PowWow that was held at my campus. I have been talking about those in my secondary's so I hope those will help. I guess just overall I am worried I applied too top heavy and will end in a poor cycle for me.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Thank you for the insight! I agree I have been worried about my volunteering and I am definitely concerned it will hold me back at a fair number of schools. In terms of a diverse environment you are correct Montana does not have much in the way of this. However, I have had a large amount of experience working with Native American culture as I live twenty minutes away from the largest reservation, seen alot of patients in the hospitals, helped volunteer at PowWows on the reservation, and raised funding for a PowWow that was held at my campus. I have been talking about those in my secondary's so I hope those will help. I guess just overall I am worried I applied too top heavy and will end in a poor cycle for me.

Thank you for that clarification. So check out IHS programs and feeder schools and residencies.

Target:

New effort to help Native American pre-meds pursue physician dreams

Learn about this yearlong course from Harvard, Brigham and Women’s Hospital geared toward Native American community and tribal college students.

www.ama-assn.org

Indians Into Medicine (INMED)

Welcome to Indians Into Medicine (INMED) program at the UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences.

med.und.edu

About

At the Center of American Indian and Minority Health, we’re working to make a positive impact on American Indian and Alaska Native health. In partnership with Native American communities, university experts, and nonprofit leaders, we accomplish this through education, research, and outreach. The...

med.umn.edu

Native American Pathway Program - Programs - Mayo Clinic College of Medicine & Science

Mayo Clinic's virtual Native American Pathway Program addresses Native American health disparities by increasing Native Americans in health careers.

college.mayo.edu

Program in Medical Education - Transforming Indigenous Doctor Education (PRIME-TIDE)

Native American Center for Health Professions (NACHP)

The Native American Center for Health Professions supports Indigenous health professions students and works with tribal communities.

www.med.wisc.edu

Scour your school list for similar programs or tracks as these. You may not be native, but if you are drawn to work as a physician with these communities, these tracks will help you.

 

[Devboy]

Thank you for that clarification. So check out IHS programs and feeder schools and residencies.

Target:

New effort to help Native American pre-meds pursue physician dreams

Learn about this yearlong course from Harvard, Brigham and Women’s Hospital geared toward Native American community and tribal college students.

www.ama-assn.org

Indians Into Medicine (INMED)

Welcome to Indians Into Medicine (INMED) program at the UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences.

med.und.edu

About

At the Center of American Indian and Minority Health, we’re working to make a positive impact on American Indian and Alaska Native health. In partnership with Native American communities, university experts, and nonprofit leaders, we accomplish this through education, research, and outreach. The...

med.umn.edu

Native American Pathway Program - Programs - Mayo Clinic College of Medicine & Science

Mayo Clinic's virtual Native American Pathway Program addresses Native American health disparities by increasing Native Americans in health careers.

college.mayo.edu

Program in Medical Education - Transforming Indigenous Doctor Education (PRIME-TIDE)

Native American Center for Health Professions (NACHP)

The Native American Center for Health Professions supports Indigenous health professions students and works with tribal communities.

www.med.wisc.edu

Scour your school list for similar programs or tracks as these. You may not be native, but if you are drawn to work as a physician with these communities, these tracks will help you.

I guess I never realized schools had these types of programs, I would love to continue supporting Native American Culture through my time as physician, thank you!

 

[MyOdyssey]

Carole’s MD program is geared toward engineers. If you haven’t taken Calc 2, then … Have you taken calculus based physics, multivariable calculus or differential equations?

Carle is also notoriously expensive.

This might be a good school to drop.

 

[Devboy]

Carole’s MD program is geared toward engineers. If you haven’t taken Calc 2, then … Have you taken calculus based physics, multivariable calculus or differential equations?

Carle is also notoriously expensive.

This might be a good school to drop.

Thank you! Yeah it was only after I sent out my apps that I realized that this school was not a great fit for my application overall. I just plan on not submitting a secondary for this one.

 

[Devboy]

Also I was curious with my mcat retake how that would look. I know my original 508 was not terrible, I was pleased with the bump up to a 518. However, I have heard many schools average your attempts which would bring me to a 513. A little concerned with that mainly because of how top heavy I have applied. Any thoughts on this?

 

[KaiBuzz]

I think you’ve got a good shot at UW, Colorado, and Oregon so really focus on those secondaries. The top ten schools love candidates who only take the MCAT once and achieve a high score so don’t be disappointed if you don’t get a lot of love there. Unless you speak Spanish and have strong ties to Tucson, UA is a long shot.

 

[Devboy]

I think you’ve got a good shot at UW, Colorado, and Oregon so really focus on those secondaries. The top ten schools love candidates who only take the MCAT once and achieve a high score so don’t be disappointed if you don’t get a lot of love there. Unless you speak Spanish and have strong ties to Tucson, UA is a long shot.

Thank you for the comment! Yeah those are the main ones I am thinking as well, still no secondaries from them yet but I have them prewritten. Also applied to Tucson because my family is currently living there, and applying as a WICHE applicant. If I could go back I would have taken off so many of the T20 schools I have added in favor of more mid level schools.