WAMC- Reapplicant 4.0/524

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[Mr.Smile12]

What I wrote

Post in: 'WAMC and should I apply this cycle?'

Feb 20, 2024

@Mr.Smile12,
I had about 500 hours of research as an intern for biology lab and 24 hours volunteers to help with HIV screening events. I plan to get a few additional hours for non-clinical volunteer during spring break. Anything else I should look for to help with my app in this cycle?

Do more food pantry/food security work. Get it up to at least 250 hours before applying to be at least on par with your peers. If getting into a top brand school is a priority, consider taking a gap year to do Peace Corps or Americorps or a prestigious scholarship (Rhodes, Churchill, Gates...

• Mr.Smile12

• 

It appears you got to 175 hours now (food distribution)?

 

[cfn]

What I wrote

Post in: 'WAMC and should I apply this cycle?'

Feb 20, 2024

@Mr.Smile12,
I had about 500 hours of research as an intern for biology lab and 24 hours volunteers to help with HIV screening events. I plan to get a few additional hours for non-clinical volunteer during spring break. Anything else I should look for to help with my app in this cycle?

Do more food pantry/food security work. Get it up to at least 250 hours before applying to be at least on par with your peers. If getting into a top brand school is a priority, consider taking a gap year to do Peace Corps or Americorps or a prestigious scholarship (Rhodes, Churchill, Gates...

• Mr.Smile12

• 

It appears you got to 175 hours now (food distribution)?

I wish I could do more, but finding food distribution volunteer opportunities during the school year has been challenging.

 

[LindaAccepted]

Hi all,
I applied to 23 medical schools this cycle and received one interview, which resulted in a waitlist decision. I'm unsure whether my lack of acceptances was due to my extracurricular profile or my writing. As I prepare to reapply, I am working on strengthening my application with additional clinical and volunteer experience. My goal is to have a more competitive profile for the upcoming cycle.

I would greatly appreciate any feedback on areas I should improve and recommendations for schools that align well with my application. Thank you in advance for your help!

Stats:

• GPA: 4.0
• MCAT: 524 (131/131/130/132)
• State of Residency: MD
• Ethnicity: Asian (ORM)

Clinical Experience:

• 600 hours: Paid Medical Assistant at a Dermatology Office (current)
• 450 hours: Paid Medical Assistant at an Endocrinology Office
• 30 hours: Medical Assistant volunteer at a free clinic

Shadowing:

• 150 hours: Neurology Clinic
• 35 hours: Allergy/Immunology Clinic
• 80 hours: UMMC SERVICE Clinical Experience (Virtual)

Research:

• 600 hours: Research Assistant

Non-Clinical Volunteering:

• 100 hours: Hospital Volunteer
• 100 hours: Dining Hall Food Recovery Volunteer
• 75 hours: Food Pantry Volunteer
• 30 hours: HIV Screening Volunteer
• 10 hours: Blood Pressure Screening Volunteer for the homeless

Other Experiences:

• 80-hour internship (Federal Fellow) with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (originally a six-month commitment, but the program was paused and later canceled)
• 200 hours: Club involvement, peer mentoring, and tutoring

School List (Reapplications in Bold):

• University of Maryland
• University of Virginia
• USF Morsani College of Medicine
• University of Miami
• Vanderbilt University
• Washington University in St. Louis
• Northwestern University
• Western Michigan University
• University of Michigan
• Case Western Reserve University
• Ohio State University
• University of Cincinnati
• University of Pittsburgh
• Johns Hopkins University
• Albert Einstein College of Medicine
• Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
• NYU Grossman School of Medicine
• Weill Cornell Medicine
• University of Rochester
• Brown University
• Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine
• Emory University
• VCU School of Medicine
• Hofstra/Northwell School of Medicine
• Thomas Jefferson University (Sidney Kimmel Medical College)
• Boston University
• University of Iowa
• University of Phoenix
• Temple

Are the hours you listed what you had when you applied this cycle or what you intend to apply with in 2025?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Did you get waitlisted at your home state program UMaryland? I don't pay attention to non-shadowing activities with fewer than 50 hours.

 

[cfn]

Are the hours you listed what you had when you applied this cycle or what you intend to apply with in 2025?

The hours listed above reflect my current experiences, which I intend to include in my application for the July 2025 cycle.

Here is a summary of my extracurricular activities when I applied in 2024:

• Clinical Experience: 300 hours of Paid Medical Assistant at a local doctor’s office
• Non-Clinical Volunteering: 150 hours of Food pantry and Food Recovery Network volunteer.
• Shadowing Experience: Neurology and Allergy/Immunology clinics (100 hours), 80 hours of virtual shadowing at the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC).
• Research: 600 hours in a biology lab (summer + one semester).
• Additional Volunteering: 24 hours volunteering for HIV screening.

 

[cfn]

Did you get waitlisted at your home state program UMaryland? I don't pay attention to non-shadowing activities with fewer than 50 hours.

I did not receive an interview invitation from UMSOM and only received a late interview from USF, which ultimately resulted in being waitlisted.

 

[LindaAccepted]

The hours listed above reflect my current experiences, which I intend to include in my application for the July 2025 cycle.

Here is a summary of my extracurricular activities when I applied in 2024:

• Clinical Experience: 300 hours of Paid Medical Assistant at a local doctor’s office
• Non-Clinical Volunteering: 150 hours of Food pantry and Food Recovery Network volunteer.
• Shadowing Experience: Neurology and Allergy/Immunology clinics (100 hours), 80 hours of virtual shadowing at the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC).
• Research: 600 hours in a biology lab (summer + one semester).
• Additional Volunteering: 24 hours volunteering for HIV screening.

I think you should increase the non-clinical volunteering and service to the underserved. That being said, I obviously can't comment on your writing without seeing it. However, if your writing and presentation of your qualifications was flawed or weak, wouldn't you rather know it now so that you can fix it?

 

[cfn]

I think you should increase the non-clinical volunteering and service to the underserved. That being said, I obviously can't comment on your writing without seeing it. However, if your writing and presentation of your qualifications was flawed or weak, wouldn't you rather know it now so that you can fix it?

Thank you very much for your advice. I'm planning to prepare my application early to give myself time to research schools I plan to apply to, in addition to continuing to work on increasing my non-volunteering hours. Currently, I'm working on creating a more balanced list of schools to apply to, since my previous list was too top heavy

 

[candbgirl]

I wish I could do more, but finding food distribution volunteer opportunities during the school year has been challenging.

While I totally understand your feelings, it might be better to take a cycle off and figure out what went wrong! With your stats it would seem that something was really amiss with your application.
It was suggested that you increase your nonclinical volunteering to 250 hours. Your lower number might be part of the answer. But applying to 20+ schools and having limited success I think indicates something far more intrinsically problematic in your application.
I hope you get off the waitlist. Please let us know if you do.

 

[LeaveNoTrace]

Yeah.

Was the writing bad? Bad essays? Last cycle, you didn't do much more than check the boxes for your volunteering...but you did check the boxes, and you had superb grades and ECs. Is there anything like an IA or criminal record here?

 

[cfn]

Yeah.

Was the writing bad? Bad essays? Last cycle, you didn't do much more than check the boxes for your volunteering...but you did check the boxes, and you had superb grades and ECs. Is there anything like an IA or criminal record here?

I didn’t have time for IA or other criminal activities 😂, but I guess my writing was bad.