WAMC + School List (3.49/512)

[HangryBird]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

1. sGPA: 3.29 / cGPA: 3.49
2. MCAT: 1st Attempt (2023): 504 (127, 129, 123, 125). 2nd Attempt (2025): 512 (128, 130, 126, 128)
3. Illinois but I’m also military and have been abroad the last 7 years (Europe/Asia)
4. Asian Male
5. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
6. 75 hours at a hospital pediatric ward working as a “virtual reality volunteer”.
7. 30 hours as research coordinator/liaison. No publications.
8. 100 hours shadowing. Primary care, psychologist, dental, physical therapy.
9. 100 hours elementary school after-school program mentor. 25 of these hours was as a mentor supervisor.
10. 7 years as an Army healthcare administration officer. I’ve worked in leadership/supervisor positions running military aid stations ranging from 30-100 healthcare soldiers, managed medical logistics for sizable military organizations (~3,000 people), and planned medical operations/emergency plans for the US Army regularly engaging with foreign country government health officials (US pentagon-equivalent peoples).
11. Awarded Distinguished Military Graduate
12. Applied to one school in 2023. Got interview but rejected. Retook the MCAT, did more work as army officer, obtained recommendations letters from military brass. Academic letters will be weak/cold calls.

School List: I’m trying to keep the list to 10-12.
USUHS
U Illinois
Southern Illinois
Rush
Rosalind Franklin
Loyola
Dartmouth
Brown
Georgetown
Kaiser
UCSD
UCLA

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Where did you send your application (in 2023)? What feedback did you get to improve your application? Was your shadowing in military/VA hospitals, academic medical centers, major hospitals, or private outpatient?

Without using metrics, I would consider
East Tennessee/Quillen
EVMS
VCU
Virginia
Virginia Tech

Most schools will acknowledge strong military/veteran applicants. Have you met with any admissions representatives at the schools on your list? I need more explanations of the non-Illinois schools on your list.

 

[Faha]

I suggest these schools with your stats:
USUHS
U Illinois
Southern Illinois
Rush
Rosalind Franklin
Loyola
Dartmouth
Medical College Wisconsin
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
Ponce (St. Louis)
Creighton
TCU
Roseman
Alice Walton
Belmont
Methodist
Tulane
NOVA MD
Wake Forest
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
East Tennessee
George Washington
Penn State
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Albany
Vermont
Quinnipiac

 

[HangryBird]

Where did you send your application (in 2023)? What feedback did you get to improve your application? Was your shadowing in military/VA hospitals, academic medical centers, major hospitals, or private outpatient?

Without using metrics, I would consider
East Tennessee/Quillen
EVMS
VCU
Virginia
Virginia Tech

Most schools will acknowledge strong military/veteran applicants. Have you met with any admissions representatives at the schools on your list? I need more explanations of the non-Illinois schools on your list.

I sent my first application to USUHS, which resulted in an interview then rejection. They said to improve my MCAT and that one of my interviews could’ve gone better. I also applied quite late in the cycle with a submission date of September.

My shadowing was primarily in military outpatient clinics.

I haven’t met with any admissions reps. Would this be helpful to my application?

My general reasoning is that I think USUHS is my best shot at an acceptance with my background. Then, Illinois schools as my next best shot with in-state bias. I threw in the other schools based off WAMC post recommendations with similar stats to me. I added California schools bc I wouldn’t mind living there next. After having lived in pretty great locations the last couple years, I’d strongly prefer my med school location to be in a decent spot if possible.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I sent my first application to USUHS, which resulted in an interview then rejection. They said to improve my MCAT and that one of my interviews could’ve gone better. I also applied quite late in the cycle with a submission date of September.

My shadowing was primarily in military outpatient clinics.

I haven’t met with any admissions reps. Would this be helpful to my application?

My general reasoning is that I think USUHS is my best shot at an acceptance with my background. Then, Illinois schools as my next best shot with in-state bias. I threw in the other schools based off WAMC post recommendations with similar stats to me. I added California schools bc I wouldn’t mind living there next. After having lived in pretty great locations the last couple years, I’d strongly prefer my med school location to be in a decent spot if possible.

ETSU is connected with a VA hospital system (actually many med schools are, but ETSU is rather explicit about wanting applicants who can work with veteran populations).

The Virginia schools love their military applicants given the population. EVMS serves Norfolk. I agree to add your DC schools (Georgetown, George Washington).

RFUMS/CMS is located next to a naval training center and a VA hospital. Rush and Loyola will also value your military service to fulfill their service orientation expectations.

Do some networking with many of these programs before you apply again. And apply early.

 

[HangryBird]

I suggest these schools with your stats:
USUHS
U Illinois
Southern Illinois
Rush
Rosalind Franklin
Loyola
Dartmouth
Medical College Wisconsin
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
Ponce (St. Louis)
Creighton
TCU
Roseman
Alice Walton
Belmont
Methodist
Tulane
NOVA MD
Wake Forest
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
East Tennessee
George Washington
Penn State
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Albany
Vermont
Quinnipiac

Thank you, I appreciate your feedback!

 

[HangryBird]

Acknowledged on all your comments. I appreciate your response!

 

[polymerization]

What a cool background; thank you for your service. Good luck on your cycle!

Friendly advice: My guess is you'll apply way more broadly than you would like. Plan to write your secondaries well-ahead of time. Nothing worse than blanking and panic-submitting a bunch of applications/fumbling at the finish line. I think you need to give yourself as many opportunities to be considered as possible, especially if you're trying to min/max for choices. You really just never know.

 

[HangryBird]

What a cool background; thank you for your service. Good luck on your cycle!

Friendly advice: My guess is you'll apply way more broadly than you would like. Plan to write your secondaries well-ahead of time. Nothing worse than blanking and panic-submitting a bunch of applications/fumbling at the finish line. I think you need to give yourself as many opportunities to be considered as possible, especially if you're trying to min/max for choices. You really just never know.

Makes sense, I’ll be sure to do that.