WAMC/School List: (3.8, 510) ORM, MD Resident

[BioethicsGuy101]

Hello! I am a newcomer to SDN, so thank you for insight and advice. I am a first-gen, low-income college student, that also comes from medicially underserved area.

1. cGPA: 3.80 sGPA: 3.8
2. MCAT (2 attempts): 505 (125, 127, 125, 128), 510 (128, 127, 128, 127)
3. Maryland Resident
4. Asian (Vietnamese)
5. Highly selective small liberal arts college, BA in Anthropology, c/o 2022
6. Clinical Experience (525 hours):

• [400 hours] - Volunteer - Orthopedic and rehabilitation Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, observing PTs and orthopedic surgeons, assisting patients with limited ADLs (e.g., retrieving food)
• [50 hours] - Volunteer - Blood bank observing patients post donation
• [75 hours] - Volunteer - Hospice center assisting residents with ADLs

7. Research Experience (~3500 hours):

• [500 hours] - Medical Anthropology Research - (Senior Thesis) Conducted interview and focus groups study of BIPOC premed students at my own undergrad institution to assess imposter syndrome, with the ultimate goal to improve premedical experience. No publications, but was invited by institution to present and speak to administration and STEM faculty after graduation
• [3000 hours, ongoing] - Biomedical Ethics Research at top medical center in the U.S. - social science research in scarce resource allocation policies, decision-making for patient with limited English proficiency, and advocacy for incarcerated populations. 1 first-author publication in upper-mid medical journal, 3 middle-author publications in high-level journals (e.g., JAMA, NEJM), 2 poster presentations for international conference (ATS). 2 first-author manuscripts in press in top medical journals

8. Shadowing (90 hours):

• [30 hours] Family Medicine
• [25 hours] Pulmonary Critical Care Medicine
• [10 hours] Pediatric Critical Care Medicine
• [20 hours] Palliative Care Medicine

9. Non-Clinical Volunteering (165 hours)

• [80 hours]: Organized events for and mentored first-gen, low-income high school students to navigate college application process
• [80 hours]: COVID-19 vaccine ambassador, serving as a resource for people wanting to learn more about COVID-19 vaccine, drafted public health materials
• [5 hours, ongoing] Volunteer at local low-security prison to help incarcerated people navigate library system

10. Other Extracurricular Activities

• [200 hours] - Elected as honor council defense advisor to represent students in student conduct procedures
• [300 hours] - Served on student group tasked with interviewing all tenure-track faculty candidates to assess them on inclusive pedagogical practices
• [300 hours] - Resident Advisor for 3 years
• [200 hours] - Bhangra dance group president
• [200 hours] - Senior Admission Fellow interacting with prospective students, organize college access fly-in program, assist with admissions programming
• [120 hours] - Seasonal Admissions Reader for undergrad institution, reading 100+ applications and conferring accepts, WL, and rejections
• [20 hours] - Pre-Health Honor Society Treasurer
• [20 hours] - Appointed member of undegrad institution's COVID-19 logistics ethics board
• [40 hours, ongoing] Violin instructor

11. Relevant Honors or Awards: Full-ride merit scholarship to undergrad, internal grant awardee for social science research

I was granted the AAMC FAP, and plan on applying to 25 MD schools. I am having trouble building my med school list. I am looking for insight on undershoot schools, more target schools, and 5-6 reach schools that are not "stat-wh*res." I also would prefer to stay on the east coast, but I will go anywhere that will take me. Here is what I have so far:

• Temple SOM
• Tufts SOM
• UMD SOM
• UCLA Geffen SOM
• Wake Forest SOM
• GW SOM
• Drexel SOM
• Georgetown SOM
• Mayo Clinic SOM (connection)
• Dartmouth Geisel SOM
• University of Colorado SOM
• Rosalind Franklin
• UCSF
• Thomas Jefferson
• Larner UVT COM
• University of Wisconsin SOM

Thank you so much!

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[Faha]

Your clinical volunteering hours in this country are low. Your MCAT scores are not competitive for most of the schools on your list and many schools average scores.
You should apply broadly to DO schools and I suggest these:
PCOM (all schools)
Touro-NY
NYITCOM
LECOM (all schools)
WVSOM
VCOM (all schools except Monroe)
CUSOM
MU-COM
DMU-COM
KCU-COM
ATSU-KCOM
TUNCOM
AZCOM
UIWSOM
For MD schools I suggest these:
Maryland
West Virginia
George Washington
Drexel
Temple
Penn State
Albany
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
Wake Forest
NOVA MD
Belmont
TCU
Rosalind Franklin
Medical College Wisconsin
Oakland Beaumont
Alice Walton (when it opens)
Roseman (when it opens)

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I ignore activities with fewer than 50 hours unless it's shadowing. Boost your prison volunteer activity to at least 100 hours; I can give you a little credit for your volunteer work in Vietnam (say 100 hours maximum), but don't bank on other schools doing the same. Your mentoring low-SES students through the college application process doesn't address "service orientation," even though it is a noble cause. In fact, all your work collaborating with or volunteering for your college's admissions office is great for serving your university. That works if you want to become a faculty member (where such service counts 0.01% of your tenure decision ). I will note that it's great you give back to the uni that gave you a full ride... you should do it to be the role model to others coming after you.

Are you pitching to schools with a global health emphasis?

Application Tips: Showing a Global Health Focus - SDN

The Student Doctor Network provides free tools, resources, and advising services to help students become health professionals.

www.studentdoctor.net