WAMC/School List, 3.86/522
Started by sochi
Get help with your application
Use all the free resources available to you from SDN: articles, guides, expert advising, forums discussions, and school research.
You have a lot of teaching or work in a classroom on your transcript. I'm not sure you have any service orientation activities (food distribution, shelter volunteer, job/tax preparation, legal support, transportation services, or housing rehabilitation), and if you don't have 150 hours when you submit, your application will likely be screened out. If you are going for brand name schools, you should have at least 250 hours to keep up with other applicants in your pool. This involvement is very important for social justice schools like UChicago, Northwestern, Michigan, Grossman, Tufts (I think), Einstein, and Georgetown, which may expect you to have even more hours in humble community service work (not as an expert or teacher).
I also get the impression your clinical hours are rather low for the brand name schools because your competition will have many more experiences than you list. Quality is good, but the longevity or diversity is lacking IMO.
I know you may love to go to UCLA, but I don't know why you wouldn't be satisfied staying in-state. You have the Spanish skills that a school like Phoenix would appreciate, but I don't know if your profile matches their mission. I would presume Mayo Arizona would be interested in you. I would add Washington University St. Louis. But maybe you did TFA in Los Angeles which could help argue your interest to stay around the LA area... lots of details are needed.
If you didn't grow up in the Inland Empire, Riverside should be off your list. Your metrics also likely make you a yield-protect candidate.
I also get the impression your clinical hours are rather low for the brand name schools because your competition will have many more experiences than you list. Quality is good, but the longevity or diversity is lacking IMO.
I know you may love to go to UCLA, but I don't know why you wouldn't be satisfied staying in-state. You have the Spanish skills that a school like Phoenix would appreciate, but I don't know if your profile matches their mission. I would presume Mayo Arizona would be interested in you. I would add Washington University St. Louis. But maybe you did TFA in Los Angeles which could help argue your interest to stay around the LA area... lots of details are needed.
If you didn't grow up in the Inland Empire, Riverside should be off your list. Your metrics also likely make you a yield-protect candidate.
sochi
New Member
Thank you so much for the insightful and quick response!
With regards to why LA/California, I grew up visiting family from the area a lot and felt connected to the population there. Perhaps that's a poor reason as to why I'd like to be there, but it nuanced my perspective on culture and community growing up. Ultimately, I'd be extremely grateful to get into any med school, but my preference remains OOS for some more personal reasons as well.
It seems like I may have shot myself in the foot with top/research-heavy schools by focusing too much on building a story/application around my passion for teaching/educational outreach. Though I can't recover the longevity aspect of these activities, would you say that it would place me in a better position to focus on service-oriented volunteering and another clinical component (EMT perhaps) from now until the start of the cycle? In general, would you also say I should remove these top schools from my radar if I couldn't land anything substantial in these areas?
Based on my current list of activities, it also seems that I should reconsider a portion of my list of schools that you mention have a social justice focus. If you happen to have any besides WashU St. Louis that come to mind, I'd be extremely appreciative!
I think I have some vivid stories to tell with my activities that will hopefully do some damage control. For what it's worth, LOR-wise, I know 1 of my 2 science (1 prof I TA'ed for), 1 non-science (TA'ed for), and 1 of my 2 others (Lab PI) should be strong, and my other 2 would be decent at the least.
Once again, I appreciate all the help!
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
Look, TFA is a very well-regarded activity. For me, I want to make sure there is some balance to show you understand that you serve a community experiencing social challenges. Many applicants learn the social determinants of health in a "class" setting, so discussing and reflecting on your observations working with people from lower socioeconomic classes and outside your cultural heritage gives us an idea why you see yourself making an impact as a doctor. You'll be asked to do more of that in medical school. For example:
Next-Generation Providers Bringing Health Care to the Streets: “It’s my job to listen.”
Street Medicine Phoenix emphasizes connecting with patients on a personal level to provide empathetic, holistic care.
Street Medicine Phoenix: Medical Students Feel Called to Serve - News Archive - Mayo Clinic College of Medicine & Science
Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine students in Arizona are bringing street medicine to homeless populations as part of their medical school experience.
college.mayo.edu
Oh, I keep forgetting Creighton has an Arizona campus. Again, more hours and experience helps. I defer to our experts who give school lists for more suggestions.
You should accumulate 250+ hours of non clinical volunteering such as food bank, homeless shelter before you submit your application. Some schools screen at 150 hours. I suggest these schools if you accumulate those hours:
Arizona (Tucson and Phoenix)
Mayo
Colorado
Washington University (in St. Louis-almost a guaranteed interview with your stats)
Vanderbilt
Northwestern
Duke
U Virginia
Cincinnati
Case Western
U Penn
Pittsburgh
Johns Hopkins
Hackensack
New York Medical College
Hofstra
Einstein
Mount Sinai
Rochester
Cornell
Columbia
Vermont
Tufts
UMass
Brown
Arizona (Tucson and Phoenix)
Mayo
Colorado
Washington University (in St. Louis-almost a guaranteed interview with your stats)
Vanderbilt
Northwestern
Duke
U Virginia
Cincinnati
Case Western
U Penn
Pittsburgh
Johns Hopkins
Hackensack
New York Medical College
Hofstra
Einstein
Mount Sinai
Rochester
Cornell
Columbia
Vermont
Tufts
UMass
Brown
sochi
New Member
Thank you so much for the school recommendations! It's very helpful to get some more insight as to what schools would more align with my goals in medicine 🙂 Though my preference is to remain at around 25 schools, I also know I'd regret it if I didn't shoot my shot at some schools that you left out (Harvard, Stanford, UCSF, NYU, Yale, UCLA). I'm wondering your thoughts as to where my goals/application is lacking or mismatches with these schools? Once again, I appreciate the help/support!
There is not necessarily any mismatch at those other schools but you they are more competitive and you are already have many competitive schools. Also, at schools such as Harvard, Stanford, etc. you will be competing against applicants that have many hundreds or thousands of hours each of clinical and non clinical hours.
