WAMC/School List 3.9/516 ORM TN Res w/ Strong CA Ties

[premed190504]

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Hello, this is my first post. Trying to get some direction as I write my PS and finalize a school list. Any tips are appreciated!

3.9 GPA, 516 (130, 127, 129, 130) MCAT

CC Transfer Student to a UC. Taking 2 gap years.

TN Resident. Grew up in CA (All of my family is there besides parents, lived there until graduating from UC in Summer 2025)
Caucasian Male

Clinical Experience:
500 hours (likely 800 by time of app) as patient transport in hospital (official title is "Attendant"). Position includes lots of close patient contact and interaction.

Research:
1000 hours in neuro lab at UC, 1 mid author publication, 3 poster presentations

Shadowing:
12 hours with interventional cardiologist
In contact with interventional radiologist and orthopedic surgeon currently
Aiming for >50 hours

Non-clinical:
200 hours Special Olympics coach for various sports (flag football, bball, etc.)
50 Hours hospital volunteer (ER linens, consultation desk, delivering flowers)
100 Hours on EBoard for mentoring org. Targets high school students from backgrounds underrepresented in research

Other extracurriculars:
Fantasy football (commissioner)
Soccer intramural while at school, afterwards Sunday league and pickup
Gym/lifting

Honors/Awards:
Outstanding Poster Award at UC Neuro Symposium ($75 Prize)
Scholarships and awards from local CC

Here is a preliminary school list I have made. Some may be OOS unfriendly, and IDK if it would be worth it to apply still if I like the program enough. I am definitely looking to weed out ones that may be a bad mission fit/I have no chance at.

Penn State
U of Utah
Wake Forest
Nova Southeastern
U of Tennessee (Dont really want to live in Memphis though so might not)
ETSU
Loyola
Quinnipiac
VCU
Drexel
Temple
Eastern VA
U of Vermont
Albany
FAU
UCLA
Emory
VA Tech
U of South Carolina
UCSD
UCI
U of A
Pitt
Einstein
Creighton
Hackensack
NYMC
Dartmouth
UCF
Cincinnati
Ohio State
Miami
Tufts
Vandy
Cornell
Case Western
Brown
Boston
Stanford

As far as DO goes, I may do LMU and a couple more. Let me know if DO is advisable.

Thank you!!!!

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Welcome to the forums.

How long have you been a resident of Tennessee? Are you living in Tennessee now? I might throw in Belmont if you want to live back in Tennessee, with the usual warnings for it being a newer school.

I would rather you have more traditional service orientation (food distribution, shelter volunteer, job/tax preparation, legal support, transportation services, or housing rehabilitation). Right now, you list zero hours in this category. Special Olympics helps a marginalized community, but you are still in a mentor and teacher role. I am not sure what activities show a willingness to be comfortable with uncomfortable people or situations. Your file may be at risk of getting screened out at most schools.

 

[premed190504]

Welcome to the forums.

How long have you been a resident of Tennessee? Are you living in Tennessee now? I might throw in Belmont if you want to live back in Tennessee, with the usual warnings for it being a newer school.

I would rather you have more traditional service orientation (food distribution, shelter volunteer, job/tax preparation, legal support, transportation services, or housing rehabilitation). Right now, you list zero hours in this category. Special Olympics helps a marginalized community, but you are still in a mentor and teacher role. I am not sure what activities show a willingness to be comfortable with uncomfortable people or situations. Your file may be at risk of getting screened out at most schools.

I've been a resident of TN since July 2025. I may add Belmont to the list then, thank you.

I don't have any other traditional nonclinical activities for marginalized populations, I figured doing something different than the typical food bank/shelter may be a bright spot on my application instead of the red flag I am now learning it may be, lol. Oh well. We'll see how it goes.

Thank you for the kind response!

 

[Faha]

You have some state public schools on your list that admit few non residents with no connection to the state. You should also accumulate 100+ hours of non clinical volunteering in a food bank or homeless shelter since some schools screen at 150 hours. Schools such as Loyola and Creighton expect many hundreds of hours of non clinical volunteering. I suggest these schools with your stats:
U Tennessee
ETSU
Belmont
Miami
USF Morsani
NOVA MD
Wake Forest
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
George Washington
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Penn State
Pittsburgh
Hackensack
Hofstra
Einstein
New York Medical College
Albany
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Tufts
Dartmouth
Brown
Western Michigan
Cincinnati
Medical College Wisconsin
Rosalind Franklin
TCU
Alice Walton
Roseman

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I don't have any other traditional nonclinical activities for marginalized populations, I figured doing something different than the typical food bank/shelter may be a bright spot on my application instead of the red flag I am now learning it may be, lol. Oh well. We'll see how it goes.

You can do different, but make sure the opportunity to impact others' lives is obvious. I have suggested: food distribution, shelter volunteer, job/tax preparation, legal support, transportation services, or housing rehabilitation. The closer you get to frontline experience addressing social work and services needs apart from "clinical" or clinic-adjacent (like health promotion/screening), the better.

Furthermore, change the underserved population: work with veterans or disabled adults, rural communities, migrant or undocumented individuals, or incarcerated/newly released individuals.

Don't focus on "being different" with your activity. Being humble and consistent in your customer/client service should satisfy most of us, as long as you can articulate it. Believe me, being unique with service orientation activities is not as important as the purpose of the work you are doing. If you're trying too hard to be unique, you might as well start your own non-profit (and then, your efforts go under "leadership" and not "service orientation").

 

[premed190504]

You have some state public schools on your list that admit few non residents with no connection to the state. You should also accumulate 100+ hours of non clinical volunteering in a food bank or homeless shelter since some schools screen at 150 hours. Schools such as Loyola and Creighton expect many hundreds of hours of non clinical volunteering. I suggest these schools with your stats:
U Tennessee
ETSU
Belmont
Miami
USF Morsani
NOVA MD
Wake Forest
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
George Washington
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Penn State
Pittsburgh
Hackensack
Hofstra
Einstein
New York Medical College
Albany
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Tufts
Dartmouth
Brown
Western Michigan
Cincinnati
Medical College Wisconsin
Rosalind Franklin
TCU
Alice Walton
Roseman

Thank you for the kind response. Do you think applying to any UCs would be appropriate? I lived in CA for nearly my entire life and my entire family excluding parents and siblings live there. It seemed like a few of them might be worth it, but I can understand them also being above my application's competitiveness level as well,

 

[premed190504]

change the underserved population: work with veterans or disabled adults

My current work serves solely disabled adults, but I do see what you are saying. It is good advice. I have a few anecdotes regarding this experience that I can write about to showcase its impact on other's lives, so hopefully that is enough to get past some screenings. I, again, appreciate it!

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Thank you for the kind response. Do you think applying to any UCs would be appropriate? I lived in CA for nearly my entire life and my entire family excluding parents and siblings live there. It seemed like a few of them might be worth it, but I can understand them also being above my application's competitiveness level as well,

UC schools favor residents from their part of the state (Riverside, Davis, Irvine sort of), although the usual brand-name schools like UCLA, UCSF, and UCSD may be less geographically inclined (relatively speaking). For me, I encourage any California applicant to apply to UC schools if they see themselves participating in a PRIME program. Otherwise, your metrics support an application attempt, but I need more details to give a stronger endorsement.

You have the California private schools as well: Kaiser, CUSM, CNS, Western U (DO), Touro (DO).

 

[Faha]

Thank you for the kind response. Do you think applying to any UCs would be appropriate? I lived in CA for nearly my entire life and my entire family excluding parents and siblings live there. It seemed like a few of them might be worth it, but I can understand them also being above my application's competitiveness level as well,

You could try Kaiser, California University, USC Keck and California Northstate.