MD WAMC/School List: (3.92, 512) ORM CA Resident

[chunkyxmonkey]

Hi everyone, first-time SDN user here. Thanks for clicking on this post, and I appreciate all your help!

1. cGPA: 3.92 sGPA: 3.947
2. MCAT (1 attempt): 512 (129/126/128/129)
3. California Resident
4. Asian ORM
5. T30 Undergrad in California
6. Clinical experience: 650 hours

• [50 hours, ongoing] - Volunteer: Event EMT at large music festivals and sports games
• [350 hours, ongoing] - Volunteer: Hospital volunteer in several departments like radiology, ER, surgery center
• [200 hours, ongoing] - Paid: Medical intern/assistant in an internal/integrative medicine wellness clinic

7. Research experience: 1600 hours

• [420 hours, ongoing]: Alzheimer's research lab. No paper, abstract, or poster.
• [250 hours, ongoing]: Clinical Anesthesia research lab focusing on frailty/geriatrics. 1 first-author abstract presented at national and undergraduate poster conferences. 2nd author abstract at an international conference.
• [500 hours, ongoing]: Antimalarial drug research testing free drug concentration. 1 first-author publication in a mid-level journal. Writing a manuscript for a second first-author publication hopefully submitted by the time the cycle starts.
• [400 hours]: Summer internship at a large biopharmaceutical company
• [30 hours]: Alzheimer's research at a lab I worked extensively in high school. Was in contact with them throughout college, but didn't do much work for them during college. Listed as an author on a publication that was recently just submitted for review at a mid-level journal.

8. Shadowing: 120 hours

• [35 hours]: Anesthesia
• [30 hours]: Interventional Radiology
• [25 hours]: Neurology
• [30 hours]: Internal Medicine

9. Non-clinical volunteering: 200 hours

• [80 hours, ongoing]: Food bank volunteer at several different organizations at different times throughout the years
• [45 hours, ongoing]: Member of a club that provides shelter housing, food, and other resources for unhoused undergraduate students
• [25 hours, ongoing]: Volunteer with an organization that provides health resources for pregnant women and single mothers.
• [50 hours, ongoing]: Volunteer with an organization where I help tutor and take care of kids who are experiencing poverty, trauma, and neglect.

10. Other extracurricular activities (including athletics, military service, gap year activities, leadership, teaching, etc)
11. Relevant honors or awards: None
12. Anything else not listed you think might be important

I have taken the PREview and will be getting my score back in a couple weeks. I also signed up for a June Casper exam time slot. I think my MCAT score is holding me back a little bit. I will have a ~500 more projected clinical hours working as an EMT this summer, and I will continue to volunteer at all of my non-clinical locations.

Given that I'm an CA Asian ORM, I definitely want to apply broadly, so I would appreciate any critiques to my school list. I didn't include any service schools (if you see any in here please let me know so I can take it out) given my nonclinical hours, and I was recommended by someone to apply to research-heavy schools so I did include some Texas schools (I do know they have very high IS bias). My parents have offered to pay for my application, so I don't think money will be an issue in terms of applying to a large number of schools. My only worry will be if I can handle all the secondaries LOL.

1. UC Davis
2. UCLA-Geffen (TARGET, need more service)
3. UC San Diego (TARGET, high MCAT)
4. UC San Francisco (REACH, high MCAT)
5. UC Irvine (TARGET, high MCAT)
6. Stanford (REACH, high MCAT)
7. USC
8. CUSM
9. Kaiser Permanente-Tyson
10. Wayne State (low-yield?)
11. Virginia Tech (GREAT FIT?)
12. Virginia Commonwealth U (VCU)
13. Case Western
14. Emory
15. Cincinnati
16. Wake Forest (low-yield?)
17. TCU
18. Penn State (GREAT FIT?)
19. Mayo-Arizona
20. Geisel Dartmouth
21. Arizona-Phoenix
22. Arizona-Tucson (REACH, low-yield, high MCAT)
23. Rutgers NJ
24. Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson (low-yield?)
25. EVMS
26. Rosalind Franklin
27. Quinnipiac
28. BU
29. Baylor (REACH, high MCAT)
30. UT Southwestern
31. Dallas
32. UCF
33. Miami
34. FIU
35. FAU
36. Vermont
37. Pittsburgh
38. Albany (low-yield?)
39. Einstein (low-yield?)
40. Drexel (low-yield?)
41. Sidney Kimmel Thomas Jefferson (low-yield?)
42. Hackensack (low-yield?)
43. Ohio State U (OSU) (low-yield?)
44. U of Wisconsin (low-yield?)
45. St. Louis University
46. University of Colorado
47. UMass
48. Iowa
49. Buffalo

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[Mr.Smile12]

I'm unsure what you are signaling with "low yield" on your list. How much homework have you done on those programs?

Building Your Best School List - SDN

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

www.studentdoctor.net

I don't think the Texas schools are worthwhile, but your 512 should put you in play for many schools, provided you have a purpose as a physician that aligns with their mission. What is your purpose as a physician? You have a lot of great activities that give your application a solid foundation, but I don't see a clear reason why a school should invite you to an interview. Also, I tend to disregard activities with fewer than 50 hours (except shadowing).

For UC Davis, did you grow up in the Sacramento Valley area? Are you eligible for FAP? Many UC programs prefer applicants raised in their part of the state. UC Davis is also very upfront about their role in facilitating social advancement and equity among lower SES candidates. As you know, California schools do not consider your race in admissions decisions.

I would consider adding the California DO schools like Western, Touro, and CHSUCOM if you want to avoid being a reapplicant.

 

[Faha]

You have many state public schools on your list that admit few non residents with a MCAT of 512 and no connection to the state.
I suggest these schools with your stats:
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Tufts
Albany
New York Medical College
Hackensack
Penn State
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Pittsburgh
George Washington
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
Wake Forest
Belmont
NOVA MD
Miami
TCU
Creighton
St. Louis
Rosalind Franklin
Medical College Wisconsin
Western Michigan
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
Colorado
Arizona Phoenix
California University
Kaiser
Loma Linda (if you fit their mission)
The UCs
USC Keck
Alice Walton (when it opens)
Roseman (when it opens)

 

[AJS59]

I don't see any obvious holes, but as Mr. Smile said you should think about your purpose or mission fit. Is there a particular type of community you wish to serve, and if so, what activities have you done that show commitment to that community?

 

[chunkyxmonkey]

I'm unsure what you are signaling with "low yield" on your list. How much homework have you done on those programs?

Building Your Best School List - SDN

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

www.studentdoctor.net

I don't think the Texas schools are worthwhile, but your 512 should put you in play for many schools, provided you have a purpose as a physician that aligns with their mission. What is your purpose as a physician? You have a lot of great activities that give your application a solid foundation, but I don't see a clear reason why a school should invite you to an interview. Also, I tend to disregard activities with fewer than 50 hours (except shadowing).

For UC Davis, did you grow up in the Sacramento Valley area? Are you eligible for FAP? Many UC programs prefer applicants raised in their part of the state. UC Davis is also very upfront about their role in facilitating social advancement and equity among lower SES candidates. As you know, California schools do not consider your race in admissions decisions.

I would consider adding the California DO schools like Western, Touro, and CHSUCOM if you want to avoid being a reapplicant.

Thanks for the reply! I haven't researched the mission/fit with the schools on my list yet. I mainly screened schools for my MCAT, GPA, and OOS friendliness. What other things should I be looking for when I research the schools on this list? The low yield refers to how many OOS students get interviews out of the total applicants I believe.

In terms of Texas schools, I was recommended to apply to some because these schools value research. If it's fine with you, could I dm you my personal statement?

I see. I didn't know that about Davis -- I thought it only specified Northern California. I did know that UCR prefers inland empire students. Also, I'm from the Bay Area, and I do not qualify for FAP.

 

[chunkyxmonkey]

You have many state public schools on your list that admit few non residents with a MCAT of 512 and no connection to the state.
I suggest these schools with your stats:
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Tufts
Albany
New York Medical College
Hackensack
Penn State
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Pittsburgh
George Washington
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
Wake Forest
Belmont
NOVA MD
Miami
TCU
Creighton
St. Louis
Rosalind Franklin
Medical College Wisconsin
Western Michigan
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
Colorado
Arizona Phoenix
California University
Kaiser
Loma Linda (if you fit their mission)
The UCs
USC Keck
Alice Walton (when it opens)
Roseman (when it opens)

Thanks for the reply! I see a lot of overlap with my list. Which state public schools were you referring to on my list? I'll make sure to recheck and take them off.

 

[Faha]

Thanks for the reply! I see a lot of overlap with my list. Which state public schools were you referring to on my list? I'll make sure to recheck and take them off.

Iowa, Buffalo, U Wisconsin, Ohio State, Rutgers, Arizona Tucson, the Texas schools and the Florida schools (except Miami)