WAMC/ School List (513, 3.69)

[ECGQueen1124]

Hi! I’m new to SDN please help!

Anyone willing to look over my school list and please give me any advice if I should remove or add any schools you recommend?

Stats and info:
- Massachusetts resident
- ORM
- 3.69 GPA
- 513 MCAT
- pharmacy tech: 1000-2000 hrs ?
- multiple volunteering positions at hospitals, homeless shelters, etc. : 200-300 hours ?
- current medical assistant in cancer care: 700 hours
- research assistant: 500 hours ?
- resident assistant at university: 1000 hours
- President/Founder of medical-related club and treasurer of cultural club at my university
- member of several clubs at university (medical related and religious)
- about 30 shadowing hours various fields and hoping to increase

School List:
- UMass
- Boston University
- Tufts
- Drexel
- Wake Forest
- Virginia Tech
- VCU : know it’s a public school but have a close friend here idk?
- UMiami
- Brown
- Sidney Kimmel (Thomas Jefferson)
- Rush
- UVermont
- Penn state
- New York Medical College
- Nova
- NYU Long Island
- Temple
- Loyola Chicago
- Hackensack Meridian
- Georgetown
- George Washington
- Geisinger
- Quinnipiac
- Geisel
- Rosalind Franklin
- Albany Medical College
- Albert Einstein

Don’t know exactly how many hours in each of my activities but this is a rough estimate. This is my first year applying and I’m a bit overwhelmed on how to ensure I have an appropriate school list. I’ve been trying to do some research for schools but would appreciate if anyone knows where to find detailed info about each school besides MSAR! Any help/advice would be really appreciated! Thank you all!

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[Faha]

Einstein and Brown are not realistic with your stats and Geisinger and Virginia Tech admit few applicants who are not from that region.
I suggest these schools with your stats:
UMass
Tufts
Boston University
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Albany
New York Medical College
Hackensack
Penn State
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Georgetown
George Washington
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
Wake Forest
Belmont
NOVA MD
Tulane
TCU
Creighton
St. Louis
Rosalind Franklin
Loyola
Medical College Wisconsin
Western Michigan
Oakland Beaumont
Alice Walton (when it opens)
Roseman (when it opens)

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Don’t know exactly how many hours in each of my activities but this is a rough estimate.

Welcome to the forums.

You don't have much time until the gun starts for 2025 entry. Be accurate with your hours and your desecriptions. I'm not convinced you have done enough with non-clinical volunteering as your descriptions remain vague. That helps with honing any school list based on mission fit.

 

[ECGQueen1124]

Welcome to the forums.

You don't have much time until the gun starts for 2025 entry. Be accurate with your hours and your desecriptions. I'm not convinced you have done enough with non-clinical volunteering as your descriptions remain vague. That helps with honing any school list based on mission fit.

Hello, thank you very much for your response. Sorry I’m new here I’m not super sure how much I should be sharing regarding specifics, but regarding my volunteering experience: I was a blood donor ambassador at the Red Cross for 1 year (6 hour shifts - probably once-twice a month), a volunteer in the ER at a hospital in my city for 2 years (roughly 4 hours a week during schools semesters), and a volunteer at the homeless shelter near me through my school a couple times. I will make sure to count my hours exactly to give an accurate response. I understand that I am lacking in non-clinical volunteering hours as you said. I appreciate any advice or if this would be a red flag going forward. Thank you again!

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Hello, thank you very much for your response. Sorry I’m new here I’m not super sure how much I should be sharing regarding specifics, but regarding my volunteering experience: I was a blood donor ambassador at the Red Cross for 1 year (6 hour shifts - probably once-twice a month), a volunteer in the ER at a hospital in my city for 2 years (roughly 4 hours a week during schools semesters), and a volunteer at the homeless shelter near me through my school a couple times. I will make sure to count my hours exactly to give an accurate response. I understand that I am lacking in non-clinical volunteering hours as you said. I appreciate any advice or if this would be a red flag going forward. Thank you again!

You will see that many applicants fail to get sufficient service orientation community service that's not healthcare-related. Examples of such activities include food distribution, shelter volunteer, job/tax preparation, transportation services, or housing rehabilitation. You need 150 hours by the time you submit your application to avoid getting screened out at most schools.

Just as importantly, mission fit matters. How do your experiences complement the missions of the schools where you will apply to? How will the schools consider your pharm tech experience (since it's so much compared to your experience shadowing physicians or working with them)?

 

[ECGQueen1124]

Great, thank you for clarifying that! Regarding my pharmacy tech role, could you please explain? I’ve been at that job for 4 years but my more recent experience and full time job is an MA. I guess I was a bit late to see that pharm tech isn’t considered clinical but I do believe I will have a lot more hours at my MA position by the time I apply. Thanks!

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Great, thank you for clarifying that! Regarding my pharmacy tech role, could you please explain? I’ve been at that job for 4 years but my more recent experience and full time job is an MA. I guess I was a bit late to see that pharm tech isn’t considered clinical but I do believe I will have a lot more hours at my MA position by the time I apply. Thanks!

I consider pharm tech as clinical, but not every physician will appreciate the different interaction compared to seeing a patient in the consult room. It counts for physician assistant applications as patient-care experience. Just ask and get confidence that is the position of the admissions leadership at the schools on your list.