WAMC/School List - 519 MCAT, 3.97 cGPA, ORM, CA resident

[diltiazemm]

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Hello! I hope everyone is doing well. I am planning to apply in the upcoming cycle (2025-2026), and I was hoping for some advice on my school list - as well as feedback on what I can improve in my application (with the remaining month, haha).

1. First application, AMCAS only
2. cGPA: 3.97, sGPA: 3.95
3. MCAT: 519, with a breakdown of 131/129/130/129
4. I'm from Southern California.
5. Asian female.
6. T50 public university.
7. Clinical experience:
   1. 550 hours as a Certified Nursing Aide at a long term care facility. (Paid Clinical) (2020-2022)
   2. 250 hours as an "intern" at a Dermatology clinic. Not sure how to categorize this - I did room turnover, surgical setups, rooming patients, and equipment sterilization. (Volunteer Clinical) (2022-2023)
   3. 2250+ hours as an Emergency Room Technician. (Paid Clinical) (2023-present)
   4. 200 hours volunteering as a nursing aide at a free clinic. (Volunteer Clinical) (2024-present)
8. Research experience and productivity
   1. 2400 hours of molecular biology research (NON-CLINICAL) over 4 years in undergrad. I presented 3 posters (2 in my final year), and wrote a senior thesis. No publications. (2020-2024)
9. Shadowing experience and specialties represented
   1. 90 hours in EM
   2. 65 hours in Pathology
   3. 8 hours in Derm
10. Non-clinical volunteering
    1. 200 hours at a local food bank. (2024-2025)
    2. 100 hours at my university's food pantry. (2021-2023)
       1. Is my non-clinical volunteering too weak? Would it be worth getting more hours in the next month? I know these hours are super disproportionate to my research and clinical hours.
11. Other extracurricular activities (including athletics, military service, gap year activities, leadership, teaching, etc)
    1. 100 hours as a teaching assistant for a biochemistry course at my university.
    2. 50 hours as an illustrator for a undergraduate science journal.
    3. 500 hours as president of a women's athletics club (focused on empowerment through movement, exercise, etc.)
12. Relevant honors or awards
    1. Nothing that I'm putting on my application.
13. Anything else not listed you think might be important
    1. I'm putting two hobbies on my W/A: cartooning and running.
       1. Cartooning: this is a lifelong hobby, so I'm not sure how to quantify hours here. 7000? I draw people at art fairs, as well as do concept art/videogame stuff. I used to have a large following online.
       2. Running: I do ultramarathons! I'm just going to say 500 hours, because I'm not sure what to put here either.
    2. I have one empty slot on my W/A. I'm planning to put an activity that I just started - which is art therapy for victims of domestic abuse and trafficking. I will have <10 hours by the time I apply, so I don't know if it's better to just leave that slot blank.

And here's what my school list looks like so far:

Boston University
Cornell
CUSM
Drexel
Emory
Hackensack
Harvard
Hofstra/Northwell
Indiana
Larner-VT
Loyola Stritch
Mayo
Mount Sinai/Icahn
Northwestern
NYMC
Penn State
Perelman
Quinnipiac
Rosalind Franklin
Sidney Kimmel
Stony Brook
SUNY downstate
Temple
Tufts
UA - Tucson
UA - Phoenix
UChicago-Pritzker
UCI
UCincinatti
UCLA
UColorado
UCR (I am not from the region)
UCSD
UCSF
UIC
UMaryland
UMass
UMich
UPitt
USC-Keck
USF
UVA
Virginia Tech
WashU
Wayne State

I'm really nervous about this cycle, so my list is quite long... Any schools that I should add or remove? I appreciate any advice that you can offer <3 thank you so much!

 

[Faha]

You do not need to apply to 40 schools. I suggest these schools from your list:
Boston University
Cornell
CUSM
Drexel
Emory
Hackensack
Harvard
Hofstra/Northwell
Larner-VT
Loyola Stritch
Mayo
Mount Sinai/Icahn
Northwestern
NYMC
Penn State
Perelman
Quinnipiac
Rosalind Franklin
Sidney Kimmel
Temple
Tufts
UA - Phoenix
UChicago-Pritzker
UCI
UCincinatti
UCLA
UColorado
UCSD
UCSF
UMaryland
UMass
UMich
UPitt
USC-Keck
USF
UVA
WashU
Wayne State

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I agree you should be more selective.

Cartooning, huh?

Q&A with Physician-Comic Author: Dr. Omar Mirza | SDN

Dr. Omar Mirza is a consultation-liaison psychiatrist based in New York City. He also co-creates the comic series Zindan: The Last Ansaars with his friend

www.studentdoctor.net

When art meets medicine

A New Yorker cartoonist, a surgeon who sketches whimsical bodies, a singing ENT, and more. Doctors describe how creating art makes them better providers.

www.aamc.org

updates

Dr. Benjamin Schwartz, Cartoonist, Draws on Medical Training

In his senior year of medical school, Benjamin Schwartz enrolled in a month-long elective in narrative medicines that he credits with changing his life.

news.columbia.edu

Limit your school list to 25-30.

I tend to ignore activities with fewer than 50 hours (unless it's shadowing). I'd bank your newest art therapy venture until interviews or next cycle should it be necessary. Compare the number of hours with your other activities; having that activity with fewer than 10 hours screams "filler."

 

[diltiazemm]

You do not need to apply to 40 schools. I suggest these schools from your list:
Boston University
Cornell
CUSM
Drexel
Emory
Hackensack
Harvard
Hofstra/Northwell
Larner-VT
Loyola Stritch
Mayo
Mount Sinai/Icahn
Northwestern
NYMC
Penn State
Perelman
Quinnipiac
Rosalind Franklin
Sidney Kimmel
Temple
Tufts
UA - Phoenix
UChicago-Pritzker
UCI
UCincinatti
UCLA
UColorado
UCSD
UCSF
UMaryland
UMass
UMich
UPitt
USC-Keck
USF
UVA
WashU
Wayne State

This is super helpful! I really appreciate your response 🙂

 

[diltiazemm]

I agree you should be more selective.

Cartooning, huh?

Q&A with Physician-Comic Author: Dr. Omar Mirza | SDN

Dr. Omar Mirza is a consultation-liaison psychiatrist based in New York City. He also co-creates the comic series Zindan: The Last Ansaars with his friend

www.studentdoctor.net

When art meets medicine

A New Yorker cartoonist, a surgeon who sketches whimsical bodies, a singing ENT, and more. Doctors describe how creating art makes them better providers.

www.aamc.org

updates

Dr. Benjamin Schwartz, Cartoonist, Draws on Medical Training

In his senior year of medical school, Benjamin Schwartz enrolled in a month-long elective in narrative medicines that he credits with changing his life.

news.columbia.edu

Limit your school list to 25-30.

I tend to ignore activities with fewer than 50 hours (unless it's shadowing). I'd bank your newest art therapy venture until interviews or next cycle should it be necessary. Compare the number of hours with your other activities; having that activity with fewer than 10 hours screams "filler."

I love hearing about physician artists, thanks for the links! It's one of the (silly) reasons I like Quinnipiac 😵

I really appreciate your advice. I do hear a lot of nightmare stories of applicants having selective lists, and then getting rejected or WL from all of their schools. Is there a specific reason to drop to 25-30? Will applying to 35-40 hurt me in any way?

Also, thanks for the tips on taking art therapy out of my W/A! It's definitely subpar (in hours) compared to my other activities, but if I end up having to reapply, it will probably be a great experience to talk about 🙂

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I really appreciate your advice. I do hear a lot of nightmare stories of applicants having selective lists, and then getting rejected or WL from all of their schools. Is there a specific reason to drop to 25-30? Will applying to 35-40 hurt me in any way?

1) Save your money.
2) You haven't heard of the nightmare stories of people applying to more schools and not finishing secondaries?