WAMC/ School list feedback/What should I do?

[StraightAd57]

Hi guys. I would love some feedback on my school list! I used admit.com to help me build this list and I sprinkled in some schools in my state (Massachusetts) that I would really want to attend so I want to shoot my shot. I really don't want to take the MCAT again but if I have to I will.

ORM (ASIAN MALE)

GPA: 3.95

MCAT: 509 (129,125,127,128)

Clinical Hours: 2000+ hours as a medical assistant for a dermatology office. Room patients, collect chief complaints, assist in biopsies, Mohs surgery, excisions. Administrative work too.

Nonclinical volunteer: 500 hours of tutoring students coming from disadvantaged communities. To add more detail, this is an online tutoring program that I am apart of only selects students that have a specific household income. Been doing this consistently for a year.

Will have accumulated around 100+ hours of volunteering at my local temple; I help package food, prepare breakfast, lunch, and dinner service for my Vietnamese community. Started this activity in December.

Research: 1000 hours with a abstract. PI said she will put me on the pub but shes not done with the manuscript yet. Doesn't look like it'll be done in time.

LORS: 2 Science Profs, 1 Nonscience , 1 PI, 1 MD

MISC: Honors program at school, Asian Student Association member, Co-founder of a small photobooth company that operates mainly in the east-coast area that I've been doing for around 6 years now.

MD schools

Boston University SOM

Emory University School of Medicine

UMiami

UMass Chan SOM

Tufts University School of Medicine

Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University

Wake Forest University School of Medicine

Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University

Drexel

Lewis Katz Temple

Robert Larner Vermont

George Washington University School of Medicine

Eastern Virginia Medical School

Penn State University College of Medicine

Albany Medical College

Medical College of Wisconsin

Oakland University

TCU SOM

University of Colorado School of Medicine

Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine

Nova Southeastern University SOM

Western Michigan SOM

West Virginia SOM

Wayne State University School of Medicine

Virginia Tech Carillion SOM

Tulane University SOM

CMU COM

Geisinger Commonwealth SOM

Indiana University SOM

Rutgers Robert Wood MS

University of illinois COM

Creighton University SOM

NYMC

Hackensack SOM

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[Mr.Smile12]

Specifically detail your community service experience and hours. How long have you done these experiences? Any opportunities where you serve others outside your community? How important is working with Asian communities are for your purpose as a physician? Outreach to APAMSA chapters?

 

[StraightAd57]

Specifically detail your community service experience and hours. How long have you done these experiences? Any opportunities where you serve others outside your community? How important is working with Asian communities are for your purpose as a physician? Outreach to APAMSA chapters?

I just added more detail to my community service experience. As for the tutoring, it is more specifically geared towards serving students that come from low-income households. I haven't had any opportunities yet to where I served others outside of my Asian community in regards to nonclinical work such as packing food or anything outside of tutoring.

Working with an Asian community in the future is a big part of my purpose in becoming a physician due to my upbringing, living in a predominantly white town and having to routinely attend doctor appointments for family members due to language and cultural barriers that come with being a Vietnamese immigrant. I understand that I only started volunteering since December because I used a lot of my time in the summer and fall to focus on the MCAT. I am not sure if this comes off as disingenuous.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Every premed does some tutoring or teaching, including with low-income, marginalized community children. It adds little to your application compared to others.

The photo booth company is self-employment with leadership and entrepreneurship skills. Where will you discuss this?

 

[StraightAd57]

Every premed does some tutoring or teaching, including with low-income, marginalized community children. It adds little to your application compared to others.

The photo booth company is self-employment with leadership and entrepreneurship skills. Where will you discuss this?

I was going to discuss this through my Work and Activities and I have it as my most meaningful experience. I am currently working on my PS and still working on how to weave my activities seamlessly into my "Why Medicine".

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Have your read the secondary essay prompts? You should do that before finishing off your PS.

Write Your Secondary Essays First - SDN

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

www.studentdoctor.net

 

[StraightAd57]

Have your read the secondary essay prompts? You should do that before finishing off your PS.

Write Your Secondary Essays First - SDN

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

www.studentdoctor.net

I have and I started prewriting for my instate school (UMass). What do you think about the rest of the list? Thank you again for your insight

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Treat each school as a place where you would love to attend if it were the only school offering you a seat. To that end, and off the bat, tell me why you would be happy being a student at:
Illinois (expensive OOS)
Indiana (Asian community?)
CMU (Asian?)
West Virginia (rural?)
VT Carillion (Asian?)
Western Michigan (Asian?)
EVMS (military community)

Vietnamese ethnicity can be underrepresented/URM in California. Your MCAT isn't high enough for the UC's but you should consider the other California schools (Kaiser, CUSM), including the DO program at Western. I would also throw in UNLV.

 

[everythingis onfire]

IMO, you should retake the MCAT to get a higher score and make your life a lot easier and your app overall more competitive.

 

[Faha]

You have several state public schools on your list that admit few non residents with a MCAT of 509 and no connection to the state. Your MCAT is not competitive for other schools you listed. I suggest these schools with your stats:
UMass
Tufts
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Albany
Hackensack
Penn State
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
George Washington
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
Wake Forest
NOVA MD
Belmont
Tulane
TCU
Creighton
Rosalind Franklin
Medical College Wisconsin
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
California University
Alice Walton (when it opens)
Roseman (when it opens)

 

[MD_Maker]

Are you Vietnamese? (me too actually). The AAMC defines two under-represented Asian ethnicities (Vietnamese and Cambodian), so you may not need to consider yourself ORM. At UCLA, there are near a dozen Vietnamese students each year. You'd have a shot at programs that have heavier Vietnamese patient populations as well, like Tulane, UC Irvine, the med school in Houston (McGovern?).

Tbh the rest of your application reads as a bit boring though. You may want to consider what your through-line is and whether you want to consider any new activities.