MD WAMC/School List for 3.86/3.77/517 ORM

[bolshevikbulsara]

1. cGPA: 3.86 / sGPA: 3.77
2. MCAT: 517 (128/131/128/130)
3. TN Resident
4. ORM (South Asian)
5. Unranked private university (Senior, applying for 2024 Fall)
6. Clinical Experience:

• Patient Care Technician - 300 Hours
• Hospital Volunteer - 150 Hours
• CNA - 200 Hours

7. Research Experience:

• Genetics Lab (3 years, 1000 Hours)
• Developmental Bio Lab (150 Hours)
• 4 Posters (two at national conferences, three are first author)
• 2 Publications (both from high school, so not sure if this really helps... working on another pub but won't be published by app)

8. Shadowing: 60 Hours (Specialties: Hospitalist, Cardiology, Gastroenterology, Pediatric Surgery)
9. Non-Clinical Volunteering:

• Teaching English for Immigrants and Refugees - 150 Hours
• Staff for Youth (High School) Politics/Model UN Conferences - 250 Hours
• Crisis Text Line - 250 Hours

10. Extracurriculars:

• President of Environmental Club (3 years, ~750 Hours)
• Finalist in international environmental activism competition (only 14 chosen out of around 5000 participants)
  • A huge part of my life, and therefore my app, is environmentalism - especially environmental justice and how it impacts health. As part of these activities, I have been working on an action project to incorporate environmental justice education into medical school curricula and have been successful thus far. Environmental advocacy and activism is something that I want as part of my future as a physician.

11. Honors/Awards/Recognitions:

• Finalist in competition mentioned above
• 3rd Place among finalists in above competition, received honorarium
• Environmental service award from university
• Leadership Honor Society
• Dean's List each semester

Schools: Vanderbilt, Emory, UTHSC, ETSU, Meharry, Emory, Tulane, Wake, UMiami, MCW, UChicago Pritzker, RFU, Loyola, SLU, Georgetown, George Washington, Einstein, NYMC, Albany, Vermont, UCLA

Self-Criticism: I am worried about the distribution of my clinical hours. The hospital volunteer gig I have been at since October 2021, and 150 hours over that time spans seems little. The CNA job I worked at for 8 months in 2021, and the PCT job I have had since October 2022. I don't know if I am overthinking this, but I am worried that this distribution shows a lack of commitment/interest? Especially with the low hours at hospital volunteering over nearly two years. I also have FAP, so this list is 20 schools for that reason, but if applying to more schools seems necessary then I would be open to adding up to 5 more.

I appreciate any feedback you all have, and thank you in advance!

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[Mr.Smile12]

Your nonclinical community service didn't really address your service orientation in a way that showed your can stretch out of your comfort zone in relieving distress. I know you care a lot about the environment, but you also need to show you can empathize with people who are different from you.

What schools on your list have active student organizations or faculty advocacy for sustainability in Medicine beyond just making sure we use reusable coffee cups and shopping bags? Not that those are not important, but I want to see that you have done the research.

 

[bolshevikbulsara]

Your nonclinical community service didn't really address your service orientation in a way that showed your can stretch out of your comfort zone in relieving distress. I know you care a lot about the environment, but you also need to show you can empathize with people who are different from you.

What schools on your list have active student organizations or faculty advocacy for sustainability in Medicine beyond just making sure we use reusable coffee cups and shopping bags? Not that those are not important, but I want to see that you have done the research.

Thanks for your feedback. The schools currently on the list that are explicitly involved in environmental health (have student orgs, scholarly tracks, courses on it) are Georgetown, GWU, Emory, Vanderbilt, and UCLA. Pritzker/MCW/Einstein/Vermont have a strong urban medicine or social justice programs which are both heavily linked to environmental justice, which is my interest (not so much the reusable straws environmentalism, but how environmental issues disproportionately affect minority health/wellbeing).

As far as the service orientation concern goes, I recognize that this may not have come across in my original post, but I have had meaningful experiences with people from many walks of life through each of my volunteer experiences. When I write about this on my primary, should I write the descriptions in a way that explicitly demonstrates interactions with people different than me? Thanks again.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

"I have had meaningful experiences with people from many walks of life through each of my volunteer experiences. When I write about this on my primary, should I write the descriptions in a way that explicitly demonstrates interactions with people different than me?"

Read carefully how AAMC defines service orientation as a preprofessional competency and address it where appropriate or prompted.

 

[Faha]

Remove Meharry since they are looking mainly for applicants from the African American community. Consider adding theses schools:
USF Morsani
Duke
Jefferson
Hofstra
Mount Sinai
Boston University
Tufts
Cincinnati
Pittsburgh
Rochester