WAMC & School list help 23M 3.99 518

[Messeduphips]

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Hey Everyone, I really appreciate everyone in this community!

- I am a ORM, 23M- MA resident and went to school in Connecticut (BS Health science) and graduated in 2024 (1 gap year + application year)
- cGPA is a 3.99 and my sGPA is a 4.0
- My MCAT score was a 518 (129, 128, 131, 130)
- 1,500 paid, clinical hours, 900 from being an EMT and the rest is split between being a pharmacy technician (~300) and other odd jobs during COVID and 360 volunteer hours as an EMT in Europe
- 1,200 research hours with 2 publications and 3 papers that will get published in the next year (1 being a first author paper)
- I have around 50 shadowing hours in orthopedic surgery, emergency medicine, and anesthesiology
- 440 hours of nonclinical volunteering (300 from founding a doctors without borders chapter at my undergrad and 150 tutoring English through my local library)
- 35 hours of student government advocating for better public health policies on campus
- I have 360 hours at an overnight camp with children with disabilities that is one of my most meaningful experiences that I can talk for hours about- really changed who I am as a person
- I was a TA for biology for 3 years and gained a leadership role in my school's TA department as a TA mentor
- I have 2 posters from undergrad research that we presented at 6 conferences
- A big portion of my application is being a first generation immigrant with my parents being from Europe and being an EMT in Europe and the US and being able to compare and use both backgrounds



My current school list is this and I am worried it is a little too top heavy so all help is appreciated! Are there any schools I am missing or should take off?

Harvard

Northwestern

Yale

Johns Hopkins

Duke

Stanford

Perelman

Uchicago

Mayo

NYU

Sinai

WashU

Weill Cornell

BU

Brown

Rochester

Albert Einstein

Hofstra

Upitt

case western

Emory

Quinnipiac

UMass

Tufts

UVM

Geisel

Rosalind Franklin

Rush

St Louis University

Georgetown

Penn State

Wake Forest

Uconn

Temple

Sidney Kimmel-Thomas Jefferson

Geisinger

Colorado

UIC

 

[Faha]

Rush expects far more non clinical volunteering hours than you have. You should receive interviews from the other schools on your list

 

[Messeduphips]

Rush expects far more non clinical volunteering hours than you have. You should receive interviews from the other schools on your list

Thank you for your input! I have had a hard time categorizing that summer camp I did. We were paid a weekly stipend for food over the weekend and it was very little money but since it is paid I haven't called it volunteering. Is that considered to be in a different category than non clinical volunteering? I would assume so?

 

[Faha]

Thank you for your input! I have had a hard time categorizing that summer camp I did. We were paid a weekly stipend for food over the weekend and it was very little money but since it is paid I haven't called it volunteering. Is that considered to be in a different category than non clinical volunteering? I would assume so?

It is a meaningful activity. It could be categorized as non clinical employment .

 

[Mr.Smile12]

440 hours of nonclinical volunteering (300 from founding a doctors without borders chapter at my undergrad and 150 tutoring English through my local library)
I have 360 hours at an overnight camp with children with disabilities that is one of my most meaningful experiences that I can talk for hours about- really changed who I am as a person

You should have some interest from some schools close to you in New England. That said, I don't consider founding a MSF chapter as non-clinical volunteering; it's leadership. 150 hours of tutoring English is tutoring. The overnight camp is not service orientation in the way food distribution, shelter volunteer, job/tax preparation, legal support, transportation services, or housing rehabilitation are. You must have 150 hours of service orientation or you may be screened out at schools where you have no mission fit. If you want to play with high-metrics applicants, you need 250 hours when you submit your application.

Your shadowing is in EM and two highly competitive specialties. You have a lot of EMT work, so I'm left wondering where other primary care exposure could be; I'm trying to connect with your epiphany with kids with disabilities. In short, where do these threads come together with your purpose as a physician?

 

[Messeduphips]

You should have some interest from some schools close to you in New England. That said, I don't consider founding a MSF chapter as non-clinical volunteering; it's leadership. 150 hours of tutoring English is tutoring. The overnight camp is not service orientation in the way food distribution, shelter volunteer, job/tax preparation, legal support, transportation services, or housing rehabilitation are. You must have 150 hours of service orientation or you may be screened out at schools where you have no mission fit. If you want to play with high-metrics applicants, you need 250 hours when you submit your application.

Your shadowing is in EM and two highly competitive specialties. You have a lot of EMT work, so I'm left wondering where other primary care exposure could be; I'm trying to connect with your epiphany with kids with disabilities. In short, where do these threads come together with your purpose as a physician?

Hi Mr. Smile!

Thank you so much for your questions, I've been trying to find someone to be blunt and honest about my application because I personally believe I'll be lucky if I get into a school this cycle.

I totally agree that founding the chapter is not non-clinical volunteering in itself. I think the reason I put it down as such is because what we did for events (host build your own first aid kits, host mapathons where we identify roads and buildings in remote areas on satellite imaging so that google maps can incorporate it into their program, create relationships with immigrant services in the area and our community service center on campus, and then some fundraising as well). I can totally see this not necessarily being volunteering but I wasn't sure how else to categorize it.

As for the shadowing, anesthesia was part of my EMT training in Europe where we learn to set IVs and ventilate patients. My primary exposure would be from 40+ hours of formally shadowing a primary care PA as part of the undergraduate program I was in. While I was there the PA worked very closely with the doctor but I didn't count this as officially I was with the PA.

The one thread I am aiming to create throughout my application is learning to build bridges and connect with a diverse set of patients. From the camp, to working in Europe, and working in city-setting EMS, I think that I have been able to create connections that were previously missing. Growing up with immigrant parents taught me that cultures can exist in a community but then be vastly different at home and I think its important to be cognizant of that.

Please let me know what other comments you have!

 

[LunaOri]

I’d be okay with your camp experience instead of non-clinical volunteering—it is helping an under-resourced group of people.