Hello, I am applying to MD programs this upcoming cycle, and I would like some advice on my school list. I am deeply passionate about community care and envision myself working in community settings, and using my experiences to inform research and public health policy.
Biographical: CA resident Asian Female, FAP recipient (poverty level income), financially independent throughout undergrad
Stats: 3.67 cGPA, 3.55 sGPA (4.0 Post-bacc GPA, undergrad upward trend), 519 MCAT, UCLA Gender Studies Major, Asian American Studies Minor (2019 graduate)
Activities: Director of historical AAPI student organization, student board member for campus psychological services, mental health mentor, free mobile health clinic volunteer, COVID strike team CNA, campus resource center facilitator, spine surgery clinic scribe, community hotline responder, emergency department volunteer, 130 hours of shadowing with 9+ specialties, UCLA undergraduate research fellow (social sciences research, not published but did poster presentation), community caregiver for friends and mutual aid, multiple community engagement experiences (LA tenants union, organizer, congressional intern, community fridge burrito distribution during the pandemic, etc.), multiple awards for writing and community related activities
Personal statement: I discuss caring for my grandmother who recently passed from Stage 4 lung cancer and my experience caregiving for her for years, sparking my interest in medicine, and later delineate 3 separate interactions with people experiencing medical near-death emergencies on the streets (unhoused, elderly, POC) and emphasize my interest in public health and my visions for how care can extend beyond hospital walls.
LORs: 5 strong letters, 3 from science professors (received above 100% in the courses I took with them), 1 from a community organizing mentor who is a Harvard graduate lawyer (3 pages long), 1 from a Gender Studies professor and mentor (3 pages long)
Currently, I have 55 Allopathic medical schools on my list. I would like to cut this down to 40, but I need help. I am so appreciative to anyone who reads this and would be willing to take the time to provide guidance.
Current list:
Biographical: CA resident Asian Female, FAP recipient (poverty level income), financially independent throughout undergrad
Stats: 3.67 cGPA, 3.55 sGPA (4.0 Post-bacc GPA, undergrad upward trend), 519 MCAT, UCLA Gender Studies Major, Asian American Studies Minor (2019 graduate)
Activities: Director of historical AAPI student organization, student board member for campus psychological services, mental health mentor, free mobile health clinic volunteer, COVID strike team CNA, campus resource center facilitator, spine surgery clinic scribe, community hotline responder, emergency department volunteer, 130 hours of shadowing with 9+ specialties, UCLA undergraduate research fellow (social sciences research, not published but did poster presentation), community caregiver for friends and mutual aid, multiple community engagement experiences (LA tenants union, organizer, congressional intern, community fridge burrito distribution during the pandemic, etc.), multiple awards for writing and community related activities
Personal statement: I discuss caring for my grandmother who recently passed from Stage 4 lung cancer and my experience caregiving for her for years, sparking my interest in medicine, and later delineate 3 separate interactions with people experiencing medical near-death emergencies on the streets (unhoused, elderly, POC) and emphasize my interest in public health and my visions for how care can extend beyond hospital walls.
LORs: 5 strong letters, 3 from science professors (received above 100% in the courses I took with them), 1 from a community organizing mentor who is a Harvard graduate lawyer (3 pages long), 1 from a Gender Studies professor and mentor (3 pages long)
Currently, I have 55 Allopathic medical schools on my list. I would like to cut this down to 40, but I need help. I am so appreciative to anyone who reads this and would be willing to take the time to provide guidance.
Current list:
| University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine |
| Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California |
| University of California, Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine |
| Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine |
| University of California, San Diego School of Medicine |
| University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine |
| University of California, Davis, School of Medicine |
| University of California, Riverside School of Medicine |
| California University of Science and Medicine-School of Medicine |
| Charles R Drew University of Medicine and Science |
| Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania |
| Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons |
| Yale School of Medicine |
| University of Chicago Division of the Biological Sciences The Pritzker School of Medicine |
| Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine |
| Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine |
| Vanderbilt University School of Medicine |
| Mayo Clinic School of Medicine |
| Northwestern University The Feinberg School of Medicine |
| Duke University School of Medicine |
| Stanford University School of Medicine |
| Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine |
| Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell |
| University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine |
| Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai |
| Boston University School of Medicine |
| University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry |
| Albert Einstein College of Medicine |
| Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth |
| Tufts University School of Medicine |
| NYU Long Island School of Medicine |
| Stony Brook University School of Medicine |
| University of Massachusetts Medical School |
| Emory University School of Medicine |
| New York Medical College |
| University of Cincinnati College of Medicine |
| Rutgers New Jersey Medical School |
| Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University |
| University of Colorado School of Medicine |
| Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine |
| Georgetown University School of Medicine |
| University of Maryland School of Medicine |
| Cooper Medical School of Rowan University |
| State University of New York Downstate Medical Center College of Medicine |
| Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine |
| Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine & Science |
| University of Illinois College of Medicine |
| Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine |
| George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences |
| Drexel University College of Medicine |
| University of Vermont College of Medicine |
| Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University |
| Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine |
| Albany Medical College |
| Rush Medical College of Rush University Medical Center |
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