WAMC + school list help? 3.92, 519, ORM

[repcod]

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I'm debating whether to even apply this cycle because I know how weak my application is. Should I try? Where should I try for? If I don't, how can I improve my application over the next year?

1. 3.92 cGPA, 3.85 sGPA (no upward trend, relatively consistent)
2. 519 MCAT (130 Bio, 131 Chem, 128 CARS, 130 Psych) - taken in June 2020, so if I don't apply this cycle I likely have to retake
3. PA resident
4. ORM (Indian male)
5. Undergrad: PA public school
6. Clinical volunteering: 120 hrs volunteering at local hospital over ~3 semesters
- Caveat: Would have been more but cut short by COVID, half of it was non-patient-facing because that was all they let volunteers do when we returned
7. Research:
- 60 hrs as a student researcher before cut short by COVID
- 2400+ hrs as a research technician in a lab focused on pulmonary fibrosis (full time 1 yr since graduating), strong LOR from a PI with >80 h-index
+ Listed as third and fourth author on two presented but not yet published abstracts
8. Shadowing: 210 hrs at a hospital in India over one summer
- 70 hrs sitting in on patient consultations
- 70 hrs in emergency department
- 70 hrs in internal medicine + radiology, observed laparoscopic surgeries
- Caveat: My grasp of the language is limited, so I often didn't understand things being said - especially during consultations, a lot was left untranslated
9. No non-clinical volunteering
10. Other activities:
- Peer tutor: 360 hrs over 2 yrs
- Teaching assistant: 130 hrs over 2 yrs
- Dental office secretary: 400 hrs over one summer
11. Relevant honors or awards:
- Dean's list 6 semesters

Very incomplete school list, though everything feels like a reach:
Vanderbilt
Mt Sinai
Duke
U of Virginia
Pitt
UT Southwestern at Dallas
Ohio State
UCSF
UCLA Geffen
U of Colorado
U of Maryland
UNC Chapel Hill

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Can I ask, what do you think are the deciding factors for you to submit or not submit an application?

 

[Faha]

Your lack on clinical exposure hours in this country will limit and no clinical volunteering will limit your chances for interviews.

 

[repcod]

Can I ask, what do you think are the deciding factors for you to submit or not submit an application?

Whether or not I have a reasonable chance of even getting to the interview stage, I suppose. More and more it really feels like I don't.

Your lack on clinical exposure hours in this country will limit and no clinical volunteering will limit your chances for interviews.

Thanks. That's kind of what I figured. Unfortunately, it's been near impossible for me to get more shadowing opportunities in the last two and a half years, which I suspect is a common problem. Would you suggest I take another year before applying then?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Whether or not I have a reasonable chance of even getting to the interview stage, I suppose. More and more it really feels like I don't.

Thanks. That's kind of what I figured. Unfortunately, it's been near impossible for me to get more shadowing opportunities in the last two and a half years, which I suspect is a common problem. Would you suggest I take another year before applying then?

Yes, the "no non-clinical volunteering" that would count towards community service towards underserved populations kills your chances at most medical schools, and I'm only saying "most" because I'm hedging that it is actually "all." I did see you disclosed 120 hours of hospital volunteering which I presume is in the US, as opposed to the 210 you did in India. Had the numbers been flipped, I would have given a small benefit of the doubt... but I would still likely want to see a bit more clinical exposure. (It also didn't help if you didn't actually understand what was going on with dialogue between physician and patient since I would want the most insight in that relationship.)

So it felt to me in the way you described your profile, you want to apply so you didn't have to retake the MCAT. It looks like our consensus advice is that you need another cycle to build your experience hours appropriately for a desirable application, and that would likely mean you have to take the MCAT again.

 

[ujsc]

Build nonclinical serve experience by volunteering in an ER, hospice or a shelter. You can quickly get hundreds of hours and fill in this gap.

 

[Faha]

Yes, you should apply a year from now. Accumulate 50 hours of physician shadowing (including primary care) in this country and another 100+ hours of clinical volunteering with patient contact. Also non clinical volunteering since you have none.

 

[repcod]

@Faha @Mr.Smile12 @ujsc Very sorry to bother you again, and thanks once more for the helpful advice. I am currently trying to explain what you said to my dad, but he's blockheaded and is still asking questions. First, I know that the lack of non-clinical volunteering is the big deficit in my application, but as far as clinical/physician shadowing goes, wouldn't COVID have also hindered most other pre-meds applying now - as in would medical schools take that into account? Second, if I try applying this cycle anyway and don't get in, would being a reapplicant next year hurt my chances at the schools I apply to a second time? And third, should I consider moving from my full-time research into something like medical scribing?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

1) While COVID-19 may have been an issue in the last two cycles, I expect the excuses on not having in-person clinical experience will fail to work now.

2) If you significantly improve your application, no problem.

 

[Faha]

Most other applicants have been able to find physician shadowing hours and clinical volunteering/employment during the previous 2 years even with the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

[ujsc]

It is an excuse to blame COVID for that especially when majority of candidates have hundreds of hours of both clinical and nonclinical. My advise remains the same.

 

[chilly_md]

Switching from research to a clinical job such as scribing would help with one of your biggest deficits.