WAMC/School List Help (4.0/524/ORM)

[Upstairs_Syllabus781]

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1. GPA: 4.0 (Science major)
2. MCAT: 524 (132/129/131/132)
3. State of Residence: FL, but ties to TX that allow me to apply as an in-state resident(Father lives in Houston)
4. Gap Years?: 1
5. Ethnicity/and or Race: ORM, White male
6. Undergraduate institution or category: T5 Public University (T30 nationally)
7. Clinical experience: 200 hours clinical volunteering(hospital and international aid trip), 500 hours ED Scribe(300 projected)
8. Research experience and productivity: 700 hours in nanomedicine lab(2.5 years, 2 posters, 1 manuscript which will be published during cycle), Year-long University Research program that included a stipend and a poster presentation
9. Shadowing experience and specialties represented: 60 hours (2 orthopedic surgeons, observed in clinic and OR, 30 hrs projected), odd I know, but it's what I could find, 40 hours virtual shadowing
10. Non-clinical volunteering: 150 hours (church volunteering including food drive)
11. Other extracurricular activities: 250 hrs, Leadership position in service club(unsure of whether I should put as Leadership or non-clinical volunteering since my hours are low), 300 hrs Science TA(MME) (3 years, 2 LOR from those professors, strong teaching emphasis on app), 50 hrs MCAT Tutor (500 projected over gap year, aligns with teaching mission), 500 projected hrs English Tutor in Spain (8 months over gap year living in Spain, learning Spanish, aligns with teaching mission)
12. Relevant honors or awards: Listed university research program as an award because of stipend, not able to fit Dean's List and President's Honor Roll
13. Anything else not listed you think might be important: 700 hrs non-medical/paid employment working in restaurants during COVID to help support family (I know it's not medical related, but it was formative for me and can definitely talk about it on adversity secondaries), 500 hrs Ultimate frisbee Hobby w/ captaining league and intramural teams(not super important, but I think it adds personality to the app)
14. Self-evaluation: Broad range of experiences with strong, interesting research and a teaching focus. Adequate clinical experience, but low volunteering hours which might hold me back.
15. Why medicine?: Have developed a love of health education, especially in low-income communities. Invested in preventative medicine and helping patients take control of their own health through instruction and guidance.

School List Disclaimer: Want to keep my school list around 20 to not overload myself on secondaries. Don't want to overload w/ T10s because the chances are just so low, especially with my volunteering hours. That being said, please let me know what you think about the T20s I have included. Don't want to add UPenn or WashU due to the culture problems I've heard about. Duke's secondary is too long, but still might add it. Don't want to go super far out West. Don't want to apply FIU because of the culture. Prefer cheap schools/schools that give a lot of aid.

Reaches:
1. Vanderbilt
2. Cornell
3. Yale
4. Mayo
5. UPitt
6. Mount Sinai
7. Baylor (through TMDSAS)
Considering adding Duke, NYU Grossman, Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, UVA, but again, want to keep school list small. Let me know what you think.
Targets(AMCAS):
1. UF
2. USF Morsani
3. UCF
4. Miami
5. FAU
6. FSU
7. Emory
8. Albert Einstein
9. University of Colorado (PS connects to CO)
10. Brown
11. Case Western
Targets(TMDSAS):
1. UT Southwestern
2. UT San Antonio Long
3. UT Austin Dell
4. UTMB
5. McGovern

Let me know if you think I should add/delete anything. Remember I want to keep it under 25 schools. Really looking for advice on mission fit with some of the higher-tier schools. Have already taken CASPer, don't know quartile score yet(I would estimate 3rd quartile). Think I could be yield protected at FSU and FAU, but the secondaries are cheap so still going to apply. Any advice is appreciated!

 

[Master of Cloak]

I don’t think FAU would yield protect you. I had a 4.0/520 and one of my friends had a 4.0/526 and both of us got II’s.

 

[Upstairs_Syllabus781]

I don’t think FAU would yield protect you. I had a 4.0/520 and one of my friends had a 4.0/526 and both of us got II’s.

Good to know!

 

[deleted1163682]

Anything else not listed you think might be important: 700 hrs non-medical/paid employment working in restaurants during COVID to help support family (I know it's not medical related, but it was formative for me and can definitely talk about it on adversity secondaries), 500 hrs Ultimate frisbee Hobby w/ captaining league and intramural teams(not super important, but I think it adds personality to the app

Are you low SES? Lots of Ivy+ ask for employment during school to recruit a diverse socioeconomic class and to contextualize the experiences of those individuals.

Regardless, add WashU to your list, as an interview at least there is very probable.

 

[Upstairs_Syllabus781]

Are you low SES? Lots of Ivy+ ask for employment during school to recruit a diverse socioeconomic class and to contextualize the experiences of those individuals.

Regardless, add WashU to your list, as an interview at least there is very probable.

Not low SES, but my father lost his job during COVID and was unemployed for 9 months(hence why he lives in TX). I have heard the WashU culture is very gunner/toxic which is not what I want from my med school. I know they like high stats, but I care about student wellness and quality of life highly.

 

[thr1932359]

Not low SES, but my father lost his job during COVID and was unemployed for 9 months(hence why he lives in TX). I have heard the WashU culture is very gunner/toxic which is not what I want from my med school. I know they like high stats, but I care about student wellness and quality of life highly.

If it helps at all, it seems like the culture has shifted significantly at the school ever since the introduction of the Gateway curriculum where preclinical and clinical are functionally P/F. AOA is also no longer a thing. I went to WashU for undergrad and the med students I’ve talked to (affiliated with admissions or otherwise) seem to be pretty happy

I wouldn’t be surprised if what you said were true in the legacy curriculum, however.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Think I could be yield protected at FSU and FAU

Schools should not use yield protection on in-state applications. Mission fit is very important though.

I will look more closely at your activities, but you need to know what your purpose is to be a physician. Also just 150 community service hours can avoid elimination due to to few hours, but what you have doesn't measure up to how great your metrics are to have a stronger shot for an II. What did you do, and break down the 150 hours?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Why medicine?: Have developed a love of health education, especially in low-income communities

Where did you do this? I would like evidence of this growth since I must be missing this...

 

[theoceanman]

Your 150 hours of church volunteering may or may not pass as community service, which deters you in admissions from the population you want to serve as a physician.

Your community service should clearly reflect the group people you want to serve and work towards. This is where Food Bank, Salvation Army, and other local community service opportunities play a huge role, as they can fulfill the gap between the group of individuals you want to serve versus just a generalized demographic.

Albeit I’ve seen people admitted to their state schools with little community service, I believe many of these T20’s may filter or screen you out before it even reaches an actual admissions member. This is not guaranteed of course, but you still run this risk

 

[Upstairs_Syllabus781]

If it helps at all, it seems like the culture has shifted significantly at the school ever since the introduction of the Gateway curriculum where preclinical and clinical are functionally P/F. AOA is also no longer a thing. I went to WashU for undergrad and the med students I’ve talked to (affiliated with admissions or otherwise) seem to be pretty happy

I wouldn’t be surprised if what you said were true in the legacy curriculum, however.

Thanks for bringing this up, I was unaware they had changed their curriculum. I definitely want a P/F curriculum. I'll consider applying to it.

 

[Upstairs_Syllabus781]

Your 150 hours of church volunteering may or may not pass as community service, which deters you in admissions from the population you want to serve as a physician.

Your community service should clearly reflect the group people you want to serve and work towards. This is where Food Bank, Salvation Army, and other local community service opportunities play a huge role, as they can fulfill the gap between the group of individuals you want to serve versus just a generalized demographic.

Albeit I’ve seen people admitted to their state schools with little community service, I believe many of these T20’s may filter or screen you out before it even reaches an actual admissions member. This is not guaranteed of course, but you still run this risk

I worked with local community service organizations through my service club. That's why I was conflicted over listing that as Leadership or Community Service. If you think it would be better suited to Community Service because it could add 250 hours to that category, let me know.

 

[chilly_md]

If you want to keep it at 25 or under, just use the 23 you have come up with already. You can add UVA and WUSTL to top it off.

 

[theoceanman]

I worked with local community service organizations through my service club. That's why I was conflicted over listing that as Leadership or Community Service. If you think it would be better suited to Community Service because it could add 250 hours to that category, let me know.

Community service would be better but I would have to rely on other posters on this thread as well. I believe fulfilling service is more important than leadership in the overall scope but I am uncertain.

 

[Upstairs_Syllabus781]

Community service would be better but I would have to rely on other posters on this thread as well. I believe fulfilling service is more important than leadership in the overall scope but I am uncertain.

I think I will list it as community service and make sure to mention I held the leadership position in the description. I will change the description to be more representative of the service I did through the club too.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I worked with local community service organizations through my service club. That's why I was conflicted over listing that as Leadership or Community Service. If you think it would be better suited to Community Service because it could add 250 hours to that category, let me know.

What exactly did you do? Break down the hours. If you were organizing such events for your student club, it's more leadership. If you spent all of those hours face-to-face in community with those experiencing distress, it could be community service.

One thing many of us also advise: get off of campus with your community service whenever you can.

 

[gekyumewrld]

Are you low SES? Lots of Ivy+ ask for employment during school to recruit a diverse socioeconomic class and to contextualize the experiences of those individuals.

Regardless, add WashU to your list, as an interview at least there is very probable.

Sorry to hijack the thread, but I am a low SES (EO2) ORM applicant and was wondering how much this can affect the admissions decision. Most of the information I've seen online and heard from people in person points to being economically disadvantaged as not that significant of a factor. Are EO1/EO2 applicants considered as diversity/put in a different pile? I know this may be dependent on each school/adcom committee and contingent upon fulfilling other requirements, but I'm hoping that this is something that can put me over the hump, especially since a lot of my experiences/essays speak upon my disadvantaged upbringing. Thanks in advance!

 

[deleted1163682]

Sorry to hijack the thread, but I am a low SES (EO2) ORM applicant and was wondering how much this can affect the admissions decision. Most of the information I've seen online and heard from people in person points to being economically disadvantaged as not that significant of a factor. Are EO1/EO2 applicants considered as diversity/put in a different pile? I know this may be dependent on each school/adcom committee and contingent upon fulfilling other requirements, but I'm hoping that this is something that can put me over the hump, especially since a lot of my experiences/essays speak upon my disadvantaged upbringing. Thanks in advance!

I believe low SES is put in the same pile as the other disadvantaged applicants. It really makes no sense not to... it's a legitimate challenge that you have to deal with and therefore disadvantaged you in the process. Especially if you can tie your service, research, etc. to helping out low SES communities it would be a great plus to your application.