WAMC/School List Help: 514 MCAT, 3.93 GPA

[gardenofeden]

1. cGPA and sGPA as calculated by AMCAS or AACOMAS
   • cGPA: 3.93, sGPA: 3.89
2. MCAT score(s) and breakdown
   • 514 (129/129/128/128)
3. State of residence or country of citizenship (if non-US)
   • Illinois
4. Ethnicity and/or race
   • ORM
5. Undergraduate institution or category
   • top small liberal arts college
6. Clinical experience (volunteer and non-volunteer)
   • 155 hours working as a CNA
   • 500 hours volunteering helping patients facing barriers to healthcare establish with primary care, attend follow-up appointments, and enroll in Medicaid.
   • 40 hours volunteering with the Crisis Textline (projected 200 by the end of my gap year)
7. Research experience and productivity
   • 400 hours psych/neuro dry lab summer research. One third author publication and a another second author paper submitted that will probably not make it onto my application in time. Also created a poster presented at a neuroscience conference (although I did not present it so I am unsure how relevant this is)
   • 100 hours bench genetics/microbio research during the semester mostly to learn bench skills I missed out on due to the pandemic
   • 400 hours bench immunology summer research at University of Iowa. No publications but directly related to clinical diseases I have a strong interest in
   • 20 hours working in lab while abroad; communicated in Spanish during the entire experience (not sure if this is relevant given the low hours)
8. Shadowing experience and specialties represented
   • 65 hours total: 36 primary care (20 hours from rural primary care), and ophthalmology, endocrinology, and neurology
9. Non-clinical volunteering
   • 20 creating a lesson plan and teaching it to elementary school students (did not run for 2.5 years because of the pandemic
10. Other extracurricular activities (including athletics, military service, gap year activities, leadership, teaching, etc)
    • 500 hours working as a class mentor or tutor for biology/chemistry courses (LOR)
    • 500 hours in the university orchestra and music ensembles
    • 45 hours serving on leadership group for my major; liaison between professors and students, help with tenure review and hiring of professors
    • 40 hours teaching flute to a middle school student
    • Gap year prospective hours at this time: 2,000 hours in a translation research lab at a top medical school in Chicago, 200ish hours volunteering at a free clinic, 100 tutoring elementary school students in Chicago
11. Relevant honors or awards
    • Won an award for senior in my major for high academic excellence and service/involvement in the major
    • Won annual award/scholarship by audition for distinguished music abilities every year of college
12. Anything else not listed you think might be important
    • I will be taking one gap year
    • Family ties to NJ if that matters?
    • I would like to do research in medical school

I have too many schools on my list right now. I would prefer to keep it around 25. Please let me know if any of my reaches are impossible given my stats.

School List

1. University of Illinois
2. Loyola Stritch
3. Rosalind Franklin
4. Rush?
5. University of Iowa
6. Medical College of Wisconsin
7. Creighton
8. St Louis University
9. Temple University
10. University of Cincinnati School of Medicine (got into their SURF program but had to turn it down)
11. Vanderbilt
12. Northwestern
13. Case Western
14. Emory
15. Baylor
16. UCSF
17. Pittsburg
18. University of Vermont
19. University of Wisconsin
20. Ohio State
21. Indiana
22. Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson
23. Penn State
24. SUNY Downstate
25. Rochester
26. VCU
27. Wake Forest
28. Tufts
29. Kaiser

Schools I am unsure about given that I want to do research in medical school

1. Thomas Jefferson University
2. Oakland
3. Netter School of Medicine at Quinnipiac
4. Geisinger
5. Albany
6. Western Michigan
7. Stony Brook
8. EVMS

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[Faha]

You stats are good but you have no non clinical volunteering so that will limit your chances for interviews . Schools such as Loyola, Rush, St. Louis and Creighton are looking for applicants with hundreds of hours of non clinical volunteering. I suggest these schools with your stats and ECs
U Illinois
Rosalind Franklin
Indiana
Medical College Wisconsin
Western Michigan
Oakland Beaumont
NOVA MD
Wake Forest
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
George Washington
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Penn State
Hackensack
New York Medical College
Albany
Rochester
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Tufts
Belmont (when it opens)

 

[gardenofeden]

You stats are good but you have no non clinical volunteering so that will limit your chances for interviews . Schools such as Loyola, Rush, St. Louis and Creighton are looking for applicants with hundreds of hours of non clinical volunteering. I suggest these schools with your stats and ECs
U Illinois
Rosalind Franklin
Indiana
Medical College Wisconsin
Western Michigan
Oakland Beaumont
NOVA MD
Wake Forest
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
George Washington
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Penn State
Hackensack
New York Medical College
Albany
Rochester
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Tufts
Belmont (when it opens)

Thank you so much for your advice. I really appreciate it. I guess the question I have that I have been struggling with for a while is whether my experience of "500 hours volunteering helping patients facing barriers to healthcare establish with primary care, attend follow-up appointments, and enroll in Medicaid" is clinical or non-clinical. I worked with patients but I did not care for them medically.

I focused entirely on barriers to healthcare (helping them enroll in Medicaid, establish with primary care in community health clinics, set up free transportation, locate housing shelter, educate on local food banks, and apply for financial assistance). The majority of the experience was virtual/over the phone due to the pandemic with only the last 50 hours being in hospital. If anyone has any advice on this aspect of my application, I would really appreciate it!

 

[Faha]

Thank you so much for your advice. I really appreciate it. I guess the question I have that I have been struggling with for a while is whether my experience of "500 hours volunteering helping patients facing barriers to healthcare establish with primary care, attend follow-up appointments, and enroll in Medicaid" is clinical or non-clinical. I worked with patients but I did not care for them medically.

I focused entirely on barriers to healthcare (helping them enroll in Medicaid, establish with primary care in community health clinics, set up free transportation, locate housing shelter, educate on local food banks, and apply for financial assistance). The majority of the experience was virtual/over the phone due to the pandemic with only the last 50 hours being in hospital. If anyone has any advice on this aspect of my application, I would really appreciate it!

It appears to be non clinical volunteering.

 

[theoceanman]

I would get community service in as well, if you can, at least 150 hours to make your application stronger for medical schools. It wouldn't hurt you as much to not have it, but you should still do it to make you more mission-fit.

 

[gardenofeden]

Thank you for the recommendation. I volunteered in previous semesters of college through a food redistribution service through my campus, and I completely forgot about adding it to my application because it was only a couple of hours a week.

 

[theoceanman]

Thank you for the recommendation. I volunteered in previous semesters of college through a food redistribution service through my campus, and I completely forgot about adding it to my application because it was only a couple of hours a week.

I would add it, how many hours total was it?

 

[MEDSCHOOL 14]

Thomas Jefferson University

Jefferson has amazing research opportunities

 

[gardenofeden]

I would add it, how many hours total was it?

~50. I think I could get more before I submit my application.

 

[gardenofeden]

Jefferson has amazing research opportunities

I will definitely be applying!

 

[theoceanman]

~50. I think I could get more before I submit my application.

That would be great. You have a stellar overall application and should receive multiple II's. Best of luck!