WAMC + School List Help (518/4.00)

[bglennon]

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Hello, I was hoping anyone could help me refine the school list I currently have as a framework for this upcoming cycle. Besides my instate schools I'm very lost where else I would be competitive and a good fit. I have outlined my stats and activities below as well as preliminary school list. If anyone had any ideas of specific schools I should consider, or ones I should take off, I would greatly appreciate it!!

cGPA and sGPA: 4.0, 4.0.

MCAT: 518 (130/126/130/132)
State of residence: Arizona
Ethnicity: White
Undergraduate institution: Arizona State University

Clinical experience (volunteer and non-volunteer): (Total: 635)
Children’s hospital ENT scribe (11/25 - Present) ~ 200 hrs projected.
Children's Hospital (same) volunteer (06/24 - Present) ~ 300 hrs projected
Dermatology Clinic Intern (08/25 - 12/25) ~ 135 hrs
Hospice Volunteer (Starting 01/06 while I shadow physician there) ~Unown projected \

Research experience and productivity: (Total ~600 hrs)
2nd Author Publication: Biophysical paper investigating mechanistic basis of 2-AP quenching in various biological buffers. Using TCSPC analysis.

Honours Thesis: Honours College thesis focusing on optimization of cyclobutane dimer formation in dsDNA to study sequence dependence of T4-PDG enzyme as well as work investigating ssDNA structures at different salt/temperatures using quantum yields.
Upcoming work on quenching of 2AP incorporated in ssDNA using TCSPC lifetimes.

Shadowing (Projected 60+ hrs)
IM physician (01/24) ~ 20 hrs
Primary care physician (hospice) (01/26) ~ 30 hrs projected
Still planning to shadow one more for at least 60+ hours.


Non-clinical volunteering: (Total: 275 hrs)
Co founder of Youth Outreach club (08/24 - Present) ~ 150 hrs:
Co-founded youth outreach club Lab & Loom. We aim to bring fun science exposure to kids in foster care through activities and experiments. Currently working primarily with two foster homes in my community and volunteering mostly as a tutor right at one of them. Other co-founder oversee other home more so due to location.

Co-founder of End Overdose Chapter (08/25 - Present) ~ 100 hrs:
Co-founded chapter of End Overdose at campus for outreach to community through proving interventive and preventive measures to combat opioid overdose deaths. Strong tie to my PS in which my sister ended up on the street and in police custody for a short time during a psychotic episode.

Stray cat and kitten shelter (11/25 - Present) ~ 25 hrs:

Other extracurricular activities (Total 100 hrs):
Americorps funded Social Network of Caregivers Study (01/25 - 05/25) ~ 50 hrs:
Interviewed caregivers in my community about their personal struggles caring for someone (often loved ones) with neurodegenerative conditions. Completed and scheduled individuals for greater study at Edson College of Nursing, ASU. Registered as Americoprs member, but a stop order was put to this project abruptly due to federal cuts.

Honours College Peer Mentor (08/24 - 12/24) ~ 50 hrs:

Relevant honors or awards: Volunteer excellence award from the hospital I volunteer at.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Addiction and substance abuse are topics that every medical school should be adopting, so you should do homework about how each school manages this topic as a public health issue and of relevance to primary and emergency care.

Given that information, do you have any reason to go outside of Arizona? Your regional choices aren't bad ones to consider except for the IS/OOS balance. If addiction medicine is where you want to gain specific insights, look for the schools associated with addiction medicine fellowships. I repeat, this topic is a national problem so it doesn't really matter where you go. (Colorado has some serious challenges and resources.)

Do you want to find opportunities with institutional/carceral care? Street medicine?

I would like to see 100+ more non-clinical (not teaching/tutoring/mentoring) hours just to make sure you have a solid foundation of credibility if this is going to be the platform you wish to stand on as a future physician... just to make schools want you more. The End Overdose chapter is still only a few months old, so when you apply it will be closer to a year by the time you hopefully interview. Right now, your hours tell me you need to show more community outreach that isn't science- or health-based.

 

[LeaveNoTrace]

Build up EC hours; you check the boxes and are pack fodder at most if not all schools.