WAMC School List Help (523/3.53)

[22apli]

What schools do I have a chance at? How much would my new MCAT help considering my first 2 MCATs expired? Would my master's GPA and MCAT make up for my undergraduate GPA? Is it worth it to shoot my shot at T20s?

I completed my undergrad in Physiology and Computer Science. I took an extra year to complete an independent research project where I conducted research on children in rural areas of a low-income African country. I then completed a master's in Biomedical engineering.

My application/PS is focused on underserved/disadvantaged populations. I grew up SES disadvantaged as a first-generation immigrant to refugee parents, I talk about this in my PS. I later formed a non-profit which helps refugees. I aim to combine my biomedical engineering and computer science background to help patients as a physician and talk about this in my application.

All hours are completed hours by the time of application, not including projected hrs.

1. cGPA and sGPA:
   
   cGPA: 3.53 (3.71/3.39/3.58/3.74/3.32)
   sGPA: 3.47 (3.71/3.08/3.40/3.80/3.29)
   Graduate GPA: 4.00 (Biomed Engineering Masters)
   
   I failed a class during my last semester of undergrad due to experiencing severe medical symptoms during the final exam. I retook the course the following semester and received an A.
   
   
2. MCAT score(s) and breakdown:
   
   1st - 502 (127/124/127/124) taken in 2020
   2nd - 509 (129/125/127/128) taken in 2021
   3rd - 523 (132/128/132/131) taken in 2025
   
   
3. State of residence or country of citizenship (if non-US):
   
   US citizen but no state residency- completed undergrad in Canada as I am a dual citizen
   
   
4. Ethnicity and/or race: White
   
   
5. Undergraduate institution or category: Canadian College
   
   
6. Clinical experience (volunteer and non-volunteer):
   
   - 2000 hours as a CRA for 4 years; marked as clinical since I have more research hrs, this position was a mix of both paid and volunteer work, idk if that makes a difference
   - 300 hours as a cancer clinic volunteer for 4 years
   
   
7. Research experience and productivity:
   
   - 120 hours as an Assistant Research Coordinator in a wet lab for 1 summer
   - 1400 hours as a Research Assistant in a psych lab working with refugees for 5 years; completed an independent research project with this lab as well
   
   13 poster presentations, 4 as a first author with 1 oral presentation
   6 journal publications in mid-impact journals
   
   
8. Shadowing experience and specialties represented:
   
   - 40 hours of virtual shadowing
   - 30 hours shadowing an internal medicine doctor abroad
   - 12 hours shadowing a nephrologist
   - 20 hours shadowing a family doctor
   
   
9. Non-clinical volunteering:
   
   - 80 hours; developed a chronic disease symptoms management toolkit for patients and healthcare providers
   - 800 hours; founded a non-profit helping refugees
   
   
10. Other extracurricular activities (including athletics, military service, gap year activities, leadership, teaching, etc):
    
    - 210 hours as a College Mentor for 3 years
    - 70 hours as Director of Mentorship at Ski Club for 1 year
    - 156 hours as an Orientation Leader and Program Executive
    - 30 hours in my college's academic complaints and resolutions office
    
    Soccer hobby
    
    
11. Paid Employment:
    
    - 250 hours as a statistics teaching assistant
    - 700 hours as a physics tutor for 6 years
    - 1570 hours as a Customer Service and Sales Representative for about 5 years
    - 30 hours as a soccer instructor for 1 summer
    
    
12. Relevant honours or awards:
    
    - Dean's list (x4)
    - College scholarship for getting a 3.7+ GPA in first year
    - Research grant during my masters
    
    
13. LORs:
    
    - 3 from PIs (one is an MD/PhD), 2 of these are very strong
    - 2 science professors, likely average/generic LORs
    - 2 non-science professors, 1 is very strong

Please don't quote this thread

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[Mr.Smile12]

Where did you attend graduate school? Was it also in Canada? Where were your clinical experiences and shadowing? Non-clinical experiences? A chronology of when you were a CRA? vs. completing your master's degree will help.

You don't seem to have service orientation activities. You have a non-profit helping refugees, but it would fit better under leadership given that you are helping people who experienced similar life challenges to your own/your family's. I don't have any details to give you any credit aside from leadership. Furthermore, I don't know if you are helping them live in the US or Canada.

That said 2000 hours as a clinical research associate isn't quite the same as 2000 hours working as a medical assistant. It's a different relationship with patients/subjects, so I'd like more information. So I wonder if what you have is satisfactory for adcom faculty.

 

[22apli]

Where did you attend graduate school? Was it also in Canada? Where were your clinical experiences and shadowing? Non-clinical experiences? A chronology of when you were a CRA? vs. completing your master's degree will help.

You don't seem to have service orientation activities. You have a non-profit helping refugees, but it would fit better under leadership given that you are helping people who experienced similar life challenges to your own/your family's. I don't have any details to give you any credit aside from leadership. Furthermore, I don't know if you are helping them live in the US or Canada.

That said 2000 hours as a clinical research associate isn't quite the same as 2000 hours working as a medical assistant. It's a different relationship with patients/subjects, so I'd like more information. So I wonder if what you have is satisfactory for adcom faculty.

I attended graduate school in Canada at the same college as my undergrad. My clinical experiences and shadowing were almost all in Canada. My non-clinical experiences aside from my customer service employment were all in Canada as well. I first started working as a CRA around 2021 during undergrad and continued doing this into my master’s. My nonprofit is based in Canada and is aimed at helping refugees in Canada. I would be more than happy to clarify any additional details and would greatly appreciate your feedback.

 

[Faha]

I suggest these schools with your stats:
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Tufts
UMass
Albany
New York Medical College
Rochester
Hofstra
Hackensack
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Penn State
Pittsburgh
George Washington
Georgetown
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
Wake Forest
NOVA MD
USF Morsani
Miami
Belmont
Tulane
TCU
St. Louis
Rosalind Franklin
Medical College Wisconsin
Western Michigan
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
Iowa
Colorado
You are not competitive for "top 20" schools with a GPA of 3.53 .

 

[22apli]

I suggest these schools with your stats:
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Tufts
UMass
Albany
New York Medical College
Rochester
Hofstra
Hackensack
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Penn State
Pittsburgh
George Washington
Georgetown
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
Wake Forest
NOVA MD
USF Morsani
Miami
Belmont
Tulane
TCU
St. Louis
Rosalind Franklin
Medical College Wisconsin
Western Michigan
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
Iowa
Colorado
You are not competitive for "top 20" schools with a GPA of 3.53 .

Thank you so much for the school list. Do you think I can complete a semester or 2 of postbac studies or a SMP to make up for the 3.53 and apply to more schools?

 

[wysdoc]

Thank you so much for the school list. Do you think I can complete a semester or 2 of postbac studies or a SMP to make up for the 3.53 and apply to more schools?

Look at all the great schools you can apply to with your current GPA!
Don't stress about trying to bring your GPA up a fraction. Even if you got all A's they won't be averaged together with your undergrad GPA.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

A 3.53 GPA is fine. I would look at your biomedical science courses (not your engineering courses), which I presume would be a relatively higher GPA. Regardless, look at the schools that value your engineering background and your interest in helping refugees. The challenge I'm having is the fact most of your clinical exposure is in Canada or perhaps other non-US countries. There is so much to understand with the US healthcare system that is different from Canada's, but there's not as much time to go over it in US medical schools. It's important to find schools that have taken internationals, even if you have US citizenship. Reach out to schools on your list to find a current student who can speak to you about common challenges as a dual/international-raised candidate. Also look up the Student Advisory Board - Projects and cross-reference with your list.

 

[22apli]

A 3.53 GPA is fine. I would look at your biomedical science courses (not your engineering courses), which I presume would be a relatively higher GPA. Regardless, look at the schools that value your engineering background and your interest in helping refugees. The challenge I'm having is the fact most of your clinical exposure is in Canada or perhaps other non-US countries. There is so much to understand with the US healthcare system that is different from Canada's, but there's not as much time to go over it in US medical schools. It's important to find schools that have taken internationals, even if you have US citizenship. Reach out to schools on your list to find a current student who can speak to you about common challenges as a dual/international-raised candidate. Also look up the Student Advisory Board - Projects and cross-reference with your list.

My biomedical science classes have been a 3.8+ (excluding the failed class which I retook and got an A) over my last 2 undergrad years and a 4.0 during my masters. Would it be safe to add more top schools given this and my MCAT?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

My biomedical science classes have been a 3.8+ (excluding the failed class which I retook and got an A) over my last 2 undergrad years and a 4.0 during my masters. Would it be safe to add more top schools given this and my MCAT?

Here's the problem of your path. You aren't doing a biomedical sciences special masters "med school bootcamp" program, so you don't have the benefit of dedicated advisor/faculty who have historical knowledge of how well their students do in the application process and in medical school. Since you took a master's in biomedical engineering, it's tougher for me to suggest adding more brand-name schools. Programs with faculty members who have appointments in both the medical school and the engineering school are likely to interpret your academic record better. Not all of the brand-name schools have this: Carle Illinois, WashU, Duke, Virginia, Michigan, CWRU, Baylor, Northwestern, Minnesota, UWashington, Stanford, Dell, and UCSD are some that come to mind, but that's not an encouragement (like UW wants applicants from the Pacific Northwest). I might have a different opinion if you were seriously going for MD/PhD, but your purpose doesn't sound like it wants to go down that road.