WAMC & school list help (526/3.97)

[axc37]

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Hi! I'm preparing to apply this upcoming cycle and am hoping for some feedback/suggestions on my school list - I'm worried that it's too top-heavy, but I've also heard horror stories about yield protection for high-stat applicants. For reference, I'm particularly interested in going into Emergency Medicine and also super passionate about addiction medicine. If possible, I'd love to move closer to home (from CA but currently on the East Coast). Thank you in advance for your advice!

Stats:
MCAT: 526 (132/130/132/132)
GPA: 3.97 (BCPM: ~3.95)
Undergrad: T10 Neuroscience major, Chem minor
State of residence: CA
Demographic: ORM/female

Clinical experience:

• 800ish hours as EMT-B at rural fire department
• 730 hours providing event medicine services as assistant director and head field training officer of college EMS squad
• 50 hours administering flu vaccines for health system employees

Research experience:

• 240 hours in PTSD neuroimaging lab
• 180 hours doing independent study in neurotoxicology lab
• 520 hours in HIV & addiction research program
  • 1x 5th author publication in low-impact journal
  • Several posters at small conferences

Shadowing:

• Currently ~54 hours split between primary care (30) and specialties (EM, OB/Gyn, Addiction Medicine); aiming to have 80ish hours by end of May

Non-clinical volunteering:

• 180 hours distributing gender-affirming resources/clothing as front desk volunteer at local LGBTQ center
• 130 hours delivering free produce/groceries to local households

Other extracurricular activities:

• Operations intern and equipment maintenance volunteer for free clinic nonprofit Remote Area Medical (600 hours) **not sure whether to include this as clinical or non-clinical volunteering because I don't actually work with patients here
• Biochemistry peer tutor (120 hours)
• Freshman orientation backpacking trip leader (170 hours)
• Intramural climbing team captain (150 hours)
• Took a gap year before college (510 hours doing BME/neuro research, 1045 hours working as EMT for BLS company back home, 2 months as deckhand on sailboat in the Caribbean)

Relevant honors/awards:

• Only school-specific awards (fellowship for diversity in STEM, career center internship funding grant, gap year program scholarship, research fellowship for science ethics)

Tentative school list:

1. UPenn
2. Wash U St. Louis
3. Yale
4. Harvard
5. Johns Hopkins
6. Uchicago
7. Duke
8. Stanford
9. UCSF
10. NYU
11. CU Anschutz
12. Mayo Clinic
13. Vanderbilt
14. Mt. Sinai
15. Weill Cornell
16. Kaiser Permanente
17. UC San Diego
18. UCLA
19. UNC
20. UVA
21. USC Keck
22. Wayne State
23. UC Irvine
24. UC Davis
25. Thomas Jefferson
26. George Washington
27. Temple Lewis Katz

 

[Faha]

Wayne State and Temple will "yield protect" with your stats. You could add Hofstra, Boston University, Pittsburgh, Northwestern, USF Morsani.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I also will have you think about being very selective. Why should a school want you as a medical student and future alumnus/faculty member? You could do EM at any school in the country, so why these schools? Is it just stats?

Addiction medicine, check out

Medical Residents, Fellows, and Students

Medical Residents, Fellows, and Students

www.asam.org

American College of Academic Addiction Medicine

www.acaam.org

I'm a little surprised you aren't in a position to advocate more regarding substance use disorders and resources. Maybe as a counselor at the LGBTQ+ center you work with (unless that is part of your role)?

 

[axc37]

I also will have you think about being very selective. Why should a school want you as a medical student and future alumnus/faculty member? You could do EM at any school in the country, so why these schools? Is it just stats?

Addiction medicine, check out

Medical Residents, Fellows, and Students

Medical Residents, Fellows, and Students

www.asam.org

American College of Academic Addiction Medicine

www.acaam.org

I'm a little surprised you aren't in a position to advocate more regarding substance use disorders and resources. Maybe as a counselor at the LGBTQ+ center you work with (unless that is part of your role)?

Thank you for the guidance! I tended to gravitate towards schools with strong service involvement, street medicine or similar outreach programs, and locations in relatively urban areas with diverse populations.

I wish I'd gotten more involved in substance use advocacy, but it was challenging to find the infrastructure for that in the state I'm in - the best I've gotten is some addiction medicine research, shadowing an addiction medicine physician, and providing some harm reduction resources at the LGBTQ center. I'm debating whether to emphasize this in my application, but maybe better not to given that I have not done a lot to demonstrate my commitment to it. Let me know if you have any thoughts!