WAMC&School list help: International student, low clinical

[plzletmeinnn]

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Hey everyone! First time applicant here and hoping to get advice on the school list. I know I have limited experiences and maybe it’s better to wait for next cycle, but I really don't want to do gap year. I mostly want to do a MD/PhD, but honestly I’d be happy with any of MD/PhD, or MD, or DO in the US.


GPA: 4.0

MCAT 518 (CARS127)

International student, ORM, no US green card, no US citizenship, no Canada citizenship, have Canada PR

Canada undergrad

Shadowing + volunteering dermatology clinic: 50h, in the same clinic. Also started this activity late (started last month)

Clinical: mental-health related (so not really “smelling” patients, but I do interact with them) 100h

Research: ~4000h, two publications (first author and co-first author. But impact factor not very high). Another paper planning on submitting this September

Other activities: promotion for healthcare organization (30h), ESL volunteer instructor (50h), tutor for underserved students (100h), peer mentor & orientation executive (350h), club executive (300h)

AMCAS: submitted late (submitted mid-July I know. But my reference letters are almost ready/received, and should be able to have materials ready for review by August)



My school list:

MD/PhD:
Wash U
Vanderbilt
Emory
Northwestern
Boston University
University of Virginia
Jefferson
SUNY Upstate
Dartmouth
VCU
Maryland
Mount Sinai


MD:
UCLA
Case Western
Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine


DO:
MSU
WesternU / COMP
UNECOM
KCUMB
Rowan



I wonder if anyone can provide any insights on my school list, any schools I should add? Am I aiming too high/low?

I feel like I'm in a awkward position - I have limited options as a international student, I don’t know if it’s even worth applying to top schools because I surly can’t get in, and I’m not sure if the “low-ranking” schools would want to see more community service.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Also it's my first time using this forum, sorry if I did anything wrong🙂

 

[tired_old_crow]

MD/PhD programs generally care less about volunteering hours, so you should be fine (if at the bare minimum). IDK how the DO programs will view it. I believe you can add USC, Brown, and Stony Brook to your MD/PhD list.

 

[plzletmeinnn]

MD/PhD programs generally care less about volunteering hours, so you should be fine (if at the bare minimum). IDK how the DO programs will view it. I believe you can add USC, Brown, and Stony Brook to your MD/PhD list.

Thank you! Also do you think I'm aiming too high/low with my school list? Should I add more higher ranking or lower ranking ones?

 

[ddhopeful]

Don’t waste time and money applying to DO. I highly doubt any DO will accept you, your stats are too high. You should add Wayne State, they seem to accept a decent number of Canadian applicants.

 

[tired_old_crow]

Thank you! Also do you think I'm aiming too high/low with my school list? Should I add more higher ranking or lower ranking ones?

A 518 is good enough that it probably shouldn't get you filtered anywhere. For your career, ranking matters less so than the research and mentorship you get, so yes add more of both programs (so long as you actually want to go to them). Advisors at my university flatly tell international students not to apply to medical school because your odds are generally lower, so try to hit at least 20 programs. I'm rooting for you.

Re-reading your post I do have two questions. 1) Is you're mental health related clinical volunteering a hotline or something? I'm not disparaging it, but I've read mixed opinions on whether something like Crisis Text Line is clinical. Maybe you don't need to smell them, but it is important that the people you are interacting with are really "patients". 2) To clarify you said you submitted AMCAS but that you're not ready for review? As in missing transcripts? Ready for review in August sounds a bit late, but maybe I'm just paranoid.

 

[plzletmeinnn]

Don’t waste time and money applying to DO. I highly doubt any DO will accept you, your stats are too high. You should add Wayne State, they seem to accept a decent number of Canadian applicants.

oh so you mean i'm overqualified for DO? That's horrible cuz I would be fine with DO if they let me in lol. Would omitting some of my research experiences increase my chances at DO...?

 

[ddhopeful]

oh so you mean i'm overqualified for DO? That's horrible cuz I would be fine with DO if they let me in lol. Would omitting some of my research experiences increase my chances at DO...?

Your chances are better if you applied to the DO-PhD at MSU although you should have a good chance even at the MD-PhD

 

[plzletmeinnn]

A 518 is good enough that it probably shouldn't get you filtered anywhere. For your career, ranking matters less so than the research and mentorship you get, so yes add more of both programs (so long as you actually want to go to them). Advisors at my university flatly tell international students not to apply to medical school because your odds are generally lower, so try to hit at least 20 programs. I'm rooting for you.

Re-reading your post I do have two questions. 1) Is you're mental health related clinical volunteering a hotline or something? I'm not disparaging it, but I've read mixed opinions on whether something like Crisis Text Line is clinical. Maybe you don't need to smell them, but it is important that the people you are interacting with are really "patients". 2) To clarify you said you submitted AMCAS but that you're not ready for review? As in missing transcripts? Ready for review in August sounds a bit late, but maybe I'm just paranoid.

I see, thanks!
For the questions:
1) I did various tasks, including help supporting patients who had meetings with mental health therapists. So I guess I wasn't involved in the therapy meetings when the mental health professional sees the patient/client, but I helped follow up/continue supporting the patient afterwards. Would that be considered clinical?
2) By ready for review I mean all materials reach the admission commitee, not for AMCAS. My primary is waiting for verification by AMCAS right now (transcript received by AMCAS). I hope that's not too late..?

 

[tired_old_crow]

I see, thanks!
For the questions:
1) I did various tasks, including help supporting patients who had meetings with mental health therapists. So I guess I wasn't involved in the therapy meetings when the mental health professional sees the patient/client, but I helped follow up/continue supporting the patient afterwards. Would that be considered clinical?
2) By ready for review I mean all materials reach the admission commitee, not for AMCAS. My primary is waiting for verification by AMCAS right now (transcript received by AMCAS). I hope that's not too late..?

1) I think most people would consider that clinical. I just wanted to clarify the work when you said you couldn't smell them.
2) 'Ready for review' typically refers to when you enter queue for amcas verification so I was a bit confused. Having letters in and secondaries completed during August is almost certainly fine. By late I was thinking September.