Hello all! This is my first time applying for medical school (2024-2025 cycle) and will be applying only allopathic ~25 schools. No Texas schools. Got a committee letter from my undergrad university - includes strong letters from both directors of my majors, letter from my hospice volunteer coordinator, letter from primatologist (love her she's so cool). Planning to get a separate letter from my boss (MD) later down the road. Please let me know what schools you guys would suggest I should apply to/offer any advice on what to do in my gap year. I plan to continue my hospice and senior home volunteering alongside my job + shadowing. I'm not really aiming for academic medicine and would like to serve the elderly population. Primary care isn't off the table but I would really like to do neurology. Surgery is awesome so I want to continue exploring that avenue. Any help will be greatly appreciated 🙂
cGPA: 3.94 sGPA: 3.90
MCAT: 515 (128/128/129/130)
GA resident
ORM: Asian F
T30 undergrad - Private - Neuroscience and Music double major
Work experience:
Internal medicine clinical research assistant: 120 hours (2000 hours projected); 1.5 years w/ projected time
I'm currently a recruiter who calls patients and go over their medical histories and figure out which study they would be best fit for - learning phlebotomy and have been shadowing coordinators during their visits - I got hired a little more than a month ago and there will be a lot of room to grow in the future...definitely going to try to count this as clinical experience since I care/enjoy working with the patients more
Clinical volunteering:
Hospice volunteer: 120 hours (200 more hours projected); 3 years w/ projected time
I got a lot of good experience giving companionship and respite care and including a story in my PS
Cancer center volunteer: 70 hour; 3 semesters
It was more at the front desk but it helped me realize how important patient interaction was so I'd call it a good time
Non-clinical volunteering:
Senior home volunteer: 60 hours (50 projected); 2 years w/ projected time
It's a senior home where some of the patients are in the hospice I work for...I expanded my work to help out with setting up events or getting the residents to walk/exercise; really nice community I work for since I get to meet the other residents/help the nurses around
Orientation leader: 75 hours; 1 semester
Non-profit member/Vice President: 250 hours; 4 semesters
I helped build a non-profit that helps student artists expand their network and sell their products - I learned it's super hard to get enough exposure as an artist to make a living off of it so we helped curve the costs for students starting out
Research experience:
Lab assistant: 75 hours; 2 semesters - no pubs/posters
I worked more on optimizing MRI protocols, did perfusion surgery on mice, made a 3D printed mice cradle - mainly worked on a project finding new MRI imaging techniques for detecting Pompe's disease
Music Honors Project: 600 hours; 3 semesters - will be published on my university's thesis platform
I'm doing an independent research project on connecting musical literature to other forms of art like visual art and dance - I got a school scholarship to study in Prague at a festival for 2 weeks that helped me form my argument - I'm not sure how med schools are gonna see this one because my thesis was isn't written...it is a piano recital (feel free to inquire more in the comments)
Shadowing experience:
80 hours - rural family medicine, neurology, neurosurgery, urology, pediatrics, dermatology, anesthesia, oral and maxillofacial surgery, palliative medicine, internal medicine
Other extracurricular activities:
ESL English tutor: 300 hours; 4 semesters
Principal keyboardist for university symphony orchestra: 200 hours; 7 semesters - got really cool opportunities to perform and collab with other musicians - I did a live film score performance in Chicago once!
Piano: 0 hours; all my life - piano is going to be a big part of my narrative since that is an integral part of me - I've seen a few med schools like Cornell or Columbia who have pages on their website for musicians but my goodness those are such reach schools for me - I would like to be close to a city with good music (classical especially)
Honors or awards:
Dean's List (once lol), music scholarship for 4 years, some merit-based music scholarships, research scholarship to study in Prague
Current School List (VERY TENTATIVE - no particular order)
cGPA: 3.94 sGPA: 3.90
MCAT: 515 (128/128/129/130)
GA resident
ORM: Asian F
T30 undergrad - Private - Neuroscience and Music double major
Work experience:
Internal medicine clinical research assistant: 120 hours (2000 hours projected); 1.5 years w/ projected time
I'm currently a recruiter who calls patients and go over their medical histories and figure out which study they would be best fit for - learning phlebotomy and have been shadowing coordinators during their visits - I got hired a little more than a month ago and there will be a lot of room to grow in the future...definitely going to try to count this as clinical experience since I care/enjoy working with the patients more
Clinical volunteering:
Hospice volunteer: 120 hours (200 more hours projected); 3 years w/ projected time
I got a lot of good experience giving companionship and respite care and including a story in my PS
Cancer center volunteer: 70 hour; 3 semesters
It was more at the front desk but it helped me realize how important patient interaction was so I'd call it a good time
Non-clinical volunteering:
Senior home volunteer: 60 hours (50 projected); 2 years w/ projected time
It's a senior home where some of the patients are in the hospice I work for...I expanded my work to help out with setting up events or getting the residents to walk/exercise; really nice community I work for since I get to meet the other residents/help the nurses around
Orientation leader: 75 hours; 1 semester
Non-profit member/Vice President: 250 hours; 4 semesters
I helped build a non-profit that helps student artists expand their network and sell their products - I learned it's super hard to get enough exposure as an artist to make a living off of it so we helped curve the costs for students starting out
Research experience:
Lab assistant: 75 hours; 2 semesters - no pubs/posters
I worked more on optimizing MRI protocols, did perfusion surgery on mice, made a 3D printed mice cradle - mainly worked on a project finding new MRI imaging techniques for detecting Pompe's disease
Music Honors Project: 600 hours; 3 semesters - will be published on my university's thesis platform
I'm doing an independent research project on connecting musical literature to other forms of art like visual art and dance - I got a school scholarship to study in Prague at a festival for 2 weeks that helped me form my argument - I'm not sure how med schools are gonna see this one because my thesis was isn't written...it is a piano recital (feel free to inquire more in the comments)
Shadowing experience:
80 hours - rural family medicine, neurology, neurosurgery, urology, pediatrics, dermatology, anesthesia, oral and maxillofacial surgery, palliative medicine, internal medicine
Other extracurricular activities:
ESL English tutor: 300 hours; 4 semesters
Principal keyboardist for university symphony orchestra: 200 hours; 7 semesters - got really cool opportunities to perform and collab with other musicians - I did a live film score performance in Chicago once!
Piano: 0 hours; all my life - piano is going to be a big part of my narrative since that is an integral part of me - I've seen a few med schools like Cornell or Columbia who have pages on their website for musicians but my goodness those are such reach schools for me - I would like to be close to a city with good music (classical especially)
Honors or awards:
Dean's List (once lol), music scholarship for 4 years, some merit-based music scholarships, research scholarship to study in Prague
Current School List (VERY TENTATIVE - no particular order)
| Medical College of Georgia |
| UofA - Phoenix |
| Emory |
| Tufts |
| NY Medical College |
| Penn State |
| UofMiami |
| UofRochester |
| Chicago @ Franklin |
| Albert Einstein |
| Cornell |
| Boston University |
| Columbia |
| Icahn @ Mount Sinai |
| Northwestern |
| Sidney Kimmel |
| Warren Alpert @ Brown |
| Tulane |
| UofPittsburgh |
| Renaissance @ Stony Brook |
| UCLA |
| UofColorado |
| Drexel |
| Rush |
| Keck @ USC |
| Geisel @ Dartmouth |
| UMass Chan |
| Oakland Beaumont |
| Wayne State |
| Western Michigan |
| Wake Forest |
