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[Chocoloto]

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[Faha]

I suggest these schools with your stats:
Maryland
West Virginia
Hopkins
Georgetown
George Washington
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Pittsburgh
Hackensack
Hofstra
Einstein
Mount Sinai
New York Medical College
Albany
Rochester
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Tufts
Boston University
NOVA MD
USF Morsani
Miami
Tulane
TCU-UNT
Creighton
Loyola
Medical College Wisconsin
Western Michigan
Oakland Beaumont

 

[Chocoloto]

I suggest these schools with your stats:
Maryland
West Virginia
Hopkins
Georgetown
George Washington
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Pittsburgh
Hackensack
Hofstra
Einstein
Mount Sinai
New York Medical College
Albany
Rochester
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Tufts
Boston University
NOVA MD
USF Morsani
Miami
Tulane
TCU-UNT
Creighton
Loyola
Medical College Wisconsin
Western Michigan
Oakland Beaumont

Thank you! Super reassuring seeing a lot of these already on my list.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

You have a lot of non-clinical volunteering, but is there anything you have done that has nothing to do with tutoring/teaching? Even for 50-100 hours? You have a TON of tutoring on your profile, which every prehealth applicant has, so it won't really set you apart.

GPA isn't terrible for DO programs given your MCAT. Is there something in your personal journey that really makes you desirable, according to your prehealth office? You said you have some Native American history in your family though probably not growing up in a truly disadvantaged environment (no card), so can you explain this?

 

[Chocoloto]

You have a lot of non-clinical volunteering, but is there anything you have done that has nothing to do with tutoring/teaching? Even for 50-100 hours? You have a TON of tutoring on your profile, which every prehealth applicant has, so it won't really set you apart.

GPA isn't terrible for DO programs given your MCAT. Is there something in your personal journey that really makes you desirable, according to your prehealth office? You said you have some Native American history in your family though probably not growing up in a truly disadvantaged environment (no card), so can you explain this?

Thanks for taking the time!

For the volunteering: I also came to this same conclusion. I have around 50 hours in both a local community hospice and a county-level adult rehab/recovery support service. However both of these were just completely stopped when covid happened, and really have not restarted (at least for volunteers). I didn't really think about including them given the low work put into them, but I probably should.

For the native situation, I was not truly disadvantaged like you said (grandfather was the last one to briefly stay on reservation), but I have basically been in a bureaucratic nightmare where I have to keep showing up at the reservation in person and applying for the tribal card just to wait every 12 months for a vote that might not even vote on my name that year.

The lineage from the native side just has extensive alcoholism/mental health issues including my father, who I lost to alcoholism and suicide years ago. I basically got my whole interest in to the determinants of behavior, mental illness, cultural upbringing from this. I told my prehealth advisor this, and this was the only thing they said to "make sure to touch on".

Otherwise, how I interpreted your advice is that I should probably apply to more DO programs? Thanks again!

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

I think that you’ll get in MD and can avoid applying DO first cycle. However, don’t fall into the trap of applying to mostly T20s because of your high MCAT. I’ve seen many fall into this trap and be forced to reapply. You can apply to 5ish T20s. Remainder should be mid and low tiers. I would do 35 schools. Things are getting more competitive and this number feels more appropriate to me given the low gpa

 

[Chocoloto]

I think that you’ll get in MD and can avoid applying DO first cycle. However, don’t fall into the trap of applying to mostly T20s because of your high MCAT. I’ve seen many fall into this trap and be forced to reapply. You can apply to 5ish T20s. Remainder should be mid and low tiers. I would do 35 schools. Things are getting more competitive and this number feels more appropriate to me given the low gpa

Noted. That trap is exactly what I am trying to avoid. Thanks!

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

After reading more, I think that you have a unique story regarding why medicine and think that you would be more competitive at higher tier schools than I thought after reading your first post. Aim high (maybe 10 T30s) but don’t neglect mid tiers.

I’m sorry about your father.

 

[chilly_md]

Ensure your personal statement clearly answers why you want to be a physician and why medicine. A common pitfall is that students go in a completely different direction and try to relate it to medicine at the end.