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Hi! I submitted my primary app, but just got my MCAT score today, so I would really appreciate some help with my school list. I’m a reapplicant and a few years from college, so I'm not sure how strong my application is. I'm concerned that my volunteer hours are lacking, and that I don't seem dedicated/motivated, but life happens yk.
I’m 25, female, Asian, 1st gen immigrant.
College: T50 state school, attended 2019-2022, graduated a year early because of AP credits.
Major: biochem, minor: sociology
MCAT: 519 in 2022, 523 in 2026 (131/129/131/132). I originally planned to apply in 2022 but decided to take 1-2 gap years because my ECs were weak (pandemic). Then 2 years turned to 3 and 4, and my first score became too old for most schools.
After graduating, I lived in Europe for 2 months, then moved to NY, where I worked in 2 clinics and volunteered at a soup kitchen. I ended up working much longer than I should have, and honestly, it got in the way of applications, but I needed to support myself and I wanted to experience more non-academic life. I also did enjoy my time there.
Between 2024-2025, I had to move back home to take care of my brother while my parents went to China to take care of my grandparents. I kept doing work for the clinic remotely. I moved back to NY after, but I had to go to China several times to help with immigration. I applied last year but had no time between everything and ended up not being able to finish my secondaries in time.
ECs:
Clinical:
~2500 hrs as MA/scribe at ortho/regenerative medicine clinic from 2022-2026. Very unique clinic. It was really small and had very few staff, so sometimes I worked ~60 hours/week between 2 jobs because I felt obligated to. I also became more and more involved the longer I worked there. For example, even after I resigned my coworkers still call me for help.
~1500 hrs as scribe at a chinese PCP clinic from 2022-2024. Spoke Mandarin and Cantonese (less fluently) all day and implemented SDOH screenings. I wrote about cultural competency on the app.
80 shadowing hrs in breast cancer surgery, ENT, geriatrics, and a few hospitals (hospitals were in high school).
Research:
800 hrs from 2021-2022, one 2nd author pub in 2022. It’s more pharmaceutical research than medical, but I collected most of the data and helped write the methodology section.
Leadership and volunteering:
250 hours as treasurer and co-pres of a student org in 2020-2022. We raised funds to hire a social worker for a refugee shelter. We also volunteered at shelter, helping them with whatever they needed and organizing food and clothing drives.
Volunteer: (weakest)
~130 hours at a soup kitchen from 11/2023-12/2025. Did this biweekly.
15 hrs helping people get marketplace health insurance in 2022. 3hrs/wk for 5 weeks. Not selling health insurance, I was walking people through the marketplace website and taught people about insurance.
Hobbies: Art - I've had an Instagram for ~8 years with a few thousand followers where I post my art and receive commissions.
Honors/awards: I went back and forth between adding dean's list or not, and ultimately didn’t because it didn't add much to my app, and I didn't want to seem like I was padding it.
Tutoring: I tutored my brother and friends when needed, at least 100hrs total, but I never did it formally, so I didn't write about it. In hindsight, perhaps I should have, but I'm writing about it in my secondaries when applicable.
Residency: I'm no longer considered a resident of my home state, but I think I qualify as an NY resident, even though I (temporarily) moved back home for a few months.
My school list so far is too long and ambitious, I'm trying to narrow it down to 30-35. I'd also appreciate suggestions for other schools to apply to. I'm not sure how many of the schools should be ones I'm reapplying to or if it matters. I'm worried some schools might see the 523 and assume I got accepted elsewhere, but that I'm also not competitive enough for top schools.
I'd love to keep living in NY. Most of my friends are there, and I love the city. I'm also a huge environmentalist, so I love the public transportation over car infrastructure. After that, any large city is good.
New York University
Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons - Reapplying
Johns Hopkins
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Vanderbilt University
Yale School of Medicine
Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science
Northwestern University
Duke University
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai - Reapplying
Stanford University School of Medicine - Reapplying
University of Chicago Pritzker - Reapplying
University of Virginia
Albert Einstein College of Medicine - Reapplying
Boston University
Weill Cornell Medicine - Reapplying
University of Michigan
New York Medical College - Reapplying
Brown University
Ohio State University College of Medicine
Tufts University School of Medicine - Reapplying
University of Colorado
Saint Louis University School of Medicine
Geisinger Commonwealth SOM
SUNY Downstate University - Reapplying
SUNY Upstate University
University of Massachusetts T.H. Chan School of Medicine - Reapplying
Albany Medical College - Reapplying
Pennsylvania State University
Robert Larner, M.D., College of Medicine at the University of Vermont - Reapplying
University of Illinois at Chicago
Wake Forest University School of Medicine - Reapplying
Medical College of Wisconsin
University of Washington - Seattle
5 OG home state schools.
If you've read all this, thank you!!
I’m 25, female, Asian, 1st gen immigrant.
College: T50 state school, attended 2019-2022, graduated a year early because of AP credits.
Major: biochem, minor: sociology
MCAT: 519 in 2022, 523 in 2026 (131/129/131/132). I originally planned to apply in 2022 but decided to take 1-2 gap years because my ECs were weak (pandemic). Then 2 years turned to 3 and 4, and my first score became too old for most schools.
After graduating, I lived in Europe for 2 months, then moved to NY, where I worked in 2 clinics and volunteered at a soup kitchen. I ended up working much longer than I should have, and honestly, it got in the way of applications, but I needed to support myself and I wanted to experience more non-academic life. I also did enjoy my time there.
Between 2024-2025, I had to move back home to take care of my brother while my parents went to China to take care of my grandparents. I kept doing work for the clinic remotely. I moved back to NY after, but I had to go to China several times to help with immigration. I applied last year but had no time between everything and ended up not being able to finish my secondaries in time.
ECs:
Clinical:
~2500 hrs as MA/scribe at ortho/regenerative medicine clinic from 2022-2026. Very unique clinic. It was really small and had very few staff, so sometimes I worked ~60 hours/week between 2 jobs because I felt obligated to. I also became more and more involved the longer I worked there. For example, even after I resigned my coworkers still call me for help.
~1500 hrs as scribe at a chinese PCP clinic from 2022-2024. Spoke Mandarin and Cantonese (less fluently) all day and implemented SDOH screenings. I wrote about cultural competency on the app.
80 shadowing hrs in breast cancer surgery, ENT, geriatrics, and a few hospitals (hospitals were in high school).
Research:
800 hrs from 2021-2022, one 2nd author pub in 2022. It’s more pharmaceutical research than medical, but I collected most of the data and helped write the methodology section.
Leadership and volunteering:
250 hours as treasurer and co-pres of a student org in 2020-2022. We raised funds to hire a social worker for a refugee shelter. We also volunteered at shelter, helping them with whatever they needed and organizing food and clothing drives.
Volunteer: (weakest)
~130 hours at a soup kitchen from 11/2023-12/2025. Did this biweekly.
15 hrs helping people get marketplace health insurance in 2022. 3hrs/wk for 5 weeks. Not selling health insurance, I was walking people through the marketplace website and taught people about insurance.
Hobbies: Art - I've had an Instagram for ~8 years with a few thousand followers where I post my art and receive commissions.
Honors/awards: I went back and forth between adding dean's list or not, and ultimately didn’t because it didn't add much to my app, and I didn't want to seem like I was padding it.
Tutoring: I tutored my brother and friends when needed, at least 100hrs total, but I never did it formally, so I didn't write about it. In hindsight, perhaps I should have, but I'm writing about it in my secondaries when applicable.
Residency: I'm no longer considered a resident of my home state, but I think I qualify as an NY resident, even though I (temporarily) moved back home for a few months.
My school list so far is too long and ambitious, I'm trying to narrow it down to 30-35. I'd also appreciate suggestions for other schools to apply to. I'm not sure how many of the schools should be ones I'm reapplying to or if it matters. I'm worried some schools might see the 523 and assume I got accepted elsewhere, but that I'm also not competitive enough for top schools.
I'd love to keep living in NY. Most of my friends are there, and I love the city. I'm also a huge environmentalist, so I love the public transportation over car infrastructure. After that, any large city is good.
New York University
Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons - Reapplying
Johns Hopkins
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Vanderbilt University
Yale School of Medicine
Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science
Northwestern University
Duke University
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai - Reapplying
Stanford University School of Medicine - Reapplying
University of Chicago Pritzker - Reapplying
University of Virginia
Albert Einstein College of Medicine - Reapplying
Boston University
Weill Cornell Medicine - Reapplying
University of Michigan
New York Medical College - Reapplying
Brown University
Ohio State University College of Medicine
Tufts University School of Medicine - Reapplying
University of Colorado
Saint Louis University School of Medicine
Geisinger Commonwealth SOM
SUNY Downstate University - Reapplying
SUNY Upstate University
University of Massachusetts T.H. Chan School of Medicine - Reapplying
Albany Medical College - Reapplying
Pennsylvania State University
Robert Larner, M.D., College of Medicine at the University of Vermont - Reapplying
University of Illinois at Chicago
Wake Forest University School of Medicine - Reapplying
Medical College of Wisconsin
University of Washington - Seattle
5 OG home state schools.
If you've read all this, thank you!!
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