WAMC/School List - Texas Applicant (4.0/521)

[Foam Sword]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hey everyone! I'm looking to apply for the first time in the 2025-2026 cycle as a traditional applicant and just wanted any feedback or suggestions about primarily my applicant profile and my school list (if it's too top-heavy or if it needs tweaking). I don't have any X-factors or paid experience, and I'd generally prefer to stay in-state, but I'm open to moving.

cGPA: 4.0
sGPA: 4.0

MCAT: 521 (132/129/130/130)

State of residence: Texas

ORM (South Asian Male)

Local state school

Clinical experience (volunteer and non-volunteer)

Volunteer EMT Supervisor: 1750 hours running 911 calls and BLS non-transports for my university campus, coordinating/leading crews that serve throughout the day.
Volunteer MA: 150 hours in a free clinic for the underserved doing intake, vitals, scribing. and observing physicians in internal Medicine, neurology, and pediatrics (not sure if this should be put down as shadowing or left as clinical)

Research experience
Undergraduate Research: 800 hours in a lab researching environmental sensors and soil, no publications, 1 poster.

Shadowing experience
120 hours shadowing various emergency medicine physicians in a busy ER.

Non-clinical volunteering
Food distribution: 150 hours working in a food bank that serves my university's students.
Hospice memoir writing: Interviewing and writing a memoir for a patient on hospice through a university organization, will probably have 50 hours.

Other extracurriculars
EMS Organization Student President: 300 hours managing a collegiate EMS agency, ensuring daily operations, running interviews, coordinating resources, and doing QA/QC (administrative tasks).
Teaching Assistant: 50 hours working as a TA for my university's EMT class (not directly affiliated with the university).

Relevant honors or awards
President's Volunteer Service Award Gold for my EMS volunteering
Dean's List for all semesters
EMS Director's Award for winning mock EMS competitions

Misc:
I haven't asked yet but I'm likely going to get my rec letters from:
- EMS agency director (will be a strong letter)
- My research mentor (PhD Student, and hopefully co-signed by the PI)
- A science professor who I took one class with but don't know super well (don't think this one will be very strong)

Current School List:
NYU Grossman
NYU Long Island
Albert Einstein
John Hopkins
Yale
Mayo Clinic
Northwestern
Vanderbilt
University of Michigan
Case Western Reserve (Cleveland Clinic Lerner)
Hofstra
Stony Brook
UConn
Ohio State University
University of Kentucky

Texas Schools:
UT Southwestern
Baylor
UT Austin Dell
UT Health San Antonio
McGovern
UT Medical Branch
Texas A&M
Texas Tech Lubbock
Texas Tech El Paso
UT Rio Grande Valley
UT Tyler
University of Houston

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Welcome to the forums.

Okay... you're into emergency medicine. Can you break down the activities with EMS on campus vs. in the community?

It may also help your profile if you had some shadowing in a non-emergent specialty. You aren't going to be in the ER for your entire time in medical school.

I'd also boost your food bank hours to 250 hours before submission so you can stay on pace with other applicants with similar metrics for the "brand name" schools you are looking at. It also help you more if you got off campus to get your additional hours. In fact you have minimal experience where you are working with underserved communities from what I can tell from your description.

 

[Foam Sword]

Welcome to the forums.

Okay... you're into emergency medicine. Can you break down the activities with EMS on campus vs. in the community?

It may also help your profile if you had some shadowing in a non-emergent specialty. You aren't going to be in the ER for your entire time in medical school.

I'd also boost your food bank hours to 250 hours before submission so you can stay on pace with other applicants with similar metrics for the "brand name" schools you are looking at. It also help you more if you got off campus to get your additional hours. In fact you have minimal experience where you are working with underserved communities from what I can tell from your description.

Hello, thanks for the advice! My EMS Supervisor, Student President, and TA roles are all on my university's campus, where I respond to and teach students, faculty, and visitors, so I don't work EMS outside of that. Most of these people are generally not underserved.

My other activities are more within the community like the MA role, the food bank, or the ER shadowing. I'm a lot less hands-on in terms of care with these activities, but generally work with the uninsured and international students.

Also, thank you for giving me more direction toward shadowing other specialties. I'm not dead set on any specific specialty, but I get how my applicant profile comes across as heavily leaning toward emergency medicine. I'm not sure if observing the physicians' work in my free clinic might count as shadowing, as I'm usually in the room with them as they're speaking to the patient, doing assessments, and I often ask questions about their process?

I'll also work towards trying to find something that lets me work more heavily with the underserved and increase the food bank hours.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Hello, thanks for the advice! My EMS Supervisor, Student President, and TA roles are all on my university's campus, where I respond to and teach students, faculty, and visitors, so I don't work EMS outside of that. Most of these people are generally not underserved.

My other activities are more within the community like the MA role, the food bank, or the ER shadowing. I'm a lot less hands-on in terms of care with these activities, but generally work with the uninsured and international students.

Also, thank you for giving me more direction toward shadowing other specialties. I'm not dead set on any specific specialty, but I get how my applicant profile comes across as heavily leaning toward emergency medicine. I'm not sure if observing the physicians' work in my free clinic might count as shadowing, as I'm usually in the room with them as they're speaking to the patient, doing assessments, and I often ask questions about their process?

I'll also work towards trying to find something that lets me work more heavily with the underserved and increase the food bank hours.

One very obvious direction is to be part of a community EMS service. You'll find yourself helping under-resourced populations depending on where you work. Nothing wrong with being heavy in emergency med. Just make sure there is a little balance in your understanding of medicine. Your free clinic work may help you a bit there. Hospice also helps a little.