WAMC/school list traditional applicant 526/3.95

[tudio]

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Hi everyone, this is my first post here!

Trad applicant (current junior, applying this upcoming cycle)

Chemistry BS (no minor or double major, not sure if this is an issue)
cGPA- 3.95, sGPA- 3.96
MCAT- 526- 132/131/132/131 (1 attempt)
NJ resident, ORM male
Emory University

Big red flag- 120 clinical hours as of now from hospital volunteering (patient transport, keeping long-term patients company, changing linens, delivering extra meals). I’ve gotten an MA job this semester, so should be a total of 250-300 by the time I apply in May, but I’m still concerned about this being low and also about it looking like box checking since I’m starting it just a few months before apps go out.

1500 research hours in an organic chemistry wet lab- 2 posters, no pubs (will most likely be submitted but not accepted by the time I apply, but I don’t think med schools consider anything not accepted yet)

100 hours shadowing- PMNR, IM, ortho, radiology, cardiology

345 hours nonclinical volunteering- 125 hours Slow Food (recovering surplus food from our dining hall, packing it up, and giving it to students, as well as using surplus farmers’ market food to cook meals for residents at a lodge for long-term stays for immunocompromised cancer patients)
150 hours tutoring underserved high school students in chemistry
70 hours miscellaneous volunteering events

Leadership/ECs-
300 hours genchem lab TA + orgo lecture TA
450 hours chemistry club exec
150 hours resident advisor (only did it sophomore year)

Awards- Dean’s List almost every semester, a green chemistry award from ACS, Emory's SURE REU program, and Eagle Scout (I know we shouldn’t include stuff from high school, but I read online that this is one of the few things that can be ok to include)

Will be getting rec letters from my PI, prof I took orgo with and TA for, and bio prof (maybe also the doctor I’ll be working with this semester, but not sure how well she’ll know me after just a few months). Kinda worried about not having any non-STEM rec letters, but I feel like I had nobody I could really ask for that.

I think my biggest issue beyond even the low clinical hours and having a ton of chemistry stuff, (which I know isn’t the most related to medicine but I love chemistry), is my lack of an overall theme. I just feel like an applicant who’s checked boxes, and I wouldn’t say I have any crazy overarching motivation to do medicine. I just thought the field was cool and after some experience shadowing and volunteering I found that I really liked it. I can’t see myself doing anything else so I’ll definitely be applying this cycle, but I’d appreciate any tips on writing/interviewing to have something that sounds like more than the usual “I like science and helping people.”

This rough school list is pretty long at the moment, and I’d appreciate any help in getting it down to 25-30, as well as recommendations for any schools not on here worth applying to! My only real preferences are that somewhere in the northeast would be nice (but this is by no means a dealbreaker) and that I'd rather not apply anywhere that needs the separate Texas application.

Harvard
JHU
UPenn
Duke
Columbia
Yale
WashU
NYU
Mayo
UMich
Cornell
Northwestern
Emory
Icahn
UChicago
Case Western
Ohio
USC
UVA
Brown
BU
Einstein
Dartmouth
Colorado
URochester
Hofstra
Rutgers NJ
Rutgers RWJ
Stony Brook
Tufts
Georgetown
Iowa
Arizona
NYMC
Cooper (Rowan)
Drexel
George Washington
Hackensack Meridian

Would appreciate any feedback, advice, etc. for anything related to my app!

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Welcome to the forums.

What feedback have your prehealth advisors given you? Especially about a narrative? If you have been involved with them for all of your undergrad time, you should have had a fair amount of feedback and ideas for a theme.

I'll agree that your clinical and non-clinical hours seem low for a high-metrics applicant. Tutoring/teaching/mentoring belongs in a different category, so you just have 125 hours with Slow Food redistribution. I would prefer more off-campus involvement, and you need at least 250 hours to keep up with other high-metrics applicants. Eagle Scout is nice (include it), but the hours won't usually count.

 

[tudio]

Hi, thank you for your feedback!

I think I'll try and schedule some meetings with them to discuss this, since my past meetings with them have mostly been for going over my progress in terms of hours/academics and stuff like that. I think I want to try and talk somewhat about chem in my essays/interviews, but not sure how to really frame that. Also not sure if I should lean more towards the academic medicine side or the regular like seeing patients side, cuz I'm not too sure what I wanna be doing specifically.

Definitely agree on the hours front, I'll hopefully get around 200 hours from my MA job by the time I apply, and I'll try to do some more volunteering in the next few months as well.