WAMC + School List URM, 2.79 sGPA, 2.93 cGPa, 3.92 SMP, waiting on MCAT

[futbolista_94]

Got my primary app verified today, and GPAs looking just about how I expected
Non-trad reinvented URM from California (Northern/Central Valley)
Mexican American Male
Undergrad: Community College -> UC Davis
Activities are over a long period since I have been at this since 2015 (it's been quite the battle):
Clinical Experience and Shadowing

• (volunteer) interpreting for Spanish-speaking patients at a clinic located in a hall for the unhoused - 30 hours
• (internship) shadowing physicians of different specialties through a pipeline program at UC Davis - 42 hours
• (volunteer) was in a student-run clinic focused on Latine health in undergrad - 224 hours (just in the clinic, not including admin and other volunteering)
• (study abroad) Latine Health study abroad in Oaxaca, MX, rotated through different specialties at hospitals and community clinics - 180 hours
  • also attended lectures on and shadowed traditional medicine practitioners, idk if schools will see that as "clinical experience," though
• (employment) diabetes health educator at FQHC after graduation - 960 hours
• (EMT cert) clinical hours through the SMP - 144 hours in the ED and Urgent Care Centers
• (employment) clinical research coordinator at UC Davis Health, COVID-19 mobile testing clinics to underserved and rural communities - 840 hours

Research

• summer research internship at UC Davis Dept. of Path and Lab Medicine - 320 hours (presentation, no pub)
• basic science lab in nematology and entomology lab for major requirement practicum - 150 hours (lit review, no pub)
• abstract presentation for SMP coupled with evidence-based clinical practice course - 50 hrs

Leadership

• VP of LMSA club at CC my last semester
• Health Education Committee Co-Head at student-run clinic my last year
• led/mediated community engagement forums at SMP

Non-clinical volunteer

• making fried asparagus at local asparagus festival - 20 hrs
• family day at the park (children's fair) - 16 hrs
• mentor students back at my CC whenever they reach out or I'm on campus - nothing formal, so no hour count

Other activities

• human gross anatomy lab aide; had to teach cadaver prosections over Zoom, that was trip
• Intercollegiate soccer at CC
• club soccer at undergrad
• adult men's team with graduate students at SMP
• had to work pretty much throughout CC and undergrad: retail assistant manager, UPS, tutoring, Takl (like Uber but for chores), landscaping, moving, hauling, clean-ups, work-study (coffee shop), DoorDash, laying down concrete, maintenance, and handyman for warehouses
  • affected my time for non-clinical volunteering
• visited (and still do) my parents' town in Mexico every year for the holidays

Hobbies

• soccer pick-ups and adult leagues
• ukulele and guitar - jamming with my brother, who is like in 10 bands (not really)
• learning how to code (100 Days of code, shameless plug)
• hanging out with family
• bjj

Awards

• U.S. Department of State’s Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship
• merit-based scholarship in undergrad
• recognized by SMP's Professionalism Committee for integrity, compassion, and kindness
• voted student speaker for SMP commencement

I'm applying to all my state MD (I have strong ties with UC Davis), where I did my SMP, which is Duke, so idk how that will go, lol; all the DOs in CA except CHSCOM, ATSU in AZ, PNWU-COM, Burrell, Western in OR and a few other MDs that I have scoped out on here. Any help with a school list and my chances would be greatly appreciated!

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[Faha]

Post your MCAT score here when available and I will suggest schools.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Is this your first MCAT? If you grew up near the Central Valley and Davis, I hope your MCAT will be enough.

 

[futbolista_94]

Thank you both! So I got my score yesterday: 512

 

[futbolista_94]

Is this your first MCAT? If you grew up near the Central Valley and Davis, I hope your MCAT will be enough.

Yeah this my first MCAT! And yeah I grew up in Stockton, CA. 45 min south of Sacramento and did undergrad at UCD

 

[futbolista_94]

Post your MCAT score here when available and I will suggest schools.

512

 

[Faha]

512

I suggest these schools with your stats:
All the UCs (except Riverside unless you are from that region)
USC Keck
Kaiser
California University
Loma Linda (if you fit their mission)
Arizona (Tucson and Phoenix)
TCU
Creighton
Loyola
Rosalind Franklin
Medical College Wisconsin
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
Miami
Tulane
Duke
Eastern Virginia
Georgetown
George Washington
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Hackensack
Einstein
New York Medical College
Vermont
Dartmouth
Brown
Quinnipiac

 

[futbolista_94]

I suggest these schools with your stats:
All the UCs (except Riverside unless you are from that region)
USC Keck
Kaiser
California University
Loma Linda (if you fit their mission)
Arizona (Tucson and Phoenix)
TCU
Creighton
Loyola
Rosalind Franklin
Medical College Wisconsin
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
Miami
Tulane
Duke
Eastern Virginia
Georgetown
George Washington
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Hackensack
Einstein
New York Medical College
Vermont
Dartmouth
Brown
Quinnipiac

thank you so much! Some of these were already on my list from my own searching, so glad to have this confirmation.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

The concern I have is on "service orientation" activities. You have a lot of work that you classify as clinical that fits this definition, but nothing much that is non-clinical. Most schools want to see activities where one serves a community that is independent of being involved in healthcare or education settings and does not involve fundraising. I might give you the 30 hours of medical interpretation at a free clinic, but that's the only eligible activities based on what you submit. (working at local community or county fairs may not help you on this situation).

Activities usually focus on food distribution, shelter work, job/tax assistance, transportation services, or housing rehabilitation. 150 hours of such activities is usually the minimum expectation for most medical schools. You are a non-traditional student, but this expectation does not seem to matter for many non-trads, especially if you have racked up near 1000+ hours in clinical exposure.

You could get relegated for so much activity working with marginalized communities, and UC programs do value individuals who are "home grown" to the community and know about resources that can be accessed. All of your employment involving physical labor impresses many of my past faculty adcoms, depending on how much you had done over the years (all the construction, landscaping, and moving work I can consider towards service orientation activities even if you were employed in those positions). A connection with LMSA also is a big plus, and you should use those connections to narrow the suggested list of schools. I assure you Duke will take a good look; if you have a strong interest in rural health in the piedmont/tidewater of North Carolina, you have value connecting with many of the migrant workforce there. They will need to wow you away from UC Davis (IMO). If you were a NC resident, I would have more confidence in ECU and UNC, but WF would be a great choice to consider if you align with their mission fit.

Knock their socks off, and good luck!

 

[futbolista_94]

I suggest these schools with your stats:
All the UCs (except Riverside unless you are from that region)
USC Keck
Kaiser
California University
Loma Linda (if you fit their mission)
Arizona (Tucson and Phoenix)
TCU
Creighton
Loyola
Rosalind Franklin
Medical College Wisconsin
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
Miami
Tulane
Duke
Eastern Virginia
Georgetown
George Washington
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Hackensack
Einstein
New York Medical College
Vermont
Dartmouth
Brown
Quinnipiac

what do you think of san juan bautista in PR. I enjoy the idea of having bilingual med school education, given

The concern I have is on "service orientation" activities. You have a lot of work that you classify as clinical that fits this definition, but nothing much that is non-clinical. Most schools want to see activities where one serves a community that is independent of being involved in healthcare or education settings and does not involve fundraising. I might give you the 30 hours of medical interpretation at a free clinic, but that's the only eligible activities based on what you submit. (working at local community or county fairs may not help you on this situation).

Activities usually focus on food distribution, shelter work, job/tax assistance, transportation services, or housing rehabilitation. 150 hours of such activities is usually the minimum expectation for most medical schools. You are a non-traditional student, but this expectation does not seem to matter for many non-trads, especially if you have racked up near 1000+ hours in clinical exposure.

You could get relegated for so much activity working with marginalized communities, and UC programs do value individuals who are "home grown" to the community and know about resources that can be accessed. All of your employment involving physical labor impresses many of my past faculty adcoms, depending on how much you had done over the years (all the construction, landscaping, and moving work I can consider towards service orientation activities even if you were employed in those positions). A connection with LMSA also is a big plus, and you should use those connections to narrow the suggested list of schools. I assure you Duke will take a good look; if you have a strong interest in rural health in the piedmont/tidewater of North Carolina, you have value connecting with many of the migrant workforce there. They will need to wow you away from UC Davis (IMO). If you were a NC resident, I would have more confidence in ECU and UNC, but WF would be a great choice to consider if you align with their mission fit.

Knock their socks off, and good luck!

Wow, I appreciate this! Yeah, that was a major concern (non-clinical community service) when I was filling out my activities. I was so focused on the reinvention and clinical side. Working definitely impacted my ability to do volunteering activities I really would have liked to do. Do you think the activities that I'm doing now would be considered even though I have submitted my primary app already? Either way, I'm currently going to be coaching kids' rec soccer and looking into tutoring at migrant housing centers (have always wanted to do both) back home while I have time currently. Anyways, thank you so much for the advice and words of encouragement! Currently adding my last few schools onto AMCAS, and this helped tremendously.

 

[Faha]

You could try San Juan Bautista.