WAMC T20 ecs/gap year thoughts?

[RandomPlatLeague]

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Hey SDN, I was wondering how competitive I would be for T20 schools and if 1 or 2 gap years would be good enough to apply.
Long story short I was kind lost on what I wanted to do the first 2 years of undergrad and COVID made it pretty hard to explore. I only really recently became a premed. I was wondering for any guidance on how to proceed with my ECs

• cGPA: 3.94 and sGPA : 3.93 (upward trend in the sense that I had relatively rough first 2 semesters?)
• MCAT score(s) and breakdown : 525 (132/130/132/131)
• State of residence or country of citizenship (if non-US): Virginia
• Ethnicity and/or race: ORM Indian Male
• Undergraduate institution or category: State Public School (T5 public)
• Heres how many hours I would have at the end of my 4th year (before application) :

• 900 hrs of Research in two neuroscience Labs working on the mechanisms and pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease and Glio Blastomas. (1 mid author publication, 2 presentations)
• 720hr clinical experience: 500 EMT 220 ED Scribe
• 300hr tutoring/TA
• 250hrs Senior living home volunteer (non-clinical)
• 60hrs of shadowing (Neuro,IM,FM)
• Other extracurricular activities: Part of a Dance Crew for 3 years. Decent time commitment and I can talk about it pretty well. Member Alzheimer's Awareness Club. Member of League of Legends Club esports (not significant in terms of application but one of my favorite hobbies)

• Looking at the rest of SDN the ECs don't seem to be anything special. Would taking another year to enhance my application be worth it or should I apply right after? I would most likely continue being an EMT and participate in research. Along with this, I plan to add so more volunteer hours with the underserved. Would my low hours for a 2 gap year applicant matter as long as I could write about how the experiences shaped my decision to pursue medicine well? Would the extra gap year weaken my application in any way for T20 schools?

Preliminary School List:
UVA (would be very happy here)
VCU
V-Tech
JHU (dream school)
Columbia (2nd top choice)
UMD
UPenn
Penn State
Pitt
Wake Forest
Duke
Ohio State
Penn State
Boston
Harvard
Cornell
USF
NYU
Yale
U Wisconsin
Hofstra
Einstein

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Welcome to the forums.

My suggestion is to find a significant non-clinical community service activity away from campus that does not involve tutoring STEM students but gets you face-to-face with social challenges most people face. Humble yourself in doing food pantry/distribution, homeless/women's/LGBTQ shelters, job training/assistance for those returning from incarceration, etc.

 

[a_distant_dream]

Welcome! I note that there doesn’t appear to be any leadership listed. If there’s some way for you to take a more active role in your organizations, that might help for T20s.

 

[RandomPlatLeague]

Welcome to the forums.

My suggestion is to find a significant non-clinical community service activity away from campus that does not involve tutoring STEM students but gets you face-to-face with social challenges most people face. Humble yourself in doing food pantry/distribution, homeless/women's/LGBTQ shelters, job training/assistance for those returning from incarceration, etc.

Thank you for your advice! I completely agree that I need to get out of my comfort zone and work more with the underserved during my gap year.

 

[RandomPlatLeague]

Welcome! I note that there doesn’t appear to be any leadership listed. If there’s some way for you to take a more active role in your organizations, that might help for T20s.

Thanks so much for the advice! This is true. The only leadership in my application would be from TA/Course Liason experience and dance crew lead choreographer work. I will definitely look to take up more leadership roles in the activities I am doing.

 

[RandomPlatLeague]

@Goro, @Faha any advice on how to form my school list (should I remove any or am I missing any ones that may be a good fit) and should I take another gap year to strengthen anything? I know you guys are quite active and very helpful in forming school lists.

 

[Goro]

Preliminary School List:
UVA (would be very happy here)
VCU
V-Tech
JHU (dream school)
Columbia (2nd top choice)
UMD
UPenn
Pitt
Duke
Ohio State
Boston
Harvard
Cornell
USF
NYU
Yale
U Wisconsin
Hofstra
Einstein

You had Penn State listed 2x. I removed...you can so better.

ADD
Emory
USF.MORSANI
ROCHESTER
DARTMOUTH
MIAMI
SINAI
U CINCY
U VM
U IA
WASH U
BROWN
VANDY
BAYLOR
U CHICAGO
NORTHWESTERN