WAMC: Texas ORM Asian Female, 3.89 cGPA/3.87 sGPA, 509 MCAT

[cn026111]

Hi y'all! I'm really bummed after getting my MCAT score yesterday and am not sure if I should apply this cycle. My highest practice was a 516 on FL 5. What are my chances of applying this cycle and getting into an MD school?

TX Resident, ORM Asian Female, Top 10 Public University

MCAT: 509 (128/126/127/128)

TMDSAS: cGPA: 3.93, sGPA: 3.89

AMCAS: cGPA: 3.89 , sGPA: 3.87

Clinical:

Paid: FT Lead MA with ~500 hours at time of application (projected to have 2000 more) helped lead and train new MAs; ~300 hours pharmacy tech; ~100 hours scribing

Volunteering: ~500 hours hospital volunteering; ~40 hours volunteering at a free clinic serving the uninsured population in my county as the Student Volunteer Coordinator and volunteer MA (projected 400 more)

Shadowing: 8 specialties (Orthopedic Surgery - 15, Plastic Surgery - 20, Pediatric cardiothoracic surgery - 24, Pediatric Outpatient Surgery - 20, and around 80 hours for Adult and Pediatric EM, OBGYN - 10, Podiatry Surgery - 5)

Non-Clinical:

Paid: 420 hours as a TA for Genetics Lab and Anatomy Lab; 300 hours as a Statistics Course grader; 100 hours as a student liaison for a campus public health initiative; ~200 hours working as a FT camp counselor for kids on the spectrum and developmental disabilities

Volunteering: ~150 hours as a Team Leader working to reduce food waste and food insecurity within the student population at my university; ~120 hours as a camp counselor at a free camp for the underserved; working on getting involved at my local food bank again back home

Research:

~300 hours in a research lab: ~200 hours wet lab; ~100 hours data research to expand the database, and writing up the manual on how to search for aptamers to add to the database

Currently involved in clinical research at my MA job (~10 hours a week), where we do patient trials for the larger clinical trials: assist with finding patients to join the trials, prep drugs for administration, collect specimens (blood draws and urine samples) and record qualitative findings

Leadership:

Teaching Assistant, Team Leader for food insecurity club, Camp counselor at two different camps, Lead MA (all above)

Research Mentor in the lab mentioned above: assisted new students in the lab to learn protocols and gain research experience

Director in a pre-health organization (1 year, ~150 hours): scheduled shadowing for new members by contacting local physicians and providers, and continuing the relationship over the semesters. Got the most hours in the org during my shadowing semester.

Vice President and Co-Founder of a Languages Org: passionate about continuing the practice of our native language in college, started the org to help people connect with people who want to practice and learn new languages.

Peer Educator on campus (~100 hours): led and taught workshops to various groups on campus about health and wellness, including mental and sexual health, and promoted harm-reduction strategies while being involved in college.

Student Council Member of the College: Actively voted on policies for students as a representative of the student body. helped arrange events for students during finals week, or the first week of college, to promote student orgs and opportunities available within the college.

Student Advisory committee for the hospital I volunteered at: trained new volunteers every semester for different apartments, interviewed new volunteers, tracked volunteer attendance, and hosted volunteer socials and appreciation events

What do y'all think? I am contemplating if I should take another gap year to strengthen my application and retake the MCAT in January of 2026. If you feel I have a chance, which MD schools should I look into?

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[Faha]

Apply to all your Texas TMDSAS MD and DO schools and you should receive interviews. For AMCAS schools you could try these:
TCU
Tulane
Roseman
Belmont
Alice Walton
Methodist (when it opens)

 

[Mr.Smile12]

You should get as many hours with your food bank as possible. Ideally you should have 150 hours before applying so that your file does not get screened out. I'm not sure the food security work at your institution is universally accepted as "service orientation," but it likely will be fine especially if it's part of your purpose as a physician.

That said, your clinical exposure does not tie in that well. You have a lot of surgery shadowing; what did you do as an MA and a scribe? It might be nice to see non-emergent primary care, especially geriatrics or pediatrics (where food security concerns may have better influence).

Where in Texas did you grow up?

 

[cn026111]

You should get as many hours with your food bank as possible. Ideally you should have 150 hours before applying so that your file does not get screened out. I'm not sure the food security work at your institution is universally accepted as "service orientation," but it likely will be fine especially if it's part of your purpose as a physician.

That said, your clinical exposure does not tie in that well. You have a lot of surgery shadowing; what did you do as an MA and a scribe? It might be nice to see non-emergent primary care, especially geriatrics or pediatrics (where food security concerns may have better influence).

Where in Texas did you grow up?

Thank you for your response! The food insecurity work was a separate student organization that wasn't affiliated with the university. Do you think it still counts as non-clinical volunteering?

For my MA job, I work in a nephrology clinic where we do a lot of long-term care for patients and work with many older patients, and nutrition is a big part of their care. As a scribe, it was at Deepscribe, so it wasn't a specific specialty.

I grew up in the Dallas suburbs! I don't have any ties to rural areas.

 

[cn026111]

Apply to all your Texas TMDSAS MD and DO schools and you should receive interviews. For AMCAS schools you could try these:
TCU
Tulane
Roseman
Belmont
Alice Walton
Methodist (when it opens)

Thank you!

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Thank you for your response! The food insecurity work was a separate student organization that wasn't affiliated with the university. Do you think it still counts as non-clinical volunteering?

For my MA job, I work in a nephrology clinic where we do a lot of long-term care for patients and work with many older patients, and nutrition is a big part of their care. As a scribe, it was at Deepscribe, so it wasn't a specific specialty.

I would include this information in your application. Look for schools that value the insights you have with food as medicine in their curriculum.