WAMC - Trad, 520 MCAT, 3.97 cGPA, ORM

[Guacamolerat]

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3.97 cGPA, 3.98 sGPA
520 MCAT: 132, 126, 130, 132
CT
White
Notre Dame
Clinical experience (volunteer and non-volunteer) : 200 hours
Research experience and productivity : 300 hours (ecology research)
Shadowing experience and specialties represented : 60 hours (partial online)
Non-clinical volunteering : 200 hours

Kind of just looking for information on schools based primarily on MCAT score. Looking to apply to roughly 25 schools. Feels kind of top heavy currently, looking for input.

Current school list:
Harvard Medical School
Duke University
UPenn (Perelman)
Columbia University
NYU Grossman
Yale School of Medicine
Weill Cornell Medicine
Northwestern University
Albert Einstein
USF (Morsani)
University of Miami
Tufts University
Georgetown University
Jefferson (Kimmel)
Indiana University
Creighton University
University of Connecticut
Wake Forest
Penn State University
University of Vermont
Temple University
Quinnipiac University
Drexel University
Loyola University (Stritch)

 

[Faha]

What is the breakdown by hours and activities of your 200 hours of non clinical volunteering? How many hours of your shadowing were online?

 

[Guacamolerat]

What is the breakdown by hours and activities of your 200 hours of non clinical volunteering? How many hours of your shadowing were online?

Clinical: 80 volunteering at hospital, 120 as personal care assistant
Non clinical : 120 volunteering at nursing home, 40 homeless shelter, 40 position helping underserved high school students with the college app process
20 hours of online shadowing, 20 hours cardiology, 10 hours radiology, 10 hours wound care

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I'm a little surprised that you don't have more community service orientation hours (just 40 in a homeless shelter). Maybe there is information you are deliberately holding back for privacy, but that may put you near the back of the pack for the brand-name schools I generally recommend to submit with 250 hours minimum for food distribution, shelter volunteer, job/tax preparation, legal support, transportation services, or housing rehabilitation.

Also the small number of research hours could work against you for some programs that prefer self-driven students who would take advantage of their "scholar track/year" (Duke, Stanford, Yale). Clinical hours (no description given) also seem light compared to other high-metrics applicants.

 

[Guacamolerat]

I'm a little surprised that you don't have more community service orientation hours (just 40 in a homeless shelter). Maybe there is information you are deliberately holding back for privacy, but that may put you near the back of the pack for the brand-name schools I generally recommend to submit with 250 hours minimum for food distribution, shelter volunteer, job/tax preparation, legal support, transportation services, or housing rehabilitation.

Also the small number of research hours could work against you for some programs that prefer self-driven students who would take advantage of their "scholar track/year" (Duke, Stanford, Yale). Clinical hours (no description given) also seem light compared to other high-metrics applicants.

No offense, but I asked for help on my school list, not for opinions on my current hours. Yes I was purposefully vague because I did not want to give personal information out. My primary has already been submitted and I do not plan on withdrawing it.

 

[polymerization]

I think it would be helpful for you to create a LinkedIn account and search for current students of the medical schools you plan to apply to. I think looking at their undergraduate experiences and how long they did them for will give you a more robust idea of what schools you may be a competitive applicant to.

Though not all students will have been traditional students, just seeing the caliber of EC profiles should give you a rough idea of where you sit.

 

[Faha]

Clinical: 80 volunteering at hospital, 120 as personal care assistant
Non clinical : 120 volunteering at nursing home, 40 homeless shelter, 40 position helping underserved high school students with the college app process
20 hours of online shadowing, 20 hours cardiology, 10 hours radiology, 10 hours wound care

Your hours are adequate for screening purposes. Service oriented schools including Georgetown, Loyola and Creighton expect several hundred hours each of clinical and non clinical volunteering. At top tier schools you will be competing with applicants with many more hours. Also, some of the schools on your list will "yield protect" (they assume you will attend a top tier school due to your high stats). However, there are some schools that love high stat applicants. I suggest these schools:
UConn
Quinnipiac
Vermont
Tufts
Yale
Hofstra
Einstein (free tuition)
Mount Sinai
NYU (free tuition)
Rochester
Pittsburgh
Jefferson
Johns Hopkins (free tuition)
U Virginia
Duke
USF Morsani
Miami
Vanderbilt
Washington University (in St. Louis-almost a guaranteed interview with your stats).
Northwestern
U Michigan
Cincinnati
Case Western
Mayo

 

[Guacamolerat]

Your hours are adequate for screening purposes. Service oriented schools including Georgetown, Loyola and Creighton expect several hundred hours each of clinical and non clinical volunteering. At top tier schools you will be competing with applicants with many more hours. Also, some of the schools on your list will "yield protect" (they assume you will attend a top tier school due to your high stats). However, there are some schools that love high stat applicants. I suggest these schools: UConn Quinnipiac Vermont Tufts Yale Hofstra Einstein (free tuition) Mount Sinai NYU (free tuition) Rochester Pittsburgh Jefferson Johns Hopkins (free tuition) U Virginia Duke USF Morsani Miami Vanderbilt Washington University (in St. Louis-almost a guaranteed interview with your stats). Northwestern U Michigan Cincinnati Case Western Mayo

Thank you for your insight. This helps a ton!

 

[Guacamolerat]

I think it would be helpful for you to create a LinkedIn account and search for current students of the medical schools you plan to apply to. I think looking at their undergraduate experiences and how long they did them for will give you a more robust idea of what schools you may be a competitive applicant to.

Though not all students will have been traditional students, just seeing the caliber of EC profiles should give you a rough idea of where you sit.

Thank you!

 

[Guacamolerat]

Your hours are adequate for screening purposes. Service oriented schools including Georgetown, Loyola and Creighton expect several hundred hours each of clinical and non clinical volunteering. At top tier schools you will be competing with applicants with many more hours. Also, some of the schools on your list will "yield protect" (they assume you will attend a top tier school due to your high stats). However, there are some schools that love high stat applicants. I suggest these schools:
UConn
Quinnipiac
Vermont
Tufts
Yale
Hofstra
Einstein (free tuition)
Mount Sinai
NYU (free tuition)
Rochester
Pittsburgh
Jefferson
Johns Hopkins (free tuition)
U Virginia
Duke
USF Morsani
Miami
Vanderbilt
Washington University (in St. Louis-almost a guaranteed interview with your stats).
Northwestern
U Michigan
Cincinnati
Case Western
Mayo

Faha, could you potentially look over my current list? I have edited my original list using your recommendations, and am struggling to fill in the last three spots.

Currently, I have
Wake Forest
Quinnipiac / Netter
Penn State
Vermont / Larner
Temple / Katz
Loyola / Stritch
Jefferson / Sidney Kimmel
Indiana
Creighton
UConn
Cincinnati
Miami / Miller
Tufts
Georgetown
Case Western
Albert Einstein
Hofstra / Zucker
Rochester
USF / Morsani
Mayo Clinic Alix
Yale
NYU Grossman

And am deciding between
Johns Hopkins
Vanderbilt
University of Pennsylvania / Perelman
Northwestern / Feinberg
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
University of Virginia
Pittsburgh
University of Michigan

I kept WF, Loyola, Indiana, Creighton, and Georgetown because historically Notre Dame grads have had high acceptances to those schools
I've also kept Penn State and Temple because I feel I fit strongly with their missions. My app is primarily centered on trust, presence, continuity, familiarity, teaching, and care built around the individual person. (I also applied blindly because I took MCAT 5/22 and Penn State was my throw away school)

What do you recommend? I wouldn't say my app is research heavy, I have no pubs or posters. Research was definitely important for my app, but most definitely not a top priority. If a PM would be better, please let me know.

 

[Faha]

Remove Wake Forest, Penn State (do not submit secondary), Indiana and Temple since they will "yield protect" with your stats. Add all the other schools you are considering instead.

 

[Guacamolerat]

Remove Wake Forest, Penn State (do not submit secondary), Indiana and Temple since they will "yield protect" with your stats. Add all the other schools you are considering instead.

Perfect, thank you! I appreciate the help a ton.

 

[butterflypie]

Remove Wake Forest, Penn State (do not submit secondary), Indiana and Temple since they will "yield protect" with your stats. Add all the other schools you are considering instead.

@Faha Sorry to hop on another person's post but I saw this comment and would really appreciate your advice. I have a 3.92 and 520, would you expect Wake Forest and Temple to yield protect for my stats (slightly lower)? And would it be better for me to not submit secondaries for them and instead add higher tier schools like Tufts and Case Western? Thank you!

 

[Faha]

@Faha Sorry to hop on another person's post but I saw this comment and would really appreciate your advice. I have a 3.92 and 520, would you expect Wake Forest and Temple to yield protect for my stats (slightly lower)? And would it be better for me to not submit secondaries for them and instead add higher tier schools like Tufts and Case Western? Thank you!

The 90th percentile MCAT for Wake Forest is 517 and for Temple 518 so they would probably "yield protect".

 

[butterflypie]

The 90th percentile MCAT for Wake Forest is 517 and for Temple 518 so they would probably "yield protect".

Thank you!