WAMC, VA Resident ORM, 4.0/522, T50 Undergrad

[NTA]

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GPA/MCAT​

4.00 cGPA & 522 (130/130/132/130)

Demographics​

VA resident, Asian male

Clinical Experience​

*dermatology scribe
*screener at free clinic
*shadowing 8 specialties total

Research Experience​

Labs​

*remote lab work preparing stimuli for experiments
*main lab at undergrad, worked on probably half a dozen studies
*summer internship at med school hospital
*remote data analysis and grant + paper authoring (pharmacology)

Posters/Publications​

*1 1st-author paper
*1 3rd-author paper
*1 humanities paper
*2 posters

Non-clinical Volunteering (weak spot)​

*online chat counselor / active listener
*Textbook author

Work/Other​

*Psych/Marketing Consultant
*Tutoring
*President of 2 clubs at school

School List (41)​

Tulane
MCWisconsin
Loyola Stritch
GWU
EVMS (in-state)
VCU (in-state)
Creighton
Georgetown
Sidney Kimmel
Emory
Albert Einstein
USC Keck
USF Morsani
Tufts
Brown
Dartmouth
Rochester
CWRU
Kaiser
Pittsburgh
BU
Zucker/Hofstra
UVA
UCLA
UCSF
CCLCM
Icahn SOM
UMich
Duke
Northwestern
Mayo
Cornell
Vandy
Stanford
Harvard
Columbia
WashU
Yale
JHU
NYU
Perelman/UPenn

I am planning to take a gap year, I'll most likely find a research position and maybe just do a bit more online volunteering during it.

 

[Bonne Nuit]

Moved to WAMC forum

 

[chilly_md]

You are correct that you have very low non-clinical volunteering. I would recommend doing in-person activities instead of a texting service if you have limited time. Try volunteering at your local homeless shelter, women’s shelter, soup kitchen, food bank, working with foster youth. I would actually advise focusing solely on this during your gap year as opposed to getting a research position (since it seems you don’t need the income).

 

[NTA]

You are correct that you have very low non-clinical volunteering. I would recommend doing in-person activities instead of a texting service if you have limited time. Try volunteering at your local homeless shelter, women’s shelter, soup kitchen, food bank, working with foster youth. I would actually advise focusing solely on this during your gap year as opposed to getting a research position (since it seems you don’t need the income).

We have a club at schools which works with homeless shelters to provide resume/interview preparation -- the club was originally going to be discontinued but I'm thinking of starting it back up and trying to round up more people to keep it going. Also may do some minor work with a nonprofit called Back on My Feet, where they use running as a gateway to connect the homeless to healthier lives and eventually offer job prep as well.

I am looking at clinical + research jobs like a Clinical Research Coordinator for my gap year -- I feel like I could get probably another 150 hours with the activities mentioned above. Volunteering full-time over the gap year doesn't appeal to me too much when I could be making money to pay for medical school; I most likely won't qualify for aid but the money would certainly help as we aren't rich by any means.

Does that seem like a good plan? I'm not sure how much non-clinical experience is really needed but I want to make sure that the time/effort I put in is by my own will and not because I feel like I "have to," and I'm hoping that those hours + what I already have is sufficient, especially when I do have the clinical volunteering at a free clinic.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

The more community outreach you can do that is not linked to a campus activity, the better. You have high-quality things on your potential app, so don't cheapen it with minimal community service.

 

[chilly_md]

We have a club at schools which works with homeless shelters to provide resume/interview preparation -- the club was originally going to be discontinued but I'm thinking of starting it back up and trying to round up more people to keep it going. Also may do some minor work with a nonprofit called Back on My Feet, where they use running as a gateway to connect the homeless to healthier lives and eventually offer job prep as well.

I am looking at clinical + research jobs like a Clinical Research Coordinator for my gap year -- I feel like I could get probably another 150 hours with the activities mentioned above. Volunteering full-time over the gap year doesn't appeal to me too much when I could be making money to pay for medical school; I most likely won't qualify for aid but the money would certainly help as we aren't rich by any means.

Does that seem like a good plan? I'm not sure how much non-clinical experience is really needed but I want to make sure that the time/effort I put in is by my own will and not because I feel like I "have to," and I'm hoping that those hours + what I already have is sufficient, especially when I do have the clinical volunteering at a free clinic.

It is up to you if you are not that interested in it. You will likely be fine, but remove several schools on your list that value service such as Tulane, Loyola, MCW, Georgetown. They would prefer an applicant with lower stats who better fits their mission and would ultimately matriculate. SLU over Creighton would be a good swap.

 

[NTA]

The more community outreach you can do that is not linked to a campus activity, the better. You have high-quality things on your potential app, so don't cheapen it with minimal community service.

Gotcha, that's good advice. The "club" is actually a national nonprofit for which we opened a chapter on campus, so not sure if that changes its perception. The club is focused on community outreach, basically for homeless shelters in our city.

Certainly don't want a glaring weak point to overrule a lot of my other larger commitments so I'll work on this! I think I'll have some strong stories as well as 300-350+ hours of non-clinical service by the time I submit.

 

[NTA]

It is up to you if you are not that interested in it. You will likely be fine, but remove several schools on your list that value service such as Tulane, Loyola, MCW, Georgetown. They would prefer an applicant with lower stats who better fits their mission and would ultimately matriculate. SLU over Creighton would be a good swap.

That's super helpful -- I'm trying to put in some lower-stat schools just in case the crapshoot with higher-ranked schools doesn't work out, but I'm not too familiar with their individual missions. Any other additions for that 510-514 MCAT range? My application is definitely research-heavy (especially with gap year plans) so I don't want to aim for service-oriented schools. Is there a way to quickly know what schools value (work w/ underrep. populations, leadership, service, research, etc.) or is MSAR the quickest method?

 

[chilly_md]

That's super helpful -- I'm trying to put in some lower-stat schools just in case the crapshoot with higher-ranked schools doesn't work out, but I'm not too familiar with their individual missions. Any other additions for that 510-514 MCAT range? My application is definitely research-heavy (especially with gap year plans) so I don't want to aim for service-oriented schools. Is there a way to quickly know what schools value (work w/ underrep. populations, leadership, service, research, etc.) or is MSAR the quickest method?

MSAR may describe the schools' missions more but it varies. The 510-514 range is not good to go off of as a school like Temple may be there and they usually pass on high stat applicants as they historically have not ended up matriculating.

Some other schools that prefer higher MCATs that would be good to include:

Wisconsin (their OOS students are usually high stat)
Iowa
Baylor and UTSW (they are on TMDAS though, but the 10% OOS is for high stat, research heavy applicants).

You will need to remove some schools as you shouldn't be applying to more than 35. Boston is proud of having a large safety net hospital and the closest thing you have to that is 100 hours as a patient screener at a free clinic. Keep just 2 from the the Harvard, Yale, Penn, Cornell, Columbia set. UCSF is very expensive and doesn't have the Geffen scholarship like UCLA, so perhaps remove them too.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Is there a way to quickly know what schools value (work w/ underrep. populations, leadership, service, research, etc.) or is MSAR the quickest method?

Adding to @chilly_md : TL/DR answer is... "all the medical schools do." However, some are more explicit because their mission is. The problem is how your experience fits or complements what schools offer. This is where networking with current students or recent alumni comes in very handy prior to applying. Otherwise, just search the websites or seek student club leaders with AMSA, SNMA, etc.

 

[NTA]

Adding to @chilly_md : TL/DR answer is... "all the medical schools do." However, some are more explicit because their mission is. The problem is how your experience fits or complements what schools offer. This is where networking with current students or recent alumni comes in very handy prior to applying. Otherwise, just search the websites or seek student club leaders with AMSA, SNMA, etc.

This is really helpful, thank you so much to the both of you!

 

[ujsc]

Prune the CA school list. Some aren't great with OOS. I would definitely focus on increasing volunteer hrs either shelter or even hospice.

 

[NTA]

Prune the CA school list. Some aren't great with OOS. I would definitely focus on increasing volunteer hrs either shelter or even hospice.

Taking off Keck because their OOS acceptance rate is <1%, and UCSF. I'll shoot my shot at Kaiser and LA.

I'm planning to work as a CRC in my gap year so I feel like clinical experience is enough, trying to get some non-clinical in ways that match the rest of my app if possible and don't seem checkbox. I mentioned a nonprofit centered around running, as well as a national nonprofit helping the homeless community. Isn't it better to delve into those than look for other stuff? I'm also running out of space in my activities section lol so I'd rather get more hours in the stuff I've already been a part of or in things I can group together due to similarity.

 

[NTA]

@Mr.Smile12 @chilly_md Could I get your advice on one more thing? I'm fortunate enough to be able to select from 2 experiences in my final year of college: one is a paid scribing/MA position at a private practice where I'd also get to do allergy-related procedures like patch testing & allergy shots so it seems really cool (20 hrs/wk). The other is a volunteering position at a free clinic where I'd probably get a mix of clinical and non-clinical volunteering (maybe 10-15 hrs/wk).

Based on my application's current non-clinical volunteering + the activities I plan to do this year (running NP + homeless shelter resume/interview prep), would you say schools would look for more unpaid involvement e.g. with a free clinic, or would a part-time job taking an active role in patient care be better to talk about? The job is also with a doctor that cured a condition I had (not life-threatening but certainly lifestyle-altering) so it makes for a pretty good story in my mind.

Thoughts on what direction to take this? The volunteering opportunity would be to fix my "low" hours but the paid opportunity is slightly more exciting to me (prospect of saving up money + rarer opportunities) and would give me way more clinical hours too, although I'd enjoy both. Not sure which part of my app is currently weaker so any insight is very much appreciated!

 

[chilly_md]

Free clinic. It provides a broad view of medicine and you already have had specialized experiences with your scribe and shadowing hours.

 

[NTA]

Free clinic. It provides a broad view of medicine and you already have had specialized experiences with your scribe and shadowing hours.

So are those hours enough for clinical experiences? I felt like maybe having a paid specialized position was worth more in some regard, and the job is also harder to get so I thought it would set me apart. I haven't gotten paid in any clinical position yet.

Also if I didn't mention it before, shadowing was across like 10 specialties, around a day or two with each (part of an organized program). Not sure if that changes anything.

 

[chilly_md]

So are those hours enough for clinical experiences? I felt like maybe having a paid specialized position was worth more in some regard, and the job is also harder to get so I thought it would set me apart. I haven't gotten paid in any clinical position yet.

Also if I didn't mention it before, shadowing was across like 10 specialties, around a day or two with each (part of an organized program). Not sure if that changes anything.

Yes even if it is 5 hrs/week, that comes out to about 250 hours over the next year. Working with uninsured or underinsured patients is a different experience than working in a specialized, private practice office. Being selected for a job doesn’t really make a difference to the reader and would not set you apart. There are many applicants who land similar roles.