WAMC

[caffinelover123]

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I’m planning on applying in the 2025-26 cycle, so this is kinda early, but I wanted kind of a reality check/any advice on what I can do to improve my application to have my best chance. I'm planning for MCAT retake in Jan 24th. Pls lmk if any questions. Any/all advice is appreciated, this process is very confusing to me.

1. cGPA and sGPA as calculated by AMCAS or AACOMA: cGPA: 3.895, sGPA: 3.85
2. MCAT score(s) and breakdown: 512 (127/129/127/129)
3. State of residence or country of citizenship (if non-US): California
4. Ethnicity and/or race: ORM, Asian Female
5. Undergraduate institution or category: UC Davis
6. Clinical experience (volunteer and non-volunteer):
   1. Volunteering at free clinic (300 hrs) aimed towards underserved populations --> vitals, helping in case management spreadsheets, scribing, communicating w/ docs/med students, dispensing medications (under the direction of physician), giving vouchers, learning the EHR system, helping prepare lab samples.
      
      2.) Hospice (300 hrs) --> visiting patients @ homes, running errands, communicating with their care team, providing comfort, attending their meetings w/ the care team (as an observer), also volunteering at a senior living center w/ hospice patients
7. Research experience and productivity:
   1. Research (400 hrs) --> will present at my undergraduate conference, idk about any publications, since I'm under a very new grad student
8. Shadowing experience and specialties represented:
   1. Psychiatrist shadowing (12 hours)
9. Non-clinical volunteering:
   1. Food service volunteering (300 hrs) --> basically helping serve food to unhoused population, helping clean up, chat w/ them, etc.
   2. Leadership exp (50 hrs) --> nutrition director at a undergrad club. help present nutrition info to members of club, also give information sessions to ppl coming to our food pantry (in college), and dining commons in college
   3. Teaching underserved elementary students about nutrition & health & prevention of certain diseases (same club as before) (50 hours)
10. Other extracurricular activities (including athletics, military service, gap year activities, leadership, teaching, etc): Definitely the weakest part of my app right now
    1. Learning Assistant (50 hours) --> biochem class
       
       2.) will be starting volunteering at a non-profit organization for homeless shelter/organization. Will be helping in the elementary school the children of the unhoused individuals go to, help in distributing items/food to the individuals, etc.
       
       3.) Crisis Text Line (100 hrs)
11. Relevant honors or awards
    1. Dean’s List every semester
12. Anything else not listed you think might be important. LORS: PI, hospice volunteer coordinator, Biochem prof, GE class prof Genetic class prof. PI and hospice will be strong, others will be average. Also does hospice volunteering count as clinical experience? I was told by my premed advisor that it doesn't...

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Tell me more about your shadowing and work with physicians. It appears you have more hours than just the ones with the psychiatrist as I'm guessing you might have some opportunities with the free clinic or hospice. 12 hours looks very light.

 

[Faha]

You should accumulate another 40 hours of physician shadowing (including primary care).

 

[caffinelover123]

Tell me more about your shadowing and work with physicians. It appears you have more hours than just the ones with the psychiatrist as I'm guessing you might have some opportunities with the free clinic or hospice. 12 hours looks very light.

Yeah, I do "shadow" in the clinic, but I'm planning on getting more shadowing hours. How does the rest of my application look? And how many shadowing hours is ideal?

 

[caffinelover123]

You should accumulate another 40 hours of physician shadowing (including primary care).

Ahh ok. Yeah, I'm trying to get more hours. Is the rest of the parts of the app ok?

 

[Faha]

Ahh ok. Yeah, I'm trying to get more hours. Is the rest of the parts of the app ok?

Yes.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Yeah, I do "shadow" in the clinic, but I'm planning on getting more shadowing hours. How does the rest of my application look? And how many shadowing hours is ideal?

You asked for major areas, so you know what you need to do. Keep building on your other experiences, and start networking with schools. Read the articles on our website if you have specific questions.