Medical What schools should I apply to as first-time applicant?

[Mr.Smile12]

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Hi all! I'm currently attempting to finalize my list for the upcoming cycle. Below are my stats and the list of schools I'm planning on applying to.

• Year in school-- Graduated in May 2019
• Degree-- Biochemistry
• State of residence-- Virginia
• Cumulative GPA-- 3.98
• Science GPA-- 3.98
• MCAT Score-- 504
• Research –- Two poster presentations for a class called Phage Hunters
  • 180 hours as a student researcher, isolating secondary metabolites from different hardwood species
• Volunteering (clinical) – 40 hours of clinical volunteering in remote areas of Panama through a medical abroad trip
• Physician shadowing – 40 hours shadowing an Orthopedic surgery
  • Observed three surgeries (two partial meniscectomies and one ACL Reconstruction)
• Non-clinical volunteering-- 32 hours through various different means
  • Free chemistry tutoring
  • Food Pantry
  • Performing chemistry demos for elementary schoolers
  • Helping with the Boy Scouts Chemistry Merit Badge
• Extracurricular activities-- Member of the Professional Chemistry Fraternity
  • Held several committee leadership positions, as well as an executive position
• Leadership-- Totaled 550+ hours in TAing for various subjects: Biology, Chemistry, Biochemistry, Biochemistry Lab
• Employment history-- Two different summer internships with the USPS (800 hours)
  • Currently have a patent pending for the first project I worked on
  • Over 500 hours as an Oral Surgeron Assistant, currently working still
• Some extra stuff
  • BLS certification
  • HIPAA certification
  • My Biochemistry degree is certified by the ASBMB
  • Award for the outstanding senior in biochemistry
  • Member of one honor society
  • Lean six sigma yellow belt trained
• Immediate family members in medicine? No
• Specialty of interest-- Open minded to everything

The list of schools I'm applying to:

VCU

Eastern Virginia Medical School

Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine

Quinnipiac

Marshall University

Medical College of Wisconsin

West Virginia University

Indiana University School of Medicine

The University at Toledo College of Medicine

University of Arizona College of Medicine

University of Illinois College of Medicine

University of Kentucky

University of Louisville

University of Minnesota

Wayne State

University of South Carolina

VCOM

PCOM

CCOM

KSU-COM

Touro University, California

DMUCOM

Nova

TCOM

NYIT-COM

LMU-DCOM

Campbell University SOM



Thank you!

You need clinical volunteering that occurred in the United States. 40 hours of just working in Panama on a medical mission won't be enough (in general). Also, any primary care shadowing? 32 hours of non-clinical community service I don't think is a lot to impress me.

Also, your poster presentations for your class is just coursework, not typical hypothesis-driven research.

 

[Goro]

Lot's of donations on that list, OP. Here is a more realistic one:
Temple (maybe)
SLU (maybe)
WVU if from the Appalachians
Oakland U Beaumont
Wayne State
MCW
Loma Linda (only if you are SDA or a very devout Christian)
Loyola
Rosy Franklin
TCU/UNT
Uniformed Services University/Hebert (just be aware of the military service commitment)
Your state school(s).

Any DO school. I can't recommend Nova, Wm Carey, BCOM, ICOM and LUCOM, for different reasons. MSUCOM? Read up on Larry Nasser and you decide. LMU has an accreditation warning, which concerns me. CalHS is too new and appears to be too limited in rotations sites. UIW refuses to post their Boards scores, which is fishy.