Medical What schools should I apply to?

[Goro]

Good afternoon! I am looking to apply this upcoming cycle (or the following) and was hoping to get some feedback on my school list. I am willing to take delay applying by a year to apply for two year research programs and apply in 2021 instead of this June. What are y'alls thoughts?

cGPA and sGPA: 3.74/3.69
MCAT score(s) and breakdown: 515
State of residence: (will apply to state school)
Ethnicity and/or race: White Hispanic
Undergraduate institution or category: unranked, Humanities major

Clinical experience (volunteer and non-volunteer):
- 130 hours of clinical volunteering (taking vitals, running small test, blood glucose, urine tests, etc)
- 130 hours of medical Spanish interpreting (native Speaker) volunteer in FM, IM, Endocrinology, Derm, PM&R, Psych
- 350 hours as paid medical assistant (hired at the clinic where I was a volunteer)

Research experience and productivity: no research experience and wondering if taking a year off to boost this would make schools on my list more realistic

Shadowing experience and specialties represented:
- 50 hours of surgery shadowing
- projected 50-60 FM shadowing (postponed due to coronavirus)

Non-clinical volunteering:
- 75 hours as weekly mentor for underprivileged elementary schoolers through mentorship program (ran for 9 months or so)
- 60 hours at homeless shelter where I help set up sleeping quarters, meal services, and interpret for our clients (cut short due to coronavirus, projecting another 90)

Other extracurricular activities (including athletics, military service, gap year activities, leadership, teaching, etc)
- 450 hours playing college basketball during one season
- 500 hours of dog training (hobby)

School List: want to keep it around 22-24 schools and my state school.
- Michigan
- Pitt
- Emory
- Ohio State
- BU
- Rochester
- Cincy
- Hofstra
- Dartmouth
- Iowa
- Creighton
- Quinnipiac/Netter
- Wake Forest
- Wayne State
- MCW
- Tulane
- EVMS
- Vermont
- VCU
- Western Michigan
- Wisconsin
- Duke
- Case
- WashU OR Yale (my super mega dream/reach)

Here is a more realistic list:
CA residents only: ALL UCs, but UCR ONLY IF you're from the Inland Empire
Mt Sinai
U VA
Mayo (maybe)
U MI (maybe)
Case
U VM
U IA
U Toledo
USF Morsani
UCF
U Cincy
Miami
St. Louis
Albany
Albert Einstein
Rochester
Rosy Franklin
NYMC
EVMS
Wake Forest
Jefferson
Temple
Drexel
Creighton
Tulane
USC/Keck
Dartmouth
Seton Hall
MCW
Loyola
Emory
BU
Duke
Pitt
Hofstra
Tufts
Oakland-B
Western MI
Uniformed Services University/Hebert (just be aware of the military service commitment)
Nova MD
CUSM IF you're from CA
Kaiser IF you're from CA
Your state school(s).

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[Goro]

Thank you for the list! Do you think I could apply this June or do I need to take a year to conduct research? Also, do you feel I am competitive for programs like Mayo, Case and Michigan with no research?

Research is overrated.

But no, no and no for those three schools

 

[Goro]

So Duke, Sinai, and Pitt are also off the list since they’re top research programs?

Probably, but I can't say impossible. Suggest inquiring in the school specific lists, and also see what the Admissions websites say about research

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Were those schools available at the AAMC Virtual Fair last Friday? Did you get a chance to communicate with the admissions recruiters there? Have you done any outreach to diversity/student services officers? How about AMSA and LMSA officers? It's not just about whether these schools have top research programs; it's also about the right level of student support, especially for underrepresented students. Who's to say you are not good enough for your reach schools (well, we do have experience among us who serve on admissions committees so we're as good as anyone)? I just recommend that you really know whether the school you are attracted to really is the right school for you.

I would say agree research is a nice experience if you have it. It does not overcome the strength of your biomedical science core or the totality of meaningful experiences that allow us to decide on your readiness for a career in medicine.

Thank you for the response! Yes! I was able to speak to various reps from the AAMC fair and have a phone appointment soon with someone in admissions from a school on my list to go over my application and competitiveness for their program.

In regards to reaching out to LMSA or diversity officers, what would I be looking to do other than network and maybe put my application out there? I have heard of people doing what you're suggesting and successfully interviewing/getting accepted but I am not too sure what it is exactly that they have done? I have seen that Yale and Case both have strong underserved programs that I am interested in (Downs Fellowship and Urban Health Initiative, respectively) and was interested in applying for these reasons but do realize research seems to be a must for these programs. 😳