Would being focused at something make an applicant "unfit" for the school?

[deleted988749]

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Say an applicant is very strong in research. Even if they have a decent or even exceptional amount of hours of clinical and non-clinical, their research just overshadows the rest of their applicant. Would service oriented schools see them as not fitting for their mission?

Another case could be if the applicant has a lot of experience serving the Chinese or Spanish population. In schools that reside in an area without much of those people, wouldn't it also be factored into the fit factor?

 

[deleted480308]

Say an applicant is very strong in research. Even if they have a decent or even exceptional amount of hours of clinical and non-clinical, their research just overshadows the rest of their applicant. Would service oriented schools see them as not fitting for their mission?

Another case could be if the applicant has a lot of experience serving the Chinese or Spanish population. In schools that reside in an area without much of those people, wouldn't it also be factored into the fit factor?

what is this applicant's gpa and mcat?

 

[IMGASMD]

Say an applicant is very strong in research. Even if they have a decent or even exceptional amount of hours of clinical and non-clinical, their research just overshadows the rest of their applicant. Would service oriented schools see them as not fitting for their mission?

Another case could be if the applicant has a lot of experience serving the Chinese or Spanish population. In schools that reside in an area without much of those people, wouldn't it also be factored into the fit factor?

Did you publish? Where? You’re the first author? Hours without results are just hours.

If you show commitment to underserved population, I think you’re good.

 

[tessellations]

n=1, but I had a more research oriented app, with fairly cookie cutter service, and got an interview at a school that highly values service as part of their mission. Was surprised to get an II there. I’m above their medians for both MCAT/GPA, but within reason.

 

[Blueprint Med School]

AFAIK, no school will take your dedication towards research or service negatively. They might prefer that you have more service or more research, but they'll never think "this applicant likes research too much, so I will not grant them an II."

Kevin W, MCAT Tutor
Med School Tutors

 

[LizzyM]

AFAIK, no school will take your dedication towards research or service negatively. They might prefer that you have more service or more research, but they'll never think "this applicant likes research too much, so I will not grant them an II."

Kevin W, MCAT Tutor
Med School Tutors

Perhaps, but some schools may say, "we can give this one an interview but they aren't coming here... more likely to choose x because it is a better fit. Let's interview someone who is more likely to be a good fit with our mission." When schools can interview only a small proportion of those who apply, they can be-- indeed, they NEED to be-- very picky.

 

[deleted988749]

Perhaps, but some schools may say, "we can give this one an interview but they aren't coming here... more likely to choose x because it is a better fit. Let's interview someone who is more likely to be a good fit with our mission." When schools can interview only a small proportion of those who apply, they can be-- indeed, they NEED to be-- very picky.

Are you agreeing with my concern? I'm a freshman but next year I'll have to decide what activity I want to focus on. I have 200 volunteer hours so far so I think I cross the minimum. I can either keep doing the research I just started this semester which would likely lead to my name on the lesser authors and an independent project, or focus on getting a lot of clinical and nonclinical hours.

 

[deleted988749]

Do both
1) well rounded application is always good
2) Superstars are those who excel at both
3) dont leave 200 hours as a freshman and think 3 years from now they will be as fresh. You need small long term commitment

I can probably keep doing research and get a good amount of hours. Another problem is that I'm planning on studying Spanish in college and this summer I have the opportunity to work specifically with the Spanish population in a hospital and I'm probably going to travel abroad in the future. Spanish might look cool at first since Texas and UCs want it, but if you think about it UCs are hard as hell to get into and Texas med schools won't even consider you if you're OOS, so having this EC could actually backfire me hard for midwest schools.

 

[longhaul3]

I can probably keep doing research and get a good amount of hours. Another problem is that I'm planning on studying Spanish in college and this summer I have the opportunity to work specifically with the Spanish population in a hospital and I'm probably going to travel abroad in the future. Spanish might look cool at first since Texas and UCs want it, but if you think about it UCs are hard as hell to get into and Texas med schools won't even consider you if you're OOS, so having this EC could actually backfire me hard for midwest schools.

Don't overthink this. Nobody is going to think you're unfit for a midwestern medical school because you learned to speak Spanish.

 

[caterwaiter]

Are you agreeing with my concern? I'm a freshman but next year I'll have to decide what activity I want to focus on. I have 200 volunteer hours so far so I think I cross the minimum. I can either keep doing the research I just started this semester which would likely lead to my name on the lesser authors and an independent project, or focus on getting a lot of clinical and nonclinical hours.

I think why you choose to do what you do is as important as what you do. First, I'd do things that genuinely interest you. If research is your jam and you love exploring it, absolutely keep doing it!

I can probably keep doing research and get a good amount of hours. Another problem is that I'm planning on studying Spanish in college and this summer I have the opportunity to work specifically with the Spanish population in a hospital and I'm probably going to travel abroad in the future. Spanish might look cool at first since Texas and UCs want it, but if you think about it UCs are hard as hell to get into and Texas med schools won't even consider you if you're OOS, so having this EC could actually backfire me hard for midwest schools.

I don't think speaking a second language OR having experience with those who don't speak English is ever a bad thing. Going beyond the specific language being spoken, it would show you're willing to step outside of your comfort zone and interact with people who are different from yourself, who have a unique set of needs.

 

[candbgirl]

First of all, speaking Spanish is always a plus. You don’t really think that there are only Spanish speaking people in Texas and California, do you?
You are box checking. You are doing activities based on how it will look on your application. If and when you get interviews and you are asked about your activities, this box checking might blow up in your face. ADCOMS will see right through your grand plan of checking boxes so it looks good.
Find activities that you love to do, that you are passionate about and dive in. Having the attitude of”I have 200 hours now so I think I cross the minimum” isn't good. Spend some time reading WAMC threads. You might be surprised at what other preapplicants are doing to build remarkable applications.

 

[deleted480308]

Are you agreeing with my concern? I'm a freshman but next year I'll have to decide what activity I want to focus on. I have 200 volunteer hours so far so I think I cross the minimum. I can either keep doing the research I just started this semester which would likely lead to my name on the lesser authors and an independent project, or focus on getting a lot of clinical and nonclinical hours.

focus on your gpa. what is it?

 

[LizzyM]

Don't write off learning Spanish just because you don't expect to study medicine in Texas or California

The Midwest includes Chicago which has a about 300,000 people who speak Spanish at home. Iowa has a growing hispanic population, mostly Mexican. https://www.iowadatacenter.org/Publications/latinos2019.pdf
The hispanic population of Wisconsin is centered around Milwaukee (which has a medical school) Hispanic/Latinos in Wisconsin: Overview

You are not obligated to list everything you've ever done on your application. Get some research experience and see how you like it. Take it as far as you can provided that you keep your GPA up and find time for service, and fun, too.

 

[deleted988749]

focus on your gpa. what is it?

It's 4.0 for now, but does it really matter to my question? I'm not dumb enough to sacrifice my GPA for ECs.

 

[deleted988749]

Don't write off learning Spanish just because you don't expect to study medicine in Texas or California

The Midwest includes Chicago which has a about 300,000 people who speak Spanish at home. Iowa has a growing hispanic population, mostly Mexican. https://www.iowadatacenter.org/Publications/latinos2019.pdf
The hispanic population of Wisconsin is centered around Milwaukee (which has a medical school) Hispanic/Latinos in Wisconsin: Overview

You are not obligated to list everything you've ever done on your application. Get some research experience and see how you like it. Take it as far as you can provided that you keep your GPA up and find time for service, and fun, too.

Thank you so much for the information, it really helps. Do you think I could downplay my research for lower tier service-oriented schools?

 

[LizzyM]

It's 4.0 for now, but does it really matter to my question? I'm not dumb enough to sacrifice my GPA for ECs.

Not everyone is as thoughtful as you are and we'll have people with a 2.5 GPA asking this question which ignores the elephant in the room. That's why the question was raised.

Your common application for all schools will be the same across all schools so you'll have that. If you do some research and decide that it is not for you, work on being in the top 15% for MCAT and shoot for schools geared toward producing primary care docs. If you love research and continue with a 4.0 GPA, you might have a good shot at a top research school if you also score a MCAT in the top 2-5% so you'll need to prepare for that exam in such a way that you do very, very well on the exam. That will position you well for admission to the top 20 research schools. During the next year or two, your "job" is to figure what type of school will be a good fit for your interests and talents.

 

[deleted480308]

It's 4.0 for now, but does it really matter to my question? I'm not dumb enough to sacrifice my GPA for ECs.

Lots of people are dumb enough to do that. Keep first things first

 

[Goro]

Just to note that ability in a foreign language is considered a factor of low importance in an AAMC survey of medical school admissions.
Simply having language skills in Spanish will be no help whatsoever in gaining admissions to any medical school. What will help is that you is using your language skills in a way to show motivation and commitment towards medicine, usually by working with an Spanish speaking population in some service capacity. Ideally this would be with an underserved community in a medical setting as translator. However it can be in a non-clinical community service setting such as tutoring or in a social service setting such as a nonprofit working with this population.

No one will care that you speak Spanish unless it is shown you have applied it as above

What my learned colleague is saying walk the walk, don't merely talk the talk.

 

[deleted988749]

Not everyone is as thoughtful as you are and we'll have people with a 2.5 GPA asking this question which ignores the elephant in the room. That's why the question was raised.

Your common application for all schools will be the same across all schools so you'll have that. If you do some research and decide that it is not for you, work on being in the top 15% for MCAT and shoot for schools geared toward producing primary care docs. If you love research and continue with a 4.0 GPA, you might have a good shot at a top research school if you also score a MCAT in the top 2-5% so you'll need to prepare for that exam in such a way that you do very, very well on the exam. That will position you well for admission to the top 20 research schools. During the next year or two, your "job" is to figure what type of school will be a good fit for your interests and talents.

Ok then. gotta buckle up cuz its t20 or bust time