Advice for when to apply, school list, and what to highlight in application

[Doctorswithclassnotcrass]

Hey all, I am a first-time applicant from small-town South Dakota, URM (25% Hispanic), I have around 500 hours of lab research (1 pending paper that I will be on, poster at ACS national meeting and regional meeting), multiple leadership positions (See resume link below), 70 hours of diverse shadowing experiences, and volunteering (~250 hrs) in clinical and community settings. However, I do not yet have clinical hours, but this summer I will be working on a local Indian reservation in their ED as a nursing assistant. I have a 516 MCAT (132/123/130/131) and 3.98 GPA as a biology major (4.0 science). I am thinking of applying to the following schools:

University of South Dakota SOM
University of Kansas SOM
University of Colorado SOM
University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine
University of Utah SOM
University of Washington SOM
University of Michigan SOM
NYU
Wash U St. Louis
Mayo
Northwestern (free secondary)
Baylor (maybe)
Duke (maybe)
TCU & UNTHSC (maybe)
Creighton (have seen they may screen subscores under 125)

My question for you all is this, do you think it is worth waiting until the end of June/beginning of July to submit my primary application so I could have ~200 hours of patient care on the reservation? Or will this detrimentally affect my chances of getting into the top tier schools with rolling admission? Being an SD resident, USD is my best shot and they say they look at every application twice before making any decisions, so everyone is equally considered no matter when they submit/interview. If I want to try to guarantee a spot there, waiting might be in my best interest, but this may hurt me for other schools. Thoughts...? I would also appreciate any critiques or suggestions for my school list and what might be great things to highlight in my application. Thanks in advance for the insights.

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[Skeletorr]

I would omit the name of your university, to protect your anonymity.

 

[Doctorswithclassnotcrass]

I would omit the name of your university, to protect your anonymity.

Thanks, Didn't think to do it within, just did the part about my degree If you had any suggestions, I would love to hear them. Thanks for the pointer!

 

[Faha]

It would be better to have that 200 hours of clinical volunteering on the reservation on your application.
Remove U Washington since they accept less than 1% of applicants who are not from state in the Northwest. Utah also accepts few non residents who are not from the state or region. Add a few more schools such as:
Medical College Wisconsin
Rosalind Franklin
Western Michigan
TCU-UNT
Duke
Miami
Arizona (Phoenix and Tucson)

 

[Doctorswithclassnotcrass]

No problem! I know where that is btw. I'm ~1hr away haha. I'm applying this cycle too, so I'm in a similar boat. I would remove U of Washington. They accept few OOS.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[Doctorswithclassnotcrass]

It would be better to have that 200 hours of clinical volunteering on the reservation on your application.
Remove U Washington since they accept less than 1% of applicants who are not from state in the Northwest. Utah also accepts few non residents who are not from the state or region. Add a few more schools such as:
Medical College Wisconsin
Rosalind Franklin
Western Michigan
TCU-UNT
Duke
Miami
Arizona (Phoenix and Tucson)

I am glad to hear that because I was thinking the same way. I think it would likely also add to my PS and give me a better shot at some of the schools that want to see patient care. As for U of Washington, I have relatives in Wyoming (part of WWAMI) and would love to live in the West, so was wondering if saying this on my secondaries for them might allow me a better look...? Maybe they would not care. I will look into those other schools, thanks for the advice!!

 

[Faha]

Having relatives in Wyoming will not help you in any way with U Washington.

 

[Doctorswithclassnotcrass]

Having relatives in Wyoming will not help you in any way with U Washington.

Noted, thank you for the advice!!