PLEASE DO NOT QUOTE THIS MESSAGE
Hi everyone,
I want to start by saying I am mostly looking for school list critiques/modifications. I've found that it isn't very helpful for me to get too caught up in my "odds" of getting in. With that said, I know that being realistic with my school list is important and I am appreciative of any constructive feedback. I heavily favor an MD school, so I will not be applying to DO schools this round. If I don't get in this cycle I will reapply next year with a mix of MD/DO.
GPA
cGPA: 3.40
sGPA: 3.32
Trend according to AMCAS unit cutoffs for each grade level:
cGPA: 2.33/ 3.31/ 3.87/ 3.75
sGPA: 2.19/ 3.30/ 3.70/ 3.70
Strong upward trend. Health issues during my freshman and sophomore years contributed to a poor GPA. I left my first university to pursue treatment. Worked hard to recover and take classes at community college for two years before transferring to UC Davis. During my time in community college and after transferring, I took a total of 134 units and got all A's, A-'s, and B+'s except one C in multivariable calculus early on in community college. Once I got to UCD, I really started looking at health careers.
MCAT
522 (130/130/131/131)
Saved up while working as an EMT and moved in with my parents for 6 months while studying full-time, since I felt it was super important to do well on this test. Really happy with the result! I recognize how privileged I am to have been able to study this long full-time without working. I tried to stay involved in my community by volunteering throughout.
Residence/Race
CA- would highly prefer to stay here but am applying broadly and keeping an open mind.
white male, ORM
Undergraduate
University of California, Davis - Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Clinical Experience
~250 hours - covid testing technician at my university's mass testing facility during my Junior year (Healthcare Experience)
~300 hours - physical therapy aide during summer before and half of my senior year (Patient Care Experience)
~2100 hours - EMT last year after graduating college. ~950 hrs of this was spent doing basic life support care (usually lower acuity with chronically ill patients going from hospital to skilled nursing facility), and ~1150 hrs spent as a critical care transport EMT where I assisted a nurse in transporting a more severely ill patient that needs en route medications, ventilators, etc). (Patient Care Experience)
- no clinical volunteering. Hoped to fit this in but wasn't able to find something in time. Any advice on this or just opinions on whether it will be a big negative on my app?
Research Experience
almost none. Did a summer internship during high school in a lab where I assisted with experiments and presented a poster. Currently looking for work as a research assistant since I think it is the area of my application that can be most improved if I don't get in this cycle (and I am interested in getting involved in it!)
Shadowing Experience
~70 hours spread out over the last year. One experience was with a vascular surgeon whom I was able to shadow extensively and build a mentor-like relationship with. The same is true for an OB doctor I have known since I was young who I was able to shadow several times. Shadowed one ED doc, but only for one shift.
Non-Clinical Volunteering
over several years:
~200 hours volunteering at an animal shelter and a seeing-eye dog facility for people who are blind - cleaning, animal care, and adoption counseling where I interfaced with community members, linked them to animals based on their wants, and educated them/directed them to resources about animal care. Despite working with animals, my role required lots of communication with staff/clients/other volunteers to coordinate care.
~90 hours volunteering with local parks department to try to establish ecological balance by removing invasive species and maintaining trails.
Other Experiences/Notes
While being treated for my health issues after leaving my initial university, I had a couple of different jobs to see where my interests lay. Led a class of behaviorally challenged children during summer school to ensure safety and tailor their learning to their individual education goals. Spent about ~6 months interning at a software company where I did market research and led focus groups to give feedback to the product development team.
I felt lost for a while about what I wanted, but ultimately I see this time as an important part of my development. It is frustrating to feel that it is holding me back now (since my GPA was atrocious, it didn't help that I was an engineering major), but ultimately my own health issues helped me to build the empathy I would like to bring to my patients someday. Still working on a way to acknowledge this period of my life while focusing on what I have accomplished since then, so any advice on that score is appreciated.
For what it's worth, I feel I am going to have some really strong letters - 2 from doctors (vascular surgeon/OB) I shadowed extensively and have mentor-mentee relationships with, 1 from a pediatric oncologist whose clinic I volunteered in during high school after he treated my brother's cancer, 1 from a nurse I worked with and did a really good job with as an EMT, and 1 from the volunteer coordinator at the animal shelter.
School List
I built my school list by first adding all my state schools and then using Goro's posts about schools that tend to favor reinvention. I know there are a lot right now (probably too many). Asterisks mark schools where I fall above at least the 10th percentile of the matriculated applicants' GPA. They are in no particular order.
Please let me know of any additions/subtractions or just general thoughts on my application/school list! I really appreciate any and all feedback.
Would especially love any input from @Goro and @UCSFgirl
UC Davis*
UC San Francisco
UC San Diego
UC Irvine
UC Riverside*
UC Los Angeles*
Tulane University*
New York Medical College*
Albany Medical College*
Albert Einstein
Georgetown University
George Washington University
University of Miami
Boston University
Columbia University
Duke University
Case Western Reserve University
Vanderbilt University
University of Pittsburgh
Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University*
Mayo Clinic
Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell
Eastern Virginia Medical School*
Wake Forest University
Tufts University*
Dartmouth University
University of Chicago Pritzker
Drexel University*
University of Nevada, Reno*
Temple University*
Thomas Jefferson University
Loyola University Chicago Stritch*
University of Colorado
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Oregon Health and Science University*
University of Washington*
University of Utah
University of Arizona*
University of Arizona - Phoenix*
University of New Mexico
University of Texas at Austin Dell
University of Vermont*
Quinnipiac University Frank H. Netter SOM*
Pennyslvania State University
West Virginia University
Oakland University William Beaumont
Western Michigan University
Medical College of Wisconsin*
Saint Louis University
Creighton University
Nova Southeastern University*
Hi everyone,
I want to start by saying I am mostly looking for school list critiques/modifications. I've found that it isn't very helpful for me to get too caught up in my "odds" of getting in. With that said, I know that being realistic with my school list is important and I am appreciative of any constructive feedback. I heavily favor an MD school, so I will not be applying to DO schools this round. If I don't get in this cycle I will reapply next year with a mix of MD/DO.
GPA
cGPA: 3.40
sGPA: 3.32
Trend according to AMCAS unit cutoffs for each grade level:
cGPA: 2.33/ 3.31/ 3.87/ 3.75
sGPA: 2.19/ 3.30/ 3.70/ 3.70
Strong upward trend. Health issues during my freshman and sophomore years contributed to a poor GPA. I left my first university to pursue treatment. Worked hard to recover and take classes at community college for two years before transferring to UC Davis. During my time in community college and after transferring, I took a total of 134 units and got all A's, A-'s, and B+'s except one C in multivariable calculus early on in community college. Once I got to UCD, I really started looking at health careers.
MCAT
522 (130/130/131/131)
Saved up while working as an EMT and moved in with my parents for 6 months while studying full-time, since I felt it was super important to do well on this test. Really happy with the result! I recognize how privileged I am to have been able to study this long full-time without working. I tried to stay involved in my community by volunteering throughout.
Residence/Race
CA- would highly prefer to stay here but am applying broadly and keeping an open mind.
white male, ORM
Undergraduate
University of California, Davis - Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Clinical Experience
~250 hours - covid testing technician at my university's mass testing facility during my Junior year (Healthcare Experience)
~300 hours - physical therapy aide during summer before and half of my senior year (Patient Care Experience)
~2100 hours - EMT last year after graduating college. ~950 hrs of this was spent doing basic life support care (usually lower acuity with chronically ill patients going from hospital to skilled nursing facility), and ~1150 hrs spent as a critical care transport EMT where I assisted a nurse in transporting a more severely ill patient that needs en route medications, ventilators, etc). (Patient Care Experience)
- no clinical volunteering. Hoped to fit this in but wasn't able to find something in time. Any advice on this or just opinions on whether it will be a big negative on my app?
Research Experience
almost none. Did a summer internship during high school in a lab where I assisted with experiments and presented a poster. Currently looking for work as a research assistant since I think it is the area of my application that can be most improved if I don't get in this cycle (and I am interested in getting involved in it!)
Shadowing Experience
~70 hours spread out over the last year. One experience was with a vascular surgeon whom I was able to shadow extensively and build a mentor-like relationship with. The same is true for an OB doctor I have known since I was young who I was able to shadow several times. Shadowed one ED doc, but only for one shift.
Non-Clinical Volunteering
over several years:
~200 hours volunteering at an animal shelter and a seeing-eye dog facility for people who are blind - cleaning, animal care, and adoption counseling where I interfaced with community members, linked them to animals based on their wants, and educated them/directed them to resources about animal care. Despite working with animals, my role required lots of communication with staff/clients/other volunteers to coordinate care.
~90 hours volunteering with local parks department to try to establish ecological balance by removing invasive species and maintaining trails.
Other Experiences/Notes
While being treated for my health issues after leaving my initial university, I had a couple of different jobs to see where my interests lay. Led a class of behaviorally challenged children during summer school to ensure safety and tailor their learning to their individual education goals. Spent about ~6 months interning at a software company where I did market research and led focus groups to give feedback to the product development team.
I felt lost for a while about what I wanted, but ultimately I see this time as an important part of my development. It is frustrating to feel that it is holding me back now (since my GPA was atrocious, it didn't help that I was an engineering major), but ultimately my own health issues helped me to build the empathy I would like to bring to my patients someday. Still working on a way to acknowledge this period of my life while focusing on what I have accomplished since then, so any advice on that score is appreciated.
For what it's worth, I feel I am going to have some really strong letters - 2 from doctors (vascular surgeon/OB) I shadowed extensively and have mentor-mentee relationships with, 1 from a pediatric oncologist whose clinic I volunteered in during high school after he treated my brother's cancer, 1 from a nurse I worked with and did a really good job with as an EMT, and 1 from the volunteer coordinator at the animal shelter.
School List
I built my school list by first adding all my state schools and then using Goro's posts about schools that tend to favor reinvention. I know there are a lot right now (probably too many). Asterisks mark schools where I fall above at least the 10th percentile of the matriculated applicants' GPA. They are in no particular order.
Please let me know of any additions/subtractions or just general thoughts on my application/school list! I really appreciate any and all feedback.
Would especially love any input from @Goro and @UCSFgirl
UC Davis*
UC San Francisco
UC San Diego
UC Irvine
UC Riverside*
UC Los Angeles*
Tulane University*
New York Medical College*
Albany Medical College*
Albert Einstein
Georgetown University
George Washington University
University of Miami
Boston University
Columbia University
Duke University
Case Western Reserve University
Vanderbilt University
University of Pittsburgh
Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University*
Mayo Clinic
Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell
Eastern Virginia Medical School*
Wake Forest University
Tufts University*
Dartmouth University
University of Chicago Pritzker
Drexel University*
University of Nevada, Reno*
Temple University*
Thomas Jefferson University
Loyola University Chicago Stritch*
University of Colorado
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Oregon Health and Science University*
University of Washington*
University of Utah
University of Arizona*
University of Arizona - Phoenix*
University of New Mexico
University of Texas at Austin Dell
University of Vermont*
Quinnipiac University Frank H. Netter SOM*
Pennyslvania State University
West Virginia University
Oakland University William Beaumont
Western Michigan University
Medical College of Wisconsin*
Saint Louis University
Creighton University
Nova Southeastern University*
