WAMC: 3.58 GPA/513 MCAT

[bleiken]

Any feedback or advice would be very appreciated! Thanks in advance

GPA: No upward trend. Started strong Freshman year, dipped low sophomore year then kept around a 3.58 average for the remaining 2 years.

• cGPA: 3.58
• sGPA: 3.54

MCAT: 513 (128/126/129/130)

Residency: CA

Ethnicity: Half Hispanic, middle name is Gonzalez. Do not speak Spanish. Very white in appearance and disposition.

Undergrad: B.S from UCSB.

Letters of Rec: 2 letters from science professors which to be honest aren't going to be great, they barely knew me. 1 letter from a DPM who I've spent lots of time with and I knows me very well. 1 letter from an MD that I think will also be solid. Nervous that the first two letters are going to hurt my app. I'm only planning to include both science LORs when required.

Clinical Experience

• Work: 2300 hours as a medical scribe at a clinic in a poor community in Oakland that caters to underserved populations
• Volunteer: 80 hours assisting with clinical trials at a summer program at UC Davis ER.

Non Clinical Volunteering

• 200 hours Crisis Text Line
• 150 hours check in and respite phone calls (remote volunteering) at a Hospice in Ohio.
• Will soon start 3 hours/week helping out / tutoring 1st grade students at a local elementary school.

Research: Not too sure how this category is going to come across on my application. 300 hours independent research in the field of computational chemistry under a PI in the chem department. This did not come to any sort of fruition. Partly due to being cut short from COVID and partly because my PI was not very supportive or motivated to progress my project. I learned some cool things about computational chemistry but I’m not sure how I’m going to frame it in my activities section yet.

Shadowing: So far only 8 hours with a family medicine DO. Plans to get 8+ more with another same. I plan to reach out to more doctors from different specialties to get around 50 hours but no one’s accepting now due to the pandemic.

Extracurriculars:

• Bio-ethics debate club / bowl. We were going to compete nationally my senior year but it got canceled due to COVID.
• Co-founded spikeball club at my college
• Officer on the Climbing team at my college. Lots of members, good leadership experience.
• Competed nationally in the collegiate division of USA Climbing (Put around 2000 hours into the sport at my four years at college, is that okay to say?)
• Multiple Spartan Races

Work:

• Tutor employed by my college. Gave supplemental lectures to 10-20 students
• Private tutor

I’m planning to apply to half DO and half MD schools. Very tentative school list:

A.T. Still University of Health Sciences Kirksville COM
A.T. Still University SOM - Arizona
Campbell University Jerry M. Wallace SOM
Edward Via COM - Auburn, Carolinas, Louisiana, Virginia
Idaho COM
Kansas City University COM - Joplin Campus
Kansas City University COM - Kansas City
Liberty University COM
Midwestern University - Arizona COM
Midwestern University - Chicago COM
Sam Houston State University COM
University of North Texas HSC at Fort Worth Texas COM
West Virginia SOM
Western University of HS COM of the Pacific - California
Western University of HS COM of the Pacific - Oregon
California Health Sciences University COM
Touro University COM
Rush Medical College
California University of Science and Medicine-School of Medicine
Central Michigan University College of Medicine
Tulane University School of Medicine
UC Davis School of Medicine
UC Riverside
University of Houston College of Medicine
Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine
Washington State University Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine
Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University
CA Northstate University COM
Carle Illinois College of Medicine
Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University
Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine
Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine
Medical College of Wisconsin
Mercer University School of Medicine
Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine
Drexel University College of Medicine

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[Mr.Smile12]

Why don't you have better professor letters? Check your list to make sure science professor letters are not required/expected as that might reduce your list down.

I think you're okay with the combination of shadowing and scribing/interpreting when it comes to clinical experience. If you are looking to add more, I'd suggest a true hospital setting but not necessarily ER since you already did something there. I know the pandemic is making it very tough to get in-person experience though.

 

[Faha]

Mercer, Brody, Washington State, Houston and Marshall accept very few (if any) non residents with your stats. Carle is looking for applicants with an engineering background. you could add these MD schools.
TCU-UNT
Creighton
Western Michigan
NOVA MD
Temple
Jefferson
Seton Hall
New York Medical College
Quinnipiac
Oakland Beaumont

 

[bleiken]

Why don't you have better professor letters? Check your list to make sure science professor letters are not required/expected as that might reduce your list down.

I think you're okay with the combination of shadowing and scribing/interpreting when it comes to clinical experience. If you are looking to add more, I'd suggest a true hospital setting but not necessarily ER since you already did something there. I know the pandemic is making it very tough to get in-person experience though.

I just failed to make any genuine connections with professors during my time in college. Most schools have 2 or 1 sciences LORs required and most on my list have only 1. My idea is I have the two letters to meet the hard requirement for most schools, but once my application makes it through I want them focusing on my other letters. Do you think because of this I will have a better chance of getting into a school that only requires me to submit one science LOR? My PI, though I liked him, is notoriously abrasive and there are rumors of him writing "less than stellar" LORs for students so I will not be asking him.
Yeah the Davis ER was a level 1 trauma center so I definitely got to experience a real hospital. I plan to look for shadowing at other major hospitals but it is indeed difficult.

 

[bleiken]

Mercer, Brody, Washington State, Houston and Marshall accept very few (if any) non residents with your stats. Carle is looking for applicants with an engineering background. you could add these MD schools.
TCU-UNT
Creighton
Western Michigan
NOVA MD
Temple
Jefferson
Seton Hall
New York Medical College
Quinnipiac
Oakland Beaumont

I appreciate the info, thank you!!

 

[whenthelightsgo_OUT]

Take off Cal Northstate... that's a bum school

Also I would add more MD schools.... that's a stellar MCAT

 

[bleiken]

GPA: No upward trend. Started strong Freshman year, dipped low sophomore year then kept around a 3.58 average for the remaining 2 years.

• cGPA: 3.58
• sGPA: 3.54

MCAT: 513 (128/126/129/130)
Residency: CA
Ethnicity: Half Hispanic, middle name is Gonzalez. Do not speak Spanish. Very white in appearance and disposition.
Undergrad: B.S from UCSB.
Letters of Rec:

• 2 letters from science professors which to be honest aren't going to be great, they barely knew me.
• 1 letter from an MD I worked with closely
• 1 lettter from a DO I shadowed who liked me
• 1 letter from a DPM who I've worked with the longest and knows me the best.

Clinical Experience

• Work: 2300 hours as a medical scribe at a clinic in a poor community in Oakland that caters to underserved populations
• Volunteering: I'm about to start volunteering in the ICU at Sutter Health.

Clinical Research

• 110 hours assisting with clinical trials at a summer program at UC Davis ER.

Non Clinical Volunteering

• 200 hours Crisis Text Line
• 150 hours check in and respite phone calls (remote volunteering) at a Hospice in Ohio.
• 30 hours tutoring 1st grade hispanic students in an elementary school classroom.

Research: Not too sure how this category is going to come across on my application. 300 hours independent research in the field of computational chemistry under a PI in the chem department. This did not come to any sort of fruition. Partly due to being cut short from COVID and partly because my PI was not very supportive or motivated to progress my project. I learned some cool things about computational chemistry but I’m not sure how I’m going to frame it in my activities section yet.

Shadowing:

• 16 hours with Family Practice DO
• 24 hour with a different Family Practice DO

Extracurriculars:

• Bio-ethics Debate Team. We were going to compete nationally my senior year but it got canceled due to COVID.
• Co-founded spikeball club at my college
• Officer on the Climbing team at my college. Lots of members, good leadership experience.
• Competed nationally in the collegiate division of USA Climbing
• Multiple Spartan Races

Other Work:

• Tutor employed by my college. Gave supplemental lectures to 10-20 students

My Schools:

MD:
California University of Science and Medicine-School of Medicine
UC Davis School of Medicine
UC Riverside
Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine
Western Michigan (Homer Stryker)
Creighton Medical College of Wisconsin
Drexel University College of Medicine
Northeast Ohio
Robert Larner
Tulane University School of Medicine
Eastern Virginia Medical School
Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine (Seton)
Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine
Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University
University of Louisville
Rush Medical College
The University of Toledo
George Washington
Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine
New York Medical College
Albany Medical College Saint Louis University School of Medicine
Kaiser Permanente
UCSF
Keck USC
UC Irvine
UCSD

DO:
A.T. Still University of Health Sciences Kirksville COM
A.T. Still University SOM - Arizona
Campbell University Jerry M. Wallace SOM
Edward Via COM - Virginia
Idaho COM
Kansas City University COM - Joplin Campus (IN MISSOURI)
Kansas City University COM - Kansas City (IN MISSOUR)
Liberty University COM
Midwestern University - Arizona COM
Midwestern University - Chicago COM
West Virginia SOM
Western University of HS COM of the Pacific - California
Western University of HS COM of the Pacific - Oregon
Touro University COM - Cali
Univeristy of New England COM
Touro University Nevada COM

 

[chilly_md]

The typical requirement is 2 science letters and a letter from a non-science faculty member (with a physician one for DO schools). The DPM letter does not serve much of a purpose. You have some schools that accept few OOS students without ties (Louisville, Neomed etc).

What ethnic background do you come from?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

OP: Good to see you again! How are those letters?

 

[bleiken]

OP: Good to see you again! How are those letters?

Science ones haven't changed, but I think my other three letters from clinicians will be strong. One of the premed advisors I spoke to said not to use a letter from a DPM since it will be scoffed at by people on adcoms. Do you agree?

 

[bleiken]

The typical requirement is 2 science letters and a letter from a non-science faculty member (with a physician one for DO schools). The DPM letter does not serve much of a purpose. You have some schools that accept few OOS students without ties (Louisville, Neomed etc).

What ethnic background do you come from?

Do you think I shouldn't include the DPM letter just because of the letters after her name, regardless of its potential quality or our relationship?

I look white, but ethnically I'm 50% Mexican and for most of my family on that side their primary language is Spanish. Not sure if that's relevant at all since I personally have experienced no disadvantage or marginalization.

 

[chilly_md]

Do you think I shouldn't include the DPM letter just because of the letters after her name, regardless of its potential quality or our relationship?

I look white, but ethnically I'm 50% Mexican and for most of my family on that side their primary language is Spanish. Not sure if that's relevant at all since I personally have experienced no disadvantage or marginalization.

I would not include the letter as it will not have much relevance. Schools want to gain insight into your academic ability as judged by faculty. The MD letter would work as an employment letter on top of those. It would not add much having this DPM letter on top of that. And that will not be a substitute at many schools, which will require letters from science professors. The DO letter is appropriate for DO schools, but MD schools do not tend to gain anything from letters from physicians you shadowed.

You’ve had a bit of experience tutoring Hispanic students as well as significant time at a clinic serving underserved patients in Oakland. Since you also come from a background that is underrepresented in medicine (as opposed to students from Cuba, or South American countries), I think it is a relevant part of your application. Try to learn some Spanish if you can.

Apply to the following:

UCSF
Keck USC
UC Irvine
UCSD
UCLA
Kaiser
California University
UC Davis School of Medicine
UC Riverside (only if you live in the IE)
Western Michigan (Homer Stryker)
Creighton
Temple
Robert Larner
Tulane
Eastern Virginia
Hackensack
Oakland
Quinnipiac
George Washington
Saint Louis University
Rochester
Miami
Einstein
Dartmouth
Tufts
Hofstra
U Chicago
Northwestern
Emory
Medical College Wisconsin
Pittsburgh
Jefferson
Mount Sinai
Boston University

I do not think you need to apply DO this cycle, so I have provided additional schools that are worth aiming high for. But you can apply to Western, AZCOM (high tuition FYI), Touro CA and Touro NV if you want. I picked those as they are good schools that are the closest to you.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Science ones haven't changed, but I think my other three letters from clinicians will be strong. One of the premed advisors I spoke to said not to use a letter from a DPM since it will be scoffed at by people on adcoms. Do you agree?

I'll agree the DPM letter unfortunately won't help. It may also inadvertently signal an escape if you couldn't get to med school, which many applicants do if they could not get into medical school.

 

[chilly_md]

So, getting involved in underserved hispanic communities wouldn't be relevant if OP was Cuban or from South American countries? That sounds a bit absurd.

I understand as a URM, OP is more likely to gain acceptance, but I don't understand how volunteering in underserved communities from similar ethnic backgrounds isn't relevant unless you're URM.

No, it’s relevant. I mentioned it in that context because OP was asking if it mattered they were 50% Mexican since they did not speak Spanish and experienced no disadvantage.

 

[bleiken]

I would not include the letter as it will not have much relevance. Schools want to gain insight into your academic ability as judged by faculty. The MD letter would work as an employment letter on top of those. It would not add much having this DPM letter on top of that. And that will not be a substitute at many schools, which will require letters from science professors. The DO letter is appropriate for DO schools, but MD schools do not tend to gain anything from letters from physicians you shadowed.

You’ve had a bit of experience tutoring Hispanic students as well as significant time at a clinic serving underserved patients in Oakland. Since you also come from a background that is underrepresented in medicine (as opposed to students from Cuba, or South American countries), I think it is a relevant part of your application. Try to learn some Spanish if you can.

Apply to the following:

UCSF
Keck USC
UC Irvine
UCSD
UCLA
Kaiser
California University
UC Davis School of Medicine
UC Riverside (only if you live in the IE)
Western Michigan (Homer Stryker)
Creighton
Temple
Robert Larner
Tulane
Eastern Virginia
Hackensack
Oakland
Quinnipiac
George Washington
Saint Louis University
Rochester
Miami
Einstein
Dartmouth
Tufts
Hofstra
U Chicago
Northwestern
Emory
Medical College Wisconsin
Pittsburgh
Jefferson
Mount Sinai
Boston University

I do not think you need to apply DO this cycle, so I have provided additional schools that are worth aiming high for. But you can apply to Western, AZCOM (high tuition FYI), Touro CA and Touro NV if you want. I picked those as they are good schools that are the closest to you.

This thread if the first time I've ever thought of myself as URM. Given that I don't speak much Spanish now beyond having taken 3 years in higschool (I was fluent as a small child since I grew up around my hispanic family but it didn't stick) and that I haven't suffered any practical marginalization, how do I frame, or even mention at all, my status as URM on my application? Would learning more spanish before my hypothetical interviews make a real difference?

Also thank you very much for the school list! It's a little loftier than I had thought my application capable of. Kinda scary, but I'll try and incorporat some of those schools.

 

[chilly_md]

This thread if the first time I've ever thought of myself as URM. Given that I don't speak much Spanish now beyond having taken 3 years in higschool (I was fluent as a small child since I grew up around my hispanic family but it didn't stick) and that I haven't suffered any practical marginalization, how do I frame, or even mention at all, my status as URM on my application? Would learning more spanish before my hypothetical interviews make a real difference?

Also thank you very much for the school list! It's a little loftier than I had thought my application capable of. Kinda scary, but I'll try and incorporat some of those schools.

Half of your family is Mexican. You learned Spanish at an early age and sometimes, that fades because you are being instructed in English and there was (maybe still is, not sure) a belief from schools that having a different language spoken at home would hurt a child’s ability to learn English. I think it would help to learn Spanish, and it goes along with your experience with tutoring Hispanic kids and doing clinical work in an underserved area. It is not like students who report a distant relative was Native American or a member of an indigenous tribe.

If you were around the Hispanic side of your family a lot growing up, I’m sure you can talk about that a bit. Maybe some relatives had stories of their experiences that had an impact on you. You don’t have to force anything, these topics come up when you reflect back. And your race and language fluencies pop up as a separate section on AMCAS.

 

[bleiken]

Half of your family is Mexican. You learned Spanish at an early age and sometimes, that fades because you are being instructed in English and there was (maybe still is, not sure) a belief from schools that having a different language spoken at home would hurt a child’s ability to learn English. I think it would help to learn Spanish, and it goes along with your experience with tutoring Hispanic kids and doing clinical work in an underserved area. It is not like students who report a distant relative was Native American or a member of an indigenous tribe.

If you were around the Hispanic side of your family a lot growing up, I’m sure you can talk about that a bit. Maybe some relatives had stories of their experiences that had an impact on you. You don’t have to force anything, these topics come up when you reflect back. And your race and language fluencies pop up as a separate section on AMCAS.

Got it. I hadn't thought about that, thank you. I guess my question is when you say "I'm sure you can talk about that a bit" are you talking about somewhere in my secondaries, or if I manage to get interviews? It definitely won't fit anywhere in my PS.

 

[chilly_md]

Got it. I hadn't thought about that, thank you. I guess my question is when you say "I'm sure you can talk about that a bit" are you talking about somewhere in my secondaries, or if I manage to get interviews? It definitely won't fit anywhere in my PS.

Yes, likely a question in a secondary about what you would bring to the class or a diversity prompt. It could definitely pop up or be something you bring up in an interview too. If some of your family members couldn’t get healthcare either in the US or earlier when they lived in Mexico, that could be something for your PS too. But that’s ok if that doesn’t apply to you.

 

[bleiken]

Yes, likely a question in a secondary about what you would bring to the class or a diversity prompt. It could definitely pop up or be something you bring up in an interview too. If some of your family members couldn’t get healthcare either in the US or earlier when they lived in Mexico, that could be something for your PS too. But that’s ok if that doesn’t apply to you.

Thank you very much for your input, I definitely will incorporate that into my secondaries!!