WAMC: 514 mcat, 3.76 cGPA, reapplicant

[hayoongi]

hai just received my last rejection for the 2024 cycle and figured i'd make some friends and introspect with everyone's help lol

1. cGPA: 3.76 & sGPA: 3.63
2. mcat 514 - chem/phys 127, cars 128, bio/biochem 128, psych/soc 131
3. norcal
4. korean-american
5. northwestern univ. BA in neuroscience, segal design certificate
6. 2644 employed clinical hours (MA)
7. 1546 research/intern hours @ Feinberg and Lurie Children's + 1 publication + 1 poster presentation + contributions to 2 manuscripts (no idea when/if they will be published)
8. 228 pediatric surg shadowing, 200 ob/gyn out-patient shadowing
9. ms ambassador started 3/2024 - about 25 hours to date (attended a few walks, 1 virtual conference)
10. neuroscience curricular review committee @ NU, waiter at local korean restaurant
11. does dean's list count as awards? idk
12. interviewed w/ UMass Chan 9/2023, rejected 4/29/24 (after sending 3 crying/screaming/throwing up on the ground please take me emails)

btw if anyone wants to chat/lament over this next cycle together on discord add me! @/hayoongi

list of schools I want to apply to + a few schools my dad is making me apply to (korean dads can be a lil delulu don't they) - overall i just want to be in a city and want to attend a school that has its dedicated hospital (IE rosalind franklin does not so that isn't one of my choices).

BU Chobanian & Avedisian

Columbia Vagelos

Cornell Weill

Dartmouth Geisel

Duke SOM

Georgetown University

Harvard Medical

Johns Hopkins SOM

Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson

Keck USC

Northwestern Feinberg SOM

NYU Grossman

NYU Long Island

Oregon Health & Science University

Perelman SOM UPenn

Rush University

Rutgers NJ

Stanford University

Tufts SOM

U Chicago Pritzker

UC Davis

UC Irvine

UCLA

UCSD

UCSF

UIC

UMass Chan SOM

University Michigan

University of Colorado

University of Pittsburgh

University Rochester

Vanderbilt

Warren Alpert Brown Univ.

Washington Univ. St. Louis

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[Mr.Smile12]

Where's your community service? Was Chan/UMass the only school where you interviewed? Feedback from the prehealth advisors?

 

[Faha]

Your lack of non clinical volunteering hours has limited your chances for interviews. You should accumulate 150+ hours (food bank, homeless shelter, etc,) before you submit your application. With only 1 interview in your previous cycle you cannot be too fussy about where you choose to apply.
I suggest these schools if you accumulate 150 hours of non clinical volunteering:
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Tufts
Rochester
Albany
New York Medical College
Hackensack
Penn State
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Pittsburgh
George Washington
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
Wake Forest
NOVA MD
Belmont
TCU
Creighton
Rosalind Franklin
Medical College Wisconsin
Western Michigan
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
California University
Kaiser
Loma Linda (if you fit their mission)
USC Keck
Colorado
UMass
Iowa
Illinois
The UCs (except Riverside unless you are from that region)
Alice Walton ((when it opens)
Roseman (when it opens)

 

[AJS59]

The lack of community service definitely hurt you.

What is new in your app cycle this upcoming year?

 

[hayoongi]

Where's your community service? Was Chan/UMass the only school where you interviewed? Feedback from the prehealth advisors?

yeah... my volunteer/comm service was definitely the biggest shortcoming of my app - i feel like i poured so much time into research and clinical (while also working a part-time job) i overlooked that part.

yes! chan was the only school where i was interviewed.

our school didn't have a good prehealth advisor system tbh so i didn't talk to any of them during undergrad. ;-;

 

[hayoongi]

Your lack of non clinical volunteering hours has limited your chances for interviews. You should accumulate 150+ hours (food bank, homeless shelter, etc,) before you submit your application. With only 1 interview in your previous cycle you cannot be too fussy about where you choose to apply.
I suggest these schools if you accumulate 150 hours of non clinical volunteering:
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Tufts
Rochester
Albany
New York Medical College
Hackensack
Penn State
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Pittsburgh
George Washington
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
Wake Forest
NOVA MD
Belmont
TCU
Creighton
Rosalind Franklin
Medical College Wisconsin
Western Michigan
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
California University
Kaiser
Loma Linda (if you fit their mission)
USC Keck
Colorado
UMass
Iowa
Illinois
The UCs (except Riverside unless you are from that region)
Alice Walton ((when it opens)
Roseman (when it opens)

does projecting clinical volunteer hours (like at NMH) for the next year improve my chances to apply to more competitive schools? or am i ruled out automatically bc i don't have the hours right now?

i am currently applying to be an ER volunteer at NMH with availability almost full-time since i'm quitting my job soon. so theoretically i should be able to rack up a ton of hours

 

[hayoongi]

The lack of community service definitely hurt you.

What is new in your app cycle this upcoming year?

im rewriting my personal statement + a few of my secondaries bc i don't feel like i gave it my all the first time around (like i wrote all the duke essays in one day bc i was fed up lol). otherwise, i have the new ob/gyn shadowing hours bc of my gap year job, the ms ambassador volunteer position and am planning on doing ER volunteering at NMH so it would be projected clinical volunteer hours.

 

[AJS59]

im rewriting my personal statement + a few of my secondaries bc i don't feel like i gave it my all the first time around (like i wrote all the duke essays in one day bc i was fed up lol). otherwise, i have the new ob/gyn shadowing hours bc of my gap year job, the ms ambassador volunteer position and am planning on doing ER volunteering at NMH so it would be projected clinical volunteer hours.

You don't need to do the ER volunteering given your MA hours. Focus on the MS walk, or better yet, add a new activity — one of shelter work, food distribution, job/tax preparation, transport services, or housing rehabilitation to show your commitment to underserved communities. Go for the recommended 150 target.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

yeah... my volunteer/comm service was definitely the biggest shortcoming of my app - i feel like i poured so much time into research and clinical (while also working a part-time job) i overlooked that part.

yes! chan was the only school where i was interviewed.

our school didn't have a good prehealth advisor system tbh so i didn't talk to any of them during undergrad. ;-;

If you were at Northwestern, their advisors are knowledgeable, so I guess it just depends on what you needed from them. But that's a different conversation. Many times I wish I had a team like theirs.

You need at least 150 hours of service orientation activities (as pointed out earlier: food distribution, shelter volunteer, job/tax preparation, transportation services, housing rehabilitation). The more you can show you are comfortable being uncomfortable (outside your support/legacy communities), the better. I will differ from my colleague about your work with the MS Walk... it's a fundraiser much like the Relay for Life (American Cancer Society) though not as arduous as the 24-hour marathon relay. MS Society does a lot of long-distance biking, but that's not what most schools want for "service orientation."

If you want to add Rush or Loyola to your list, you need closer to 1000 hours of service orientation activities for them (at least 750-800... they want a lot based on their emphasis).

 

[AJS59]

^Go with the GOAT up here

 

[Faha]

does projecting clinical volunteer hours (like at NMH) for the next year improve my chances to apply to more competitive schools? or am i ruled out automatically bc i don't have the hours right now?

i am currently applying to be an ER volunteer at NMH with availability almost full-time since i'm quitting my job soon. so theoretically i should be able to rack up a ton of hours

Projected hours have no value. You have more than enough clinical exposure hours. What you are missing are non clinical volunteering hours.

 

[hayoongi]

thank you all for your replies! i've applied to a new volunteer program that distributes excess food to those struggling with food insecurity <3