WAMC for MD acceptance: 3.81/513, ORM, nontraditional, 3 interviews this cycle

[majorlazer4196]

I'm applying this cycle currently. So far, I got 3 MD interviews at MCG, OSU, and UMaryland. I got waitlisted at MCG and UMaryland. OSU will release a decision soon. How's my acceptance prospects to at least 1 MD school looking with 3 MD interviews? It's feeling like my chances at an MD school are still a coin toss due to getting waitlisted at 2 of my 3 schools. Really hoping for an A from OSU in the coming days.

State/Country of Residence: Georgia

Ties to other States/Regions: None besides extended family members that went to med schools I'm applying to; uncles and aunts that live in San Diego and Florida

URM? (Y/N): N, except for UCSF (Vietnamese)

Year in School: college graduate 3 years out of undergrad, didn't pursue graduate degree

Undergraduate Major(s)/Minor(s): Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Major/Vietnamese Studies Minor

Graduate Degrees (if applicable): None

Cumulative GPA: 3.81

Science GPA: 3.84

MCAT Score(s): 513 (128/124/129/132)

Research Experience: Worked 4 research labs in the past 5 years (my AMCAS application doesn't fully reflect the breadth of experience as I excluded one of my labs from my CV). First 3 labs were done at my undergrad. 1st lab: veterinary Mosquito-borne diseases lab for 1 summer. 2nd lab: Translational Drug Delivery Systems Lab for 1 spring semester. 3rd lab: Basic Science Microbiology lab for 1 academic year and 1 summer. My current 4th lab at Johns Hopkins Hospital working in a GYN-Path lab since December 2021.

Publications/Abstracts/Posters (include how you were credited e.g. first author, second author, etc.): 2 poster presentations at a university conference and a national conference respectively in my 3rd lab. Recently an Oral Presentation with my current lab at Hopkins. I worked on data that contributed to a systematic review manuscript, but the lead researcher of that manuscript hasn't been willing to submit it to a journal yet.



Clinical Experience (paid or volunteer): (see below)

went on a medical trip to Peru serving rural and underserved communities in the coastal regions of Peru for 4 weeks. Roughly 200 hours of clinical volunteering hours.

Physician Shadowing- I shadowed a chronic pain management anesthesiologist for about 2-3 years (~150 hours). I've also shadowed a Family Medicine doctor for about 2 years (only ~12 hours). I also did some minor shadowing of a cardiologist and a GI doctor in Peru.



Non-Clinical Volunteering: (see below)


Did volunteering at a hospital in a cardiology and pulmonary unit for 2 semesters. About 84 hours.

Shifa Clinic volunteering serving office work for underserved Muslim population in a suburban college town. About 150 hours

Volunteered in an Outpatient clinic of a children's hospital for a semester. About 25 hours

Other Extracurricular Activities:

was part of my university's premed magazine as a copy editor, then a treasurer, and as a co-founder of a podcast series for the magazine publication for 3 years.

Elected as a liaison for a pre-med honor society for 1 year.

Served as an advisory mentor to an organization assisting minority pre-health students at my university about academic advice and effective study habits

Other Employment History:

Currently in a paid position at Hopkins working as a research assistant in a translational research lab, although the lab doesn't have much patient interaction, predominantly basic science lab environment with access to human tissues for PDX on mice models and Tissue Banking. I also collaborate with an epidemiologist outside of the lab at Hopkins too where I work on public health research.

Immediate family members in medicine? (Y/N):

No, but have extended family members that went to VCU and GWU for med school and UMaryland for residency.

Specialty of Interest (if applicable): Open-minded about fields right now, though I'm low-key leaning towards anesthesiology/chronic pain management (wanna do a hands-on, surgical-like medical specialty w/o the stress of a surgeon). I also have an interest in competitive specialties like IR, Derm, and Ortho, which is partly why I wanna boost my research right now. But still keeping an open-mind between specialties and primary care

Interest in Primary Care (Y/N): I'm leaning towards no, but I'm open-minded to it.

Interest in Rural Health (Y/N): No


I'm aware that I may not have very much clinical experience outside of my medical trip to Peru. Another thing I'm concerned about are my 3 gap years as it wasn't productive (I studied the MCAT full-time during this period and also spent time enjoying hobbies outside of studying like backpacking and triathlon; I also used this time to kinda get away from studying and be with family and friends I got distant from) until December 2021 when I took my research position at Hopkins. Let me know your thoughts!

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[Mr.Smile12]

What was your list of schools from this past cycle? Remain hopeful with your interviewed schools, and we'll just let the process play out.

I'm going to presume you applied to UCSF since you noted your Vietnamese background is desirable, but it seems like you didn't get picked there. What do you think is the reason?

Since you are working, I'm also presuming your Peru trip was during your undergrad period.

In short, could you highlight what you've done after graduating? Obviously you've been working in research. You've also had COVID restrictions hit you since graduating. What has your clinical exposure been, especially since I presume many of those opportunities were not available until really the last year?

 

[GoSpursGo]

I think "coin flip" is more or less correct, maybe slightly lower but not significantly so. I think if you are not accepted at OSU, your odds go down significantly.

The biggest problem which you highlighted is that you are very very light on clinical exposure, and you chose not to make that a priority despite having 3 gap years--not a criticism, but you clearly chose to prioritize the MCAT and other personal activities during that time that did not address this requirement. The good news is that this is an easy fix, but you have to make it a priority. If your goal is to be a doctor, it's time to gain experience with patients face-to-face and within the context of the US medical system rather than in a foreign country.

 

[majorlazer4196]

What was your list of schools from this past cycle? Remain hopeful with your interviewed schools, and we'll just let the process play out.

I'm going to presume you applied to UCSF since you noted your Vietnamese background is desirable, but it seems like you didn't get picked there. What do you think is the reason?

Since you are working, I'm also presuming your Peru trip was during your undergrad period.

In short, could you highlight what you've done after graduating? Obviously you've been working in research. You've also had COVID restrictions hit you since graduating. What has your clinical exposure been, especially since I presume many of those opportunities were not available until really the last year?

I submitted secondaries to these schools.

Tufts
George Washington
Mercer
Virginia Commonwealth
Wake Forest
Georgetown
Albert Einstein
Dartmouth
Carle Illinois
University of California San Diego
Maryland
Case Western
University of California Los Angeles
Drexel
Mount Sinai
Cincinnati
New York Medical College
Hofstra
Saint Louis
Oakland
Johns Hopkins
Loyola
Temple
Tulane
Ohio State
Yale
Illinois
Medical College of Georgia
Emory
Wisconsin
Rosalind Franklin
Texas Christian University
Brown
New York University - Grossman
Hackensack Meridian
Medical University of South Carolina
SUNY Downstate
North Carolina
Penn State
University of South Florida
Rush
Wright State
Western Michigan
Jefferson
University of Southern California
Indiana
Geisinger Commonwealth
University of California San Francisco
Morehouse

I applied to UCSF, but I didn't make the cut for a secondary invitation, I think it's down to low stats for their school.

I haven't had the chance to do much in 3 gap years besides my current research job at Hopkins that I started in late 2021. I did a lot of self-reflection during this time, I did hobbies like cycling and running which I got to win several medals in, and I did volunteering at the ED at Hopkins while I was researching here. I also did a lot of domestic traveling across the US for backpacking trips during these years.

 

[majorlazer4196]

I think "coin flip" is more or less correct, maybe slightly lower but not significantly so. I think if you are not accepted at OSU, your odds go down significantly.

The biggest problem which you highlighted is that you are very very light on clinical exposure, and you chose not to make that a priority despite having 3 gap years--not a criticism, but you clearly chose to prioritize the MCAT and other personal activities during that time that did not address this requirement. The good news is that this is an easy fix, but you have to make it a priority. If your goal is to be a doctor, it's time to gain experience with patients face-to-face and within the context of the US medical system rather than in a foreign country.

Yeah, everything falls apart if I don't get an A from OSU for my MD app cycle. I'm gonna hear back from them on Friday, St. Patrick's Day🍀. Dunno if the special occasion will sparkle some charm and luck my way.

 

[GoSpursGo]

Yeah, everything falls apart if I don't get an A from OSU for my MD app cycle. I'm gonna hear back from them on Friday, St. Patrick's Day🍀. Dunno if the special occasion will sparkle some charm and luck my way.

One way or another, I foresee a lot of drinking in your future 😅

Seriously--you know your app's weakness. Nobody really enjoys these semi-mindless pre-med clinical experience positions, but you need to convince reviewers that you know what you're getting yourself into.

 

[majorlazer4196]

One way or another, I foresee a lot of drinking in your future 😅

Seriously--you know your app's weakness. Nobody really enjoys these semi-mindless pre-med clinical experience positions, but you need to convince reviewers that you know what you're getting yourself into.

I regret going into this current lab position I'm in right now. I knew upfront before coming into this cycle that clinical was what I was lacking, but my aunt who was a physician was pushing me to take this lab position as she said I will never have a chance like this again at Hopkins. I personally wanted to turn down the Hopkins lab position as I didn't wanna be in another bench lab and I wanted to fill in the deficit I had in my clinical experience. Now being in another year of a bench lab, I firmly despise bench research and definitely don't wanna do a PhD (and also not want to do an MD/PhD and get stuck with wet lab work).

 

[GoSpursGo]

I regret going into this current lab position I'm in right now. I knew upfront before coming into this cycle that clinical was what I was lacking, but my aunt who was a physician was pushing me to take this lab position as she said I will never have a chance like this again at Hopkins. I personally wanted to turn down the Hopkins lab position as I didn't wanna be in another bench lab and I wanted to fill in the deficit I had in my clinical experience. Now being in another year of a bench lab, I firmly despise bench research and definitely don't wanna do a PhD (and also not want to do an MD/PhD and get stuck with wet lab work).

So look for scribing or other clinical jobs, and quit as soon as you find one. If you start looking now you could probably accrue a decent number of hours in time for next cycle even now.

 

[majorlazer4196]

So look for scribing or other clinical jobs, and quit as soon as you find one. If you start looking now you could probably accrue a decent number of hours in time for next cycle even now.

That's exactly what I'm doing right now. I'm so looking forward to getting out of my lab (putting up with bench work, lab politics, mouse work, failed experiments, etc.) and trying to get a scribing or MA job lined up after my lab so I can get out of this lab sooner than later. No more research/PhD stuff for me after this. I have so much bench experience I could throw up.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Knowing what you don't want is also as important as what you do want.

 

[majorlazer4196]

I think "coin flip" is more or less correct, maybe slightly lower but not significantly so. I think if you are not accepted at OSU, your odds go down significantly.

The biggest problem which you highlighted is that you are very very light on clinical exposure, and you chose not to make that a priority despite having 3 gap years--not a criticism, but you clearly chose to prioritize the MCAT and other personal activities during that time that did not address this requirement. The good news is that this is an easy fix, but you have to make it a priority. If your goal is to be a doctor, it's time to gain experience with patients face-to-face and within the context of the US medical system rather than in a foreign country.

Update: I didn't get accepted by OSU. I'm on their "deferral" list which to my understanding is a preliminary wait-list before April 30th, which if I don't get offered an acceptance before April 30th becomes a waitlist.