WAMC/School List Advice: 524, 3.92, No Research

[Zirah]

Hello everyone! Long time lurker but finally doing one of these for myself. I'd greatly appreciate and feedback or advice.

27 ORM nontrad

1. cGPA and sGPA : 3.92

2. MCAT: 524 (129/132/132/131)

3. State: CA

4. Undergraduate institution or category: Well regarded state school

5. Clinical experience (volunteer and non-volunteer)

• 6700 hours paid clinical experience as an ER tech. 2+ years at two different hospitals, worked two full time jobs simultaneously for over a year. Two of my most meaningful experiences. (ongoing: 48-60 hrs/week)
• 250 hours paid as an EMT on an ambulance
• no clinical volunteering (is this necessary with lots of separate clinical experience and non-clinical volunteering?)

6. Research experience and productivity: None :/

7. Shadowing experience and specialties represented

• 100 hours emergency medicine
• 150 hours virtual, various specialties (mostly done back in '22, not sure if worth much now)

8. Non-clinical volunteering

• 400 hours volunteering at Crisis Text Line (ongoing: ~25 hr/week)
• 40 hours at a community garden that employs adults dealing with mental illnesses

9. Other extracurricular activities

• Former NCAA D1 Swimmer (only freshman year though) ~900 hours
• Avid backpacker. One of my most meaningful activities. Have solo hiked the 211 mile John Muir Trail, done a 500 mile section hike of the PCT, and lots of shorter mountaineering trips.

10. Other work experience

Way too long, 10,000+ hours, working in foodservice. Worked throughout all of undergrad and full time for several years afterwards when I still didn't know what I was doing with my life.

11. Relevant honors or awards: Just athletic scholarship freshman year, GPA related scholarship sophomore/junior years, and dean's list a whole bunch.

12. Anything else not listed you think might be important

My course history got kinda messed up due to all the AP classes I took. I tested out of biology and part of the physics series, so on my transcript it looks like I never took them. To try and avoid any issues with this I took a year of biology and a single class survey of physics online, but I imagine some schools won't be a fan of having these prereqs done online and at a college other than my main undergrad. So my original school list was designed to focus on schools that didn't have hard rules on specific prereq classes.

Working School List:

USC, UCLA (Dream), UCSD, UCSF, UCI, U Colorado, Oakland U William Beaumont, Mayo, West Virginia U, NYU (lol), U Cincinnati, Vanderbilt, U Vermont, U Michigan, West Michigan U, U Virginia, Wake Forest, Toledo, U Penn, Loyola, Albany, Rush, Stony Brook, Drexel, Case Western, Hofstra, U Iowa


Thanks in advance for any advice, feedback on the school list would be great. My main worry is definitely the complete lack of research, but after being out of undergrad for so long I don't really see myself getting anything meaningful started now. Also wondering if the online volunteering is looked at as much inferior to in person gigs. I've really enjoyed my time with CTL, and it's just so convenient to fit in to my chaotic nocturnal schedule.

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[Mr.Smile12]

If you could have more in person community service hours with the community garden (compared to text line which is mostly not face to face), your profile will be stronger. I know you aren't a student anymore so research may not be a big deal to me. But be would be reasonable with your school list. Network to find out how much of a deal it is with them.

 

[Faha]

You have several schools on your list that will "yield protect" with your stats. I suggest these schools with your stats:
UCSF
UCLA
UCSD
UC Irvine
UC Davis
USC Keck
Kaiser
Mayo
Colorado
Washington University (in St. Louis)
Northwestern
U Chicago
U Michigan
Case Western
Cincinnati
USF Morsani
Emory
Duke
Vanderbilt
U Virginia
Georgetown
Pittsburgh
Hofstra
Einstein
Mount Sinai
NYU
Columbia
Cornell
Dartmouth
Brown
Boston University
Tufts
Yale

 

[LunaOri]

Keep UVM. Add UMass.

 

[Angler]

Be sure that you use MSAR to focus on schools that don't put a premium on research. You're kind of squeezed because your app is really golden, so you'll be yield protected at many, but the lack of research (and relatively low in-person non-clinical volunteering) will be a hindrance to many of the really top schools (if that matters to you). Your school list is really important! Try to make your first application cycle your last one.

On the other hand, I'm willing to bet that you could find a full time research job as a lab tech (don't sweat about pubs) at some academic institution. This will get you several hundred hours within a few months. Volunteer at the same time somewhere at a food bank and/or soup kitchen. I don't know if your finances would allow this, since you would be paid very little at this research job. This might look a bit like "checking the boxes" but at least this would allow you to get your foot in the door, and it would make your application overall much more appealing to schools.

 

[Zirah]

Thank you so much for the feedback and school recommendations! I've been getting a few hours here and there at the garden, but they're adding up fairly slow. Like some people mentioned the biggest thing I'm worried about is getting stuck between being not competitive enough for top schools but getting screened out for yield protection at others.

 

[Angler]

the biggest thing I'm worried about is getting stuck between being not competitive enough for top schools but getting screened out for yield protection at others

This is a very real thing!

 

[LeaveNoTrace]

Do I hear rock music in the background? I think I do; especially if you qualify for FAP or worked full time due to economic hardship, you're a rock star. Aim high - and add Harvard to Faha's list!

 

[HappyRabbit]

Lack of research would likely be DOA for Harvard but I suppose you can try if you don't mind the application fee. D1 swimming might be enough to overcome that deficit although unlikely. @Zirah I would try to get some research, even if its just a few hundred hours. It will make a world of difference and prevent you from falling in the crack of yield protection at target/baseline schools but also screened out at a few T20s for lack of research.