WAMC/School list feedback: cGPA 3.99, sGPA 4.0, MCAT 512

[Stephanie W.]

Hi everyone! I, a struggling premed am in the midst of applying this cycle, and am in need of some feedback on my school list. Please comment on schools I should add/withdraw considering my stats. Thank you!!!

GPA: 3.986 (3.97 cGPA, 4.0 sGPA)

MCAT: 512 (128/124/130/130)--> my CARS flopped on actual test day

State of Residence: CA

Ethnicity: Asian ORM, Female

Undergraduate Institution/Category: T20 University (transfer student from CC)

Clinical Experience (Volunteer):

• Hospital volunteering/clinical research (150 Hours): still ongoing so will be projected to be another 600 hrs; I am heavily involved with future research projects/conferences, and have assisted w/ diff departments (i.e. interact with postpartum patients, etc)

Research:

• Translational research (500 Hours): a cancer research assistant. This is ongoing cancer research! (projected to be another 400 hrs)

Shadowing:

• Primary care (40 hrs)
• Heme-oncology (20 hrs)
• Virtual shadowing (20 hrs)

Non-Clinical Volunteering:

• Online coach for teaching music and arts & crafts to children w/ chronic illnesses (200 hrs)
• Part of club committee that created and compiled healthcare and housing resources for underserved communities (75 hrs)

Non-Clinical Paid Employment:

• Honors Student Ambassador at CC: worked with Honors Program Director to establish initiatives to improve program diversity and inclusivity, did outreach and panel presentations (100 hrs)

Extracurricular/Leadership/Other:

• Math/Engineering Club VP then President (650 hrs): A whole year of rebooting a club and bringing together a cohesive officer team... then, another year of creating helpful tutoring events and panels
• Main commencement speaker at uni!

Poster Presentations:

• All in the works for the future, unfortunately... so, can't really mention them by the time I submit apps.

Self-Critiques of Application:

• I know my clinical hours are on the lower side... COVID hit and the situation at home where I had to commute was not the greatest. But, have been trying to make that up for the past 2 months!
• MCAT CARS score sucked. I averaged around 127/128 on FLs, but burnout got the best of me on actual test day.
• Some strong letter of recs from both research PIs (clinical and translational research) as well as for my academic classes!

School List (MD):

1. UCLA
2. UCI
3. UCR
4. UCSD
5. UCSF
6. UCD
7. USC
8. Kaiser
9. Stanford
10. OUWB
11. SUNY Downstate
12. Rochester
13. Mayo- MN or AZ
14. Penn State
15. Tufts-- Boston, MA
16. SUNY Stony Brook
17. Dartmouth
18. Boston U
19. SLU (St. Louis, Missouri)
20. UVM
21. Frank H Netter
22. Dartmouth
23. Temple
24. Cooper--NJ
25. Eastern Virginia
26. Ohio State Uni
27. University of Cincinnati
28. University of Michigan
29. Case Western
30. Washington University in St. Louis
31. Northwestern
32. University of Miami
33. Cornell
34. Sidney Kimmel
35. Emory
36. Rush
37. Albany Medical College
38. Rosalind Franklin
39. Duke

Any honest advice would be appreciated! Thank you!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

How much networking with mentoring organizations or students at UC med schools? They obviously value CC students who excel.

Your nonclinical community service with crafting and music is mostly online and not in-person. The other club is helpful but not enough to overcome the 150 hour minimum to avoid getting screened out.

What is your major?

 

[Faha]

What does your 150 hours of clinical volunteering involve ? Any patient interaction ?

 

[Stephanie W.]

How much networking with mentoring organizations or students at UC med schools? They obviously value CC students who excel.

Your nonclinical community service with crafting and music is mostly online and not in-person. The other club is helpful but not enough to overcome the 150 hour minimum to avoid getting screened out.

What is your major?

Thank you for the advice! I only have a little bit of networking with UC med students, so I would not consider it to be substantial. However, I do translational research under a professor at one of the UC med schools! My major is Biology.

 

[Stephanie W.]

What does your 150 hours of clinical volunteering involve ? Any patient interaction ?

It involves both clinical research and a regular volunteer component. Both includes patient interaction!

 

[Faha]

It involves both clinical research and a regular volunteer component. Both includes patient interaction!

How many of the hours are regular volunteer and what does it involve ?

 

[Stephanie W.]

How many of the hours are regular volunteer and what does it involve ?

It is about 70 hrs, and it includes customer service at the front desk as well as conversing with postpartum mothers during tea time.

 

[Faha]

It is about 70 hrs, and it includes customer service at the front desk as well as conversing with postpartum mothers during tea time.

Continue the hospital volunteering in the coming year in case you need to reapply. Your low in person non clinical volunteering hours (75 hours) and only 70 hours of clinical volunteering will limit your chances for interviews., especially at schools that value service to others and top tier schools where many applicant have several hundred hours of each. I suggest these schools:
California University
Loma Linda (if you fit their mission)
UC Davis
UC Irvine
UC Riverside (only if you are from that region)
TCU
Rosalind Franklin
Medical College Wisconsin
Western Michigan
Oakland Beaumont
NOVA MD
Wake Forest
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
George Washington
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Penn State
Hackensack
New York Medical College
Albany
Vermont
Quinnipiac

 

[Stephanie W.]

Continue the hospital volunteering in the coming year in case you need to reapply. Your low in person non clinical volunteering hours (75 hours) and only 70 hours of clinical volunteering will limit your chances for interviews., especially at schools that value service to others and top tier schools where many applicant have several hundred hours of each. I suggest these schools:
California University
Loma Linda (if you fit their mission)
UC Davis
UC Irvine
UC Riverside (only if you are from that region)
TCU
Rosalind Franklin
Medical College Wisconsin
Western Michigan
Oakland Beaumont
NOVA MD
Wake Forest
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
George Washington
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Penn State
Hackensack
New York Medical College
Albany
Vermont
Quinnipiac

Thank you for the advice and recommendations!

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Thank you for the advice! I only have a little bit of networking with UC med students, so I would not consider it to be substantial. However, I do translational research under a professor at one of the UC med schools! My major is Biology.

You can definitely pick up more networking. Our partner PreMedCC recorded a lot of interviews with admissions officers, and many AMSA or other student groups also run recruitment online events. APAMSA chapters may also be very receptive.

A new path from California community colleges to med school

A new program seeks to create a pathway from California community colleges to medical schools. Advocates hope it will lead to a more diverse population of doctors and address acute physician shortages in some parts of the state.

www.insidehighered.com

 

[Stephanie W.]

You can definitely pick up more networking. Our partner PreMedCC recorded a lot of interviews with admissions officers, and many AMSA or other student groups also run recruitment online events. APAMSA chapters may also be very receptive.

A new path from California community colleges to med school

A new program seeks to create a pathway from California community colleges to medical schools. Advocates hope it will lead to a more diverse population of doctors and address acute physician shortages in some parts of the state.

www.insidehighered.com

Thank you for the advice! I will definitely look into it.