WAMC/School List Help: 3.94 sGPA, 513 MCAT (124 CARS), NY Resident, ORM

[AstroSidekick]

Hi, I’m planning on applying in the upcoming application cycle. Any input on the school list would be great!!

State/Country of Residence: New York
Ties to other States/Regions: Michigan (lived for 15 years + undergrad), Colorado (brother lives there, visit often)
URM?: No
Year in School: Graduated 2021
Undergraduate Degree: Neuroscience and Philosophy of Science (TESOL minor)
GPA: 3.97 cGPA, ~3.94 sGPA
MCAT Score(s): 513 (129, 124, 130, 130). CARS is my main worry.
Research Experience: 585 hours in undergrad and I will have another ~3300 hours by matriculation since I work in a lab now.
Publications/Abstracts/Posters: Acknowledgments on a paper during Undergrad. 4 poster presentations last year (all virtual tho). Probs will have more by the end of this job.
Clinical Experience (paid and volunteer): About 750 paid hours (500 hours as a MA and 250 as a COVID screener). 150 hours as a hospital volunteer.
Physician Shadowing: About 125 hours total with a few surgeons and one FM doctor.
Non-Clinical Volunteering: 650 hours throughout undergrad (and will have maybe another 150 by matriculation).
Other Extracurricular Activities: Won a major writing scholarship to learn about science communication in France for a summer.
Other Employment History: 750 hours as a Physics TA. 156 as a Sexual Assault Educator.
Immediate family members in medicine? (Y/N): No (first-generation college)
A specialty of Interest: Open to everything but currently leaning towards optho or ENT. Work/life balance is important to me.
Interest in Primary Care (Y/N): Yes
Interest in Rural Health (Y/N): No. Want to work with underserved communities in urban areas.

MD -

• NYU (Strong ties so worth it)
• Yale (large focus on medical literature which I also have so gonna shoot my shot)
• Emory
• University of Michigan
• Western Michigan (Stryker)
• Renaissance School at Stony Brook
• NYU LI
• Albert Einstein
• Frank H. Netter Quinnipiac
• Saint Louis University
• SUNY Downstate
• Sidney Kimmel (Jefferson)
• Wayne State University
• Wake Forest
• Hackensack Meridian
• SUNY Upstate
• New York Medical College (NYMC)
• Lewis Katz (Temple)
• Jacobs School of Medicine (Buffalo)
• Drexel
• Robert Larner at University of Vermont
• Albany
• Medical College of Wisconsin
• Oakland University William Beaumont
• TCU and UNTHSC
• Michigan State CHM

DO -

• Western University COM Pacific
• Touro (Harlem)
• Michigan State COM
• A.T. Still University SOM - Arizona
• New York Institute of Technology COM
• Philadelphia COM

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[Mr.Smile12]

Hopefully we won't need to dip into the DO list, but you said you were interested in primary care, so you'll probably want to keep that powder dry if you think any of those experiences/opportunities are that much better.

What have you been doing since graduating (research lab work, at NYU??)?
What did you do among your 650+ hours in non-clinical volunteering?

Not sure with the 513 that Yale is worth the shot. NYU has a medical humanities program too. With your degree, I can see how you are drawn to med humanities programs, so maybe you can also filter your list with that in mind. I also suggest listening to the Academic Medicine podcast from AAMC since they tend to post humanities essays spoken by the authors, many of whom are medical students; pay attention to where the students/residents are from.

 

[AstroSidekick]

Hopefully we won't need to dip into the DO list, but you said you were interested in primary care, so you'll probably want to keep that powder dry if you think any of those experiences/opportunities are that much better.

What have you been doing since graduating (research lab work, at NYU??)?
What did you do among your 650+ hours in non-clinical volunteering?

Not sure with the 513 that Yale is worth the shot. NYU has a medical humanities program too. With your degree, I can see how you are drawn to med humanities programs, so maybe you can also filter your list with that in mind. I also suggest listening to the Academic Medicine podcast from AAMC since they tend to post humanities essays spoken by the authors, many of whom are medical students; pay attention to where the students/residents are from.

I'll admit that I would prefer an MD school to keep my options more open, especially because I think being an ENT or Optho would be awesome. But the work-life balance of primary care is really attractive to me.

Yes, I'm currently a research associate at NYU's SOM. That's part of why I'll apply to them because I have two NYU SOM faculty that will most likely write me a LOR. Yale has always been my dream so I think I want to shoot my shot at least once. They inspired to really look into medical humanities and that has been a great calling for me.

That 650 hours of non-clinical is about 500 hours working as a school ambassador for underserved kids in Detroit/Flint and 150 hours working with persons with disabilities at my undergrad (helping them get to class, reading out exams, tutoring, etc...).

 

[AstroSidekick]

Does anyone else have any other advice?

 

[ihoop24]

Extracurriculars look great. My advice: if you have the money, shoot your shot !