School List (517/3.96)

[TinyWorm]

Hi!

I'm in my gap year now applying for this upcoming cycle, and I just want some advice in terms of what schools to apply to. I don't know if I should tailor my list toward more research-oriented or service-oriented schools. All hours included are at the time when primaries are going to be submitted.

cGPA and sGPA as calculated by AMCAS or AACOMAS:
cGPA: 3.96, sGPA: 3.97

MCAT score(s) and breakdown. Include all (non-voided) attempts:
512 (130/123/129/130) on 8/2022 -> 517 (130/127/129/131) on 8/2023

State of residence or country of citizenship (if non-US):
MN

Ethnicity and/or race:
ORM (Asian)

Undergraduate institution or category:
T10

* is MME
^ is leadership role

Clinical Experience:

Hospice Volunteer - (140 hours/1.5 years + 50 projected)​

*Patient Advocate at Pediatric Primary Care Clinic - focused on improving health outcomes for underserved patients & their families by working on goals related to the social determinants of health and referring them to community-based resources (500 hours/1.5 yrs)​

*Clinical Research Assistant - very centered on patient care/patient education, with less focus on sample processing/data entry/analysis - (1100 hours/9 months + 2000 projected during gap year)​

Research Experience and Productivity: no pubs/posters/pres

Wet Lab - during sophomore/junior year of college - (300 hours/3 sems) - 1 pre-print in review/low-level pub/mid-level authorship (not going to include on app?)​

Public Health Research - related to my patient advocacy work - (30 hours/1 summer)​

​

Shadowing Experience and Specialties Represented

Pediatric ENT, Cardiology, Oncology (42 hours)​

GI - half shadowing/half research-based (36 hours)​

Non-Clinical Volunteering

Providing social support/mentorship to under-resourced/underperforming high school students - (60 hours/2 yrs)​

^Volunteer teacher - aimed at increasing opportunities for local students to pursue subjects that aren't taught in school - (155 hours/3 yrs) - (2.5 years exec board)​

Other extracurricular activities (including athletics, military service, gap year activities, leadership, teaching, etc)

^*Dance Team - (1200 hours/3 yrs) - (2 years pres)​

^OChem Lab TA - (500 hours/5 sems)​

Relevant honors or awards

Major Honors Society (2 yrs)​

Dean's List (all eligible sems)​

Summary:

Strengths: leadership, longitudinal commitment to activities, diverse research experiences, working w/ underserved communities & diverse patient populations, strong focus on mentorship/teaching/education/patient education

Weaknesses: not as much hands-on clinical experience, lack of research productivity, first CARS

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[Mr.Smile12]

Providing social support/mentorship to under-resourced/underperforming high school students - (60 hours/2 yrs)

Could you specify your responsibilities and impact when you say "social support"? What about their families?

^Volunteer teacher - aimed at increasing opportunities for local students to pursue subjects that aren't taught in school - (155 hours/3 yrs) - (2.5 years exec board)

Both roles are extensions of tutoring, mentoring, and teaching (academic competencies) and not service orientation where you help alleviate distress. Do you have any such activities?

 

[TinyWorm]

Could you specify your responsibilities and impact when you say "social support"? What about their families?



Both roles are extensions of tutoring, mentoring, and teaching (academic competencies) and not service orientation where you help alleviate distress. Do you have any such activities?

Sure! I was paired with X, a high school student who failed his 9th grade year (making him eligible for the program). The type of support I provided ranged from being someone he could talk to through hard times (financial stressors, school stressors, the death of a friend due to gun violence, among other things he has dealt with), school support (tutoring him in physics, dropping breakfast off at his school, attending his football games), to helping him find opportunities in things he's interested in and passionate about (attending photography and graphic design events). I had a friendly relationship with X's mom and sister as well, but most of my interactions involved supporting X.

I would say the patient advocacy role is my strongest demonstration of alleviating distress. Some examples include helping patients fill out emergency rental assistance applications to avoid eviction, applying for food stamps/insurance/birth certificates/employment, contacting local resources to avoid electricity being shut off in patient homes housing medically vulnerable patients, etc.

Hope this answers your question!

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Sure! I was paired with X, a high school student who failed his 9th grade year (making him eligible for the program). The type of support I provided ranged from being someone he could talk to through hard times (financial stressors, school stressors, the death of a friend due to gun violence, among other things he has dealt with), school support (tutoring him in physics, dropping breakfast off at his school, attending his football games), to helping him find opportunities in things he's interested in and passionate about (attending photography and graphic design events). I had a friendly relationship with X's mom and sister as well, but most of my interactions involved supporting X.

I would say the patient advocacy role is my strongest demonstration of alleviating distress. Some examples include helping patients fill out emergency rental assistance applications to avoid eviction, applying for food stamps/insurance/birth certificates/employment, contacting local resources to avoid electricity being shut off in patient homes housing medically vulnerable patients, etc.

Hope this answers your question!

Could you be more specific on how X is your patient? Or am I misreading?

Ok, your role as Patient Advocate is a non-clinical role as it fulfills social work-related responsibilities in helping others access services. I can take that as service orientation activities (and 500 hours).

 

[Faha]

I suggest these schools with your stats:
Minnesota
Medical College Wisconsin
Western Michigan
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
Rosalind Franklin
TCU
Tulane
Belmont
NOVA MD
USF Morsani
Miami
Wake Forest
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
George Washington
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Penn State
Pittsburgh
Cincinnati
Hackensack
Hofstra
New York Medical College
Albany
Rochester
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Tufts
Boston University

 

[TinyWorm]

Could you be more specific on how X is your patient? Or am I misreading?

Ok, your role as Patient Advocate is a non-clinical role as it fulfills social work-related responsibilities in helping others access services. I can take that as service orientation activities (and 500 hours).

Sorry for any confusion, X is not my patient. My interactions with X are the 60-hour non-clinical activity I listed above.

So just to summarize in terms of how I should categorize things?

Clinical - 1240 hours + 2050 projected (hospice + clinical research)
Research - 330 hours (wet lab + public health research)
Non-Clinical Volunteering - 560 hours
Teaching - 655 hours (TA + other volunteering activity reclassified to teaching)
Shadowing - 78 hours
Arts/Leadership - 1200 hours

Hopefully that makes it easier to help me build a school list--thanks for your help!

 

[TinyWorm]

I suggest these schools with your stats:
Minnesota
Medical College Wisconsin
Western Michigan
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
Rosalind Franklin
TCU
Tulane
Belmont
NOVA MD
USF Morsani
Miami
Wake Forest
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
George Washington
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Penn State
Pittsburgh
Cincinnati
Hackensack
Hofstra
New York Medical College
Albany
Rochester
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Tufts
Boston University

Thanks! What are thoughts on the Big Ten schools like Ohio State (former OH resident), Nebraska (former NE resident), Wisconsin-Madison, Iowa, Maryland?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Thanks! What are thoughts on the Big Ten schools like Ohio State (former OH resident), Nebraska (former NE resident), Wisconsin-Madison, Iowa, Maryland?

How long did you live in each of the other states? Where did you spend your childhood?

 

[TinyWorm]

How long did you live in each of the other states? Where did you spend your childhood?

OH - first 6-7 years (still strong have ties)
GA - next 2-3 years
NE - next 2-3 years (rural)
MN - next 10 years (but half of this is elsewhere for college/current gap year but have still maintained MN residence)

So really all over the place.