WAMC/School List Help: 523/4.0/ORM

[applesarecool]

Hi everyone! I am trying to narrow down my school list for the upcoming cycle, which is proving to be more difficult than I expected. My main goal is simply to get in somewhere so I want to have a school list that gives me the best chance. Another huge goal would be to get a merit scholarship, so I tried to pick schools that seem to offer aid! I am hoping to apply to around 20 schools… does that seem reasonable?

sGPA and cGPA: 4.0
MCAT score: 523
OR resident, ORM, Asian female
Large state school

Clinical experience:
350 hours hospital volunteer with direct patient care. 150 hours clinic volunteer. 100 hours of shadowing across three specialties.

Research experience and productivity
1000+ hours in molecular biology wet lab. Honors thesis, one low-author pub, one poster at national conference.

Non-clinical volunteering
500+ hours in 4 separate non-clinical volunteering activities and leadership activities that all center around promoting food security. This is a pretty big passion of mine with demonstrated leadership and commitment to service in this area.

Relevant honors or awards
Various honors and research funding awards through my university and local organizations.

Current school list (need to remove 4 if I want to get to 20).

1. Stanford
2. Hopkins
3. UCSF
4. UPenn
5. Yale
6. UChicago
7. Duke
8. NYU
9. Mayo
10. Vanderbilt
11. WashU
12. Columbia
13. Cornell
14. Sinai
15. University of Michigan
16. Northwestern
17. Case
18. University of Pittsburgh
19. Einstein
20. OHSU
21. UVA
22. Ohio State
23. University of Cincinnati
24. Iowa

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[Mr.Smile12]

To answer your question, answer these questions:
Why are you interested in food security? Which medical schools encourage students to work on food security? How do medical schools handle food security for its own students and their families?

Food Insecurity in Medical Students: Preliminary Data From... : Academic Medicine

An abstract is unavailable.

journals.lww.com

Food Insecurity in Medical Schools – InsMed Loan Advisory Services, LLC

insmedfinancialwellness.com

Improving Food Insecurity Education in Medical School Through Integrative Service Learning - PubMed

Medical student participation in an experiential integrative service learning program improved knowledge of food security topics and increased comfort discussing food insecurity with patients, compared to students who did not participate. Experiential integrative service learning may improve...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

To that end, OHSU (your in-state) likely has some programs that would cater to your interests. Yale too. Do your homework and make your school list if they have such programs or curricula. Mission fit dictates if you will get a merit scholarship.

 

[AJS59]

What's your state of residence, if you're willing to share?

 

[applesarecool]

What's your state of residence, if you're willing to share?

Oregon

 

[AJS59]

Hmm, with that in mind, if you want to get down to 20 I'd say look over missions and decide which schools are the best fit for you.

 

[MD_Maker]

A little confused as to why you "just want to get in" because you have the metrics for a top school as long as the rest of your application can deliver. Stanford and UMich might be a harder sell, depending on how well your food insecurity narrative is wrapped. I'm trying to imagine Northwestern favoring you, and I don't quite see it. Case Mayo and UCSF all sound like good options. OHSU obviously too.

 

[Alejandro]

Stuff looks good. Good stats. Well done-

Find the mission fits, cost of attendance that make sense for you. I'd do like 15-20 T20s and 4-5 outside of the T20s.

as MD_Maker mentioned, how you sell your food insecurity passion will be pivotal for your application/interview. Seems like you've added a few schools outside of the T20 which is good.

 

[applesarecool]

A little confused as to why you "just want to get in" because you have the metrics for a top school as long as the rest of your application can deliver. Stanford and UMich might be a harder sell, depending on how well your food insecurity narrative is wrapped. I'm trying to imagine Northwestern favoring you, and I don't quite see it. Case Mayo and UCSF all sound like good options. OHSU obviously too.

Thank you! I have Northwestern just because I have family in the area so I am definitely interested in going there, so I will probably try to highlight my research experience in that secondary.