WAMC/School List (URM, 3.73/518) FL Resident

[BlessTheMakerAndHisWater]

Hello everyone! Just got my MCAT score back today and I was wondering what you all think about my school list.

• cGPA: 3.73, sGPA: 3.65
• MCAT: 518 (130/125/131/132)
• FL Resident
• URM (Hispanic) - born and raised in South America
• FL State school
• Clinical experience:
  • 400 hours in a free clinic as a Spanish interpreter (volunteer)
  • 100 hours doing phlebotomy in an Emergency Department (paid)
  • 200 hours assisting with vaccination clinics (paid)
• Research:
  • 50 hours in an undergraduate lab over the summer (very basic stuff, helping out with cleaning, preparing solutions, etc)
  • 1100 hours as a clinical research assistant at a reputable laboratory of an academic hospital
  • No pubs, no posters
• Shadowing:
  • 20 hours emergency medicine
  • 20 hours internal medicine
• Non-clinical Volunteering:
  • 100 hours in a nursing unit passing around snacks to patients
  • 150 hours assisting with a district wide immunization program during COVID
• Leadership:
  • 300 hours (volunteer) as applications/admissions director of a free clinic undergraduate program (helped increase recruitment of hispanic volunteers)
  • 300 hours as executive board member of a large pre-medical student organization on campus (student body of 500+)
• Teaching Assistant:
  • 300 hours as a TA for an undergraduate Anatomy course
  • 45 hours as a TA for an undergraduate laboratory course
• Paid-non clinical experience:
  • 1000 hours working with a medical organization on communications strategies for diversity programs (networked with a lot of medical schools), spoke at a conference, etc.
• Miscellaneous:
  • LGBTQ+ (gay)
  • Speak Spanish and English fluently
  • Application Narrative: addressing health disparities/social determinants of health (especially for the Hispanic community)

School List:

UCSF

Columbia Vagelos

Duke

Stanford

Harvard

Cornell Weill

NYU Grossman (not sure about this one)

Yale

?Mayo

Northwestern Feinberg

UMich

UCLA Geffen

UCSD

USC Keck

UVA

Boston University

Brown (Alpert)

UF

Albert Einstein

UCI

UMass Chan

UM Miller

Dartmouth Geisel

USF Morsani

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[Mr.Smile12]

Welcome to the forums!

Have you qualified for FAP? Have you reached out to LMSA or similar mentoring organizations? Have you been involved with any pipeline or academic enrichment programs in the past?

This weekend is the Medical Student Pride Alliance virtual conference (I am presenting). Have you registered or reached out to anyone involved with mentoring prehealth/premed students yet?

 

[BlessTheMakerAndHisWater]

Welcome to the forums!

Have you qualified for FAP? Have you reached out to LMSA or similar mentoring organizations? Have you been involved with any pipeline or academic enrichment programs in the past?

This weekend is the Medical Student Pride Alliance virtual conference (I am presenting). Have you registered or reached out to anyone involved with mentoring prehealth/premed students yet?

Hi, thank you so much for your response!

I did apply for FAP and unfortunately did not qualify. And yes, I’m an alum of the Summer Health Professions Education Program (SHPEP).

I wasn’t aware of this virtual conference taking place - would love to register! I also haven’t been in touch with any individuals that offer mentoring to pre-meds. Would be great to connect with some.

As for my school list, what are your thoughts? I feel like my GPA, CARS, and lack of publications/posters could be holding me back so I’m not entirely sure if to apply to a lot of top tier programs. Perhaps swap them out for more mid tiers?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

As for my school list, what are your thoughts? I feel like my GPA, CARS, and lack of publications/posters could be holding me back so I’m not entirely sure if to apply to a lot of top tier programs. Perhaps swap them out for more mid tiers?

Your school list should be a mixture of top, middle, and solid tiers, though how it's balanced is up to you and your mission fit. Being involved with SHPEP is helpful, and you should mention it. Make sure you get feedback from the site program director or advisor if you have questions.

I'm not worried about your research publication history. Not that many premed applicants have publications, despite what the MSAR says about the proportion of matriculants with research experience. You have at least one experience speaking at a conference, so that doesn't concern me.

GPA is solid. MCAT CARS is 125 right at the middle (50th/60th percentile). You speak Spanish and English fluently having been an immigrant to the US.

I need a better idea of what your purpose as a physician is, what you expect from the medical school you wish to attend (opportunities to get you closer to your purpose, support system with mentors), and what your mission fit is with the schools.

 

[BlessTheMakerAndHisWater]

Your school list should be a mixture of top, middle, and solid tiers, though how it's balanced is up to you and your mission fit. Being involved with SHPEP is helpful, and you should mention it. Make sure you get feedback from the site program director or advisor if you have questions.

I'm not worried about your research publication history. Not that many premed applicants have publications, despite what the MSAR says about the proportion of matriculants with research experience. You have at least one experience speaking at a conference, so that doesn't concern me.

GPA is solid. MCAT CARS is 125 right at the middle (50th/60th percentile). You speak Spanish and English fluently having been an immigrant to the US.

I need a better idea of what your purpose as a physician is, what you expect from the medical school you wish to attend (opportunities to get you closer to your purpose, support system with mentors), and what your mission fit is with the schools.

I'm definitely more community-oriented than research-oriented. The main reason why I want to go into medicine is to help mitigate the disparities faced by immigrant families (like my own), especially those originating from primarily Spanish-speaking backgrounds. This became very evident while volunteering as a Spanish-interpreter at my school's free clinic. During that time I was the primary advocate for unhoused, undocumented, and uninsured patients - it was extremely rewarding to connect with them on a cultural level and offer resources with the potential of improving their quality of their life. There aren't enough Spanish-speaking physicians out there who can provide culturally-competent care - I'd like to change that.

As a medical student, I would appreciate the opportunity to give back by continuing my engagement in similar activities. Those moments of connecting with these patients really are what's made all the effort so far worth it for me. Urban areas that come to mind that have a high proportion of underserved hispanic populations are Los Angeles, New York City, and Boston, hence why I'm inclined to apply to as many as possible in these areas.

I hope this clarifies things a bit. Happy to elaborate more if needed.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Check your list against this one

Student Run Asylum Clinics

Student run asylum clinics across the US directly affiliated with Physicians for Human Rights.

www.phrstudents.com

Also see if any of the student-run free clinics cater to Latinx/Hispanic communities

https://www.studentrunfreeclinics.org/

 

[Faha]

Add Florida Atlantic, Florida International and Central Florida to your list. UCI admits very few non residents. You could add any of these schools:
Hofstra
Mount Sinai
Georgetown
Kaiser

 

[BlessTheMakerAndHisWater]

Check your list against this one

Student Run Asylum Clinics

Student run asylum clinics across the US directly affiliated with Physicians for Human Rights.

www.phrstudents.com

Also see if any of the student-run free clinics cater to Latinx/Hispanic communities

https://www.studentrunfreeclinics.org/

Thank you for sharing this, it'll be extremely helpful in narrowing down options.

 

[BlessTheMakerAndHisWater]

Add Florida Atlantic, Florida International and Central Florida to your list. UCI admits very few non residents. You could add any of these schools:
Hofstra
Mount Sinai
Georgetown
Kaiser

Thank you Faha!

I'm trying to keep my school list to ~20 due to costs. Besides UCI, any others on my list you think I should cross off right off the bat?

 

[Faha]

Thank you Faha! After all these years, I've been looking forward to seeing you comment on one of my threads Lol.

I'm trying to keep my school list to ~20 due to costs. Besides UCI, any others on my list you think I should cross off right off the bat?

You could remove UCSD (admit few non residents with no connection to the state).