WAMC/School list help after SMP (2024)

*Reposting from about a month ago with my new MCAT score

1. cGPA: 3.06 sGPA: 2.70 smpGPA: 3.85
2. MCAT: 502 (April 2024), 508 (July 2024)
3. State: New York
4. Race: South Asian
5. Undergraduate: Stony Brook Graduate: SMP at Rutgers RWJ
6. Clinical Experience: Medical Assistant/Anesthesia Tech (hybrid role) - 230 hours, ED Scribe - 510 hours, Patient transport volunteer - 75 hours
7. Research experience: wet lab research at my SMP med school - 60 hours
8. Shadowing experience: Endocrinology - 25 hours
9. Non-clinical volunteering: Tutoring refugee children - 120 hours, Food pantry - 40 hours, Tutoring at prison - 20 hours

I have gotten verified, just need to add the rest of my schools given my new MCAT score and submit my secondaries. I've pre-written some. I just took CASPER yesterday and have PREview in another few weeks (none of my schools require it but some recommend it). I am almost ready to submit AACOMAS application as well but am not very knowledgeable about DO schools or how to determine which ones I should apply to. Best case scenario is an MD school on the east coast near home in NY but I understand that my grades do not grant me the pick of the litter. I do qualify for fee assistance program so I've got 20 free schools. I was born in NYC and raised in upstate New York (the area between Albany and Syracuse) so I have strong ties to both of those areas.

Current school list (MD):

1. SUNY Upstate
2. SUNY Downstate
3. Buffalo
4. Albany
5. NYMC
6. Stony Brook (undergrad)
7. Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson (interviewed last cycle via SMP linkage application and was waitlisted)
8. Quinnipiac
9. Temple
10. Drexel
11. Rosalind Franklin
12. EVMS
13. Wayne State
14. Geisinger
15. Tufts
16. Hackensack
17. WVU
18. Wayne State
19. Penn State
20. Vermont

DO List:

1. Rowan Virtua
2. NYIT
3. LECOM
4. PCOM (I've heard they are strict on official letterheads for LORs? I have one with an unofficial letterhead if that means anything)
5. [...]

Since you only posted 2 MCATs from this year, I presume it wasn't required for your articulation interviews with RWJF last cycle. Is that right?

Lots of tutoring under non-clinical community service, and not enough service orientation activity (food pantry, 40 hours). You need at least 150 hours by submission to avoid getting screened out at most schools.

Mr.Smile12 said:

Since you only posted 2 MCATs from this year, I presume it wasn't required for your articulation interviews with RWJF last cycle. Is that right?

Lots of tutoring under non-clinical community service, and not enough service orientation activity (food pantry, 40 hours). You need at least 150 hours by submission to avoid getting screened out at most schools.

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It was required - I needed a 498 to get an interview with that linkage application, so that explains the 502 since I took it during my full time courseload. Also, they have a way of screening out tutoring as a non-service orientation activity?

Faha said:

WVU and Geisinger admit few applicants with no connection to the state or region. You could add these schools:
Belmont
TCU
Alice Walton (when it opens)
Roseman (when it opens)
For DO schools you could add these:
Touro-NY
UNECOM
MU-COM
WVSOM
UP-KYCOM
ACOM
WCU-COM
UIWSOM
TUNCOM
AZCOM
KCU-COM
ATSU-KCOM
DMU-COM
CCOM

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I see that Belmont has no MSAR data. Is your reason for recommending it that new medical schools easier to get into? Also, correct me if I'm wrong but I googled TCU and it's a Texas school. Are those not heavily in-state biased too?

I could replace WVU with Belmont. Do you have a suggestion for a school I should replace Geisinger with?

Mr.Smile12 said:

Since you only posted 2 MCATs from this year, I presume it wasn't required for your articulation interviews with RWJF last cycle. Is that right?

Lots of tutoring under non-clinical community service, and not enough service orientation activity (food pantry, 40 hours). You need at least 150 hours by submission to avoid getting screened out at most schools.

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Are Rosalind Franklin and SUNY Downstate service-oriented schools? I received secondaries from both so does that mean I'll probably be fine?

tenma_dr said:

I see that Belmont has no MSAR data. Is your reason for recommending it that new medical schools easier to get into? Also, correct me if I'm wrong but I googled TCU and it's a Texas school. Are those not heavily in-state biased too?

I could replace WVU with Belmont. Do you have a suggestion for a school I should replace Geisinger with?

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Belmont is a new school with fewer applicants so it is easier to get into. TCU is the only Texas school that does not have an instate preference. Alice Walton and Roseman may also begin accepting applicants this year.

tenma_dr said:

It was required - I needed a 498 to get an interview with that linkage application, so that explains the 502 since I took it during my full time courseload. Also, they have a way of screening out tutoring as a non-service orientation activity?

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I cannot speak for your guaranteed admission track. If you had a qualifying MCAT, you probably got screened out due to your interview, which could be indirectly related to your lack of community service orientation. Your SMP director/faculty should have advised you about this if it were an issue.

Mr.Smile12 said:

I cannot speak for your guaranteed admission track. If you had a qualifying MCAT, you probably got screened out due to your interview, which could be indirectly related to your lack of community service orientation. Your SMP director/faculty should have advised you about this if it were an issue.

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After my interview, I got put on the waitlist and was notified that the class was full. I never received a rejection notice but got an email upon closure of the waitlist. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't they just reject me outright if they saw my service hours as a red flag?

Faha said:

Belmont is a new school with fewer applicants so it is easier to get into. TCU is the only Texas school that does not have an instate preference. Alice Walton and Roseman may also begin accepting applicants this year.

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Is it too late to submit TMDSAS? I'm not too familiar with their app. And do you think its worth writing and paying for it to apply to that one school? Based on my chances of acceptance

tenma_dr said:

After my interview, I got put on the waitlist and was notified that the class was full. I never received a rejection notice but got an email upon closure of the waitlist. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't they just reject me outright if they saw my service hours as a red flag?

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Your SMP director or faculty would likely know what happened. From my experience, the interview probably put you on the stairstep that you did.

As Director of Admissions, I would work closely with the SMP director to ensure that qualified SMP students have a guaranteed seat in the class. You probably saw many of your peers get immediately accepted (no waitlist). The fact you got waitlisted is just a way to relegate your file's evaluation to compare against other regular-decision applicants in their pool. That usually puts you at a disadvantage, especially if such a comparison would include your MCAT (whereas SMP-track likely just checks if you met the thresholds; RD can compare MCAT scores).

tenma_dr said:

Is it too late to submit TMDSAS? I'm not too familiar with their app. And do you think its worth writing and paying for it to apply to that one school? Based on my chances of acceptance

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TCU is an AMCAS school, not TMDSAS.