Traditional Applicant, 4.0 GPA, 525 MCAT, 3 years of Undergraduate at UW-Madison, not from traditionally underrepresented community in medicine

Clinical Experience: Psych Sitter (inpatient setting) 1000 hours, Gap year job Sports Rehab Clinical Assistant ~2500 hours, 100 hours clinical volunteering with neuro/stroke inpatient, 120 hours shadowing (OR and Clinical)

Research: 800 hours Clinical stroke research, 2nd and 3rd author national conference presentations, no 1st author manuscripts

Nonclinical volunteering: 300 hours A&P TA, 100 Hours Virtual Tutor for Chicago Youth

Leadership: Co-founder and VP for AI in Medicine Club, Health Occupation and Profession Exploration Mentor for underrepresented groups

Main Takeaways and Advice:

Research and Non-Clinical Volunteering is HUGE at T-20s.

Biggest mistake I made was sticking with a lab that had low output and opportunity for publication, allowed me to take on a lot of leadership roles in lab early on, but reduced overall productive output. I recommend when reaching out to a mentor asking if they have any existing projects, and what the role is for undergrad students in the lab.

Get into non-clinical volunteering early and often, stick with one or two over an extended period, show your commitment to something you are passionate about and can speak to, focused too much on clinical and academic experience in my own application.

Apply broadly

No matter what your MCAT and GPA are, apply broadly. This process is unpredictable and extremely variable.

Be original and authentic

A lot of my writing ended up sounding pretty generic, focused on clinical experience and familial medical experiences. Not to discredit that as a valid experience, but showing that you can be very introspective and showcase who you are as a person, your unique interests, insight, even if not medically relevant. You want your personal statement to grab attention, not necessarily showcase your knowledge or clinical maturity, that is good to save for interviews.