Please help with school list. Not sure what to add/cut out.
State of residence: CA
Ties to other states (if applicable): No
URM? (Y/N): N (Asian)
Undergraduate: UC
Undergraduate major(s)/minor(s): Biology, GPA: 3.96 Science GPA: 4.0
MCAT Score: 505 -- > 514 (124 cars :( )
Preview : 9 Gap years?: Yes (2)
Research experience: 3 years in a Social Science lab, about 1500 hours, 1 pub in a mid-tier journal (2nd author). 800 hours in synthetic O chem Lab (no pubs or posters)
Clinical experience: 2000 hours as a medical assistant in an ophthalmology clinic, 500 hours volunteering at a local ER, 400 hours doing vision screenings with underserved children, 3000 hours as an optometry tech + selling glasses
Physician shadowing: 20 hours in Ophthalmology, 10 hours in dermatology, 10 hours family medicine
Non-clinical volunteering: 100 hours helping students get into research
Leadership: 1000 hours as Senior MA at an ophthalmology clinic (helped train many coworkers)
Awards: Research award, a few academic awards, and in PBK
Hobbies: Basketball, Chess, and cycling
LORs: I feel like I have strong letters. 2 professors I've built strong relations with, 2 doctors from clinic, a manager from the glasses shop, and coordinator for children's vision screenings.
Not sure if my school list is balanced or not. One of my main concerns is that the only clinical I have outside of the ophthalmology stuff is a volunteer at ED (not sure if I should be worried about that). Also, I want to make sure I dont have too many top schools.
Any help is appreciated.
