MD 3.61 S, 3.62 O, 37Q-- tough case!

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My stats are 3.61 S, 3.62 O, 37Q (13 PS, 13 VR, 11 BS). GPA was torpedoed by two F's from two bad semesters. Both occurred 3+ years ago-- addressed in personal statement. It is what it is at this point-- have spent several years cleaning up the damage!

Here's what I'm working with:


Double major: Biochemistry/French

EC's:

1. Clinical Coordinator at free clinic = oversee staff of 15+ docs, 15+ support staff, 125 patients/mo (300+ hrs, ongoing)
2. Pharmacy Dispensary Manager at different free clinic (150+ hrs, ongoing)
3. Certified Pharmacy Tech (full-time, 1.5+ years)
4. Research assistant + poster presentation (9 mo. inc. full-time summer intern)
5. Literacy tutor (100+ hrs, ongoing)
6. Book-length French translation


Here's my list... Assuming my GPA will screen me out of most/all top schools, but not totally giving up hope:

1. Albert Einstein: 3.79 O, 3.78 S, 33 mcat
2. Boston University: 3.75 O, 3.74 S, 34 mcat
3. Cornell: 3.83 O, 3.83 S, 36 mcat
4. Creighton: 3.77 O, 3.74 S, 30 mcat
5. Dartmouth: 3.83 O, 3.83 S, 34 mcat
6. Emory: 3.75 O, 3.71 S, 35 mcat
7. Georgetown: 3.74 O, 3.71 S, 32 mcat
8. Loyola: 3.72 O, 3.66 S, 33 mcat
9. Northwestern: 3.85 O, 3.83 S, 36 mcat
10. Rush Medical College: 3.69 O, 3.61 S, 31 mcat
11. St. Louis University: 3.81 O, 3.75 S, 33 mcat
12. SUNY-Downstate: 3.74 O, 3.73 S, 33 mcat
13. Temple University: 3.72 O, 3.67 S, 32 mcat
14. Tulane: 3.55 O, 3.47 S, 32 mcat
15. Tufts: 3.75 O, 3.74 S, 34 mcat
16. University of Missouri - Columbia: 3.85 O, 3.82 S, 31 mcat
17. University of Missouri - Kansas City: 3.56 O, 3.54 S, 29 mcat
18. University of Wisconsin - Madison: 3.76 O, 3.74 S, 31 mcat
19. VCU: 3.72 O, 3.69 S, 31 mcat
20. Washington University: 3.91 O, 3.91 S, 38 mcat
21. Yale: 3.87 O, 3.86 S, 37 mcat

Any ideas on how to improve this list? Thanks for your feedback!! This board has been extremely helpful!!

I'm amused by the "torpedoed" and very dramatized description of your gpa. a 3.6 is NOT bad, and a 37 by far atones for it school list looks good

Missouri-Columbia, and Missouri-Kansas City are not very OOS-friendly schools. Unless you are IS, I would reconsider applying to them (if you are IS then definitely apply to all state schools). Same goes for Rush. Maybe look into replacing them with some private schools such as Albany, NYMC, Hofstra, Drexel, and Rosalind Franklin. As stated before, you GPA shouldn't be an issue given you high MCAT score, especially if there is an upward trend and you addressed the bad grades in your personal statement. Overall, your school list looks good and you should be a very competitive applicant.

1289: Thanks for the feedback. Sorry for the melodrama!

bostrich: I am applying IS to Missouri-Columbia, Missouri-KC, etc. Thanks for the recommendations-- I compared the listed schools and settled on NYMC as my favorite. Swapped out a small number of OOS low-to-mid-tiers and added a few high-tier--

New list:

1. Albert Einstein: 3.79 O, 3.78 S, 33 mcat
2. Boston University: 3.75 O, 3.74 S, 34 mcat
3. Cornell: 3.83 O, 3.83 S, 36 mcat
4. Creighton: 3.77 O, 3.74 S, 30 mcat
5. Dartmouth: 3.83 O, 3.83 S, 34 mcat
6. Emory: 3.75 O, 3.71 S, 35 mcat
7. Loyola: 3.72 O, 3.66 S, 33 mcat
8. NYMC: 3.64 O, 3.58 S, 32 mcat
9. St. Louis University: 3.81 O, 3.75 S, 33 mcat
10. SUNY-Downstate: 3.74 O, 3.73 S, 33 mcat
11. Tulane: 3.55 O, 3.47 S, 32 mcat
12. University of Chicago: 3.87 O, 3.87 S, 37 mcat
13. University of Iowa: 3.86 O, 3.85 S, 33 mcat
14. University of Missouri - Columbia: 3.85 O, 3.82 S, 31 mcat
15. University of Missouri - Kansas City: 3.56 O, 3.54 S, 29 mcat
16. UVA: 3.86 O, 3.85 S, 35 mcat
17. University of Wisconsin: 3.76 O, 3.74 S, 31 mcat
18. Vanderbilt: 3.85 O, 3.84 S, 35 mcat
19. VCU: 3.72 O, 3.69 S, 31 mcat
20. Wake Forest: 3.68 O, 3.65 S, 34 mcat
21. Washington University: 3.91 O, 3.91 S, 38 mcat
22. Yale: 3.87 O, 3.86 S, 37 mcat

Thoughts?? Thank you everybody for your input!

I think this looks like a very solid list. You should at least get several interviews. Just make sure you stay on top of secondaries, and be ready for interviews. Good luck!

Can I ask where you got Washington's average MCAT is a 38? All I can find on their website is that dang table that they use, and also Yale, because I can't find anything on their website, lol.

boshtrich: Thanks again!

SoulinNeed: I haven't done much digging around on official school websites yet.

Wisconsin is not very OOS-friendly either. If you like Rush, it's not OOS-friendly per se (it's private) but it doesn't give out many IIs relative to other schools and tends to give them to people it thinks are likely to attend, such as those who are from the area. I would add a few more mid-tiers to your list, such as Ohio State and Cincinnati. Also, the AAMC hates it when you post MSAR data -- I would go back and edit it out.

Originally Posted by Mazdave

Wisconsin is not very OOS-friendly either. If you like Rush, it's not OOS-friendly per se (it's private) but it doesn't give out many IIs relative to other schools and tends to give them to people it thinks are likely to attend, such as those who are from the area. I would add a few more mid-tiers to your list, such as Ohio State and Cincinnati. Also, the AAMC hates it when you post MSAR data -- I would go back and edit it out.

yeah but OPs stats are in line with an OOSer at Wisconsin.

Originally Posted by 1289

yeah but OPs stats are in line with an OOSer at Wisconsin.

True. WI likes to see a little more volunteering though (unless OPs free clinic management stuff was all volunteer work).

Mazdave: Thanks for the heads-up!

1289/Bauman: Free clinic management was all volunteer. Per Bauman's suggestion: thanks for the feedback-- I do want a lot of Midwest/Rust Belt schools in my list. I dropped one top-tier school and swapped another mid-tier--

Revised list:

1. Albert Einstein: 3.79 O, 3.78 S, 33 mcat
2. Creighton: 3.77 O, 3.74 S, 30 mcat
3. Dartmouth: 3.83 O, 3.83 S, 34 mcat
4. Emory: 3.75 O, 3.71 S, 35 mcat
5. Loyola: 3.72 O, 3.66 S, 33 mcat
6. NYMC: 3.64 O, 3.58 S, 32 mcat
7. Ohio State University: 3.76 O, 3.71 S, 34 mcat
8. St. Louis University: 3.81 O, 3.75 S, 33 mcat
9. SUNY-Downstate: 3.74 O, 3.73 S, 33 mcat
10. Tulane: 3.55 O, 3.47 S, 32 mcat
11. University of Chicago: 3.87 O, 3.87 S, 37 mcat
12. University of Cincinnati: 3.76 O, 3.71 S, 33 mcat
13. University of Iowa: 3.86 O, 3.85 S, 33 mcat
14. University of Missouri - Columbia: 3.85 O, 3.82 S, 31 mcat
15. University of Missouri - Kansas City: 3.56 O, 3.54 S, 29 mcat
16. UVA: 3.86 O, 3.85 S, 35 mcat
17. University of Wisconsin: 3.76 O, 3.74 S, 31 mcat
18. Vanderbilt: 3.85 O, 3.84 S, 35 mcat
19. VCU: 3.72 O, 3.69 S, 31 mcat
20. Wake Forest: 3.68 O, 3.65 S, 34 mcat
21. Washington University: 3.91 O, 3.91 S, 38 mcat
22. Yale: 3.87 O, 3.86 S, 37 mcat

Dropped:

Boston University: 3.75 O, 3.74 S, 34 mcat
Cornell: 3.83 O, 3.83 S, 36 mcat

Originally Posted by alcofribas

My stats are 3.61 S, 3.62 O, 37Q (13 PS, 13 VR, 11 BS). GPA was torpedoed by two F's from two bad semesters. Both occurred 3+ years ago-- addressed in personal statement. It is what it is at this point-- have spent several years cleaning up the damage!

Here's what I'm working with:


Double major: Biochemistry/French

EC's:

1. Clinical Coordinator at free clinic = oversee staff of 15+ docs, 15+ support staff, 125 patients/mo (300+ hrs, ongoing)
2. Pharmacy Dispensary Manager at different free clinic (150+ hrs, ongoing)
3. Certified Pharmacy Tech (full-time, 1.5+ years)
4. Research assistant + poster presentation (9 mo. inc. full-time summer intern)
5. Literacy tutor (100+ hrs, ongoing)
6. Book-length French translation


Here's my list... Assuming my GPA will screen me out of most/all top schools, but not totally giving up hope:

1. Albert Einstein: 3.79 O, 3.78 S, 33 mcat
2. Boston University: 3.75 O, 3.74 S, 34 mcat
3. Cornell: 3.83 O, 3.83 S, 36 mcat
4. Creighton: 3.77 O, 3.74 S, 30 mcat
5. Dartmouth: 3.83 O, 3.83 S, 34 mcat
6. Emory: 3.75 O, 3.71 S, 35 mcat
7. Georgetown: 3.74 O, 3.71 S, 32 mcat
8. Loyola: 3.72 O, 3.66 S, 33 mcat
9. Northwestern: 3.85 O, 3.83 S, 36 mcat
10. Rush Medical College: 3.69 O, 3.61 S, 31 mcat
11. St. Louis University: 3.81 O, 3.75 S, 33 mcat
12. SUNY-Downstate: 3.74 O, 3.73 S, 33 mcat
13. Temple University: 3.72 O, 3.67 S, 32 mcat
14. Tulane: 3.55 O, 3.47 S, 32 mcat
15. Tufts: 3.75 O, 3.74 S, 34 mcat
16. University of Missouri - Columbia: 3.85 O, 3.82 S, 31 mcat
17. University of Missouri - Kansas City: 3.56 O, 3.54 S, 29 mcat
18. University of Wisconsin - Madison: 3.76 O, 3.74 S, 31 mcat
19. VCU: 3.72 O, 3.69 S, 31 mcat
20. Washington University: 3.91 O, 3.91 S, 38 mcat
21. Yale: 3.87 O, 3.86 S, 37 mcat

Any ideas on how to improve this list? Thanks for your feedback!! This board has been extremely helpful!!

you still look "excellent" with 2 Fs; if they were before junior year, I frankly see no limits anywhere;

curious; when were they and what were they in? did you re-take and take subsequent harder/relevant courses? If you did, just a hurdle, not a wall, anywhere - and I am 100% admitted to 4 med schools and 1 of 1 vet schools (long story) and have seen the "admissions game" since 1987.

Good future!
jcm

Originally Posted by mcat45454545

you still look "excellent" with 2 Fs; if they were before junior year, I frankly see no limits anywhere;

curious; when were they and what were they in? did you re-take and take subsequent harder/relevant courses? If you did, just a hurdle, not a wall, anywhere - and I am 100% admitted to 4 med schools and 1 of 1 vet schools (long story) and have seen the "admissions game" since 1987.

Good future!
jcm

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