3.51 cGPA 3.49 sGPA 517 MCAT

[jtsnow]

Hello. I was just curious what my chances would be at getting MD and if I had good chances what are some schools I should look at.

3.51 cGPA 3.49 sGPA and a 517 MCAT. My grades are not that great and I know that. I had a strong upward trend throughout college. I am a Missouri resident and not a minority.
EC: Volunteer at hospital with high amounts of patient interaction for about a year and a half so have at least 100 hours.
Part of AMSA and through AMSA helped volunteer at blood drives and various other events.
Club Lacrosse: Player and helped organize practices and travel to games.
Member of the Honors Program at my school.
Had a job in Insurance the last two years as well.

Any help or input would be appreciated. If anyone has any question just ask I wasn't exactly sure what to put in the post.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[WedgeDawg]

Do you have any formal shadowing experience?

 

[GrapesofRath]

I think you'll be alright for lower tiers with a solid list. You are competitive for all MO schools where your odds are best. Where's your list.

 

[Banco]

3.5 with upward trend + 517 MCAT are good numbers. Your in-state schools are where you should start Mizzou (both), SLU. And yeah, if you don't have shadowing it would be best to get in a few hours.

 

[md-2020]

And yeah, if you don't have shadowing it would be absolutely necessary to get in a few hours.

Fixed that for ya'

 

[Faha]

In addition to your state schools and St. Louis these are schools where you have a chance for an interview with your stats:
Hofstra
NYMC
Albany
Quinnipiac
Penn State
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Oakland Beaumont
Western Michigan
Rosalind Franklin
Loyola
Creighton
Tulane
GW
Georgetown
Medical College Wisconsin

 

[GrapesofRath]

Fixed that for ya'

Ehh I think people tend to overstate the importance of shadowing on here. It's a nice little thing to check off on your checklist but I know officially amongst a survey of Ohio State ADCOMs when asked about the importance of shadowing about 80% said it could be made up in other parts of their app while only 16% said not having any could be grounds for rejecting someone. To provide perspective, 58% said that a lack of sufficient volunteering could be grounds to reject someone.

So yeah, I would add it, it's a good idea to. I definitely don't think it's close to fatal if the OP doesn't have any.

 

[md-2020]

Ehh I think people tend to overstate the importance of shadowing on here. It's a nice little thing to check off on your checklist but I know officially amongst a survey of Ohio State ADCOMs when asked about the importance of shadowing about 80% said it could be made up in other parts of their app while only 16% said not having any could be grounds for rejecting someone. To provide perspective, 58% said that a lack of sufficient volunteering could be grounds to reject someone.

So yeah, I would add it, it's a good idea to. I definitely don't think it's close to fatal if the OP doesn't have any.

C'mon...if you were an adcom, would you feel at all comfortable accepting someone with no shadowing at all?

 

[GrapesofRath]

C'mon...if you were an adcom, would you feel at all comfortable accepting someone with no shadowing at all?

Welp 80% of ADCOMs in the Ohio State survey would be.

We all know what shadowing is. You do it for yourself and are sitting there watching and everything is passive. There are many many other ways to get clinical exposure that is much more involved.

 

[Banco]

C'mon...if you were an adcom, would you feel at all comfortable accepting someone with no shadowing at all?

Shadowing is just one way to get exposure to what a doctor's day is like.

If you are a scribe, you follow the doc around a lot. If you are a medical assistant, you are with the doc all day. If you do clinical research you could be with the doc a good amount of the day. So there are many ways to get that exposure. Shadowing is the easiest checkbox to hit though, imo.

 

[gyngyn]

C'mon...if you were an adcom, would you feel at all comfortable accepting someone with no shadowing at all?

About 20% of our acceptees have none.
They have shown that they know what they are getting into in other ways.

 

[jtsnow]

Sorry I was not able to respond quicker I had a bunch of stuff going on and was sick. For Shadowing as part of my time in the hospital I am in the department of surgery and the recovery room so I often see doctors and nurses and patients interacting so I have shadowed through my time in the department of surgery.
How does my list look? And what is the best way I should look for schools? Just based on Lizzy M score or try to find stats in MSAR and compare them to mine?
Preliminary school list.
Mizzou
SLU
University of Kansas
Loyola
Georgetown
NYMC
Drexel
Temple
Hofstra
George Washington
Rush
Creighton
Possibly University of Utah.

 

[GrapesofRath]

Sorry I was not able to respond quicker I had a bunch of stuff going on and was sick. For Shadowing as part of my time in the hospital I am in the department of surgery and the recovery room so I often see doctors and nurses and patients interacting so I have shadowed through my time in the department of surgery.
How does my list look? And what is the best way I should look for schools? Just based on Lizzy M score or try to find stats in MSAR and compare them to mine?
Preliminary school list.
Mizzou
SLU
University of Kansas
Loyola
Georgetown
NYMC
Drexel
Temple
Hofstra
George Washington
Rush
Creighton
Possibly University of Utah.

With a 3.5 I would want to apply to more than 12 schools but all in all good start. Don't bother with Utah. Ditch Kansas: 89% IS and the 11% OOS will have top stats.

Add some more lower tiers. Keep looking at MSAR and come up with some more and you can get some input on that here.

 

[jtsnow]

With a 3.5 I would want to apply to more than 12 schools but all in all good start. Don't bother with Utah. Ditch Kansas: 89% IS and the 11% OOS will have top stats.

Add some more lower tiers. Keep looking at MSAR and come up with some more and you can get some input on that here.

What would you say is a good amount of schools? And when looking at the MSAR I feel that all schools have at least a 3.7 gpa listed and a 32 MCAT. They all seem very high. How can I find the lower tier ones?

 

[GrapesofRath]

What would you say is a good amount of schools? And when looking at the MSAR I feel that all schools have at least a 3.7 gpa listed and a 32 MCAT. They all seem very high. How can I find the lower tier ones?

3.7/32 is basically what lower tier entails now days. That's why when your GPA is 0.2 below the average MD matriculant you want to apply to alot of schools to maximize your odds of getting an acceptance. Look at those 3.7/32 type schools and come back with an expanded list.

 

[jtsnow]

Thank you I will update my list. Do you think with a solid list I could get an acceptance this cycle?

 

[WedgeDawg]

Thank you I will update my list. Do you think with a solid list I could get an acceptance this cycle?

Based on historical trends, you have about a 55% at an acceptance, but no one can accurately predict your specific chance at an acceptance. The best you can do is apply broadly, write strong essays, and interview well.

 

[jtsnow]

When you say apply broadly what is the number of schools that you would consider broad or a solid number?

 

[WedgeDawg]

When you say apply broadly what is the number of schools that you would consider broad or a solid number?

In your situation, I would personally probably apply to 25-30 schools, but others may disagree and provide a different number or range.

 

[GrapesofRath]

You have a number of factors in your favor from solid state of residency to upward trend to 35 MCAT and are the type of person who those AAMC charts might actually underestimate your odds of acceptance(often times they inflate). But there are hardly any guarantees to say the least. Look at the re-applicant thread on here and you'll see people with better stats than you get shut out the first time around.

There around 30 schools that are worth an application for you. I would apply to as many of them as I could.

 

[Banco]

Based on historical trends, you have about a 55% at an acceptance, but no one can accurately predict your specific chance at an acceptance. The best you can do is apply broadly, write strong essays, and interview well.

For 35/3.5, isn't it more like 70%?