3.522 cGPA, 32MCAT, Good EC

[AlphaKY1]

Any tips would be greatly appreciated. I'm currently waiting to be verified and would like help deciding where else to send my app.

cGPA 3.522 sGPA 3.400 MCAT 32 (11/10/11) Most recent 3 semesters: 3.84cGPA, 3.9sGPA

ECs (From AMCAS):
2000 hours Biochemistry research (10/2012-Present)
4 Presentations (8/2013,8/2014)
Awarded research grant from univeristy for my project for upcoming year
Treasurer Pre-Med Club
City wide volunteer event group leader
40 hours shadowing trauma surgeon (and on-call hours)
Additional 20 hours non-clinical volunteering for non-profit company
Athlete/Finance chair on water ski team (prepared budget and secured $10k of financing for team)
Fundraising chair of Investment club
National Collegiate Water Ski academic all-star
Started PTSD Dodgeball fundraiser - was offered by the president of our national umbrella organization to start/lead a branch
Rodeo foreman 2 years during school
200 hours clinical volunteering in burn unit
10 hours random shadowing
Stock Investing (turned $50-1500 in fiscal year.)

Sorry if that wasn't organized well enough. I just scrolled through my AMCAS and copied over

This is what I have so far for my school list. Arizona is my top choice. Would love to go south. I am a Nebraska resident

UNMC
AZ - Tucson
AZ - Phoenix
FSU (free secondary might as well)
UM Miller
Albert Einstein

Any help is greatly appreciated!

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[Lamel]

Aside from your sGPA, your app is strong. You do need more schools though. Look for private OOS schools where your MCAT is close to the median and your GPA falls in the 10th-90th percentile (use the MSAR). Off the top of my head I can recommend Drexel, Jefferson, Temple, NYMC, Albany, Qunnipiac, VCU, but there are definitely more.

The Arizona schools are in-state biased, though not impossible to get an interview at, just be sure to show interest. I can't recommend FSU as they got 2500 OOS apps and offered 9 interviews to those last year. By far your best chance is at UNMC.

Come back to us with a list of ~15-20 schools that we can go off of and critique.

 

[AlphaKY1]

Thanks, Lamel for great reply! Much better than my advisers ever gave me haha. Yeah, my sGPA was where I was worried. Hopefully, they recognize the strong uptrend and the fact that in 300/400 level classes I have a 3.99.

Anyways, not trying to sound arrogant, I am pretty confident I can get into UNMC as I am in-state and whatnot. If I could go south to AZ or FL as such I would strongly consider it. Winter is not my friend. Although they are long shots, I received the FAP so I have some room to work. And I figured, you miss 100% of the shots you don't take. Especially with the FSU's secondary being free.

As for AZ - I saw on MSAR that Phoenix has a required thesis, so I thought my extensive research background would bode nicely. And that Tucson (judging by their secondary) has a huge emphasis on clinical experiences that changed you, which I have a plethora of and have written about one in my PS and one in my work/activities showing that I have witnessed the roses of medicine as well as the gloomy days. So thankful for my time in the burn unit. Thus, I thought I could have a chance with my MCAT as well. Anyways, what do you suggest for showing for interest?

I will return with a list of schools later today. I really appreciate your help!

 

[Lamel]

Thanks, Lamel for great reply! Much better than my advisers ever gave me haha. Yeah, my sGPA was where I was worried. Hopefully, they recognize the strong uptrend and the fact that in 300/400 level classes I have a 3.99.

Anyways, not trying to sound arrogant, I am pretty confident I can get into UNMC as I am in-state and whatnot. If I could go south to AZ or FL as such I would strongly consider it. Winter is not my friend. Although they are long shots, I received the FAP so I have some room to work. And I figured, you miss 100% of the shots you don't take. Especially with the FSU's secondary being free.

As for AZ - I saw on MSAR that Phoenix has a required thesis, so I thought my extensive research background would bode nicely. And that Tucson (judging by their secondary) has a huge emphasis on clinical experiences that changed you, which I have a plethora of and have written about one in my PS and one in my work/activities showing that I have witnessed the roses of medicine as well as the gloomy days. So thankful for my time in the burn unit. Thus, I thought I could have a chance with my MCAT as well. Anyways, what do you suggest for showing for interest?

I will return with a list of schools later today. I really appreciate your help!

I agree that you will likely get into UNMC, judging by how they pretty much give interviews to nearly every in-state applicant, but it is still better to apply a bit broadly. For Florida, USF is likely a better option than FSU.

By showing interest I mean make sure that you have strong reasons for "why X school" so they know that you would be genuinely interested in going over your state school. You will likely get a chance to expand on this on secondaries.


Once you compile your list and finalize it, you should start pre-writing the secondaries so that you can submit them ASAP and be complete.

 

[AlphaKY1]

@Lamel I have come up with a list of 14 schools, what do you think?

Alphabetical order:

Albany (Professor and PI taught here)
Albert Einstein
Drexel
George Washington
Medical College of Wisconsin
Sanford
Sidney Kimmel
USF
University of Arizona (Tucson and Phoenix)
University of Iowa
UMKC
UNMC
Wake Forest

I've also been writing my secondaries for Arizona, making the connection to their state has been easy. The foundation my dodgeball tournament is donating to is in Arizona and I would love to volunteer/work with them in the future to provide care to our veterans. Any tips on formatting the secondaries? 350 words, write like a short essay (Intro, thesis, conclusion)? Or be short and to the point?

Appreciate it again!

 

[Lamel]

I think your list can be further improved, and I think you should move your number of schools to at least ~20 since it is getting late in the cycle. I would consider adding Temple, Miami, NYMC, Hofstra, VCU. I will also refer you to @Goro as he can provide much better insight than me (if he doesn't mind!)

As for your secondaries, each school has their own specific limits so be sure to be within them; address the question that is asked and write as much or as little as needed.

 

[Goro]

The problem I see is that your GPA is 0.2-3 points below the median for the two AZ schools. State schools favor the home team and thus an OOSer has to be > avg. And dodge ball? That's your tie? This would make Adcom members question your judgment. Ties mean you lived in the state for a significant period time and would stay to practice because you like it there and know the place, not merely because it's warmer. Being a snowbird isn't a good enough justification for the taxpayers, who will be supplementing your tuition.

My list

Albany
Albert Einstein
Drexel
George Washington
G-town
Medical College of Wisconsin
Sidney Kimmel
University of Iowa (maybe)
Wake Forest
Rosy Franklin
Penn state
TCMC
All new MD schools except Hofstra and Va Tech
Rush
SLU
Temple
UNMC
Creighton
Loyola
U Miami
Tufts
Loma Linda (but read their list of don'ts)
NYMC
Any DO program; DMU is in your backyard. If you really want to go to AZ, try the two DO schools there. If you like warm, there's also TUNCOM, Western, TUCOM-CA, ACOM, AT Still, all 3 VCOMs, both FL schools, PCOM-GA, CUCOM, Wm Carey, NYIT-AR

 

[AlphaKY1]

Thank you, @Goro ! I wasn't meaning the dodgeball is my tie, rather, I would enjoy to continue working with the foundation I am partnered with. Only in the future to be directly working with them and helping veterans. Especially beings AZ's VA has serious problems, I could make the biggest impact. I looked at Loma Linda, and one of my letter writers is an alum, but I couldn't see myself at a church school. With Tufts - Would I be competitive even though their average is 34/3.7?
I will look further into the list and see where to begin when it comes to writing my secondaries!

 

[Goro]

You're in striking distance for Tufts.

Thank you, @Goro ! I wasn't meaning the dodgeball is my tie, rather, I would enjoy to continue working with the foundation I am partnered with. Only in the future to be directly working with them and helping veterans. Especially beings AZ's VA has serious problems, I could make the biggest impact. I looked at Loma Linda, and one of my letter writers is an alum, but I couldn't see myself at a church school. With Tufts - Would I be competitive even though their average is 34/3.7?
I will look further into the list and see where to begin when it comes to writing my secondaries!