MD & DO 3.5cGPA 3.41sGPA 518 MCAT(23 first attempt) CA Res. School list help please

[ASU_Premed]

Hi folks, I was wondering if my stats/ECs are competitive for MD as a CA resident. Also, I'd appreciate any advice in finalizing my school list.

Background:
CA Resident, grew up in rural AZ.
Target Schools: Preference for Western schools, primary care oriented.

Major: Computer Science
cGPA: 3.55
sGPA: 3.41
No particular trend in GPA.

First MCAT: 23 9/7/7
Second MCAT: 518 131/127/129/131
Race/Gender: White/Female

Activities:
~1.5 years working as an associate software developer for a large HMO.
~300 hour medical volunteering trip to Peru
~120 hours shadowing 2 physicians. One was pediatrician in family medicine. The other experience was in a nursing home with a geriatric physician.
~150 hours volunteering in hospitals.
~100 hours volunteering as an English tutor at a safe house for immigrant minors
~100 hours volunteering at a center for disabled adults.
~60 hours volunteering in a nursing home.

~40 hours of research in a laboratory.

~A few Comp Sci projects dedicated to using technology to improve university healthcare.
~Some other CS/Mathematics/Healthcare integrative work (exculding details).


Currently verified for:
AZCOM
AT Still
U of A Tucson
U of A Phoenix
Mayo Arizona (reach)
UC Davis
RVUCOM
Touro + Western
Northwestern University

I am considering adding:
UC Irvine
University of Colorado
Creighton University
Albert Einstein
California Northstate?
Eastern Virginia University
Florida Atlantic University
Keck SOM
University of Alabama Birmingham
UCLA
Utah
University of Miami
Tulane University

Occasional School Prereq I'm missing:
-Genetics

Thanks for any help!

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[Faha]

You are competitive for any DO school. For MD schools consider adding these:
Creighton
Einstein
Eastern Virginia
Miami
Tulane
Quinnipiac
NYMC
Oakland Beaumont
Medical College Wisconsin
Rosalind Franklin
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
GW
Virginia Commonwealth

 

[GrapesofRath]

Miami Einstein and Tulane are reasonable choices from your list above. Irvine the Arizona schools and Mayo are likely also worth a shot. You definitely however need more schools most likely to interview you though in a spot like this.

Go through MSAR and look for OOS friendly achools( ie not schools like Utah) with an MCAT median around roughly 33-34(ie Tufts Wake etc) I would give priority to those that get <11k apps(ie not RFU NYMC types). I would also try and place priority on schools where your MCAT isnt above the 90th(ie a school like EVMS is not what I would prioritize).

With that type of gap in MCAT scores and being from CA you really need a good broad list of schools most likely to II you

 

[ASU_Premed]

Miami Einstein and Tulane are reasonable choices from your list above. Irvine the Arizona schools and Mayo are likely also worth a shot. You definitely however need more schools most likely to interview you though in a spot like this.

Go through MSAR and look for OOS friendly achools( ie not schools like Utah) with an MCAT median around roughly 33-34(ie Tufts Wake etc) I would give priority to those that get <11k apps(ie not RFU NYMC types). I would also try and place priority on schools where your MCAT isnt above the 90th(ie a school like EVMS is not what I would prioritize).

With that type of gap in MCAT scores and being from CA you really need a good broad list of schools most likely to II you

Thanks for the tips. I was wondering, why do you say prioritize schools where my MCAT isn't above the 90th percentile for their school? Would they be considered an undershoot?



I've looked at a lot of schools in the MSAR, and it's been hard for me to really get a grasp of how competitive I am as an applicant for a lot of the schools. There seem to be a decent number of schools where my MCAT is above or near the 90th percentile, yet my cGPA/sGPA are near the bottom 10th percentile. My engineering major + premed course schedule wasn't exactly underwater basketweaving, but from what I've read most committees don't seem to give much consideration into how easy/difficult a major was (correct?). Anyone know how this kind of thing is generally seen by ADCOMS?

I've also only been in CA for about 1.5 years, so I'm still a little ignorant about what the schools look for here. I have very substantial ties to AZ, so I have applied to all of the schools there....hopefully my home state will give me a bit of extra OOS consideration because of that. From what I've read, UCSD and UCSF are research heavy schools and UC Riverside only accepts people from their area. Are there any other CA schools I should add besides the ones listed in the OP?

Thanks for the help, folks.

 

[GrapesofRath]

1) I was wondering, why do you say prioritize schools where my MCAT isn't above the 90th percentile for their school? Would they be considered an undershoot?

2) I've looked at a lot of schools in the MSAR, and it's been hard for me to really get a grasp of how competitive I am as an applicant for a lot of the schools. There seem to be a decent number of schools where my MCAT is above or near the 90th percentile, yet my cGPA/sGPA are near the bottom 10th percentile. Anyone know how this kind of thing is generally seen by ADCOMS?

3) From what I've read, UCSD and UCSF are research heavy schools and UC Riverside only accepts people from their area. Are there any other CA schools I should add besides the ones listed in the OP?

Thanks for the help, folks.

1) There's a good chance you aren't a particularly high yield candidate for the RFU's of the world where your MCAT is above their 90th. This is especially true if they already get tons of apps.

2) When you have a lower GPA and high MCAT you have to use somewhat different guidelines than most. Those MSAR 10th GPA percentiles are rough guidelines nothing more. Just using the 10th percentile GPA's as a strict cut off isn't going to do anything for you or get you more IIs. Like I said above those where the median MCAT is around 33-34 roughly and get <11k apps is where Id focus on firstly(ie Wake Tufts etc). Those are the ones most likely to II in all likelihood

3) You are correct on Riverside. The problem you face with the CA schools and many in general is the discrepancy between two scores. Its ripe for unpredictable interpretation you cant anticipate regardless of what lip service schools give of "using the highest score". A number of schools that would be solid choices for you with one score it is definitely dicier with two. Regardless, you can still come up with a solid OOS list you just need a broader one given how unpredictable it will be the evaluation of those two scores.

 

[Goro]

Of your list, delete the ones in red. Add Netter and Oakland-B


I am considering adding:
UC Irvine
University of Colorado
Creighton University
Albert Einstein
California Northstate?
Eastern Virginia University
Florida Atlantic University
Keck SOM
University of Alabama Birmingham
UCLA
Utah
University of Miami
Tulane University

 

[oak'n'oats]

Great ECs, Ok GPA but fantastic MCAT score. You have a very good chance at MD if you apply strategically. If you're fine with DO, it's almost a guarantee you'll be admitted in the west coast DOs. I know you want to stay west coast but if your goal is MD, you have to be more open. As a CA resident, your state does you no favors but with that high MCAT, you might as well roll the dice with all UCs except for UCSF & UC Riverside. California Northstate has a bad rep on SDN due to only accepting private loans for tuition but they do seem to love high MCATs so you'd probably have a very good chance at acceptance there. Schools to consider in addition to Faha & Grapes suggestion are Cincinnati, Hofstra, georgetown, Rush, Ohio St., Wake, Tufts, Colorado, USC Keck, Rochester, etc (Not exhaustive list). I'd take out alabama, utah, & florida atlantic (since all 3 instate with huge in-state bias or people who have strong in state ties).

 

[ASU_Premed]

You have a very good chance at MD if you apply strategically. I know you want to stay west coast but if your goal is MD, you have to be more open.

To clarify, by 'Western' I actually mean I have a general preference for schools in the western half of the USA. I don't care much either way about staying West Coast. Getting in-state tuition would be nice, but tbh CoL here is so high that I'd barely save anything staying in-state, anyway . Maybe if I wound up in UCSF I'd be able to find a nice little closet for 2k a month .

My regional preferences are something along the lines of:

SW > NW (not an MD option with the available schools) > South = Midwest > NE,

and I'd still be willing to attend a NE school if it meant getting in somewhere.

In terms of MD vs DO: I'm interested in primary care, and I see MD and DO as being pretty equal in that regard, so I don't have any objection to attending DO schools. AZCOM is one of my top picks.

California Northstate has a bad rep on SDN due to only accepting private loans for tuition but they do seem to love high MCATs so you'd probably have a very good chance at acceptance there.

Ah. I was wondering why this school was getting so much hate and so few applicants (relatively) on the MSAR.

1) There's a good chance you aren't a particularly high yield candidate for the RFU's of the world where your MCAT is above their 90th.

What does RFU stand for?

 

[oak'n'oats]

Ah. I was wondering why this school was getting so much hate and so few applicants (relatively) on the MSAR.

The reason Northstate had only around 680 applicants (if i remember correctly) was because they did not use AMCAS but rather their own system for admission since they decided they were ready to accept their first class a little too late to be added in AMCAS. So a lot of people really had no idea northstate was even open for applications or that it existed. Now that its on AMCAS, you can bet applications are gonna absolutely skyrocket since its a Cali med school. They apparently do seem to have IS bias but that can be attributed to the fact California is filled with many qualified applicants. You should be set for AZCOM if that's your top choice. Also FYI, RFU stands for Rosalind Franklin university.