3.7 cGPA; 4.0 sGPA; 37 MCAT; TexRes

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dw123

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Applying fall 2016 matriculation, senior undergrad
MCAT:37
cGPA 3.7
BCPM: 4.0
nBCPM: 3.43 (last semester was disaster)

Asian Texas Applicant. Finance Major
Plenty of extracurriculars and leadership/advocacy roles, academic and non-academic awards
Research paper this summer in ortho, along with one semester of volunteer work in basic science lab
Shadowing: 130 hours - Urology, anesthesiology
Medical related volunteering: 140hrs - emergency center, and family clinic
Community volunteering - very little but organizations were main involvement, targeted towards advocacy
3 Rec letters - 1 science prof, 1 finance prof, 1 nonprof, (big university so i can see recs being weak)

Don't know what specialty or area of medicine right now, still keeping an open mind.
Would be interested in dual MD/MBA
Also interested in research

Hopefuls:
Duke
Northwestern
Baylor
UT Southwestern
Columbia
NYU
Dartmouth
WashU in St. Louis
Stanford
UCSD
UCSF
UC Irvine
UC Davis
USC Keck
UCLA

I am aiming pretty high, don't know what I realistically have a shot at.
Any thoughts?
Thanks!

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This is a bit top heavy even though you are a highly competitive applicant. Maybe add 3 to 4 mid tiers and safeties? Apply to your state schools too. Congrats though :)
 
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Downward trends are always problematic. If your last semester was particularly poor I would strongly consider waiting a year to apply.

Regardless of what you end up deciding to do there is no reason at all to not apply to more than one TX school as a TX resident. If you want to get into an MD school it is in your best interest to apply to all TX schools(and this is regardless of whether you apply now or wait a year and ace senior year).
 
Oh yeah, I already applied to all the Texas schools through the instate application service, actually already interviewed a few. I was just curious what the odds were for more top tier. I would be glad to get into any medical school in Texas though. Thanks for the input!

Does it seem weird that my science gpa is so drastically different from my non sci?
 
Oh yeah, I already applied to all the Texas schools through the instate application service, actually already interviewed a few. I was just curious what the odds were for more top tier. I would be glad to get into any medical school in Texas though. Thanks for the input!

Does it seem weird that my science gpa is so drastically different from my non sci?

Your science GPA is what it is; essentially perfect. But a significant downward trend is going to cause problems. I think we all know the first thought that comes to someone's mind when they see someone with a 4.0 BCPM GPA but who in their most recent semester of college before applying really slacked off in their non science classes(hint that person just didn't care about non science classes). How bad of a downward trend are we talking?

Your application on the surface has stats that can be competitive for top tier schools. But there are many with similar stats who get shut out from the top 20 every year; nothing is guranteed. And downward trends can hurt your cause for sure if they are significant.
 
Sorry to hijack this thread, but how long after completing your primary/secondaries (for TX) did you start receiving interviews? I wasn't fully completed until late July-early August because of MCAT scores...
 
I see....
We are talking like 1C, 3Bs, and 1A. Compared to straight As in the past.

There were circumstances surrounding it such as overloaded schedule and family emergencies.

Also bringing down my nonbcpm is high school dual credit courses. I had one C and a few Bs way back when
 
I see....
We are talking like 1C, 3Bs, and 1A. Compared to straight As in the past.

There were circumstances surrounding it such as overloaded schedule and family emergencies.

Also bringing down my nonbcpm is high school dual credit courses. I had one C and a few Bs way back when

I mean it's a negative for sure but sometimes you just have to apply, flaws and all. What I can say is it will probably come up in some way at a number of interviews and you'll want a solid answer to address it.

Like I said your stats on the surface make top 20 schools potentially within reach. How much the one bad semester will affect you we just will have to see. I don't think itself alone will keep you out of medical school period.
 
Sorry to hijack this thread, but how long after completing your primary/secondaries (for TX) did you start receiving interviews? I wasn't fully completed until late July-early August because of MCAT scores...

No problemo.

TMDSAS: June 1st-ish
Secondaries: mid June
AMCAS: mid july
First interview LATE july in texas

So i think you are still okay on the timeline if you just submitted everything last week. they are just going to take awhile to get to it since everything piles up. You have similar stats?
 
I mean it's a negative for sure but sometimes you just have to apply, flaws and all. What I can say is it will come up in some way at interviews and you'll want a very solid answer to address it.

Like I said your stats on the surface make top 20 schools potentially within reach. How much the one bad semester will affect you we just will have to see. I don't think itself alone will keep you out of medical school period.
Yeah definitely, now waiting is the hardest part. Thanks again for the input!

The interviews I've gone to so far actually havent asked me anything about it. which i thought was weird. but Im sure the more competitive schools will be more likely to scrutinize.
 
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No problemo.

TMDSAS: June 1st-ish
Secondaries: mid June
AMCAS: mid july
First interview LATE july in texas

So i think you are still okay on the timeline if you just submitted everything last week. they are just going to take awhile to get to it since everything piles up. You have similar stats?

lower MCAT (took the new one) :( I also did not receive an under review from UT-H yet, and no secondary from Dell.
 
Yeah definitely, now waiting is the hardest part. Thanks again for the input!

The interviews I've gone to so far actually havent asked me anything about it. which i thought was weird. but Im sure the more competitive schools will be more likely to scrutinize.

Well congrats on the interviews so far. Just be ready in case a school asks because if they ask there is a good chance what you say is going to be a big part of how they evaluate you for the overall interview.

Last thing I'll add about your list is if you are going to apply OOS for a Texas resident it's in your best interest to be top heavy which you seem to have done(many lower tiers don't really consider TX applicants due to their track record of never actually leaving the state for medical school).
The UC's are always going to be low yield but if you really have a strong interest for being in California then go ahead and take a stab. All theo ther schools on your list are reaches but are the type of schools that could potentially be in reach for you(again it all depends on how they interpret the clear weakness in your app that bad downward trend). Good luck.
 
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Yeah UT-H will take about a month to get back to you. starting from the day I turned in my primary at least.
And I didnt get a secondary from dell either. I guess I missed that train cause I heard they were already out and I turned mine in the first day they were available.
they must have seen the trend....:uhno:
 
Well congrats on the interviews so far. Just be ready in case a school asks because if they ask there is a good chance what you say is going to be a big part of how they evaluate you for the overall interview.

Last thing I'll add about your list is if you are going to apply OOS for a Texas resident it's in your best interest to be top heavy which you seem to have done(many lower tiers don't really consider TX applicants due to their track record of never actually leaving the state for medical school).
The UC's are always going to be low yield but if you really have a strong interest for being in California then go ahead and take a stab. All theo ther schools on your list are reaches but are the type of schools that could potentially be in reach for you(again it all depends on how they interpret the clear weakness in your app that bad downward trend). Good luck.

Great points! Thanks!

Are any of the schools above more research heavy than the rest? I know they are all going to be research oriented since they are top tier. I feel like research is another weak part of my app. Im still completing secondaries for most so it would be good for me to highlight what little research I do for those.
 
Are any of the schools above more research heavy than the rest? I know they are all going to be research oriented since they are top tier. I feel like research is another weak part of my app. Im still completing secondaries for most so it would be good for me to highlight what little research I do for those.

All those big names outside of some of the UC's are research powerhouses. Your research experience is sufficient. That's not what I would worry about.
 
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Just apply to ALL texas schools on top of your current list; if you do so you'll be fine.
 
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