3.7 uGPA, 34 MCAT unbalanced, would love to hear advice on school list

[DesertSeaDiver]

Hello fellow SDN members,

This website is an unbelievable resource and I can't thank everyone enough for the insight and information they've already provided me from previous posts and discussions.

I am interested in hearing feedback on how to narrow my school list. I have consulted MSAR and USNews and have compiled a list of mostly private schools I think I may have a shot at (with a few obvious reaches). I've listed state schools that I have family connections to as well. I'm currently IS in Colorado and am originally from TN. I plan to apply as long shot to 2 Cali schools (Riverside and Davis) as my significant other is from this region. I realize these are long shot but plan to throw my dart at the board anyway. Otherwise, I plan to primarily focus on private MD schools but am very open to DO school options as well. It's just more difficult to compile acceptance stats for DO schools as I haven't found a centralized registry for past acceptances.

My info/stats:
Currently in state in Colorado
MCAT: PS 9 VR 13 BS 12 Total 34 (I think my nerves got to me for PS but I'm very satisfied with this score)
Will complete a M.S. this spring. My graduate GPA is 3.99 and I completed a research thesis.
My undergraduate degree is from a good liberal arts college. I have a 3.70 cumulative and BCPM uGPA.
As an undergraduate, I had very minimal extracurriculars. However, I have 2 LOR's from undergraduate science faculty.
Other EC's:
~130 hours volunteer in ER and surgery waiting room
~50 hours volunteer with adaptive sports program
~30 hours shadowing
>2 years of research in grad school. I've presented at multiple (4+) school internal conferences.
- Potentially will be a contributing author on a published paper, but it is unlikely this will occur before June apps open.
Summer internship with Univ. of Colorado Cancer Center

My plans for this spring are hopefully to get a job as a medical scribe. I'm currently looking for full time work and am taking as many ER volunteer shifts as I can find.

Other than that, I don't think I'm a very exceptional applicant. I've listed about 40 MD schools and 2 DO schools below with stats I've compiled. I hope other applicants might find these stats useful for their own application strategies. It's basically in order of MCAT 10 - 90 % range. I hope I'm not breaking any copyright laws as I purchased all this information, but I can definitely remove it if people think this info is inappropriate / being misused.

My ultimate goal is to apply to about 30 MD / DO programs and have as much of my application ready to go when the cycle starts again in June.

I'd be very grateful to anyone able to provide legitimate feedback on what I can do to improve my application in the next 5 months. Thanks so much to everyone able to spend time evaluating my stats and school list.

Happy Holidays!

- DesertSeaDiver

Edit: Removed spreadsheet image with MSAR and USNews data due to copyright restrictions. Thanks @breakintheroof

Edit: School list without MSAR and USNews data

Private MD:
Meharry
Medical College of WI
George Wash. Univ.
Rosalind Franklin Univ.
Netter at Quinnipiac Univ.
New York Med. College
St. Louis Univ.
Creighton Univ.
Wake Forest Univ.
Drexel Univ.
Rush Medical College
Penn. State Univ.
Brown Univ.
Albany Med. College
Univ. of Rochester
Loyola Univ.
Thomas Jeff. Univ.
Temple Univ.
USC - Keck
Dartmouth
Hofstra
Mayo Medical School
Tufts Univ.
Univ. of Miami
Georgetown Univ.
Univ. of Pittsburgh
Albert Einstein
Duke Univ.
Boston Univ.
Baylor Univ.
Virginia Tech
Tulane Univ.
Vanderbilt Univ.

Public MD:
Univ. of Colorado
ETSU - Quillen
Univ. Tenn Health Sci. Center
UC Riverside
UC Davis
Univ. of Hawaii
Univ. of Nebraska

DO:
Touro - SF
Western Univ. Pomona

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[Person0715]

If you are looking for a scribe job, I think you are golden in terms of clinical experience, but I think you need more non-clinical volunteering.

Also, I do not think you need to apply to 30 schools. That is overkill, especially with your GPA and MCAT. Also, after a cursory scan of your list, I would remove Meharry unless you are african american or have shown significant involvement in those communities.

 

[breakintheroof]

I hope I'm not breaking any copyright laws as I purchased all this information, but I can definitely remove it if people think this info is inappropriate / being misused.

Unfortunately, copyrighted MSAR and US News information can't be shared publicly. SDN has had issues with this in the past.

However, you will still have no trouble getting answers on this thread after taking down the info, as those who give you advice will generally have these data or at least a general idea of the competitiveness of each school.

 

[DesertSeaDiver]

Thanks for the feedback @Person0715 and @breakintheroof

I was shooting for 30 schools as my PS score is just out or on the edge of the 10-90 % for many of my top choices. Additionally, there are a bunch of private MD schools I have no connection to or familiarity with their location. I wanted to throw out a large net to hopefully keep all my options open if I was lucky enough to get multiple acceptances.

what is a suggested # of schools I should be aiming for? is 20 still too high?

thanks SDN!

 

[Goro]

I suggest that you invest in MSAR. Pay special attention to the Acceptance Information page.
I suggest

Medical College of WI
Rosalind Franklin Univ.
Netter at Quinnipiac Univ.
New York Med. College
St. Louis Univ.
Creighton Univ.
Wake Forest Univ.
Drexel Univ.
Albany Med. College
Univ. of Rochester
Loyola Univ.
Thomas Jeff. Univ.
Temple Univ.
USC - Keck
Dartmouth
Hofstra
Tufts Univ.
Univ. of Miami
Univ. of Pittsburgh
Albert Einstein
Duke Univ.
Boston Univ.
Virginia Tech
Tulane Univ.
Vanderbilt Univ.
Univ. of Colorado
Univ. Tenn Health Sci. Center
East TN-Quillen
Emory
U AZ
U UT (maybe)
Any other new MD school.

DO:
Touro - SF
Western Univ. Pomona
RVU
TUNCOM
AZCOM
SOMA
KCUMB
DMU

 

[DesertSeaDiver]

If you are looking for a scribe job, I think you are golden in terms of clinical experience, but I think you need more non-clinical volunteering.

Also, I do not think you need to apply to 30 schools. That is overkill, especially with your GPA and MCAT. Also, after a cursory scan of your list, I would remove Meharry unless you are african american or have shown significant involvement in those communities.

I realize this, and unfortunately I don't have much involvement in these communities. However, I have close family in the area and strong connections to Nashville. It's a bummer the two schools in my ideal location are Vandy and Meharry because I basically have no shot at either. I can't not apply though. I am looking to become involved in volunteer experiences with organizations that fit Meharry's mission this spring, but I'm afraid this will come across as too little too late for my June application.

 

[DesertSeaDiver]

I suggest that you invest in MSAR. Pay special attention to the Acceptance Information page

DO:
Touro - SF
Western Univ. Pomona
RVU
TUNCOM
AZCOM
SOMA
KCUMB
DMU
.

I have MSAR and USNews Report. I originally posted a spreadsheet with the acceptance information from the schools I listed but took it down due to copyright. Thank you so much for the advice. I'm hesitant to apply to RVU b/c of the for-profit connection, very high COA, and a lack of research opportunities. I am interested in continuing to pursue research or at least having research options available. From students I've talked with at RVU, it seems their teaching facilities and labs are world class but they don't have many options for students to become involved with research. I could be completely misinformed, and I'm only stating what I've "heard". I obviously need to do more of my own homework on the school.

 

[gyngyn]

I have MSAR and USNews Report. I originally posted a spreadsheet with the acceptance information from the schools I listed but took it down due to copyright. Thank you so much for the advice. I'm hesitant to apply to RVU b/c of the for-profit connection, very high COA, and a lack of research opportunities. I am interested in continuing to pursue research or at least having research options available. From students I've talked with at RVU, it seems their teaching facilities and labs are world class but they don't have many options for students to become involved with research. I could be completely misinformed, and I'm only stating what I've "heard". I obviously need to do more of my own homework on the school.

UCR is a small mission-based school that takes half it kids from its undergrad. The other half must have demonstrated a commitment to serve the Inland Empire. Looks like more than a long shot to me. Take a hard look at @Goro's list for alternatives!

Meharry, for related reasons is a long shot.

 

[DesertSeaDiver]

@Goro You've listed ~40 schools. Any advice / comments on if applying to this many schools is necessary for my stats? I really want to be accepted on the first try and I am more than willing to submit as many apps as needed.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but for AMCAS, can't I send my primary to as many schools as I want (obviously the $36 per school is costly but I love racking up credit card rewards!), then wait to hear back for secondaries? Looking around SDN there is an obvious debate about whether this is a good strategy or not.

From a 2010 thread, "How many is TOO many?" @NTF laid out a concise list of some potential disadvantages. Am I fool-hardy or naive for believing I won't have any of these issues?

Thanks everyone!

From: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/how-many-is-too-many.724692/ by user @NTF

If you:

1)rack up an enormous amount of CC debt because of app fees and interview travel
2)write crappy secondary essays because you have so many to finish it all becomes a blur
3)don't even bother doing secondaries for many schools cuz you're just burnt out writing essays
4)start skipping interviews because you're too tired or running out of money
5)accidentally put the wrong school name in some of your essays because you have so many apps you can't keep them all straight
6)end up with late completion dates because you just couldn't find the time to finish your secondaries
7)start tanking interviews because you're exhausted

then you applied to too many.

But hey, if you got the money and time and stamina, apply to as many as makes you happy.

I personally think anymore than 15 is diminishing returns. But what do I know.

 

[Goro]

Those are the schools for which I think you're competitive for. One way of looking at it is to check MSAR and draw up a list of those whose median numbers are closest to your own. Your LizzyM score is 71, FWIW. Another way of looking at it is to start with UCo and work your way outwards from the state. Of the DO schools, note that's what I did. You can just stick with the two CA DO schools.


You've listed ~40 schools. Any advice / comments on if applying to this many schools is necessary for my stats? I really want to be accepted on the first try and I am more than willing to submit as many apps as needed.\

 

[breakintheroof]

1)rack up an enormous amount of CC debt because of app fees and interview travel
2)write crappy secondary essays because you have so many to finish it all becomes a blur
3)don't even bother doing secondaries for many schools cuz you're just burnt out writing essays
4)start skipping interviews because you're too tired or running out of money
5)accidentally put the wrong school name in some of your essays because you have so many apps you can't keep them all straight
6)end up with late completion dates because you just couldn't find the time to finish your secondaries
7)start tanking interviews because you're exhausted

This is an interesting post, good find! I think it is fairly comprehensive in terms of the pitfalls of applying to a lot of schools. Except that I would add:

8) How many days of school and/or work can you miss for interviews (or even to have time to finish your secondaries)?

Personally, I would heavily emphasize the financial aspect. If you run out of money and can't go to an interview because you spent too much money on other schools, then you've actually reduced your options. This definitely happens, and it's unfortunate, so please plan as carefully as you can with your finances.

As for burnout, there are plenty of people who apply to 30 or more schools and don't seem suffer too much. If you think you can do it, then it's up to you. But I agree with @Person0715 that even 30 schools is too many for you. You can only matriculate at one!