Advice on School List

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TheDeal93

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Hi everyone:

Apologies for the long post...I just wanted to receive feedback on my school list. Here is all my information:

cGPA: 3.72
sGPA: 3.61
Overall strong upward trend; had 7 B's in first 3 semesters then rebounded with all A's/A-'s in last 5 semesters after parent death sophomore year.

MCAT: First attempt: 30 (11 PS/10VR/09BS)
MCAT: Second attempt: 33 (10 PS/13 VR/10 BS)

Extracurriculars:
Hospital Volunteering (~250 hours)
Shadowing (~75 hours total; primary care + surgeon)
Research (2 years in psychology department, ~500 hours); two summer internships in molecular biology labs (full-time; 7 weeks each)
Student Library Assistant (2.5 years, ~500 hours)
Newspaper sports staff writer (3 years, ~300 hours)
E-board member of pre-med organization (Treasurer and Vice President)

Community Service: Hospital volunteering above, ESL assistant for Spanish-speaking individuals (~50 hours), mentoring high school students (~50 hours)

LORs:
Science: One biology professor, one anatomy professor (very strong)
Non-science: One Spanish professor
Outside LORs: Research PI; Surgeon under whom I worked/shadowed

Gap year activity: During the summer I'll be teaching middle and high school students and then starting in August or September I will be doing full-time research at a lab.

I am a California resident. Here is the school list I have come up with:

Medical College of Wisconsin
Drexel
Temple
University of Miami
NYMC
Virginia Tech
Georgetown
George Washington
Quinnipiac
Colorado
Arizona (Tucson)
Albany
Albert Einstein
Rosalind Franklin
Creighton
Hofstra
Penn State
Rush
St. Louis
Stony Brook
Buffalo
Tulane
Tufts
UC Davis
VCU
Wake Forest
Brown
Dartmouth (maybe)
USC Keck (maybe)
UC Irvine (maybe)

I know that Loyola Stritch and Jefferson average MCAT scores so I'm hesitant to apply there.

I've listed the last three as maybes depending on advice I get from you all - is it worth it with my stats? I already know I'm not qualified for Stanford, UCSF, UCLA and UCSD but as a California resident I at least want to take a shot at the two schools I've listed (I also attend one of those for undergrad so I'll probably apply there).

Please let me know if I should add/remove any schools, and whether any of the schools I've mentioned take the average of MCAT scores as opposed to most recent/highest/superscore.

Again, really sorry for the long post. Thanks so much for the help!
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I think this belongs in the "What Are My Chances?" forum at the top of the pre-allo forums page, but it's up to the staff if they want to move it.

I think your list looks good, but maybe I would tweak it a bit. If you really want to try for those California schools, you could count those as your "reach" schools. Leave off the schools that average your MCAT scores. I would probably also leave out Dartmouth unless it is your dream school. I also probably wouldn't apply to Arizona unless that's where you have residency. Other than those minor alterations, I think you did a pretty good job of choosing schools within your range.
 
UNMedGa said:
I think this belongs in the "What Are My Chances?" forum at the top of the pre-allo forums page, but it's up to the staff if they want to move it.

I think your list looks good, but maybe I would tweak it a bit. If you really want to try for those California schools, you could count those as your "reach" schools. Leave off the schools that average your MCAT scores. I would probably also leave out Dartmouth unless it is your dream school. I also probably wouldn't apply to Arizona unless that's where you have residency. Other than those minor alterations, I think you did a pretty good job of choosing schools within your range.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice! I'll probably scrap Dartmouth. By any chance, would you happen to know which of those schools I've listed average their MCAT scores?
 
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I suggest:

Medical College of Wisconsin
Drexel
Temple
University of Miami
NYMC
Virginia Tech
Quinnipiac
Albany
Albert Einstein
Rosalind Franklin
Creighton
Hofstra
Rush
St. Louis
Tulane
Tufts
UC Davis
VCU
Wake Forest
USC Keck
UC Irvine
UCR if you're from the Inland Empire
Western and Touro-CA, maybe TUNCOM if you want to stay close to the West Coast.
All other new MD schools except Central MI
 
"I know that Loyola Stritch and Jefferson average MCAT scores so I'm hesitant to apply there."

Loyola does not average.
 
I'd add UCLA even though you think its a reach. Contrary to the above, I'd keep Arizona (they have a rather large OOS class profile when its all said and done.) Consider adding some Florida schools, with the exception of 1 or 2, most of their classes end up with quite a few OOS. I got a few interviews there with slightly lower stats than you.

Good luck, you should do fine!

Edit: Id consider dropping Colorado, IIRC OSS is low %. Also OOS tuition is something like $60k with a total cost of attendance of $85k (yes, some people have to pay full COA.)
 
I'd love to hear what the learned @gyngyn has to say.


packersfans said:
I'd add UCLA even though you think its a reach. Contrary to the above, I'd keep Arizona (they have a rather large OOS class profile when its all said and done.) Consider adding some Florida schools, with the exception of 1 or 2, most of their classes end up with quite a few OOS. I got a few interviews there with slightly lower stats than you.

Good luck, you should do fine!

Edit: Id consider dropping Colorado, IIRC OSS is low %. Also OOS tuition is something like $60k with a total cost of attendance of $85k (yes, some people have to pay full COA.)
Click to expand...
 
Goro said:
I'd love to hear what the learned @gyngyn has to say.
Click to expand...
All CA applicants apply to UCLA. It doesn't matter what the odds of acceptance are.
I'd say odds for OP are in fact, better in AZ.
 
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TheDeal93 said:
I know that Loyola Stritch and Jefferson average MCAT scores so I'm hesitant to apply there.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't worry about it - even if they do average MCAT scores (and it sounds like Loyola doesn't), your stats are still strong enough to merit applying to Loyola and Jeff.
 
good-looking app and great start on your list

consider deleting: brown/dartmouth (these are reaches, have small class sizes, and prefer non-trads), colorado, AZ (OOS interview rate is ~6%), possibly stony brook/buffalo (though these have reasonable OOS interview rates)
consider adding: UVM, rochester, other OOS privates you like
 
Keep in mind that state schools favor the home team, so one has to be above avg for them. Thus, I can't recommend the SUNYs. VCU and U VM would be worth a shot.
Vain Brother said:
good-looking app and great start on your list

consider deleting: brown/dartmouth (these are reaches, have small class sizes, and prefer non-trads), colorado, AZ (OOS interview rate is ~6%), possibly stony brook/buffalo (though these have reasonable OOS interview rates)
consider adding: UVM, rochester, other OOS privates you like
Click to expand...
 
yeah i had the SUNYs as possible deletes! though if you look at buffalo/stony brook's interview rates, they're at or above 10%, which isn't too bad. compare to another SUNY, upstate, which only interviews 6% of their OOS applicants, and has a 96% in-state class!
 
I would honestly not recommend applying to California schools unless you went to UCR and are interested in staying. My interview rate in California was 0%, outside of California 40% (despite most OOS schools being actually "more selective"). Also: do not apply to Georgetown. They have a truckload of applicants and basically make you beg them for an acceptance.

Obviously people get into UCs, but admissions to them are so much less "predictable" (which is saying something because it's med school admissions we're talking about) imo it's just not worth it. If you have to, 2 isn't too much of a waste of money, and maybe you'll get lucky...but then again those 2 might have been acceptances elsewhere at schools you might even prefer to attend.
 
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Thanks so much for all the advice! I really appreciate it. I'm thinking I'll drop Colorado, Dartmouth, Brown, Georgetown, and the SUNYs and add UVM and Rochester.
 
@Goro @gyngyn This might be a silly question but conservatively how many interview invites do you think I have a shot at?
 
All I can say is that I think you're competitive for the schools on my list, based upon your stats and packet. You want a number? Maybe 14, 2x that if you add DO schools.

TheDeal93 said:
@Goro @gyngyn This might be a silly question but conservatively how many interview invites do you think I have a shot at?
Click to expand...
 
gyngyn said:
All CA applicants apply to UCLA. It doesn't matter what the odds of acceptance are.
I'd say odds for OP are in fact, better in AZ.
Click to expand...
I'm finally bucking a trend somewhere!
 
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