cGPA: 3.58, sGPA: 3.48, MCAT: 30-32. Help with School List?

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acampos21

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Alright, I just took my mcat and I think i'll be getting around my avg practice tests, so about a 30-32. After spring quarter, I should have a cGPA: 3.58 and a sGPA: 3.48. I transferred from a cc to a top ten UC here in california. I'm also URM, mexican-american.

So here's the list I came up with, feel free to give me suggestions of schools I should add or take off, particularly the out of state schools. I came up with this list after looking through the MSAR, but I figured people on here will have some/better advice:

Also, Should I add DO schools?

California Schools:
-UCLA
-USC
-Loma Linda
-Stanford (super-reach!)
-UCSD
-UCSF
-UCD
-UCI
-UCR
-UCLA/Drew
-UCLA Prime (Don't know if this is included with the normal ucla admissions, but aamc lists it as a different school.)

Out-of-State Schools:
-Albany Medical College
-Boston University
-Chicago- Rosalind Franklin
-Drexel
-Dartmouth
-George Washington
-Georgetown
-Hofstra North Shore
-Jefferson medical college
-Loyola University-Chicago
-New York Medical College
-Pennsylvania State Univ
-Rush Medical College
-Temple Univ
-Commonwealth Medical College
-Brown Univ
-Tufts Univ
-Tulane Univ
-Virginia Commonwealth Univ
-Wake Forest

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Without EC's no one can really speak to your potential. Your stats are on the average end, so we can't really make any outrageous claims based off of that.

Volunteering? (clinical/non-clinical #hours?)
Crazy life story? (or just good life experiences)
Research? (publications?)
Shadowing?
Decent LORS?

Edit: It also looks like you are applying to OOS schools with incredibly high volumes of applicants. Georgetown, GW, tufts, temple, nymc and BU are some of the most applied to institutions (most around 10k applicants, closer to 15k for GW) Unless you have something to really set you apart I think you may be wasting your $$ in the sea of applicants. Those I listed are in the top 10 most applied to FYI.

Arguably CA will be a tough sell for you (see the recent CA disadvantage thread for more info). Though for being in a state that may require someone with average stats to go elsewhere, your OOS schools may need to be considered more carefully.
 
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Sorry about that, here you go:

Volunteering:
-High School Marching Band consultant: 300+ hrs
-Middle School Percussion consultant: 50hrs
-ER/Cardiology: 75hrs
-Activities Leader for an Elementary after school program: 100hrs (work-study)
-Elementary Classroom Assistant: 50hrs
-local town youth chamber group; help set up local events in my town
-PreMed AMSA Active Member

Clinical/Work:
-Phlebotomy: 40hrs (externship, was never able to get hired)
-Pharmacy Tech at local hospital: 30hrs/week for 6months
-Admissions/Registration Clerk at local hospital: 30hrs/week for 1.5years
-Billing Clerk at a Neurosurgeons office(current): 20hrs/week, so far 4 months

Unfortunately, no research.

Shadowing:
-Family Practice Physician: 50hrs
-Neurosurgeon: I haven't been able to shadow this doctor that I work with directly, but she goes over MRI's and Xrays with me; Explaining what she is looking for, whether surgery is an option or not, etc. (I go through this about everyday I have work, so I would just estimate the time being to about 20 hours?)

Crazy Story:
-In the middle of my freshman year, I found myself giving CPR to my dad as we waited for the paramedics to arrive. He ended up passing away due to Dilated Cardiomyopathy. I was already having to assist financially while my dad was still alive, but his passing resulted in an increase of hours at work. I am now the "father-figure" to my two younger sisters, who were 9 and 7 at the time.

LOR's:
-I believe I have pretty good LOR's. I have a letter from a director at the local hospital i worked at, my high school band teacher, two science prof from UC, two MD's, and one community college prof.
 
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EVMS is one I think you should add. What about MSU or UMDNJ?

Also, if you're fine with DO schools, I think you should add them. With a 30 and a 3.5, you should get into a good number of DO schools.
 
Yeah, those are around my range. I need to go back and look at how many applicants apply to each school and see from there also.
I've though about DO schools and I'm willing to go to one, but don't you need to shadow a DO? I heard you pretty much need to shadow one in order to be considered that's why.
 
Yea, some DO schools do require DO shadowing/LOR from a DO physician. If you start looking now, getting one shouldn't be difficult. Some schools don't even look at it until you turn in your secondary. Keep in mind, without fee assistance, applying to this many schools will be very costly.

Yeah, those are around my range. I need to go back and look at how many applicants apply to each school and see from there also.
I've though about DO schools and I'm willing to go to one, but don't you need to shadow a DO? I heard you pretty much need to shadow one in order to be considered that's why.
 
In that case, I need to find a DO in my area then.
Yeah, I realized that and I already started looking at options on how I'm going to pay for it. But I feel as If I have to apply to so many schools because I have average stats. I didn't qualify for the fee assistance program because I worked too much this past year. I wish there was a section on the application to explain why I worked so much though!
 
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