MD cGPA 3.81 sGPA 4.0 39 MCAT "URM" school list help

[MubutuMed]

Hey guys! I am looking for help for a school list, stats in title. URM is in quotes, as I am African and I'm not sure if that qualifies . My ECs are quite cookie cutter and not really at all special;

shadowing of PP physician
Tutoring children
small research, poster and oral presentation, no pubs.
Medical volunteer

and a bunch of other little ones, like awards, leadership in clubs, etc.

Any help? more info can be provided on request.

Thanks!

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[Goro]

On numbers alone, the sky's the limit. Invest in MSAR Online.

Hey guys! I am looking for help for a school list, stats in title. URM is in quotes, as I am African and I'm not sure if that qualifies . My ECs are quite cookie cutter and not really at all special;

shadowing of PP physician
Tutoring children
small research, poster and oral presentation, no pubs.
Medical volunteer

and a bunch of other little ones, like awards, leadership in clubs, etc.

Any help? more info can be provided on request.

Thanks!

 

[MubutuMed]

On numbers alone, the sky's the limit. Invest in MSAR Online.

Thanks for the reply! Yea, I actually have an MSAR, and yea I fall into the ranges of most schools, even "top" (idk what constituents top school really, high MCAT avg.?) ones. My problem is that of ECs and story. As you can see, my ECs/research are quite vapid, and I really am just a 'bookworm'. Though I have what I believe to be a compelling reason to go into medicine, I feel as though I'm not interesting enough for the really elite schools. So thats where I run into a problem; what schools do you think would forgive my bland story ( to put it bluntly)? Here's what I'm thinking of:

USC
UPitt
Gtown
UNC
Emory
Howard
Meharry
Temple
Boston U
Northwestern
UChicago (reach)
NYU(reach)

I have only currently applied to USC, what do you think of the others?

 

[Abstractions]

For once (this almost never happens), I think you're being too conservative in your school list. I think you are one of the few people who should be applying to top schools (Think Columbia/Hopkins and the lot). Best of luck!

 

[Goro]

What's your home state? How many research hrs? You might want to cut back ont he some of the research powerhouses. How many hrs in clinical and non-clinical ECs????

Thanks for the reply! Yea, I actually have an MSAR, and yea I fall into the ranges of most schools, even "top" (idk what constituents top school really, high MCAT avg.?) ones. My problem is that of ECs and story. As you can see, my ECs/research are quite vapid, and I really am just a 'bookworm'. Though I have what I believe to be a compelling reason to go into medicine, I feel as though I'm not interesting enough for the really elite schools. So thats where I run into a problem; what schools do you think would forgive my bland story ( to put it bluntly)? Here's what I'm thinking of:

USC
UPitt
Gtown
UNC
Emory
Howard
Meharry
Temple
Boston U
Northwestern
UChicago (reach)
NYU(reach)

I have only currently applied to USC, what do you think of the others?

 

[MubutuMed]

What's your home state? How many research hrs? You might want to cut back ont he some of the research powerhouses. How many hrs in clinical and non-clinical ECs????

For privacy reasons, I am retracting my home state, but yes, I will applying there. I have very little research, so I guess UPitt and and UChicago are out. What do you think I should replace them with?

For once (this almost never happens), I think you're being too conservative in your school list. I think you are one of the few people who should be applying to top schools (Think Columbia/Hopkins and the lot). Best of luck!

haha I wish, just wanna get into a medical school, doesn't have to be Yavard Hopkins

 

[MubutuMed]

wow, I didn't answer your questions @Goro, i have like it was a summer research and the hospital was for ~200 hours.

 

[Goro]

Goro sugegsts:

USC
UPitt
Gtown
Emory
Einstein
Your state school
Rochester
Tufts
Duke
Dartmouth
Brown
Case
Jefferson
Drew/UCLA
Loyola
Drexel
Howard
Meharry
Temple
Boston U
Northwestern
NYU(reach)

wow, I didn't answer your questions @Goro, i have like it was a summer research and the hospital was for ~200 hours.

 

[MubutuMed]

Goro sugegsts:

USC
UPitt
Gtown
Emory
Einstein
Your state school
Rochester
Tufts
Duke
Dartmouth
Brown
Case
Jefferson
Drew/UCLA
Loyola
Drexel
Howard
Meharry
Temple
Boston U
Northwestern
NYU(reach)

Thank You very much! one last question: money is kinda of tight, so if the list had to be whittled down to 14, what would you suggest? I'm thinking:

USC
Gtown
Emory
Einstein
Your state school
Rochester
Case
Jefferson
Drew/UCLA
Loyola
Drexel
Howard
Meharry
Northwestern

Yay or Nay?

 

[Lamel]

If only you had some more research. But you may still want to take a chance on some of the top 20. You really never know, and your stats are excellent, particularly since you're URM. I'd get rid of either Drexel or Meharry, their stats are significantly below yours.

 

[Goro]

Yay.

Thank You very much! one last question: money is kinda of tight, so if the list had to be whittled down to 14, what would you suggest? I'm thinking:

USC
Gtown
Emory
Einstein
Your state school
Rochester
Case
Jefferson
Drew/UCLA
Loyola
Drexel
Howard
Meharry
Northwestern

Yay or Nay?

 

[Alucard6]

Wait, why Howard? I don't think they would even look at your application since you are over-qualified.

 

[runningmandoctor]

Hey guys! I am looking for help for a school list, stats in title. URM is in quotes, as I am African and I'm not sure if that qualifies . My ECs are quite cookie cutter and not really at all special;

shadowing of PP physician
Tutoring children
small research, poster and oral presentation, no pubs.
Medical volunteer

and a bunch of other little ones, like awards, leadership in clubs, etc.

Any help? more info can be provided on request.

Thanks!

please apply to hms. You're incredible. You have so much potential.

 

[gettheleadout]

please apply to hms. You're incredible. You have so much potential.

Not to be harsh but I don't really understand your sentiment here. Apart from being URM with high stats, OP isn't exceptional and even stated so him/herself:

My ECs are quite cookie cutter and not really at all special;

 

[mjhhockey98]

Just to put things in perspective for you, there have only been 12 black/African American applicants with your GPA/MCAT in the years 2010-2012.

https://www.aamc.org/download/321514/data/2012factstable25-2.pdf

 

[MubutuMed]

Wait, why Howard? I don't think they would even look at your application since you are over-qualified.

I currently attend an HBCU, not as prestigious as howard however. whould love to beable to attend howard though!

please apply to hms. You're incredible. You have so much potential.

thanks for the kind words! Yea, I would love to have a chance at HMS or any other top school, but money is just too tight and I really can't apply to a school with a snowball change in hell that ill get in!

Just to put things in perspective for you, there have only been 12 black/African American applicants with your GPA/MCAT in the years 2010-2012.

https://www.aamc.org/download/321514/data/2012factstable25-2.pdf

thanks! unfortunately, it doesn't say what schools they attended, but yea, hopefully I have good chances!

 

[DokterMom]

Grade inflation could always be a factor in a superior GPA applicant, but your 39 MCAT says that you truly are brilliant, and that your high GPA should be taken at face value, not discounted, even if your school is "less prestigious". So numerically, you're an outstanding candidate.

OK, your ECs are cookie cutter. But they're all there too. And you write so modestly, that they may very well be better than you give them credit for. But I'll assume not --

Speaking frankly, for an Asian or White candidate, "cookie cutter" ECs and "nominal" research would probably be enough to marginalize your candidacy at Harvard/Yale/Hopkins/Stanford. There would simply be nothing all that remarkable about your applicantion. But your being from Africa and having a "compelling" backstory (which I'll assume is true) adds sufficient diversity that you really are a viable candidate for the very top schools. You really do have a chance of getting in and it would be a shame in your case to not even apply.

Please know that there's also a risk of aiming too low. Schools with average MCAT scores in the lower 30's will feel they're your safety, and suspect you are unlikely to attend if offered a place there. They may be less likely to seriously consider your candidacy.

 

[Dwan]

I agree that you should add more top schools. You are a very competitive candidate. While your ECs might not be the most impressive, you fulfill a very unique niche as an African that will automatically distinguish you from the rest. WashU is a particularly good choice as they recruit for high stats.

 

[masaraksh]

shadowing of PP physician
Tutoring children
small research, poster and oral presentation, no pubs.
Medical volunteer

Congratulations on the great numbers. But that EC list is kind of sad... Look at it this way:
shadowing... what 50-100hrs? That can be cranked out in a couple weeks, or one afternoon a week for a semester or so.
tutoring children.... how much? If its tutoring high school students every once in a while then no one cares. But you're not saying what it is. Was it a significant commitment?
small research... You're not making it sound like much. Lots of applicants to top tiers (and even people I have talked to who are targeting the mid-tiers would have something like multiple summers of research and a fair number will do research during the school semesters.)
medical volunteer.... again, how big was the commitment?
awards ... they are fine to list, but are just an additional reflection of good grades.

Some questions:
You said you had 'leadership in clubs'.. Why is that not under the list of major ECs? What did you do? What was the time commitment? Was this something important for you?
What else did you do during the insane amount to time you have in college? Did you work? Did you have other significant commitments.

 

[EMDO2018]

Im starting to think this is a troll thread, dude you can literally get into any school in the country, even without urm status. why would you NOT apply to all the Ives and top ranked privates? TBH, ECS ARE NOT THAT IMPORTANT!

 

[MubutuMed]

Grade inflation could always be a factor in a superior GPA applicant, but your 39 MCAT says that you truly are brilliant, and that your high GPA should be taken at face value, not discounted, even if your school is "less prestigious". So numerically, you're an outstanding candidate.

OK, your ECs are cookie cutter. But they're all there too. And you write so modestly, that they may very well be better than you give them credit for. But I'll assume not --

Speaking frankly, for an Asian or White candidate, "cookie cutter" ECs and "nominal" research would probably be enough to marginalize your candidacy at Harvard/Yale/Hopkins/Stanford. There would simply be nothing all that remarkable about your applicantion. But your being from Africa and having a "compelling" backstory (which I'll assume is true) adds sufficient diversity that you really are a viable candidate for the very top schools. You really do have a chance of getting in and it would be a shame in your case to not even apply.

Please know that there's also a risk of aiming too low. Schools with average MCAT scores in the lower 30's will feel they're your safety, and suspect you are unlikely to attend if offered a place there. They may be less likely to seriously consider your candidacy.

I agree that you should add more top schools. You are a very competitive candidate. While your ECs might not be the most impressive, you fulfill a very unique niche as an African that will automatically distinguish you from the rest. WashU is a particularly good choice as they recruit for high stats.

Thank you for the replies! Like I said I really just want to get into a medical school, so if you are saying some med schools on my list may look me over, I will be happy to hear suggestions. Though i only have enough money to apply to 14 schools, i will love to hear suggestions on what I can switch out. the five that are not up for debate are:
USC
Howard
Meharry
state school
NYU

Im starting to think this is a troll thread, dude you can literally get into any school in the country, even without urm status. why would you NOT apply to all the Ives and top ranked privates? TBH, ECS ARE NOT THAT IMPORTANT!

Just googled troll, I'm sorry if this is offending others, I really didn't mean it that way.

Also, everyone is talking about 'top' and 'top 20'. what list are you guys using? I cant find any on the AAMC website.

 

[Zelda840]

Also if money is an issue, remember that those top schools could absolutely end up being your cheapest option. Even if you don't go the Harvard/Hopkins route.....what about schools like Vanderbilt? With your stats, I'd be following the MONEY!

 

[sakabato93]

Also, everyone is talking about 'top' and 'top 20'. what list are you guys using? I cant find any on the AAMC website.

http://grad-schools.usnews.rankings...schools/top-medical-schools/research-rankings

 

[Lamel]

Also, everyone is talking about 'top' and 'top 20'. what list are you guys using? I cant find any on the AAMC website.

This is the list people are referring to: http://grad-schools.usnews.rankings...-medical-schools/research-rankings?int=98fd08

 

[MubutuMed]

Hey, an update post. I'd just like to really thank you guys for steering me in the right direction. I know at times I can be stubborn, and really didn’t think that I would be considered at a lot of the places you guys were offering. It actually was my advisor that encouraged me to apply to some of the same schools offered by you guys. The final list was

UCSF
Stanford
Penn
USC
Harvard
Tulane
Chicago
Howard
Meharry
Tufts
Northwestern
Hopkins
State school
Yale
NYU

This is 15 schools, so I ended up having to pay a little extra. So Far, I have received interviews at 12/15 of the places (Darn you, Tufts, Tulane and Hopkins!) and have secured 4 acceptances (Meharry, Howard, NYU and Chicago). Obviously, I’m bragging a bit but definitely want to again thank you guys for all the advice in the thread!

 

[chemguy79]

Congratulations on your acceptances!

 

[Jumb0]

You put URM in quotations because you're African? Does that mean that you are from a region of Africa where people are white? If you're a white African, then you're not URM. For example, white Egyptians are not URM even though they are African.

 

[Doug Underhill]

This is a good example to apply high enough. 2 out of the 3 schools that rejected the topic creator had stats far too low for him. As for Hopkins, I suspect they may not consider certain African nationalities to be URM- they do this for Hispanic nationalities. That's a conjecture, though.

 

[MubutuMed]

You put URM in quotations because you're African? Does that mean that you are from a region of Africa where people are white? If you're a white African, then you're not URM. For example, white Egyptians are not URM even though they are African.

no, I am West African. I didn't think that counted, as West Africans are not underrepresented in medicine, I guess I was wrong, however.

This is a good example to apply high enough. 2 out of the 3 schools that rejected the topic creator had stats far too low for him. As for Hopkins, I suspect they may not consider certain African nationalities to be URM- they do this for Hispanic nationalities. That's a conjecture, though.

Honestly, I am surprised i have gotten as many interviews as I did! I called Merrhary and Howard to show my interest in the school, so I guess that helped a ton.


Again thanks to everyone for the continued help/support! I definitely will be updating this again for the other schools that decided later on.

 

[MubutuMed]

Just another update, was rejected from John Hopkins a few weeks ago. happy holidays guys!

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

Apply Harvard. That's enough applications.