chance me & school list? 3.7cGPA, 3.62sGPA, 33Q, OR resident

[yjk1805]

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[yjk1805]

please helppp!

 

[MattyBee]

Thanks for reading my post!
I am planning to apply tonight or tomorrow at the lastest so it would be great if you can input any new schools or comments!

Here's my stat:
*Just graduated in May from UC undergrad.
Biology major
3.7 (3.697) cGPA
3.625 sGPA

Oregon resident

*took MCAT twice:
30R (11P/8V/11B) in August 2010
33Q (12P/10V/11B) in April 2011

*EC: pretty typical.
main ones are:

-Tutored organic chemistry for ~3 years
-Shadowed a rheumatologist in freshman year summer
(this actually made me want to become a doctor, wrote about it in my essay)
-Medical mission last summer for 3 weeks
-Undergraduate research assistant for 1.5 years
(*I consider this minor research experience; didnt publish)
-Clinical research starting past semester hoping to continue
-free clinic volunteer 1.5 years
-hospital service volunteer 1.5 years
-2 leadership positions for clubs (health-related) 1 and 1.5 years.

-starting this summer, will be teaching ochem laboratory classes along with chem grads.

*LOR:
-2 from bio and physics. ("top-notch" according to bio prof)
-2 from non-science
-1 from a doctor who went on a medical mission with.
total of 5

School list as of now:
*just for fun (loll)
1. New York University
2. Vanderbilt
3. Cornell
4. Northwestern
5. University of Michigan
6. University of Pittsburgh
(maybe Stanford instead of cornell because it's in West)

*more realistic, but still hard schools:
>> 7. Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) - only in-state school for me.
8. Albert Einstein
9. Boston University
>>10. Temple- my top choice
11. Medical College of Wisconsin
12. Loma Linda
13. Penn State University
14. Wake Forest
15. Georgetown
16. University of Rochester

*more reasonable schools:
17. Drexel
18. Rosalind Franklin
19. Jefferson University
20. Loyola
21. Rush
22. New York Medical College
23. George Washington University

I am also considering putting Dartmouth, University of Miami, Tufts, University of Massachusetts, and SUNY syracuse to my list.

*I am also considering working on TMDSAS to Texas schools- going to narrow down from: Texas a&m, UT Southwestern, UT Houston, UT San Antonio because of cheap tuition and app costs.. or should i not bother because I am out-of-state and my stat isn't outstanding?

Any advice??

or any schools that I forgot that's around my range that I should consider! =)

I think you list looks pretty reasonable. I agree with you that your "just for fun" schools are going to be tough schools for you to get into. But that is not necessarily because your stats are too far out of their range it is more so the fact that they are generally pretty competitive schools.

The other schools you have listed seem like pretty good fits for you stats-wise. If you can afford it there is nothing wrong with adding more schools. It may seem like a "waste of money" but applying as broadly as you can and hopefully having more schools to select form at the end of the cycle is, in my opinion, well worth the investment. With that said, I do not think it is totally necessary to apply to more schools but with the admissions cycle as unpredictable as it is you never know. If, however, you are interested in staying on the west coast USC might be a good option.

I don't know much about the Texas schools so I won't comment too much on that. But from what I do know the Texas schools are not really known to be very OOS friendly. Their tuition rates, like you said, tend to be very low so it may be worth it. Hopefully someone else will have a better answer.

Oh and just as a quick side note UMass only accepts in-state students to their MD program.

http://www.umassmed.edu/som/admissions/residency.aspx?linkidentifier=id&itemid=95704
"Applicants to the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) medical degree (MD) program MUST declare MA as their state of legal residence on their AMCAS applications. Only applications to the combined MD/PhD program are open to out of state residents."

 

[Whatyousay]

*I am also considering working on TMDSAS to Texas schools- going to narrow down from: Texas a&m, UT Southwestern, UT Houston, UT San Antonio because of cheap tuition and app costs.. or should i not bother because I am out-of-state and my stat isn't outstanding?

Do you have any compelling ties to Texas (family, for example)? Do you have a desire to engage in primary care (more specifically, would you be willing to be a primary care provider in Texas)? Do you speak Spanish (this is neither a requirement nor "recommended," but being able to speak Spanish would probably help your application for reasons that I will elaborate below).

Since Texas medical schools are so heavily subsidized by the state, there's a lot of motivation to produce primary care physicians that can serve the people of Texas. If you're willing to work in under-served areas (read: the Valley), then that might give Texas schools a reason to consider your application. Texas loses about $200,000 for every medical school graduate that chooses an out-of-state residency (and about 45% of graduates go this route).

There's no reason NOT to apply (you should be competitive at most Texas schools just based on your stats), but being able to demonstrate a commitment to Texas would be a pretty big boon to your application, and help you stand out from all the other out-of-staters drawn by the low tuition and the general awesomeness that is Texas.

 

[yjk1805]

THANK YOU SO MUCH, Mattybee!
I actually really wanted to apply to USC to stay in westcoast so I called them, but I am not eligible to apply because I didn't fulfill one pre-req in molecular cell biology (that is NOT biochemistry) and I didn't think it was worth taking a summer class for that!

I will take U Mass off my list-- that's really good to know

as for harder schools, I was hoping that LOR, EC's (i got really into my leadership positions and made tangible differences) and my upward trend in grades will help me, because my cGPA and sGPA in first two years screwed me over (I started off with 3.1 in my freshman first semester with B and C+ because i didnt study lol), but in my past 2 years, I've got 1 B, 1B+ and everything else A-/A/A+'s.. but yeah, my undergraduate institution really kicked my ass GPA-wise so might have to be more realistic and work on trimming down "just for fun" schools to hopefully 5 or less and add more reasonable schools... thanks again for your input! =D

 

[yjk1805]

Whatyousay, thanks for the info!!! =) I actually didn't even consider Texas schools and have no affiliations whatsoever (except for a close friend there who recommended these schools). I actually just found out about TMDSAS last night when I was researching schools and realized the apps opened up in may. Considering that I've never even been to Texas, I will have trouble convincing them what you said above, but yeah, I will have to think about that after I turn in my AMCAS by tonight or tomorrow.. I leaning towards just going for it because it is semi-close to west coast, than other schools and applications cost is gooood deal (;

 

[sector9]

Just because you're submitting tomorrow doesn't mean you need to finalize your school list right now. Worry about making sure everything is PERFECT in the areas of your application that you can't change after you push submit.

 

[MattyBee]

THANK YOU SO MUCH, Mattybee!
I actually really wanted to apply to USC to stay in westcoast so I called them, but I am not eligible to apply because I didn't fulfill one pre-req in molecular cell biology (that is NOT biochemistry) and I didn't think it was worth taking a summer class for that!

I will take U Mass off my list-- that's really good to know

as for harder schools, I was hoping that LOR, EC's (i got really into my leadership positions and made tangible differences) and my upward trend in grades will help me, because my cGPA and sGPA in first two years screwed me over (I started off with 3.1 in my freshman first semester with B and C+ because i didnt study lol), but in my past 2 years, I've got 1 B, 1B+ and everything else A-/A/A+'s.. but yeah, my undergraduate institution really kicked my ass GPA-wise so might have to be more realistic and work on trimming down "just for fun" schools to hopefully 5 or less and add more reasonable schools... thanks again for your input! =D

You are very welcome. To be totally honest I think stats-wise you are in good shape. I wouldn't worry to much about that. You still have a shot at the more competitive schools on your list. Especially if you have a steep grade trend.

That is too bad about USC. How about the University of Arizona? UA used to only accept AZ residents but as of 2009 they started accepting OOS students (http://medicine.arizona.edu/admissions-policies). If you want to stay on the west coast it may be worth a shot.

 

[yjk1805]

mattybee- I realized that my school list is old and I disregarded U of A because it said "No OOS" but now I am looking at the website. Thanks

Do you know the difference between Tucson and Phoenix? It says you have to apply separately (I am looking at the website right now!) but I can't find what's different between the two campuses lol. It seems really hard for OOS to get in still, but I think I will put U of A on my "maybe" list

and sector 9- I've been done with my rest of my application for a while now and reviewed and reviewed but that's good to know! - I don't know what I was waiting for until now! so you can add more schools on AMCAS after logging in the same way and clicking the "medical schools" tab like now? I feel so dumb now LOL

 

[yjk1805]

ALSO, another question:
for LOR, I have physics, bio professors for science.
and I also have TWO non-science letters, and one more from MD. (total of 5)

I am aware that we're encouraged to turn in THREE professors letters, but now I have FOUR-- I was originally intending to get 2 science, and 1 non-science, but both non-science professors really liked me and I got to know them personally. One professor actually took time out of his own schedule to help/edit my personal statements several times, and I even ate a meal (and got a drink) with the other non-science professor, which is rare at big schools like my undergrad. Both told me they'd write "excellent" letters, emphasizing compassionate/personal side of me.

I am worried if turning in four, not three, when we're asked to turn in three professors letters will hurt my chance?? They are all confidential letters so I can't even decide which one will be "better." :/

 

[sector9]

and sector 9- I've been done with my rest of my application for a while now and reviewed and reviewed but that's good to know! - I don't know what I was waiting for until now! so you can add more schools on AMCAS after logging in the same way and clicking the "medical schools" tab like now? I feel so dumb now LOL

https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/amcas/faqs/147904/aftersub_shared_2.1.html

So basically the theory is that if you're completely and totally done with the rest of your app (except LORs and med school list), you can go ahead and submit your AMCAS app. You are only obliged to select one school for the initial submission. AMCAS will enter your app into their queue for verification now. Then, you spend your time finalizing your school list. You can add new schools, resubmit and recertify as many times as you want afterward. That way, all of your grades are verified so your app will be sent to the new schools within a day

 

[MattyBee]

mattybee- I realized that my school list is old and I disregarded U of A because it said "No OOS" but now I am looking at the website. Thanks

Do you know the difference between Tucson and Phoenix? It says you have to apply separately (I am looking at the website right now!) but I can't find what's different between the two campuses lol. It seems really hard for OOS to get in still, but I think I will put U of A on my "maybe" list

I do not really know much about UofA so I wouldn't be the best person to answer that question. You may want to check out the school specific forum for UofA or use the search function. I am sure that your question has been discussed before.

On UofA's website it says it will fill "as much as 25 percent of the incoming first-year class for each campus" with OOS students. ~25% for each campus is a huge number. Now I am not sure what the exact percentage of the class is made up of OOS students. But from what I have heard in recent years they have been pretty OOS friendly. I could be wrong though. You should check out the MSAR and look at the numbers.

ALSO, another question:
for LOR, I have physics, bio professors for science.
and I also have TWO non-science letters, and one more from MD. (total of 5)

I am aware that we're encouraged to turn in THREE professors letters, but now I have FOUR-- I was originally intending to get 2 science, and 1 non-science, but both non-science professors really liked me and I got to know them personally. One professor actually took time out of his own schedule to help/edit my personal statements several times, and I even ate a meal (and got a drink) with the other non-science professor, which is rare at big schools like my undergrad. Both told me they'd write "excellent" letters, emphasizing compassionate/personal side of me.

I am worried if turning in four, not three, when we're asked to turn in three professors letters will hurt my chance?? They are all confidential letters so I can't even decide which one will be "better." :/

Schools will indicated their exact stipulations on LORs. For a definitive answer look at the school's website. Also when you fill out the secondary there will probably be a LOR section discussing the topic. To answer your question more specifically just follow the directions. If they allow you to send all of your letters then go ahead and do it. If they do not then don't. The biggest no-no that you could make with a LOR is sending in a weak one in. Luckily for you you don't seem to have that problem.

 

[Whatyousay]

Whatyousay, thanks for the info!!! =) I actually didn't even consider Texas schools and have no affiliations whatsoever (except for a close friend there who recommended these schools). I actually just found out about TMDSAS last night when I was researching schools and realized the apps opened up in may. Considering that I've never even been to Texas, I will have trouble convincing them what you said above, but yeah, I will have to think about that after I turn in my AMCAS by tonight or tomorrow.. I leaning towards just going for it because it is semi-close to west coast, than other schools and applications cost is gooood deal (;

It's still worth a shot if you really want to apply to Texas schools. Most of the info in the TMDSAS app is basically the same as the AMCAS, so it shouldn't take too long if you're already done with the AMCAS. I don't know the exact cost to apply to all of the Texas schools, but I seem to remember that on a per-school basis, it's cheaper to apply via TMDSAS than AMCAS (although I'm not sure what the rate is for out of state).

 

[yjk1805]

Thanks for all the advice and information.

I applied to U of A - Tucson campus! and applied to 3 of the "just for fun" schools so far. I am still researching more.

And depressingly, I just realized that my sGPA is actually 3.608, not 3.625, because I forgot a B+ I got in Statistics -- didn't realize that Statistics counts as Math until today..

I hope this doesn't reallly affect my chance too much... would it? :'( It seems like my math grades (I took two calculus courses, and one stat) ruined my sGPA, because I did fine in bio, chem and physics. :'(

 

[MattyBee]

Thanks for all the advice and information.

I applied to U of A - Tucson campus! and applied to 3 of the "just for fun" schools so far. I am still researching more.

And depressingly, I just realized that my sGPA is actually 3.608, not 3.625, because I forgot a B+ I got in Statistics -- didn't realize that Statistics counts as Math until today..

I hope this doesn't reallly affect my chance too much... would it? :'( It seems like my math grades (I took two calculus courses, and one stat) ruined my sGPA, because I did fine in bio, chem and physics. :'(

I really doubt it would have that big of an impact. There is nothing you can really do about it anyways so don't let it stress you. Your worrying to much!

 

[yjk1805]

Mattybee, I submitted and now hoping for the best..
my BCPM GPA goes from like 3.546 in freshman year (i did well in my second semester because i worked my ass off after my 3.1 first semester), 3.538 my second year, 3.6something (?approximate lol too lazy to calculate ) in junior year, and 3.77 in senior year, so hopefully this upward trend helps me, even though I dont know if this upward trend enough...

and I asked USC admission office, and realized the course that they told me didnt qualify as "molecular biology" apparently works, so I am applying there instead of Stanford, even though both are really hard lol thank you for your suggestion! =)

 

[MattyBee]

Mattybee, I submitted and now hoping for the best..
my BCPM GPA goes from like 3.546 in freshman year (i did well in my second semester because i worked my ass off after my 3.1 first semester), 3.538 my second year, 3.6something (?approximate lol too lazy to calculate ) in junior year, and 3.77 in senior year, so hopefully this upward trend helps me, even though I dont know if this upward trend enough...

and I asked USC admission office, and realized the course that they told me didnt qualify as "molecular biology" apparently works, so I am applying there instead of Stanford, even though both are really hard lol thank you for your suggestion! =)

That is great news about USC. Stats-wise you have a lot better shot at USC then Stanford. Don't worry about your GPA too much. 3.7/3.6 is about average for most matriculating candidates so you really have nothing to worry about. At the moment there is nothing you can really do to change that aspect of your application anyways. So don't let it bother you. Just stay focused on pumping out those secondaries and rocking your interivews. Best of luck!