chances

[rkoiballer]

Stats
3.8 sGPA, cGPA
36 MCAT
TX resident
non-URM

200 hours shadowing
100 hours non-clinical but medically related research (research assistant, no pubs)
100 hours non-related research (research assistant, no pubs)
insignificant extracurricular activities and volunteer work

My family has low income (ironic given my username), so I would qualify for need-based aid. However, the schools that offer need-based aid tend to be the most selective and look very favorably on significant research with publications, which I do not have. There is a probable chance I will get into at least 1 TX school, so I do not feel I need to apply to the less selective private schools that I have to pay full price for. Which of the need-based aid schools should I include in my list? They are all reaches for me, but if I get in I will attend a program that should open more doors but may have similar costs as a TX school.

Preliminary School List
all TX schools
UCLA (graduated from CA high school, so I have CA ties and would pay in-state tuition)
UCSF

Schools with Need-Based Aid (not complete, feel free to suggest any additions)
Mt. Sinai
Emory
Yale
Harvard
Stanford
Cornell
Dartmouth
Hopkins
Pritzker
Vanderbilt
Mayo
Georgetown
Penn
Michigan
NYU
USC

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[WedgeDawg]

Your numerical stats are fine for any schools. Apply to all the Texas ones and then whatever reaches tickle your fancy.

However: your extracurriculars are in the danger zone. Are you meaning to say that in 3(+?) years of college you have only managed to accumulate 400 hours of worthwhile activities? Many people do more than that in a single summer. Even if what you did was not medically related or you worked to put yourself through school or you had to take care of your sick grandfather, you need to account for your time somehow.

Additionally, you have very little actual clinical experience. Yes, shadowing is good, but you need something to show you're comfortable working within a clinical environment, not just on the outside looking in occasionally. You have to put in the time and do something clinically related.

Finally, 200 hours of research is like none at all (not that research is really an hours-based activity anyway). Many of the people applying to these research giants have thousands upon thousands of hours of research. You have far less time invested than that which is split over two labs. I don't think anyone can feasible get anything done in only 100 hours in a lab.

With this in mind, my advice might be to actually wait a year to apply and beef up your ECs. You need to have some volunteer experience, especially clinical volunteering. If you're aiming for top research schools you need to actually demonstrate an interest in and aptitude for research. From what I can see, your app does not demonstrate either of these, nor does it indicate a desire to work in a clinical setting.

It's not what you do that matters so much as what you get out of it, but if you haven't done anything, then you can't get anything out of it anyway, which means you will probably have a lukewarm personal statement and secondaries.

 

[rkoiballer]

I was involved in unrelated student clubs, so I'll put those in too. What counts as clinical volunteering? Does talking to patients (about unrelated stuff like their life) and helping them use the clinic computer while they are in the waiting room count?

 

[WedgeDawg]

I was involved in unrelated student clubs, so I'll put those in too. What counts as clinical volunteering? Does talking to patients (about unrelated stuff like their life) and helping them use the clinic computer while they are in the waiting room count?

"If you can smell patients, it counts as clinical exposure" - @LizzyM

 

[y123]

Your ECs are really weak for top schools.

 

[rkoiballer]

Are there any reasonable reaches with need based aid?

 

[y123]

Are there any reasonable reaches with need based aid?

I thought in med schools, need-based aid = loan and the schools only gave out merit-based scholarship.

 

[rkoiballer]

The top schools offet a combo of grants and loans.

https://finaid.med.wustl.edu/how-to-apply/doctor-of-medicine/

http://hms.harvard.edu/departments/...out-financial-aid-hms/financial-aid-packaging

 

[gyngyn]

The top schools offet a combo of grants and loans.

https://finaid.med.wustl.edu/how-to-apply/doctor-of-medicine/

http://hms.harvard.edu/departments/...out-financial-aid-hms/financial-aid-packaging

You asked for reasonable reaches, though.
Your best bets are in TX. Only 193 TX applicants matriculated elsewhere last year out of 3,870 applicants!

 

[y123]

The top schools offet a combo of grants and loans.

Thanks for sharing. I didn't know about it.