Cum GPA 3.4 Sci 3.2 MCAT in August

[omarhimself]

Hey everyone I am an Asian-American NC resident with a bachelor's degree in Psychology from one of my state schools. I have a cum GPA of 3.4 and a Sci GPA of 3.2. I have pretty solid EC's, including working at multiple doctors' offices, over 500 volunteer hours at my local hospitals, work with an adolescent addiction counselor at Duke, and 2 semesters of research with the premier professor in my department. My application is a little unusual in that I took all my pre req courses for the MCAT over the past 12 months. It was then that I decided that I would rather be a psychiatrist as opposed to a PhD psychologist. I started with Chem 101 and Physics 1 last summer and am now in Organic 2 this summer session (I graduated with my degree in May). I'm registered to take the MCAT August 21st and have already dedicated 3 weeks to studying along with my orgo class, and should have about 10 weeks under my belt when I take the test. Unfortunately I am a little behind on the application process. As in, I am starting tonight. I have a few questions, first, I have the money to be able to apply to about 20 schools, can I finish the application process and have everything sent in before I take the MCAT and then have my MCAT scores sent straight to the schools? Second, If I can do this, is early to mid-August too late? I really would like to avoid waiting another year and am wondering if I will be set too far back with this application timeline. Third, can anyone ball park on what I need to score on the MCAT to be competitive? Fourth, here is a rudimentary list of schools I've drawn up, can anyone tell me if there are any schools I'm wasting my time with? I feel confident heading into the MCAT and all the material is fresh for me so I'm making this list hoping that I can get an above average score on the MCAT but I can't predict how I'll do for sure. I tried to incorporate a wide range of schools. Please feel free to suggest other schools as well.

Duke
UNC
ECU
Wake Forrest
NYU
Boston U
Rosalind
Loyola
Georgetown
George Washington
Tufts
Mt. Sinai
Tulane
USC-Keck
Suny-Brooklyn
Pitt
Colorado
Oregon
Temple
UT Southwestern-Dallas
Wake Forrest
NYU

I'm planning on applying to a few D.O. schools as well. Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks SDN!

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[omarhimself]

I'd also like to add that I know that my GPA isn't great but there is a definite upward trend that occurred after my 2nd year of college. Thanks in advance for the feedback.

 

[zzxxzz]

I feel confident heading into the MCAT and all the material is fresh for me so I'm making this list hoping that I can get an above average score on the MCAT but I can't predict how I'll do for sure.

Average MCAT score is a 25, so getting an above average MCAT score goes without saying. Come back when you have your score.


Schools that you can probably cross off now (way below 10% for GPA)
Mt. Sinai
NYU
Duke
Boston - not way below, but this school is more selective than stats indicate
Pitt

I'm not gunna go through the rest of the schools without knowing your selection criteria. You picked a number of schools that receive a huge number of applicants or which strongly favor in-state applicants.

When you look at the MSRA, keep in the mind the 10% accepted percentiles for MCAT, sGPA, and cGPA. That means 90% of the people they accepted had that number or higher. You aren't the type of person who'll fit into that 10%, unfortunately. Also, many of the higher-end schools expect a decent amount of research.

Also - fair or not - keep in mind Asian applicants are, for the most part, compared to a slightly higher standard than other applicants.

 

[candbgirl]

Get the MSAR as suggested above! You should be applying to a few new or low tier MD schools and several DO schools. Your GPAs are low, especially your sGPA! With your stats and late application (you won't have your MCAT score back until mid to late September) you would be better served waiting to apply next cycle. Use this year to boost your GPA. Your plan indicates you won't even receive the secondaries until late September. By the time you submit them you will be very late for MD applications. You really don't want to be a reapplicant if you can avoid it. Apply once and apply smart!

 

[boomshaketheroom]

It is possible, but difficult. You really need to get a high MCAT for a good chance at MD schools. Can you make your ECs stand out? Everyone has plenty of volunteer/ shadowing hours, why do yours make you special (question to ask youself, not sarcastic)?

With your GPA (mine was 3.3 so I was in the same place), you'll want everything else to REALLY make up for it. I would say unless you know the rest of your app will impress people (and not just look good enough), take a year off and do some cool stuff and re-apply.

 

[Goro]

With an sGPA that low, I can only recommend DO programs, pending your MCAT results.

MSAR Online is your friend if you can boost the GPAs for MD schools. But UTSW? Really?

 

[realitystrike]

Your list is pretty top heavy for your stats and without an MCAT, we can't really accurately gauge your competitiveness. As for ball park MCAT, the higher the better really. Also doesn't help that you're Asian so you're considered an ORM.

I would shoot for only "low-tier" schools but your GPA would only be within most of those school's low 10%, which isn't great at all since as said before, 90% of students scored higher and for the low 10%, you're probably not their target audience unless you have a unique and/or difficult background/upbringing. Also your application will be very late and with your stats, the earlier the better.

I would sit this cycle out, improve your grades and study hard for a high MCAT. Once you get your score, most of us can better help you.