MD Need help with school list - OH resident, 3.94GPA, 35 MCAT but limited clinical exp.

[fishnchipz]

Ohio Resident

Stats: science and oGPA 3.9+ // 35 MCAT
Solid research experience during school and with an additional year to come as a post-bac at NIH (but no publications yet)
some community service, shadowing, and teaching
limited leadership and clinical volunteering experiences

Based on the fact that I have a less than ideal amount of clinical experiences, I'm not planning on applying to very many ivy/top tier schools. I've been struggling to find schools that I think fit my situation, so some help would be much appreciated.

Current list:
1. Case Western Reserve University
and Cleveland Clinic Learner College of Medicine
2. Ohio State University
3. University of Toledo
4. University of Cincinnati
5. University of Rochester
6. University of Pittsburgh
7. Boston University
8. University of Virginia
9. Wake forest
10. Mayo
11. Baylor
12. Dartmouth

Other schools I'm thinking about:
I'm also interested in Duke, vanderbilt, northwestern, and emory but feel that I need some more mid tier schools instead.
Georgetown interests me but seems to have one of the highest avg indebtedness
Jefferson interests me (mainly because Philly is a cool city) but they seem to place a greater emphasis on clinical volunteering experiences than other schools

I'm also wondering about some other in-state options such as Wright state and Northeast Ohio medical school where the GPA and MCAT averages are way below what I have. My current feeling is that I would be scared to go somewhere like that where you might not have a great outlook for residency but likely have just as much debt as other schools. Am I being too harsh on them?

Another thought: maybe I'm not taking the right approach by counting out top tier schools. Maybe I could still apply to some, but to ones that are more research focused? And if so, is the USNews rankings a good guideline for this?

TL;DR: what are some schools I should consider based on my stats and ECs

Thanks in advance for any help/comments!!

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[pyrrion89]

I think your scores are in the range for top schools, although they are on the lower-end of the 'acceptable range'. They will also like your research focus a bit more. At the same time, some lower-end schools may overlook your clinical scores to take you in as an applicant with scores that are better than their average... It's tough.

Personally, I'd apply to more schools, throw in your favorite top tiers and mix in some stat-wise safeties. Also get some clinical experience in while applying. You can make it an application update and discuss it in interviews.

 

[zzxxzz]

Other than having much more clinical experience than you, we have similar stats and are both Ohio residents. Here's my list, in order of competitiveness. I'm going to cut some, but not all, of the "might cut" schools:

Cornell
Chicago (might cut)
Northwestern
Vandy
Case
Mt. Sinai (might cut)
Dartmouth (might cut)
Michigan (might cut)
Mayo
Ohio State
Duke (might cut)
Emory (might cut)
Rochester
Einstein
Hofstra
Tufts
Georgetown (probably cut)
UKY
Loyola
Brown (might cut)
Cincy
Virginia Tech
Temple
Indy
Albany (probably cut)
Rush
Wright State


You should apply to Wright State over Toledo if you're only going to apply to one. Ignore the averages; it seems Wright State is widely considered to be a better school. Don't bother applying to NEOMED, obviously.

Mayo will be a long-shot without clinical experience.

 

[fishnchipz]

Thanks for your input guys. I'll keep at it and look into some of those suggestions. Good to know about wright state, and you're right I think I'll cut out Mayo

 

[Lamel]

Add in some mid-top tiers with a research focus,

 

[fishnchipz]

Add in some mid-top tiers with a research focus,

Yeah that's definitely the idea. Have any recommendations? sometimes its hard to judge. I'm thinking Einstein would fit that description, maybe emory and duke but those are still pretty top-tier.

 

[Lamel]

Yeah that's definitely the idea. Have any recommendations? sometimes its hard to judge. I'm thinking Einstein would fit that description, maybe emory and duke but those are still pretty top-tier.

Einstein is a good option. Tufts as well (since you have BU on there).

And add a few top 20 reaches as well; top 10 is probably hard but I think you'll have a chance at Sinai, Northwestern, NYU etc.

Either way, you want to get more clinical experience and do it during the application cycle.

Edit: And I would add Wright State and Jefferson as well; it's good to have some safer choices.