School list help - 4.96c, 3.99s, 90-100th %

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rocklobstr

rocklobstr

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Hi everyone, looking for help with my school list, any input appreciated!

Vermont resident

GPA: 3.96c, 3.99s (Ignore the 4.96 in the title, oops)
MCAT: 90 -100th percentile overall
PS, BS, psych/soc - 85-100%
CARS - 65-80%

EC's
  • Two years as an ED scribe
  • C-SHIP internship (50 hours, paid) - hospice quality control intern.
  • ~30 hours shadowing a couple physicians, PT, NP, and PA during internship.
  • 50 hours as an ED volunteer.
  • Worked at a summer camp for at-risk children 2 summers ago.
  • Student Orientation Staff (150 hours over 3 years, volunteer).
  • Independent research with 2 poster sessions. First and third place awards.
  • Psych research study performed in ED. Presented at a poster session.
  • Gen and Organic lab TA (two semesters each).
  • Gen and Organic tutor.


Preliminary School List
UVM - state school
Dartmouth - reach, any chance?
Tulane
Tufts
Virginia Tech
BU
Albany
Virginia Commonwealth
University of Arizona -Tucson
University of Arizona -Phoenix
NY Medical College
Creighton
Quinnipiac
Penn State
U of Colorado
Meharry
Howard
George Washington
Rosalind Franklin

And I think I will apply to University of New England COM as well for DO.

Any I should add or remove? I'm trying to apply to ~15



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If I were you, I would get clarification that the noise warning was actually an institutional action. Seems to me like you got a warning and that no action was taken, so I can't see how this is an IA. I'd need more info for the second violation, but it'd be much better applying with only 1.
 
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rocklobstr said:
True. I was "written up" for it, but the area coordinator just dropped it afterwards (the CA was frequently spoken to about writing people up for minor things). But I have no idea if that still counts or not, so I was going with better safe than sorry. And it isn't the worst IA to have. I hope people will look past it. Maybe @LizzyM can chime in on that.
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I was also written up in dorms. In most schools, housing keeps a separate file and unless you do something serious, it does not become part of your external disciplinary record. On mine, the writeup specifically said: "there are no formal charges for this." As such, my school does not consider this institutional action even though there is a record in housing. Good luck.
 
Softballgal96 said:
I was also written up in dorms. In most schools, housing keeps a separate file and unless you do something serious, it does not become part of your external disciplinary record. On mine, the writeup specifically said: "there are no formal charges for this." As such, my school does not consider this institutional action even though there is a record in housing. Good luck.
Click to expand...

Thanks. And that does make sense. Unless the write up in and of itself counts as an IA, I can't see how it would be. Ill try calling my school before I submit.
 
rocklobstr said:
Hi everyone, looking for help with my school list, any input appreciated!

Vermont resident

GPA: 3.96c, 3.99s
MCAT: 90 -100th percentile overall
PS, BS, psych/soc - 85-100%
CARS - 65-80%

EC's
  • Two years as an ED scribe
  • C-SHIP internship (50 hours, paid) - hospice quality control intern.
  • ~30 hours shadowing a couple physicians, PT, NP, and PA during internship.
  • 50 hours as an ED volunteer.
  • Worked at a summer camp for at-risk children 2 summers ago.
  • Student Orientation Staff (150 hours over 3 years, volunteer).
  • Independent research with 2 poster sessions. First and third place awards.
  • Psych research study performed in ED. Presented at a poster session.
  • Gen and Organic lab TA (two semesters each).
  • Gen and Organic tutor.
IA's
I have two IA's. One for a noise warning with no other action taken. The other was essentially knowing and assisting with a residence life violation. I've not been written up for alcohol, drugs, cheating, etc.
Unfortunately, both happened during the past year. I had a clean record before these.

Preliminary School List
UVM - state school
Dartmouth - reach, any chance?
Tulane
Tufts
Virginia Tech
BU
Albany
Virginia Commonwealth
University of Arizona -Tucson
University of Arizona -Phoenix
NY Medical College
Creighton
Quinnipiac
Penn State
U of Colorado
Meharry
Howard
George Washington
Rosalind Franklin

And I think I will apply to University of New England COM as well for DO.

Any I should add or remove? I'm trying to apply to ~15
Click to expand...

No problem. As far as your school list goes, you might want to delete Colorado (Instate bias), Howard (Mission Statement), and the Arizona schools unless you have a tie to Arizona. Other than that you should be good. I'd keep the reaches because you have a great shot at UVM if you wanted to go there.
 
Thanks for the input!

Updated School List
UVM - state school
Albany *
Virginia Commonwealth *
NY Medical College *
Creighton *
Quinnipiac *
Penn State *
George Washington *
Rosalind Franklin *
Georgetown *
Miami*
St. Louis*
Rochester -
Rush*
Eastern Virginia*
Wake Forest*
Jefferon -*
Loyola -*
Beaumont*

Medical College of Wisconsin
 
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My conservative suggestions:

Miami St. Louis Albany Rochester Rush Rosy Franklin NYMC VCU EVMS Wake Forest Jefferson Temple Drexel Creighton George Washington Tulane Loyola Creighton Any new MD school, except Hofstra and Central MI, FIU, FAU and UCF
Any DO program. Your state school.
 
Softballgal96 said:
I was also written up in dorms. In most schools, housing keeps a separate file and unless you do something serious, it does not become part of your external disciplinary record. On mine, the writeup specifically said: "there are no formal charges for this." As such, my school does not consider this institutional action even though there is a record in housing. Good luck.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice! My dean of students said "I can definitely answer 'No' on the application" (to the noise complaint at least, not the other one)
 
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@Goro or anyone else: Would you make any changes to my school list based on my final scores? I think I'm a little safety-school/low tier heavy
PS: 130 (97%) Approximately equal to a 13
Cars: 126 (70%) Approximately equal to a 9
BS: 130 (97%) Approximately equal to a 12-13
Psych: 130 (97%) ? probably somewhere between 11-13
Total: 516 (95%)
Approximately equal to a high 34 to a low 35 based on last years perentiles
 
Even with the 9 in CARS, I think that you can up the ante.

My list now:
U AZ (both)
U VM
U Cincy
U Toledo
Miami
St. Louis
Albany
Albert Einstein
Rochester
Rush
Rosy Franklin
NYMC
EVMS
Wake Forest
Jefferson
Temple
Drexel
Creighton
Tulane
Loyola
USF Morsani
Emory
BU
USC
Baylor
JHU
Mayo
Pitt
Northwestern
NYU
Sinai
Columbia
Duke
Case
Any new MD school, especially Hofstra. Skip Central MI and the three new FL schools.



rocklobstr said:
@Goro or anyone else: Would you make any changes to my school list based on my final scores? I think I'm a little safety-school/low tier heavy
PS: 130 (97%) Approximately equal to a 13
Cars: 126 (70%) Approximately equal to a 9
BS: 130 (97%) Approximately equal to a 12-13
Psych: 130 (97%) ? probably somewhere between 11-13
Total: 516 (95%)
Approximately equal to a high 34 to a low 35 based on last years perentiles
Click to expand...
 
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Can anyone help me finalize my list? I currently have 21, and I would like to cut it down to 15-17, and have a good chance of interviews.
High GPA
PS: 130 (97%) ~13
Cars: 126 (70%) ~9-10
BS: 130 (97%) ~12-13
Psych: 130 (97%) ~12-13
Total: 516 (95%) ~34-35

Safeties (Avg. MCAT 31-32)
1. UVM - State school
2. Albany
3. NYMC
4. Temple
5. EVMS

Mids/Targets (33-34)
1. St. Louis
2. Jefferson
3. Tulane
4. Rochester
5. Virginia Tech
6. Einstein
7. Mayo
8. Dartmouth
9. Tufts
10. Hofstra
11. Miami

Reaches (35-36)
1. BU
2. Emory
3. Duke
 
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I think my advice at this point would be to ask yourself if there are specific places you want to be. Then I'd probably cut more from the high end instead of the low end, just to be safe. But you could still cut one or two of the safeties, I think.
 
Apply like you have a 35. You don't need that many safeties. Honestly I'd keep all those reaches, don't sell yourself short, you have a great app.

Remove GWU, Drexel, Beaumont.
 
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Well then. That's awesome. I guess I misread one of the charts. Thanks everyone!
 
rocklobstr said:
Well then. That's awesome. I guess I misread one of the charts. Thanks everyone!
Click to expand...

I know because I also got a 126 and my friend who took the old mcat got a 9 with a 63% so looks like you are in better shape than you thought. Also, your overall score is the equivalent of a 35 so don't worry too much. Or maybe you should if schools won't consider the psych section in their calculations...
 
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HelpMe212 said:
I know because I also got a 126 and my friend who took the old mcat got a 9 with a 63% so looks like you are in better shape than you thought. Also, your overall score is the equivalent of a 35 so don't worry too much. Or maybe you should if schools won't consider the psych section in their calculations...
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I think they will consider it. My thought is that a lot of time and resources went into the decision, and a lot of AAMC and adcoms probably have a stake in its use. They didn't make the decision to include it lightheartedly. A 123 would look bad just as a 132 would look good. But that's just my thought, I could be wrong.
 
Would I have a good chance at Brown? I heard they like their own students/people from ivy's, but my stats are competitive for them otherwise.
 
rocklobstr said:
I think they will consider it. My thought is that a lot of time and resources went into the decision, and a lot of AAMC and adcoms probably have a stake in its use. They didn't make the decision to include it lightheartedly. A 123 would look bad just as a 132 would look good. But that's just my thought, I could be wrong.
Click to expand...

At Columbia's annual medical school fair, my friend spoke to a medical school and they said they are not going to consider the psych section too much. Their logic was that the first 3 sections are basically the same as the old mcat and they can just compare percentiles there. Of course it was a SUNY school and not a top tier so...
 
HelpMe212 said:
At Columbia's annual medical school fair, my friend spoke to a medical school and they said they are not going to consider the psych section too much. Their logic was that the first 3 sections are basically the same as the old mcat and they can just compare percentiles there. Of course it was a SUNY school and not a top tier so...
Click to expand...

Well, doing well can only help. I still think that, even on a subconscious level, bombing the psych section would probably still hurt an app. It probably just won't be weighed as heavily as bombing the other sections for a couple years.
 
rocklobstr said:
Well, doing well can only help. I still think that, even on a subconscious level, bombing the psych section would probably still hurt an app. It probably just won't be weighed as heavily as bombing the other sections for a couple years.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Don't worry too much about your score. You did well. Med schools take a 'holistic' approach anyway and want well rounded applicants. They are not law school which only cares about your LSAT and GPA...
 
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Okay, Final list, I think.

Safeties (31-32)
UVM - State school
Albany
NYMC
EVMS

Mids/Targets (33-34)
Tulane
Rochester
Virginia Tech
Einstein
Mayo
Dartmouth
Hofstra
Tufts

Reaches(35-36)
BU
Emory
Case
JHU
U Pitt
 
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I think you are selling yourself short with reach schools. You have a pretty solid application. If I were in your position, I would cut down on a couple mid-tiers and go for some more reaches
 
HelpMe212 said:
I think you are selling yourself short with reach schools. You have a pretty solid application. If I were in your position, I would cut down on a couple mid-tiers and go for some more reaches
Click to expand...

Yeah, you're probably right. Plus, I really like my state school, and I have a pretty solid chance there (as long as I don't completely **** up my interview or secondary).
 
rocklobstr said:
Yeah, you're probably right. Plus, I really like my state school, and I have a pretty solid chance there (as long as I don't completely **** up my interview or secondary).
Click to expand...

Your app is definitely better than mine and I am applying to around 6 reach schools. You never know where you will get in.
 
HelpMe212 said:
Your app is definitely better than mine and I am applying to around 6 reach schools. You never know where you will get in.
Click to expand...
I guess I'm just worried about not having enough research for the top universities. I don't have like 2 years in a lab somewhere or a bunch of summer research. I did a 1 year independent research project and a 1 year psych project for a class; however, I did collect data at an ED.
 
I spoke to admissions from several of my reach schools at a medical school fair. They told me that it's ok to be weak in one area if you compensate for it by being really strong in another. You have enough research. I had the exact same issue with volunteering. It all works out in the end
 
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HelpMe212 said:
I spoke to admissions from several of my reach schools at a medical school fair. They told me that it's ok to be weak in one area if you compensate for it by being really strong in another. You have enough research. I had the exact same issue with volunteering. It all works out in the end
Click to expand...
Okay, thanks!
 
I think your latest list is good. You can add more reaches if you want (and have the money/time).
 
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