MD School list: stuck in the middle

[judb16]

Hello all, first time poster here. I need a little help with my school list. I feel like I'm kind of stuck right in the middle, don't want to waste time with top tier or bottom tier schools. Let me know what you think. Thanks!

-Utah Resident
-BS Neuroscience, 4/2015
-3.57 sGPA, 3.66 cGPA (both have significant upward trends. Averaged 3.8+ for last 6 semesters).

-C/P: 85-100%
CARS: 82 -97%
B/B: 85-100%
P/S: 70-85%
Cumulative: 85-100% (SDN seems to think this puts me 513-519 or 93-96%tile = 34-36 on old MCAT)

EC's:
- 2 yrs church service mission in Spain (mainly proselyting, but still did significant service, and was absolutely valuable to my growth).
-Fluent in Spanish
-170 hrs ER volunteer (still doing this)
-190 hrs Spanish Interpreter at free medical clinic (still doing this)
- 25 hrs diabetes clinic tech. Triaged patients, took vitals, foot exams, diabetes education, discussed medication with physician. Often took place in Spanish. (still doing this)
-150 hrs research
- Co-authored one publication in a mid-tier academic journal
-45 hrs shadowing - neurology, urology, (primary care scheduled)
- 400 hrs community service.
- Fairly committed to hobbies

So, I feel like my GPA is definitely keeping me out of the top and mid/top tier schools. My expected MCAT makes me not want to apply to TOO many safety schools. Here's my list so far:

All Texas MD schools
Utah (resident)
Ohio State (reach, but at brother's med school graduation his mentor was promoted to Vice dean of admissions and after a personal conversation he told me to apply. Plus it's a great school, I'd love to go there and it has a good history with my undergrad)
Keck (reach)
UofA - Phoenix (ties)
UofA - Tuscon (ties)
Wake Forest
U of Miami
VCU

I'm looking for about 7 more schools and have considered:
Emory (reach)
Penn St. Hershey
Colorado Denver
V Tech
Albany
Rochester
W. Michigan
U of Iowa
UNC Chapel Hill

Any help on more reach, target and safety schools would be greatly appreciated!

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[candbgirl]

You have an awful lot of OOS public schools. They almost always prefer the home team. Do you have a MSAR? If not you should buy the online version and do some research. Look at OOS/IS stats etc. you should be looking at private schools not OOS public schools. Texas schools are a whole different animal. Research their acceptance statistics. But one thing you should know is it's getting late to submit your primary.(Unless you have already done it). It looks like it is taking several weeks to get verified so if you submit today you won't be verified til mid/late August. Good luck.

 

[jplkl]

With your community service and high MCAT score you should explore Tulane as a "target" school.

 

[Goro]

Here's a more realistic list. 150 hr of research? That's like three weeks in a lab. That will hurt for the major research schools. And ties are "I grew up there" or "I went to UG there", not "my sister lives there".


Utah
Keck
Wake Forest
U of Miami
VCU
Albany
Rochester
W. Michigan
Oakland-B
U AZ
U VM
NYMC
The Philly Triplets
Gtown
GWU
Creighton
Rush
Loyola
Netter
Hofstra
BU
Tufts
EVMS
SLU
Tulane
MCW

 

[judb16]

Here's a more realistic list. 150 hr of research? That's like three weeks in a lab. That will hurt for the major research schools. And ties are "I grew up there" or "I went to UG there", not "my sister lives there".

Admittedly, my research is low. I probably accumulated another 100+ hours working on the publication. But it's true. Definitely one of my weaknesses.
Would it count as official ties if my wife was born and raised there, graduated from high school and Arizona St. University, and still has all her family living there?

Other than that, I appreciate the list.

My application is submitted and processing. I just added my state school so I could get it processing while I decided what other schools to apply to. I don't get my official MCAT back for another 6 days.

 

[Goro]

No. Your wife isn't the one who's going to be practicing medicine, you are.

Would it count as official ties if my wife was born and raised there, graduated from high school and Arizona St. University, and still has all her family living there?

 

[GrapesofRath]

Ditch all Texas schools. You aren't from there you aren't getting in with those stats period

150 hours of research is 3 weeks basically. Even with a publication that's just too low. So if you want some reaches that are realistic in addition to Goros list

Rochester
Einstein
USC
Emory
Boston U( maybe)

 

[Doug Underhill]

What field is the pub in with only 150 hours of research? I'm pretty sure I've spent more than 150 hours on one experiment. One N, one replicate.

 

[judb16]

Thanks for your help @Goro and @GrapesofRath.

What field is the pub in with only 150 hours of research? I'm pretty sure I've spent more than 150 hours on one experiment. One N, one replicate.

Cognitive neuroscience/Genetics. We did DNA testing of infant and young adult subjects to find SNPs at specific alleles. Then we ran the subjects through a reflexive attention task to correlate mutations in genes related to ADHD with increase response time on attention tasks. I kind of came in at the end, which is why I only have 150 hours so far. Genetic studies also tend to run pretty quick once the initial work is done.

For the publication, I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. My mentor wanted someone who could run the stats, and who could do it fast. I ran all the statistical analyses and ended up composing about 40% of the paper. Ended up being the 2nd author and got it published late last month.

I realize this research is quite different from the "norm" of wet bench research: PCR, western blots, etc. But it was interesting to me, I got published, I'm not applying MD/PhD, and was still exposed to research methods and the scientific research process.

 

[Doug Underhill]

I see. That makes sense.

 

[Banco]

Ditch all Texas schools. You aren't from there you aren't getting in with those stats period

150 hours of research is 3 weeks basically. Even with a publication that's just too low. So if you want some reaches that are realistic in addition to Goros list

Rochester
Einstein
USC
Emory
Boston U( maybe)

At 10 hrs/week in the lab, that is a semester's worth of research.

 

[GrapesofRath]

At 10 hrs/week in the lab, that is a semester's worth of research.

a) doing one semester of research 10 hours a week and calling it quits after that(especially when there was no prior experience) isn't actually doing too much in the way of "research". Especially at the standard that research heavy schools look for.
b) The 150 hours regardless of what was accomplished on paper still stands out like Goro said. And it calls into question how much the OP really did that wasn't just "data collection" and actual "hypothesis driven research" or where the OP would fit the standards of what contributes authorship(look them up if your interested). At the very least it would be easy to see an ADCOM really trying to see if the OP understood everything about this project. There's just a limit to how much you learned about research in 150 hours; that's just how it is. And it seems like that's how it will be looked at by top 20 schools like Goro seemed to suggest. With a 3.9/38 maybe that's enough to take a stab at some top 20's. But with a 3.6 and what projects to a 33-34 MCAT score(which are definitely below average stats for top 20's) it's hard to justify indulging in them. Sure take a stab at one or two of them if you would like to see what happens but realize they aren't particularly realistic or worth too much time and effort.

 

[Banco]

a) doing one semester of research 10 hours a week and calling it quits after that(especially when there was no prior experience) isn't actually doing too much in the way of "research". Especially at the standard that research heavy schools look for.
b) The 150 hours regardless of what was accomplished on paper still stands out like Goro said. And it calls into question how much the OP really did that wasn't just "data collection" and actual "hypothesis driven research" or where the OP would fit the standards of what contributes authorship(look them up if your interested). At the very least it would be easy to see an ADCOM really trying to see if the OP understood everything about this project. There's just a limit to how much you learned about research in 150 hours; that's just how it is. And it seems like that's how it will be looked at by top 20 schools like Goro seemed to suggest. With a 3.9/38 maybe that's enough to take a stab at some top 20's. But with a 3.6 and what projects to a 33-34 MCAT score(which are definitely below average stats for top 20's) it's hard to justify indulging in them. Sure take a stab at one or two of them if you would like to see what happens but realize they aren't particularly realistic or worth too much time and effort.

OP doesn't have any top 20s in his list. 150 hrs are enough to get your feet wet, and enough for the vast majority of schools. To nitpick at the hour count for his research is pointless - it was obviously productive.

 

[GrapesofRath]

OP doesn't have any top 20s in his list. 150 hrs are enough to get your feet wet, and enough for the vast majority of schools. To nitpick at the hour count for his research is pointless - it was obviously productive.

I mean it was the first thing Goro noticed. It's not nitpicking.

Your right though about the no Top 20's. The issue with his list is the OOS schools not being too top heavy.

 

[Banco]

Agreed, Goro's list has good suggestions. I'd replace Iowa, Colorado, UNC.

 

[judb16]

I've appreciated everyone's suggestions. List is now looking more like this: (sorry for the long post)

University of Utah
UofA - Phoenix
UofA - Tuscon
Wake Forest
USC - Keck
Miami
VCU
Albany
Rochester
Rush
Emory
Temple
W. Michigan
Penn St. Hershey
E. Virginia
St. Louis

To settle the question about research, in total (hours spent working on publication + hours spent as research assistant) I put in 300+ hours over the space of 15 months. That was while taking 16 credits one semester, and 17 another semester. I also got married, was working, studying for the MCAT, graduating, volunteering and traveling internationally. Do I wish I had more hours? Absolutely. Did I do as much as I think I could? Yes.

As stated above, I realize my research was fairly non-traditional, but it was interesting to me, it exposed me to the research process, if nothing else it'll give me something different to talk about at interviews and I got published. The ICMJE recommends that authorship be based on the following 4 criteria:

-Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
-Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND
-Final approval of the version to be published; AND
-Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Considering I personally wrote about 40% of the paper, ran/interpreted all statistical analyses I think its fair to assume I probably deserve authorship according to the guidelines. Other students who helped were only listed as contributors, and I was the only one given co-authorship with her. That should be enough to answer any relevant questions in interviews. We also have another manuscript proposed for submission by the end of the summer --> I'm still accumulating hours working on the publication and as an assistant.

I'm not interested in MD/PhD and had no top 20's on my list. I figured 150 hrs (or 300, depending on what you count. I only count 150) and a publication would be enough for some, if not most of the schools on the list. Part of the point for my post was to make sure I wasn't applying to anything too far outside of my range, while still trying to hit a few *reasonable* reaches.

*ends rant*

Thanks for the help from all three of you!

 

[GrapesofRath]

I've appreciated everyone's suggestions. List is now looking more like this: (sorry for the long post)

University of Utah
UofA - Phoenix
UofA - Tuscon
Wake Forest
USC - Keck
Miami
VCU
Albany
Rochester
Rush
Emory
Temple
W. Michigan
Penn St. Hershey
E. Virginia
St. Louis

To settle the question about research, in total (hours spent working on publication + hours spent as research assistant) I put in 300+ hours over the space of 15 months. That was while taking 16 credits one semester, and 17 another semester. I also got married, was working, studying for the MCAT, graduating, volunteering and traveling internationally. Do I wish I had more hours? Absolutely. Did I do as much as I think I could? Yes.

As stated above, I realize my research was fairly non-traditional, but it was interesting to me, it exposed me to the research process, if nothing else it'll give me something different to talk about at interviews and I got published. The ICMJE recommends that authorship be based on the following 4 criteria:

-Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
-Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND
-Final approval of the version to be published; AND
-Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Considering I personally wrote about 40% of the paper, ran/interpreted all statistical analyses I think its fair to assume I probably deserve authorship according to the guidelines. Other students who helped were only listed as contributors, and I was the only one given co-authorship with her. That should be enough to answer any relevant questions in interviews. We also have another manuscript proposed for submission by the end of the summer --> I'm still accumulating hours working on the publication and as an assistant.

I'm not interested in MD/PhD and had no top 20's on my list. I figured 150 hrs (or 300, depending on what you count. I only count 150) and a publication would be enough for some, if not most of the schools on the list. Part of the point for my post was to make sure I wasn't applying to anything too far outside of my range, while still trying to hit a few *reasonable* reaches.

*ends rant*

Thanks for the help from all three of you!

Your list is fine good luck!