WAMC/School list: 3.8 cGPA, 3.5sGPA, 507 MCAT

[gazbarella]

Hi everyone! I'm going into my last year of undergrad and planning on applying to med school next cycle. Here are my stats:

1. GPA: 3.8 cGPA, 3.5 sGPA (sgpa took a dip sophomore year with COVID when I got a C in a biology class, but I have been getting As and Bs in every science class since then. Will this difference in my GPAs be a big red flag?)
2. MCAT score(s) and breakdown: 507 (126/125/126/130)
3. State of residence or country of citizenship (if non-US): Iowa
4. Ethnicity and/or race: Hispanic
5. Undergraduate institution or category: mid-tier state school
6. Clinical experience (volunteer and non-volunteer): ~150 hours clinical (volunteering at a large hospital on a single unit, spread out over a year). This should be at about 400 hours when I apply.
7. Research experience and productivity: ~500 hours in a psych lab, no presentations or pubs
8. Shadowing experience and specialties represented: 8 hours family medicine, 4 hours psychiatry, 4 hours radiology, 6 hours ENT, 10 hours pathology
9. Non-clinical volunteering: 50 hours volunteering at an animal shelter, 50 hours at a nursing home. This should hopefully be closer to 200 - 300 hours by the time of application.
10. Other extracurricular activities (including athletics, military service, gap year activities, leadership, teaching, etc): I've been a tutor in my college's English department for 3 years and have taken on a leadership role within my clinical volunteering position. I also play piano.
11. Relevant honors or awards: Nothing majorly noteworthy :/
12. Other relevant information: I decided to hold off on applying this cycle because most of my stats (basically everything other than my cGPA) are pretty lackluster, so I'm taking a 5th year. I plan on primarily taking more science classes (hopefully getting my sGPA into the 3.6-3.7 range) and increasing my clinical/nonclinical hours during this time. I am also debating retaking the MCAT, so any advice on that is greatly appreciated!

I plan on applying mostly to DO schools with a few MD thrown into the mix, and would appreciate any advice on which MD schools I am competitive for. Here's a rough list of DO schools I've put together:

DO list:

1. DMU
2. UNECOM
3. KCOM
4. ATSU-SOMA
5. LECOM
6. PCOM
7. KCUCOM
8. CCOM
9. MUCOM
10. WesternU
11. PNWUCOM
12. NYITCOM
13. OHCOM

Thank you!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

So the DO list is a little eclectic to me. DMU of course should stay. Regional schools should stay.

MD schools: in-state (Iowa) and some of the regional privates and OOS-friendly schools.

 

[Faha]

When are you planning to apply ?

 

[gazbarella]

So the DO list is a little eclectic to me. DMU of course should stay. Regional schools should stay.

MD schools: in-state (Iowa) and some of the regional privates and OOS-friendly schools.

Thank you for the advice. I tried to put the DO list together based on GPA/MCAT fit, but it definitely needs to be cleaned up. Do you have any advice on how to best balance my list between MD & DO schools?

 

[gazbarella]

When are you planning to apply ?

Apologies if this wasn't clear - I plan on applying next year (June/July 2024).

 

[Faha]

Accumulate another 100 hours of non clinical volunteering the nursing home and an additional 20 hours of shadowing.
I suggest these MD schools:
Iowa
Rosalind Franklin
Medical College Wisconsin
Oakland Beaumont
Creighton
TCU
NOVA MD
Wake Forest
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
George Washington
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Penn State
Hackensack
Albany
Vermont
Quinnipiac
For DO schools I suggest these:
CCOM
DMU-COM
MU-COM
KCU-COM
ATSU-KCOM
UIWSOM
ACOM
TUNCOM
AZCOM
CUSOM
WVSOM
PCOM
NYITCOM
Touro-NY
LECOM

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Thank you for the advice. I tried to put the DO list together based on GPA/MCAT fit, but it definitely needs to be cleaned up. Do you have any advice on how to best balance my list between MD & DO schools?

You have time since you aren't applying until next cycle. Consequently, you need to narrow down your list based on your expectations as a physician and aligning it with school fit.

 

[gazbarella]

Accumulate another 100 hours of non clinical volunteering the nursing home and an additional 20 hours of shadowing.
I suggest these MD schools:
Iowa
Rosalind Franklin
Medical College Wisconsin
Oakland Beaumont
Creighton
TCU
NOVA MD
Wake Forest
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
George Washington
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Penn State
Hackensack
Albany
Vermont
Quinnipiac
For DO schools I suggest these:
CCOM
DMU-COM
MU-COM
KCU-COM
ATSU-KCOM
UIWSOM
ACOM
TUNCOM
AZCOM
CUSOM
WVSOM
PCOM
NYITCOM
Touro-NY
LECOM

Thank you so much for your reply! Are there any specific DO schools on my original list which I am not competitive for, or that you suggest I not apply to?

 

[Faha]

Thank you so much for your reply! Are there any specific DO schools on my original list which I am not competitive for, or that you suggest I not apply to?

OUHCOM admits very few non residents and UNECOM and PNWUCOM have a regional preference.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Agreeing: not OUHCOM, UNECOM, PNWCOM. WVSOM is good, but you need to do homework about wanting to live in West Virginia and whether there are many Latinx people who live there.

 

[gazbarella]

OUHCOM admits very few non residents and UNECOM and PNWUCOM have a regional preference.

Agreeing: not OUHCOM, UNECOM, PNWCOM. WVSOM is good, but you need to do homework about wanting to live in West Virginia and whether there are many Latinx people who live there.

Thank you both!