Weak GPA, strong MCAT--Help finding a good school?

[JoaoMoutinho]

I have a rather unique application that is very strong in some areas and very weak in others, and while I feel like I can get accepted to an MD/PhD or MSTP somewhere, I'm not 100% sure how to go about it.
Before I go any further, here are the statistics:
cGPA: 3.29 sGPA: 3.68
MCAT: 519
Volunteer service: 300+ hours, including 200+ running a Latino outreach and disaster preparedness program for the Red Cross
Shadowing: 25 hours (Neuro, Anesthesia, Cardio)
Research: 16 months, received my own competitive funding, run a nerve research team for my PI, acknowledged on 2 publications, 4 posters, and one presentation. Should have a review article (first author) published later this year and then another first author publication early next year, though that will be too late to include on an application.
Work: I currently work as a TA in a chemistry lab, as well as a caretaker for mentally disabled people.

I had a very poor freshman year (or two years), went and interned with the Peace Corps in Central America, spent another 2 years on a volunteer mission, and have been back in school for almost 2 years, having changed my major to neuroscience and essentially starting over. My GPA before was about 2.9, and has been about a 3.7 since I came back to school. It just takes a lot of time to bring an average like that back up to something competitive! Hopefully, though, I hope that I can show on my application that there has been a marked improvement, and I think that a solid MCAT score will go a long way towards proving the point that I actually can be a good student.

I have pretty solid LoRs, and speak fluent Spanish and Portuguese because I grew up in (mostly) South America, though my dad's work moved us to China, the Middle East, and rural Illinois as well. Even though my birth certificate says white male, I feel that I would count as pretty diverse to most institutions.

Anyway, while a top tier school is almost assuredly out of the question, I feel like I could probably realistically shoot for some of the more mid-tier schools, even with a GPA as low as mine. Could I get some advice on how to present myself to the programs that I'm applying to, and also on if I'm looking at applying to the right category of school?
Some of the schools that I'm looking at, in no particular order:

Case Western (ok, this one is my top choice, even if it's a bit of a stretch)
UNC Chapel Hill
Dartmouth
Iowa
Wright State
UConn
Wisconsin
Medical College of Wisconsin
Florida
Pitt
Penn State
Nebraska
UCSF
UCSD
Rochester

Thanks!

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[jesie]

1. Papers can go in update letters so no issues there
2. Almost every school's secondary asks a diversity question completely separate from your race/ethnicity. As long as you are a citizen you'll be fine on that point.
3. What is your in-state?
4. I'd honestly remove UCSF and UCSD unless you feel like making a donation to the california school system
5. Send a PM to @Fencer , who is a MD/PhD program director (this person has been incredibly helpful to me and is very open to giving advice in situations like these)
6. I'd say add UT San Antonio and UTMB along with w/e other schools you feel are in your range. Keep in mind that for MD/PhD, state residency more or less is removed from the equation. Based on the list you've given, it's clear you realize that, but really spread out these applications. And nice addition of Pitt I believe they have been known to be relatively forgiving on stats. If you get a realistic list up to about 20 (or more) schools, you should be fine
7. If you are trying to apply this cycle, you need to get these apps out NOW and pre-write every secondary you can cause you need to be applying as early as possible.

 

[DokterMom]

I think you're probably in a better position than you think, and would encourage you to add some upper mid-tiers and lower-uppers that would value your cross-cultural competence, high MCAT and publications.

Your GPA is the weak link, but the story you told combined with your numbers says: Young and immature, took time off to grow up (and did some pretty impressive things - wow), then came back older, wiser and more focused performed exceptionally well.

The trick will be getting past the auto-screens and filters and suggest that your personal statement quickly make the false-start, time-out, 'rebound' point.

I'd agree with the suggestion to add UTHSCSA and UTMB plus TT El Paso and UT-RGV (whatever their acronym is!) plus other schools that are likely to value your Spanish.

 

[JoaoMoutinho]

1. Papers can go in update letters so no issues there
2. Almost every school's secondary asks a diversity question completely separate from your race/ethnicity. As long as you are a citizen you'll be fine on that point.
3. What is your in-state?
4. I'd honestly remove UCSF and UCSD unless you feel like making a donation to the california school system
5. Send a PM to @Fencer , who is a MD/PhD program director (this person has been incredibly helpful to me and is very open to giving advice in situations like these)
6. I'd say add UT San Antonio and UTMB along with w/e other schools you feel are in your range. Keep in mind that for MD/PhD, state residency more or less is removed from the equation. Based on the list you've given, it's clear you realize that, but really spread out these applications. And nice addition of Pitt I believe they have been known to be relatively forgiving on stats. If you get a realistic list up to about 20 (or more) schools, you should be fine
7. If you are trying to apply this cycle, you need to get these apps out NOW and pre-write every secondary you can cause you need to be applying as early as possible.

My in-state is University of Utah. I go to their weekly MD/PhD Journal Club and know the director there, but my non-science GPA means that I fail their pre-screening. I am applying this cycle--I would have submitted my primary last week, but I wasn't happy with my essays and am hoping to have them done again by Thursday. And I'm hoping to have all (or at least most) of my secondaries pre-written, so thanks for that tip again. I'm going to send @Fencer my application as soon as I get my essays redone, so thank you for that as well.
I have also heard that Alabama and UTSW would be good places for me to apply, though UTSW seems like they might be a little bit of a reach.

Thanks @DokterMom for the suggestions as well!

 

[JoaoMoutinho]

Hey @DokterMom and @jesie I just wanted to take a second and say thanks to both of you for the advice back in July! I let a lot of things get in the way of finishing my application (well, getting married among other things) and ended up not submitting it until the beginning of September. So far, I've been rejected at Utah and UNC, and then I've had interview invites to Texas A&M, UT Houston, and WashU for MD-only! I'm still waiting to hear back from everybody else, but thanks to both of you! I would probably not have applied to schools in Texas if you hadn't reminded me that they might appreciate the fact that I speak Spanish. When I interviewed in Houston, they definitely seemed to approve!

 

[DokterMom]

Great to hear - and Congratulations! If you end up in Texas, you'll appreciate the super-low tuition. And Houston is very international, so a great fit there.