Which schools look for well rounded applicants?

[Mat the coolcat]

Hi there,

I working on making my list for schools to apply to in June, and I was wondering if you folks had some information on what schools look for well rounded students. I don't like to spot out my stats normally but I'll use myself as an example.

UW grad with B.S. in Bio and Biochem, 3.2 GPA with steep upward trend from freshman year

29 on MCAT, 9 in verbal and 10 in sciences.

5 great letters of recc

Two years of solid research experience, each in a different area of science.

100 hours volunteer experience with a kid with cancer (Side by side)

50 hours of hospital clinical volunteering

Hopefully 40 hours of shadowing by application time.

I work construction now since graduation.

Low income background.

So as you can see, I don't have best grades or stats, and so I'm wondering which schools would give me the time of day. I know some automatically screen you out.

So, I'm wondering if anyone has any word on either what schools I should avoid, and also which schools I should look into. DO or MD.

Much appreciated!

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[chillaxbro]

You're not even that well rounded :/ sorry

 

[penguinism]

All schools look for "well-rounded" applicants (with good ECs in addition to good scores).

I'd have to agree with chillaxbro and say that your ECs don't blow me away enough to make up for an MCAT <30 and relatively poor GPA. What's your sGPA? Did you do anything else in undergrad (i.e. leadership positions, sports, clubs, etc.)?

You might have a tough time getting into MD schools, but you can try applying to your state schools and lower tier private schools (I hate using that term but check the MSAR for schools that might be more reasonable for you). I would focus more on DO school applications, which I don't know much about.

 

[cookiemonsters]

Are you ORM? If so MD is a big reach, DO is possible. Your stats are just too low as of right now.

 

[Mat the coolcat]

Thank you for the responses. I'm aware that MD schools are a huge reach and I DO schools are definitely my priority. What is ORM?

 

[lmn]

He is basically asking if you are an under represented group or not. If you are under represented you get an extra bonus to your application, if not, things look even worse for you. Like others said, unfortunately I don't think you have any real chance for MD programs, but may be able to make it into DO programs. Focus there and apply broadly if you are planning on applying this cycle.

 

[Mat the coolcat]

Cool, thanks for the advice.

 

[Mat the coolcat]

I am from an under represented group, not racially, but financially. We have a family income of less than 60k per year for a family of four.

Look, I am very aware that the chances of me getting into an MD school are minimal, but I was wondering if people knew of schools that don't automatically screen you out for bad grades. My focus is on D.O., but I am hoping to add a few MD schools to my list as well.

Anyone know of any?

 

[cookiemonsters]

Your undergrad is University of Washington? You probably want to apply there. BU takes a lot of pride in its 'holistic review' so maybe give them a shot, but keep in mind their most recently published average MCAT score is 35. Try a bunch of newish MD schools (Virginia Tech, Quinnipiac, etc). You can probably get to 10 or so MD schools that way. Then also apply to like 10 DO schools. That's 20 schools right there.

 

[Mat the coolcat]

Hey thanks a lot! That's really helpful, yeah UW is definitely on my list.

How does one find out if an MD school is new or not?

 

[lmn]

Your undergrad is University of Washington? You probably want to apply there. BU takes a lot of pride in its 'holistic review' so maybe give them a shot, but keep in mind their most recently published average MCAT score is 35. Try a bunch of newish MD schools (Virginia Tech, Quinnipiac, etc). You can probably get to 10 or so MD schools that way. Then also apply to like 10 DO schools. That's 20 schools right there.

I honestly doubt the OP would have the slightest chance at BU, they have very high admissions stats and tons of applicants each year. I think their money and time doing secondaries would be better suited at somewhere with better matching stats.

OP I would suggest getting a copy of the MSAR and looking through schools with the closest stats to yours and that are OOS friendly, other than that you'll have to read each school's fine print, or ask them individually, if they screen gpa's. If you are really tight for money, you can try using the USNR and searching through SDN for people who often quote the msar in discussions. I believe there is also an excel sheet on sdn somewhere with all the schools' stats (not as accurate as msar but free) and the ability to plugin your LizzyM score to see what are close matches.

New schools you can look up usually through accreditation as you will see them pending, such as Quinnipiac and Hofstra.

 

[Dwan]

Yeah, BU is a bad idea, I do not think they are any more "holistic" than any other school. All schools will advertise that they're holistic, whether on the website or during the interview because they look at a range of factors in addition to scores. However, at many schools, there are simply too many qualified applicants who have both quality scores and quality ECs that there is no need to look any further unless there is something exceptional like URM. Schools which have lower average stats are your best bet.

 

[zebalong]

If money is tight I would say really focus on DO programs and apply to a very select few MD schools knowing that likely the money will go to nothing. With a 3.2/29, and no really substantial EC's realistically even new MD schools will likely be high high reaches -Hosftra's entering class had a 3.56/33 average- UW even though its your home school will probably be out of reach. Apply, but do so strategically knowing that most of your $$ spent should be focusing on DO programs. And do remember that a 3.2 for a DO is a bit on the low side but your mcat is great for them.

 

[Syndicate]

BU's holistic approach includes randomly rejecting 3.9+/35+ applicants. I wouldn't want to put your marbles there. They do get 12k+ applications every year after all..

 

[Sab797]

Good luck with applications! I'm a re-applicant who this year applied to both MD and DO schools. I am going to an MD school, but the DO schools I saw had a lot to offer as well!

I agree that the newer MD schools may look at applicants in a more holistic way. You might also qualify for fee waivers through AMCAS, which might allow you to apply more broadly. As for D.O., that's a great option too. You might already know this, but most schools require (or highly recommend) a letter of recommendation from a DO. The American Osteopathic Association website is a good resource for finding a DO near you. Also I've learned that physical rehab hospitals may have a lot of DOs not listed on the website. I had a hard time finding a DO who could write me a letter, but I met with a few and emailed a few, so the admissions could see I knew what DO was all about. If you can shadow a doc and get a letter, that'd be best though! The Osteopathic Medical College Information book is download-able and has specifics on every school too.

Best of luck on your app cycle! PM me if you have any questions, I'd be happy to help if I can!

 

[mmmcdowe]

Moving to WAMC.

 

[Mat the coolcat]

Didn't know this thread was still going, but thank you for all of your advice. I will be applying to probably ten M.D. schools and maybe 25 D.O. I got the fee waiver which is fantastic.