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DoReMeLotsofCs3.3NowSMP said:
Hey all. I just finished the CERT program at VCU and ended up with a overall 3.81 GPA. This guarantees me an interview with VCU but I understand that I shouldn't rely on that and that I should apply to other schools as well.

CERT was difficult and I believe it proves (at least to myself) that my undergrad GPA is not reflective of the student that I have come to be. However, I'm not sure how it will be recieved/respected by schools other than VCU and I am unsure how to build a school list.

My application will be as follows:
  • Undergrad GPA
    • 3.17 cGPA. Continuous upward trend from 2.7 my freshmen year to a 3.5 my senior year
    • 3.29 sGPA
  • Graduate (CERT) GPA
    • 3.81
  • MCAT
    • 508 (128/126/126/128)
    • I am scheduled to retake before applying but I'm not going to assume a higher score yet
  • Residency
    • Virginia
  • Ethnicity and Race
    • Ethnicity is white
    • Race is White/Hispanic. (Puerto Rican/Irish parents)
  • Undergraduate institution or category
    • Small private college
  • Clinical experience (volunteer and non-volunteer)
    • 3500 volunteer hours as an EMT (Cornerstone of my application)
    • 400 combined paid hours as outpatient + ER scribe
    • Will work as an ER tech during this application cycle
  • Research experience and productivity
    • 1 semester of lab research
    • 150 hours of clinical research
    • No publications.
  • Shadowing experience and specialties represented
    • No shadowing, however I have scribed in both the ER and an outpatient clinic
  • Non-clinical volunteering
    • 80 hours working with special needs children
  • Other extracurricular activities (including athletics, military service, gap year activities, leadership, teaching, etc):
    • 4 year college athlete. Still playing in an adult league.
    • Leadership positions and strong contributions towards reviving a failing volunteer rescue station
    • Strong leadership positions in Greek life
      • Received a significant award for my involvement on campus.
  • LOR
    • Committee letter from undergrad
    • Letter of recommendation from CERT program
    • Letter from an MD that precepted me as an EMT while he was in medical school (He's currently doing an EM residency)
  • Additional:
    • First generation college student
    • Low GPA because I didn't work hard in school until I found my passion for medicine, which inspired me to improve as a student and person
    • Very interested in pursuing career in EM.
I have not drafted an extensive list of schools yet, as I am unsure of what range I fall into. However, a few schools that I believe I am interested in are:
  • MD:
    • VCU
    • EVMS
    • Virginia Tech Carilion
    • West Virginia University School of Medicine
  • DO
    • VCOM- Virginia Campus
    • West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine
    • Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine
    • Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine-Bradenton Campus
Some questions I have:
  • Am I on the right track with my school list? Should I lean heavier towards DO schools or did CERT give me a shot at MD?
    • If you suggest that I lean more towards DO schools, is there a potential MCAT score that would change your mind?
  • VCU is by far my top choice school. Would I be better off just applying there early decision?

Again, any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!
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I had similar stats coming from the CERT program. I don't think I interviewed that well since VCU was my only II (interview invite) that cycle. VCOM also gave me 0 love this cycle with my 508 MCAT. Consider adding CUSOM to your DO school list - I think they're better than VCOM anyway and not opening like 1000 satellite campuses. Apply low tier MD and you're fine for all DO schools. Only MD interview I received this cycle was to EVMS and that was towards the end of the cycle. PM if you have any questions and I'll do my best to answer.

Edit: Would you consider yourself an under represented minority (URM)? Might help, I was ORM (Asian)
 
DoReMeLotsofCs3.3NowSMP said:
When you say you didn't interview well, do you mean at the actual interview for VCU or the interview for the CERT letter of reccomendation? And thanks for sharing, that's disheartening to hear after how tough and expensive CERT was.

My mother's side is proud of their heritage, but I come across as a white guy so I'll most likely apply as an ORM.
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VCU interview. I had no prior experience interviewing and in retrospect I didn't do a good job. I slayed my interviews this cycle though and prepared even more than I did for VCU's interview. And naw, Silberg is the best and easy to talk to. I got a second letter from her when I had to reapply this cycle. Your MCAT score is what's holding you back. As re-inventors, we needed a higher MCAT score. 508 is like the minimum for VCU. 512 would open more doors, but I decided not to retake.

I also went to a small private university in Virginia. Considering there are only really 2 of them here, I wonder if we share the same undergrad as well LOL.
 
Apply to the MD schools you have on your list but concentrate on DO schools. I suggest these DO schools:
CUSOM
WVSOM
MU-COM
DMU-COM
KCU-COM
ATSU (both schools)
AZCOM
TUNCOM
ACOM
LECOM (all schools)
PCOM (all schools)
 
Kumorebi said:
VCU interview. I had no prior experience interviewing and in retrospect I didn't do a good job. I slayed my interviews this cycle though and prepared even more than I did for VCU's interview. And naw, Silberg is the best and easy to talk to. I got a second letter from her when I had to reapply this cycle. Your MCAT score is what's holding you back. As re-inventors, we needed a higher MCAT score. 508 is like the minimum for VCU. 512 would open more doors, but I decided not to retake.

I also went to a small private university in Virginia. Considering there are only really 2 of them here, I wonder if we share the same undergrad as well LOL.
Click to expand...

Yea Dr. Silberg was awesome. And I think you're right about the MCAT. Thanks, I needed to hear that.

Haha and possibly but I have a feeling we didn't, we're a small enough school that I know that we only have had one other alumni do CERT in the past 5ish years, and ended up at different med school than you haha.
 
I'm in VCUSOM and I did CERT as well. I agree with @Kumorebi that a 508 is a little low for VCU but I don't think it's that big of a problem. If you re-take it, be sure that you will improve by a significant amount of points. Your undergrad GPA was significantly higher than mine so I don't think that's a problem either and I think it helps your uGPA that you were a student-athlete for 4 years. 3.81 definitely allows you to get into VCU if you can do well on the interview. If you need interview help, let me know.

To improve your app, I think some schools will say you need shadowing regardless of scribing but other schools do not care. I'm not sure what VCU's take on this is, but it might be something for you to consider doing during your gap year once COVID settles down. Additionally, I think you absolutely need to increase your non-clinical volunteering hours to be more competitive for VCUSOM. It's such a big factor for VCU for you to have contributed to underserved communities and I would say that itself is your biggest drawback. I would run your application by Dr. Baker/Dr. WHC and see what they say.
 
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