MD & DO 29 mcat 3.62 cGPA chances and school list help for 2015 application cycle

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papito22

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I've been lingering here for a while and this is my first post. My stats are as follows:

MI resident
29 mcat (8 PS, 11 VR, 10 BS)
3.62 cGPA (upward trend from having around a 3.4 for my first two years as an undergrad)
3.55 sGPA for DO schools
3.35 sGPA for MD schools

~150 hours of clinical volunteering at a hospital (reading books to kids, playing with legos, etc.)
40 hours of shadowing a PCP DO
Planning on shadowing an MD soon
>200 hours as a trainer for a womens' athletic club at my university (ALL VOLUNTEER)
President and founder of a mens' athletic club at my university
~100 hours of non-clinical volunteering with various groups. (most longevity in this category was as a tutor for a bio class for 1 semester)
Did research for credits, but no publications or poster presentations. Basically just helped the phd students with random things.

Excellent LOR from a DO and a PhD. Still working on finding at least one more science professor since my UG doesn't have a pre-med committee.

My main interest is primary care and I intend to incorporate that into my PS when I begin to write it, but if that is a good idea or not will be for another thread 😉

School list: MD
Michigan State CHM
Central Michigan
Wayne State
Oakland
Western Michigan

DO:
MSUCOM
KCUMB
CCOM
NOVA
PCOM

The reason I don't have more schools is because I don't think I'm competitive enough for MD out of state and if I'm good enough to get in somewhere out of state then I will likely be good enough to get into at least one MD in state, which is what I really want. I've been told I'm really competitive for DO schools, so I'm hoping I can get at least one acceptance from the 5 I'm going to apply to (hopefully msucom).

What do you guys think of my strategy? Should I add any "safety" DO schools? I'm really trying to stay in state and save as much money on applying as possible.
 
Yes, you are definitely competitive for DO schools. You could add another 3 or 4 DO schools to your application. You have a decent chance for the Michigan MD schools. There are some OOS MD schools that would be worth considering with your stats including Rosalind Franklin, Creighton, Quinnipiac, New York Medical, Albany, Commonwealth (PA), Drexel, Temple and Jefferson.
 
I would apply to your top 10 DOs and 5 low-tier MDs- state schools are probably a good bet for this.
 
Thank you Dr. Faha and Doug!

What DO schools would you suggest that I add? I don't really like the idea of being at a rural setting the whole time for my med school experience so I know that cuts a lot of DO schools out. I know @Goro @gyngyn and @LizzyM are really helpful adcoms on this forum. Maybe they can help suggest schools? 🙂
 
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