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Started by dillpicklechips
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dillpicklechips said:
Hi, currently I'm at 3.4cgpa 3.3sgpa (upward trend) and 521 mcat. I'm contemplating staying a 5th year to hopefully improve my gpa, but I'm not sure if it would be worth it. I have a lot of clinic and non-clinic volunteering, as well as mentoring urm highschool students and working as a scribe at my University's clinic. I'm fluent in an Ethiopian language. I'm also conversationally fluent in Spanish. I've been in research for about 3 years in three different labs, no pubs or posters. I'm hoping to stay in the midwest in terms of my medical school, ideally in my home state of Minnesota. Would it be best to stay a 5th year to boost my gpa or apply anyways?
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A fifth year may improve your GPA by at most 0.15 or so. I don't think that is worth it. The way you describe your app I would say you are good just about anywhere.

Particularly for the midwest, I think Mayo, WashU, Northwestern would be right up your alley.

@Goro, would a 3.4/3.3 keep OP out of anywhere (aside from tippy top) as a 521 MCAT URM with adequate research/community engagement etc?

OP, as a 521 URM from the midwest, you are a Unicorn. Embrace your Unicorn Status. Go forth and concur.

 
You are fine to apply this month and I suggest these schools:
U Minnesota
Mayo (both schools)
Boston University
Brown
Dartmouth
Vermont
Hofstra
Einstein
Mount Sinai
NYU
Rochester
Jefferson
Georgetown
U Virginia
Duke
Miami
Tulane
St. Louis
Loyola
Medical College Wisconsin
TCU-UNT
Kaiser
Western Michigan
 
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MemeLord said:
A fifth year may improve your GPA by at most 0.15 or so. I don't think that is worth it. The way you describe your app I would say you are good just about anywhere.

Particularly for the midwest, I think Mayo, WashU, Northwestern would be right up your alley.

@Goro, would a 3.4/3.3 keep OP out of anywhere (aside from tippy top) as a 521 MCAT URM with adequate research/community engagement etc?

OP, as a 521 URM from the midwest, you are a Unicorn. Embrace your Unicorn Status. Go forth and concur.

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Europeans are considered urm, and I don't know if they are indeed, because they are Semitic people, then the sky's the limit
 
Goro said:
Europeans are considered urm, and I don't know if they are indeed, because they are Semitic people, then the sky's the limit
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I never knew that semitic people may not be considered urm. I’m not sure if it makes a difference, but there’s a specific ethnic group in Ethiopia that is, in fact, semitic (the amhara people), which I’m not. My parents are from a non semitic ethnic group (oromo), but they grew up learning the semitic language and the non semitic dialect so Idk.
 
dillpicklechips said:
I never knew that semitic people may not be considered urm. I’m not sure if it makes a difference, but there’s a specific ethnic group in Ethiopia that is, in fact, semitic (the amhara people), which I’m not. My parents are from a non semitic ethnic group (oromo), but they grew up learning the semitic language and the non semitic dialect so Idk.
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This is one I'll punt to the wise @gyngyn
 
gyngyn said:
There are many schools that will consider you to be UiM. Some will not.
You are already a shoo in for the HBCU's
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Even if ORM, do you think the 3.3/3.4/521 combination will hold them back at many schools (save for T10 types)?
 
dillpicklechips said:
Hi, currently I'm at 3.4cgpa 3.3sgpa (upward trend) and 521 mcat. I'm contemplating staying a 5th year to hopefully improve my gpa, but I'm not sure if it would be worth it. I have a lot of clinic and non-clinic volunteering, as well as mentoring urm highschool students and working as a scribe at my University's clinic. I'm fluent in an Ethiopian language. I'm also conversationally fluent in Spanish. I've been in research for about 3 years in three different labs, no pubs or posters. I'm hoping to stay in the midwest in terms of my medical school, ideally in my home state of Minnesota. Would it be best to stay a 5th year to boost my gpa or apply anyways?
Click to expand...

You want to stay in Minnesota? Easy. Apply to all the MD schools in the state and you will have a choice. Don’t overthink this.
 
Also worth adding Harvard and Yale: you might get lucky and be considered URM. Then again, you might not. It's a longshot but could work.
 
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