3.6 GPA, Worth Applying to Top Schools?

[CyberMaxx]

My concern is primarily whether my GPA (which is less than the median at most schools) will hold me back from getting interviews at upper mid-tier/upper tier schools. What should be my guidelines when selecting schools, do I have a chance as long as my GPA is above their bottom 10 %? Would it be reasonable to add a few more competitive schools to my list? Although I don't just care about rankings, I do want to apply to the best institutions that I can.

The major changes since my post last year are mostly related to research and are:

1. I've done a poster presentation at a national conference and had my abstract published
2. Continuing to work on my own research projects and have had two students work under me in the lab
3. will be the first author on a paper in a solid journal (IF ~ 4)
4. Added a B.A in History and a minor in Philosophy to total 3 majors and 1 minor.

General
Residency: South Carolina
Applicant Type: Traditional
cGPA: 3.65
sGPA: 3.57
MCAT: 35 (12,11,12)
Majors: B.S. Chemistry, B.S. Biochemistry and B.A. History
Minor: Philosophy
LizzyM:

Volunteering - Non-Medical
1 Year Food Not Bombs - 3-4 hrs per week
- acquired food and cooked

Volunteering - Medical
1.75 Years Hospital Volunteering - about 250 hours
- stocking supplies, answering phones and call bells, transporting patients

1.5 Years Hospital Infusion Center Volunteering - about 150 hours
- also some stocking supplies, but a lot of my time is spent sitting checking on patients to see if I can get them anything as well as providing them with company while they get their chemo or other treatment.

1.25 Years Hospice Volunteering - about 100 hours
- almost exclusively providing companionship to hospice patients, either in their homes or in a hospice house. Also provided respite care to primary care givers.

Clinical Experience
I consider my volunteer experiences at the infusion center and with hospice to be clinical experience. If I am remiss in this judgment, please let me know.

Research
2.5 Years Biophysics Research – 15 - 25 hrs/ week during school and ~ 60 hrs/ week during summer
- Spent first 3 months simply doing prep for experiments such as isolating cells and cell culture. I graduated to running experiments and understanding the science behind them. For the past 1.5 yr I have been working fairly independently under a mentor with my own project (I share responsibility with my mentor in designing my own experiments and developing theories).
- One national poster presentation
- First author journal publication (IF ~ 4)
- Graduating this year, but will continue to work full time doing research during my year off while I'm applying.

Shadowing
Total: about 48 hrs
16 hrs General Surgeon
8 hrs Geriatrics
16 hrs Family Practice
8 hrs Cardiologist

Leadership
Supervisor at a retail store - worked there for 1.5 years, supervisor for 8 months
1 semester of tutoring - this is ongoing
1 semester of being an SI leader
Was a mentor to a high school student in our lab for her research project
- Responsible for teaching her all lab techniques as well as basic science background
- Decided what experiments she should do and oversaw her work

ECs
2 years of film club
recreational runner throughout college - completed 5k, 8k and 1 marathon
lifelong motorcycle enthusiast - have ridden since I was 16

Work Experience (This amounts to having almost continuously worked through college)
1.5 years retail store - during school 15-20 hrs/week during summer 30-40 hrs/week.
6 Mo restaurant work - during school 15-20 hrs/week during summer 30-40 hrs/week.
1 semester SI Leader - dedicated about 12 hrs/ week to this.
2 summers research lab - easily 45 - 50 hrs/ week.
1 year research lab (paid) – about 20-25 hrs/ week
1 semester tutoring - just a few hours per week.

Current School List (roughly descending order according to selectivity)

Vanderbilt University
University of Virginia
Dartmouth Medical School
Case Western Reserve University
Emory University
Tufts University
Brown University

Saint Louis University
University of Rochester
Boston University
Yeshiva University
Medical College of Wisconsin
Georgetown University
Temple University
Loyola University Chicago

University of Vermont
Wake Forest University
Tulane University
Medical University of South Carolina
University of South Carolina
Virginia Commonwealth University
USC Greenville

Thank you so much for your time and comments.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[dextor2003]

I think you should be okay with those schools. We practically have the same gpa's, and your mcat dominates mine, especially since it's well balanced. You also have great experiences, though I think your leadership and non-medical community service could use some work. But if I got two interviews at top-tier schools, I'd be pretty surprised if you didn't get some as well. My only concern would be about Brown. They reserve several of their spots for students in their special programs, so your chances there are already reduced. But if it's one of your dream schools, then go for it. You never know.

Good luck

 

[CyberMaxx]

Thanks so much for your input dexter2003! I've been debating whether I should add the following schools:

1. University of Iowa
2. Baylor
3. U. Pittsburgh
4. NYU
5. University of Wisconsin

Do you guys think any of these schools are reasonable?

 

[mcloaf]

I wouldn't waste money on Wisconsin unless you have ties to the region.

 

[CyberMaxx]

I see your point mcloaf, they do only accept about 30 % out of state. What about switching U of Wisconsin for Mayo?

1. University of Iowa
2. Baylor
3. U. Pittsburgh
4. NYU
5. Mayo Medical School

 

[darkjedi]

You seem to have a healthy mix of schools and will likely do fine in the application process. I see you have Temple on your list of schools, so I would recommend you look into Jefferson as well.

If you like NYC/NYU, that is a good option as well.

 

[CyberMaxx]

Thanks for your advice darkjedi, I'm definitely going to consider adding Jefferson to my list. I visited Philadelphia this month for a conference and absolutely loved it!

I forgot to add before, but do you guys think it will matter at all to adcoms that, if you exclude the dual credit courses I took during high school ( ~ 40 credits w/ a cGPA of 3.4), my cGPA goes up to a 3.7 and my sGPA up to a 3.65? At my undergrad institution my GPA is a 3.7, its only with AMCAS that is lowered to a 3.65.