3.7 GPA, 31M MCAT Chances?

[CaptainVantasi]

Hi,

Here are some of my concerns:
1) I did not grew up in US, in fact I grew up in Hong Kong until I was 18. After 18 I came to US alone for college. Good thing is I can show my determination and diversity, and settle anywhere. But I wonder will schools discriminate against that fact?

2) Some of my LOR are kind of old I wonder will that be a problem? It's hard to contact them because some of them have left the university.

3) English was not my first Language, in fact it is not my primary language until I came to the US. I wonder will that fact help my low writing score and my OK VB score? Also will my MCAT improvement help me?

4) I will truly appreciate it if anyone can give me advise about the chances with the schools I listed below!

Top 40 school
Major: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology / Economics
Minor: Technology Management
225 unites taken, no transfer units
cGPA: 3.73
sGPA: 3.7
MCAT: 1st MCAT: 24 (PS10, VB6, BS8, L); 2nd MCAT: 31 (PS10, VB10, BS11, M)

British Citizen, Hong Kong Permanent Resident, CA Resident with Greencard

Extracurricular Activities:
2 years president/ founder of Child Health Club, raised money for students to go overseas to volunteer
1 year vice-president of health advocating club
2 years private and group tutoring
2 years homeless shelter overnight volunteer
6 months committee leader for AMSA/ARC pre-med conference
1 year university health committee student representative appointed by the vice dean of student affairs
and some minor stuff I did not mention in my application

At least 400 hours of shadowing physicians
6 month child life intern
4 months summer intern in Hong Kong pharmacy
2 month speech pathology intern

Current Research Technician for Veterans Affair Departmen since last October, 1 paper submitting

Award: Phi Beta Kappa Member, Economics Department Citation (20 students got it out of 300 in class)

Personal Statement I believe it's good, read by at least 5 people including professional writers and all of them say its pretty good.

LOR:
1 Letter Pack: 2 LOR from science professor (OK strong); 1 LOR from writing prof. (fine strong); 1 LOR from English grad student with a MBA degree and10 years of wall street working experience (good strong)

All above letter pack letters written around 2010 and 2011 maybe a bit old

1 LOR from physician I shadowed (Very Strong)
1 LOR from current PI (Super Strong)

Schools (A bit long please bear with me, Thanks!)

Boston School of Medi.
Case Western
Central Michigan
Cooper
Creighton
UCLA
Drexel
Eastern Virginia
Florida Atlantic
Georgetown
Hofstra
Indiana University
Jefferson
USC
Medical College of Wisconsin
Michigan State
New York Medical College
Oakland University
Pennsylvania State
Saint Louis University
Stanford
Stony Brook
State University of New York Downstate
Temple University
The Commonwealth
Ohio State Univ
University of Toledo
University of Vermont
Tufts University
Tulane University
Uni. of North Dakota
University of Alabama
University of Arkansas
UCSD
UCD
UCI
UCSF
University of Cincinnati
University of Colorado
University of Iowa
University of Kentucky
University of Louisville
University of Maryland
University of Michigan
University of Minnesota
University of Nebraska
University of Rochester
University of South Carolina
University of Utah
University of Virginia
Virginia Commonwealth
Virginia Tech Carilion
University of Washington
Wayne State
West Virginia University

Thanks so much for reading and giving comments!

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[ArsenalForever]

Hmmmmm not sure about the CA schools probably UCLA not good chance and Stanford too

 

[Catalystik]

You obviously have not researched the schools on your list. Unless money is no object and you can afford high Secondary fees, get an MSAR, look at the selection factors. Look at each school's website so you appreciate what they are looking for and their specific requirements, like a need to demonstrate strong state or regional ties. Why would you apply to a school on a Spanish speaking island?

 

[CaptainVantasi]

Thanks for the reply, but I actually did a little research and I do know some school need strong ties and because I have been working for the last 9 months I did save much money for my application fund so money is not a problem. I applied to most California schools to increase my chances. Also, I applied to most OOS schools which match my stats and have a consistent 8-10% OOS interview rate based on the MSAR of the past three years. I achknowledge there are some or even many reaches and I may not get interviews or secondaries from most of the state schools but I applied just to at least try. I listed San Juan Bautista accidentally, its changed now.

Thanks again!

 

[Catalystik]

Also RETHINK the ones I've Xd:

Boston School of Medi.
Case Western
XCentral Michigan
Cooper
Creighton
UCLA
Drexel
Eastern Virginia
XFlorida Atlantic
Georgetown
Hofstra
XIndiana University
Jefferson
USC
Medical College of Wisconsin
Michigan State
New York Medical College
Oakland University
Pennsylvania State
Saint Louis University Reachy
Stanford Reachy
Stony Brook
State University of New York Downstate
Temple University
XThe Commonwealth
Ohio State Univ Reachy
University of Toledo
University of Vermont
Tufts University
Tulane University
XUni. of North Dakota
University of Alabama
XUniversity of Arkansas
UCSD
UCD
UCI
UCSF Reachy
University of Cincinnati
XUniversity of Colorado
University of Iowa
XUniversity of Kentucky
University of Louisville
University of Maryland
University of Michigan Reachy
University of Minnesota
University of Nebraska
University of Rochester
XUniversity of South Carolina
XUniversity of Utah
University of Virginia
Virginia Commonwealth
Virginia Tech Carilion
XUniversity of Washington
Wayne State
XWest Virginia University

 

[CaptainVantasi]

Thanks so much for the advice, I truly appreciate it. I wonder will also growing up in a foreign country despite being a CA resident and having LOR around one to one and a half years old hurt me? I do have two brand new LORs.

 

[Catalystik]

1) I wonder will also growing up in a foreign country despite being a CA resident and 2) having LOR around one to one and a half years old hurt me? I do have two brand new LORs.

1) Not if you have good English speaking skills, which I expect to be the case considering it's considered an official language in Hong Kong. Your native langage might be viewed as a plus where a med school has a high concentration of folks speaking the same language.
2) No.