3.78 sGPA and 29P MCAT, resident of multiple states...

[anotherone1]

Hey, so I'm kind of worried I don't have much of a shot at most MD schools. I am currently resideing in VA, although I can easily claim residency in TX, CA, NM, and FL (I don't know if that improves my chances at those schools substantially or not)...

Stats: sGPA 3.78, cGPA 3.8, 29P on the MCAT (1st time). \
Indian male

Extracurriculars (not many unfortunately):
1.5 years volunteering at a hospital (3 different departments)
a 12 week coordinated biotechnology internship (for 4 credits)
2 years of research (no publications)
about 30 hours of various nonclinical volunteering, and another maybe 40 hours at a religous center.
Approx. 35 hours shadowing (General practitioner, psychiatrist, neurologist)
No jobs at all-not even in HS

Going into senior year and applying for the first time in the senior year (I really wanted to take a gap year and do some extra research, etc.)
I don't really mind where I go at all, but do I have a good shot at those 4 state's schools, and maybe some out of states? Thanks.

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[Whatyousay]

I'm not sure how you would eligible for residency in 4 different states, but I'll take your word for it.

For the purposes of medical school admissions, I think you can only claim residency for one state. I would recommend claiming residency in Texas or Florida. Both states are saturated with medical schools (relative to other states) with pretty heavy favoritism in admissions to in-state residents. I wouldn't claim California residency - your stats would probably be considered "below average."

 

[sector9]

Hey, so I'm kind of worried I don't have much of a shot at most MD schools. I am currently resideing in VA, although I can easily claim residency in TX, CA, NM, and FL (I don't know if that improves my chances at those schools substantially or not)...

Stats: sGPA 3.78, cGPA 3.8, 29P on the MCAT (1st time). \
Indian male

Extracurriculars (not many unfortunately):
1.5 years volunteering at a hospital (3 different departments)
a 12 week coordinated biotechnology internship (for 4 credits)
2 years of research (no publications)
about 30 hours of various nonclinical volunteering, and another maybe 40 hours at a religous center.
Approx. 35 hours shadowing (General practitioner, psychiatrist, neurologist)
No jobs at all-not even in HS

Going into senior year and applying for the first time in the senior year (I really wanted to take a gap year and do some extra research, etc.)
I don't really mind where I go at all, but do I have a good shot at those 4 state's schools, and maybe some out of states? Thanks.

Well TX and FL are great states to be a resident. You obviously can only pick one state for your AMCAS app, so you'll need to decide (although I'm curious if you could pick Texas for TMDSAS and a different state for AMCAS. That could be considered dishonest though).

However, I struggle to believe that you really could claim all of those states.

Consider the rules here for Texas http://www.utsystem.edu/tmdsas/medical/residency.html and for California http://registrar.ucsf.edu/registration/residency

I know for CA you have to keep your drivers license, taxes, voting, etc all in CA to be a CA resident.

If you really can pick, don't pick CA!

I would avoid top tier schools because you don't have leadership. Your nonmedical community service is weak.

Overall, you still have a great shot at getting in. I would try to find a nonmedical community service activity ASAP so you can address it in update letters or interviews.

 

[anotherone1]

Sorry, should've clarified, I can pick one, not choose multiple (I'm familiar with that). -The reason why it is multiple is because my parents own a lot of properties in each state, most closely with CA. Plus my dad has had a federal job that made him move quite a lot, so there is some kind of thing where the residencies should last for a while as long as you own something there (it's kind of wierd, but apparently true)... Anyways, I will try and get on the non clinical volunteering. Only thing is, I always tried to do exra non clinical, but I seriously couldn't stand it (not that I don't like giving back to the community or anything, just the jobs themselves make me want to die of boredom).

 

[Catalystik]

Find a cause you care about, even if it's cuddlng kittens and walking dogs for the Humane Society. (Could anyone be bored doing that?)

As to the state residency thing, after you decide, be sure to develop a paper trail (which typically needs to be a year long), as some schools will ask for copies of your drivers license, car registration, voter registration, lease, etc. I agree with sector9 on choosing Florida or Texas, with the cheaper med school tuition in Texas making it a best choice.

 

[Meihua]

TMDSAS schools are ~90% in-state, application fees are pretty low, and tuition is low. So if you can legitimately claim Texas residency, that's probably your best bet.

As you've noted, 29 is low for MD, but as a Texas resident it won't lock you out completely (and TCOM would probably be pretty happy to see you). If you're going to apply DO, you might want to shadow some DOs.