3.81 cGPA, 3.78 sGPA, 30-->28 MCAT (Agh!)-- School list help please!

[cmlanz]

Hi all- Would you mind taking a look at my credentials and my medical school list and giving me some feedback? I'm looking to add on another ~2-6 schools.

Graduated from Loyola University Maryland one year ago. NY resident. I've been doing research at biomedical lab at the University of Pennsylvania for the past year and have a good relationship with the PI.

Grades:
Upward trend, from 3.5 GPA first semester to ~3.95-4.0 final four semesters.

MCAT:
Ugh! Got a 30 my first time two years ago with 25-30 score on practice tests. Decided to retake, got mid-thirties on all practice tests (never below 31) and got a 28! Huge disappointment. Deciding to apply as is.

First breakdown: 9/10/11
Second breakdown: 8/9/11
PS/V/B

Extracurriculars:
Research
-Will have completed two years of research at Penn by fall 2015. Acknowledged in a Molecular Cell paper.
-Completed one year of research during undergrad. Awards: First Place in Oral Presentations in the Mathematical and Natural Sciences at my undergrad institution; Honorable Mention at the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology’s Undergraduate Student Research Poster Competition
Other
-Studied abroad in UK for one year (member of Wilderness Medicine Society while there)
-Two week medical service trip in Belize
-Volunteer for one year in Shock Trauma center (9pm-3am every Friday night)
-Volunteer for one year with nonprofit org that pairs new mothers with resources needed to be healthy
-Relay for Life Committee Member

Work:
-Current job at Penn
-Lab technician at my undergrad bio department
-Intern at Columbia Medical Center (summer job in clinical research dept)
-Caller for undergrad "phonathon"

Shadowing:
- Shadowed a pediatrician for 10 hrs/wk one summer


Here are the schools I'm currently applying to:

Drexel University College of Medicine
Jefferson Medical Coll. of Thomas Jefferson Univ.
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Temple University School of Medicine
University of Maryland School of Medicine
Columbia University College of P & S
Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine
Stony Brook University School of Medicine
SUNY Downstate Medical Center
SUNY at Buffalo Medical School
New York University
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Weill Medical College of Cornell University
SUNY Upstate Medical University
Cooper Medical School of Rowan University
Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Mount Sinai School of Medicine


I know--there are many reaches. I am either optimistic or unrealistic! Any feedback would be helpful. Thank you!!!

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[cmlanz]

Honestly, Mt Sinai, Columbia, Einstein, NYU, UPenn and Cornell need to be removed bc both your mcat scores are <their 10th percentile mcat for matriculants according to msar. If you haven't already bought an msar, you definitely need to asap bc your list is way too top heavy.

Cooper has a strong mission statement to help the disadvantaged and underserved, and the first question of their secondary last year was "how do your ecs match our mission statement?" Based on the ecs you listed, is seems like you have just a bit of volunteering with the disadvantaged, so I recommend strongly examining whether you can justify to Cooper that you have worked hard/had an impact on the disadvantaged

I suggest adding:
Med College of Wisconsin
NY med college
Rosalind Franklin

Are you a URM? And would you consider an mcat retake or applying DO?

Thanks for your response! I am not URM, and am currently considering DO, though I am putting AMCAS as my first priority for now. I am not a URM, and about the MCAT, I would be crushed if I took the test and had bad luck once again! Especially because when I got the 28, I walked out feeling like the test was rough but altogether not too bad.

I did not realize this about Cooper. Thanks so much for sharing. I am certainly interested in serving the disadvantaged. I did an additional spring break service trip to New Orleans a few years back, and have really enjoyed a lot of my service experiences. Considered an MD, MPH program.

I do agree about my list being top heavy. I really want to stay in my area (family, boyfriend, friends, etc.), and prefer not to live in a rural area, so I immediately put the NY schools down. I would like to cut out many of my top choices, though its difficult to cut Penn and Columbia because I work(ed) in these places. Bummer!

Agree about NY Medical College and will look more closely into the other two. Thanks giraffesuptop! Still, especially with "top-heavy" cuts, I would like to add more schools to my list! Hmmmm

 

[cmlanz]

Also, I'm at a loss as to how my MCAT scores will be considered. I called up several schools and only got unclear, vague responses. I guess I should apply broadly, but its difficult to know which scores to use when looking for schools!