3.87 GPA and 516 MCAT. Would appreciate help with school list!

[alex.jl1994]

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Hi! New here and posting for the first time. I'd really appreciate it if I could get some advice as to my school list. Thanks!

cGPA: 3.87 (HYPSM, magna cum laude)
sGPA: 3.87
MCAT: 516

ECs:
1000 hours of research in biology lab (1 publication, 1 symposium presentation)
400 hours of clinical volunteering (total, in 2 different hospitals)
100 hours of shadowing
200 hours of tutoring
200 hours of mentoring low-income kids
100 hours volunteering in a soup kitchen
Editor of school paper
Executive board member of school community service organization

Below, I've included a list of schools that my premed advisor told me that I might consider selecting schools from. I realize that this list is very top heavy, but I think she only included the list of top schools for me to choose a few as my super-up-there-reach schools. My issue is that while I think my GPA and ECs are ok (still not anything special, I realize), my MCAT is on the low side, so I'm really not sure which schools I should apply to. *I'd really appreciate suggestions for schools primarily on the East Coast (New England area) or at least in urban regions. Thanks in advance!!!

List that my premed advisor suggested I might choose a few schools from (in ascending median MCAT order):

Medical University of South Carolina
U Washington
U Vermont
Georgetown
NYMC
UConn
U Maryland
UMass (I'm in-state)
UNC Chapel Hill
Brown
UC Irvine
Albert Einstein
Mayo
Tufts
UCLA
Dartmouth
Emory
UCSD
UCSF
Boston University
USC
U Michigan
UVA
Case Western
Mt Sinai
Stanford
University of Pittsburgh
Columbia
Duke
NYU
Cornell
Northwestern
Vanderbilt
Yale
UPenn
UChicago

 

[brochacho123]

These schools favor applicants from their regions: South Carolina, U Washington, UConn, Maryland, UNC.
A large portion of Brown's class comes from their undergrad

Here are some schools worth considering:
Miami
Albany
Rochester
Hofstra
Quinnipac
Wake Forest
Jefferson
Temple
Drexel
Tulane
Ohio State
SLU
Creighton

As long as you include enough lower to mid tier schools, you can add top 20's such as Pitt, NW, Vanderbilt. The CA schools will be a long shot for anyone, so I would try and limit those

 

[alex.jl1994]

These schools favor applicants from their regions: South Carolina, U Washington, UConn, Maryland, UNC.
A large portion of Brown's class comes from their undergrad

Here are some schools worth considering:
Miami
Albany
Rochester
Hofstra
Quinnipac
Wake Forest
Jefferson
Temple
Drexel
Tulane
Ohio State
SLU
Creighton

Thanks for the suggestions! When you say that those schools favor applicants from their regions, do you mean their state only? I'm from MA, so I thought that UConn might be nice, but does this mean that I shouldn't apply there?

 

[brochacho123]

UConn interviewed about 4% of their OOS applicants last year.
Most OOS public schools favor their in state applicants, so your chances of an interview are diminished even if you are at the school's medians
Your chances of an interview would increase if you added OOS private schools, like the ones suggested above where you are a good match stat-wise

 

[alex.jl1994]

UConn interviewed about 4% of their OOS applicants last year.
Most OOS public schools favor their in state applicants, so your chances of an interview are diminished even if you are at the school's medians
Your chances of an interview would increase if you added OOS private schools, like the ones suggested above where you are a good match stat-wise

Oh, I see. Thanks for the helpful advice!

 

[GrapesofRath]

I would delete every OOS public on your list except Vermont and UVA
Brown NYMC and Georgetown are very low yield options here.

I see about 7-8 schools on your current list you can call targets and go in saying you have a fair shot at getting a II. In MA given how competitive the state is, that's maybe a little too close to comfort even with a 3.9/35. I would get MSAR if you havent already and identify about another half dozen or so schools that get <11k apps with an MCAT median around roughly 33-34(ie Tulane, Miami, Ohio St etc)

 

[alex.jl1994]

I would delete every OOS public on your list except Vermont and UVA
Brown NYMC and Georgetown are very low yield options here.

I see about 7-8 schools on your current list you can call targets and go in saying you have a fair shot at getting a II. In MA given how competitive the state is, that's maybe a little too close to comfort even with a 3.9/35. I would get MSAR if you havent already and identify about another half dozen or so schools that get <11k apps with an MCAT median around roughly 33-34(ie Tulane, Miami, Ohio St etc)

Thanks for the feedback!

I know that Brown takes mostly PLME kids, but out of curiosity, but I was wondering why U Michigan, NYMC, and Georgetown wouldn't be good options? Thanks in advance!

 

[GrapesofRath]

Thanks for the feedback!

I know that Brown takes mostly PLME kids, but out of curiosity, but I was wondering why U Michigan, NYMC, and Georgetown wouldn't be good options? Thanks in advance!

Michigan is fine as a reach.
Youre not a high yield candidate for schools with >12k apps like NYMC and G'town

 

[alex.jl1994]

Michigan is fine as a reach.
Youre not a high yield candidate for schools with >12k apps like NYMC and G'town

I see, thanks! Does low yield just mean that my stats aren't competitive given how many applicants they get?

 

[GrapesofRath]

I see, thanks! Does low yield just mean that my stats aren't competitive given how many applicants they get?

Your stats are actually around the 90th percentile at a school like NYMC. 3.9/35 is generally not the type of applicant NYMC targets, they just get so many applications(which already makes them low yield) that often they dont focus on applicants with 3.9/35 who historically tend not to have a high yield rate

 

[alex.jl1994]

Your stats are actually around the 90th percentile at a school like NYMC. 3.9/35 is generally not the type of applicant NYMC targets, they just get so many applications(which already makes them low yield) that often they dont focus on applicants with 3.9/35 who historically tend not to have a high yield rate

Thanks for explaining that!! I kept on seeing the phrase "low yield" around this forum but I didn't quite get what it meant.