3.9 GPA & 28 MCAT | FINALIZED School List

[LuminousTruth]

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Asian Male
Cumulative GPA: 3.9
Science GPA: 3.9

MCAT: 28 (11PS 8VR 9 PS)

State (Texas Resident)
1) UTSW (Super reach)
2) UT-Houston
3) UTSA
4) UTMB
5) TT-Lubbock
6) TT-El Paso
7) Texas A&M
8) Baylor (Super reach)
9) TCOM

Out of State
1) Rosalind Franklin
2) Creighton
3) Drexel
4) George Washington
5) Georgetown
6) Loma Linda (Like the mission and philosophy)
7) St. Louis
8) SUNY Upstate (Some connections)
9) Temple
10) SUNY Buffalo (Some connections)
11) University of Vermont
12) West Virginia

I have decent ECs such as tutoring, volunteering, shadowing, campus leadership, research, and some work experience.


What are your comments on my school list? Good list? Need more schools? I wanted to cut down on the number of schools to apply to (32 to 21 total)

I would like to stay in TX but decided to add in some OOS to increase chances.

How are my chances at the schools above?

 

[Goro]

Suggest deleting WV because of the home field advantage, add NYMC and Loyola. Looks OK otherwise.

Asian Male
Cumulative GPA: 3.9
Science GPA: 3.9

MCAT: 28 (11PS 8VR 9 PS)

State (Texas Resident)
1) UTSW (Super reach)
2) UT-Houston
3) UTSA
4) UTMB
5) TT-Lubbock
6) TT-El Paso
7) Texas A&M
8) Baylor (Super reach)
9) TCOM

Out of State
1) Rosalind Franklin
2) Creighton
3) Drexel
4) George Washington
5) Georgetown
6) Loma Linda (Like the mission and philosophy)
7) St. Louis
8) SUNY Upstate (Some connections)
9) Temple
10) SUNY Buffalo (Some connections)
11) University of Vermont
12) West Virginia

I have decent ECs such as tutoring, volunteering, shadowing, campus leadership, research, and some work experience.


What are your comments on my school list? Good list? Need more schools? I wanted to cut down on the number of schools to apply to (32 to 21 total)

I would like to stay in TX but decided to add in some OOS to increase chances.

How are my chances at the schools above?

 

[LuminousTruth]

Suggest deleting WV because of the home field advantage, add NYMC and Loyola. Looks OK otherwise.

But from the MSAR WV interviews about 17% of OOS applicants while Loyola interviews 4.5% OOS. Am I missing something here? Doesn't WV still favor a lot of OOS?

 

[DokterMom]

Are you (yourself, not your parents) paying for the application process? Because a lot of your OOS schools are really long shots -- a waste of time and money, IMO. Your best shot is in state, by a wide margin. Focus on that. Only apply OOS where you have a really good reason and would really want to go there. Applications take time and money, and unless you have extra of both, don't throw them around like they're meaningless.

By long shots, I don't mean stats-wise: you've picked the best 'reputation vs. lower MCAT' schools. What I mean is the sheer number of applications those schools receive compared to the number of students they interview. Drexel? Georgetown? Temple? Creighton? Rosy Franklin? Those are *everyone's safeties*. (And you can bet they know it...) Which means for a Texas resident, that they know you are applying to everything in state (who wouldn't?) and that if you get into a state school, you'll go there (why wouldn't you?). What I'm saying is that I suspect your odds of landing an interview at those schools are pretty low. Why would they invest their resources interviewing you when you're not likely to attend?

You've got connections at SUNY? - Great - leave them in and be prepared to explain why you would choose them over TX. Like the Loma Linda philosophy and mission? Great - leave them. (But check out their school-specific thread first because their secondary is LONG and might scare you off if you're not super religious.)

For safeties, focus on DO. You sound like a good enough applicant for TX MD, but if not, DOs are your better safety net. Shadow some DOs. Read up on the DO philosophy. Apply to a few top DOs as your safeties instead of the bottom MDs.

 

[Goro]

While my MSAR is a bit dated, it shows Loyola as accepting >55% OOS. WV, less so. WV also favors people from surrounding states. They like the rural medicine angle and want people to stay there...so someone from from Blacksburg, VA will be viewed more favorably than you.

So listen to Doktormom!

But from the MSAR WV interviews about 17% of OOS applicants while Loyola interviews 4.5% OOS. Am I missing something here? Doesn't WV still favor a lot of OOS?

 

[LuminousTruth]

While my MSAR is a bit dated, it shows Loyola as accepting >55% OOS. WV, less so. WV also favors people from surrounding states. They like the rural medicine angle and want people to stay there...so someone from from Blacksburg, VA will be viewed more favorably than you.

So listen to Doktormom!

Since I'm cutting down my list, would it be better to swap out WV or Loyola for NYMC? Are Loyola and NYMC considered to be pretty similar in competitiveness?

Are you (yourself, not your parents) paying for the application process? Because a lot of your OOS schools are really long shots -- a waste of time and money, IMO. Your best shot is in state, by a wide margin. Focus on that. Only apply OOS where you have a really good reason and would really want to go there. Applications take time and money, and unless you have extra of both, don't throw them around like they're meaningless.

By long shots, I don't mean stats-wise: you've picked the best 'reputation vs. lower MCAT' schools. What I mean is the sheer number of applications those schools receive compared to the number of students they interview. Drexel? Georgetown? Temple? Creighton? Rosy Franklin? Those are *everyone's safeties*. (And you can bet they know it...) Which means for a Texas resident, that they know you are applying to everything in state (who wouldn't?) and that if you get into a state school, you'll go there (why wouldn't you?). What I'm saying is that I suspect your odds of landing an interview at those schools are pretty low. Why would they invest their resources interviewing you when you're not likely to attend?

You've got connections at SUNY? - Great - leave them in and be prepared to explain why you would choose them over TX. Like the Loma Linda philosophy and mission? Great - leave them. (But check out their school-specific thread first because their secondary is LONG and might scare you off if you're not super religious.)

For safeties, focus on DO. You sound like a good enough applicant for TX MD, but if not, DOs are your better safety net. Shadow some DOs. Read up on the DO philosophy. Apply to a few top DOs as your safeties instead of the bottom MDs.

I agree, I want to stay in TX and would prefer the instate tuition. I initially wanted to apply TX ONLY so I wouldn't have to go through AMCAS or AACOMAS. The only OOS school I MAY see myself going to despite TX tuition is Loma Linda, due to fit.

People have told me to add some OOS privates for safety/reaches because apparently applying TX ONLY is risky due to the increasing competitiveness. I know my MCAT is on the lower side but I've heard it should not hold me back (since everything else is good).

Do you think I would still be able to get in from TX alone to not have to apply OOS?

Thanks for the comments from the community. I will consider taking out Rosalind Frankin/Georgetown/George Washington.

Any more comments on removing more schools, adding others, or just applying TX only? Thanks.

 

[DokterMom]

People have told me to add some OOS privates for safety/reaches because apparently applying TX ONLY is risky due to the increasing competitiveness. I know my MCAT is on the lower side but I've heard it should not hold me back (since everything else is good).

That is certainly the conventional wisdom, but I would argue that it's wrong.

You've got top grades, but your MCAT is below average, especially unhelpful since you're Asian. This means you'd be looking for lower tier (safety) schools, which get a whole lot of applications.

If you're an admissions officer at a 'lower stat' medical school, what kind of applicant are you going to invest your time in? Certainly, one who looks like s/he will be a good doctor, but also one who looks like s/he will attend your school. Are you going to chase the Rhodes scholars? No - they won't attend. Will you chase Texans? Unlikely - If they're any good, they'll get into a Texas school and go there because it's cheap. If they don't get in to any of the Texas schools, odds are good they wouldn't be your first choices either... Maybe you'd consider offering interviews after the TX match -- but before then, it's a low-yield investment.

So my point is that if you're a reasonably good interviewer, you'll get into a TX medical school.
If you're not, you probably wouldn't make the cut at the traditional 'safety schools' either.
So your 'safety' needs are better met going top-flight DO.

 

[tennischamp822]

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