3.9 GPA, 34 MCAT, school list help?

[Freigeist]

3.91 cGPA 3.91 sGPA I just took the MCAT so don't have my score yet. But for the purposes of choosing schools I am assuming a 34 (AAMC practice avg: 35). NJ Resident.

EC's:

sufficient honors/awards (eg: Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude, travel awards)
60 hours shadowing a neurologist
No clinical volunteering
50 hours non-clinical volunteering (various single-time activities)
3 years of research + thesis + presentation at national conference (no publications)

Will be sending an update letter with the clinical volunteering I hope to do this summer along with the paid research internship I am doing abroad.

In my PS, I make it clear I want to do academic medicine and have seriously considered an MD/PhD but decided MD only.

I feel my numbers are okay, but my EC's are lacking. My pre-med advisor is telling me not to worry about volunteering at a hospital since I've shadowed but I don't believe her.


Tentative School List (will need to trim this down):
UC San Diego
Stanford
George Washington University
Florida International University
Emory
Northwestern
University of Chicago Pritzker
Jefferson
Johns Hopkins
University of Maryland
Boston University
University of Michigan
UMDNJ- Robert Wood Johnson
UMDNJ- New Jersey Medical School
Albert Einstein
Columbia
NYU
Weill Cornell
UNC- Chapel Hill
UPenn
UPitt
Temple
Medical University of South Carolina
Baylor
UT Houston
Dartmouth

Thank you for your help

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[FloridaMedicine]

Looks pretty good to me! Congrats I don't think you have anything to worry about unless you have some type of creepy vibe in person lol good luck!

 

[kautionwirez]

3.91 cGPA 3.91 sGPA I just took the MCAT so don't have my score yet. But for the purposes of choosing schools I am assuming a 34 (AAMC practice avg: 35). NJ Resident.

EC's:

sufficient honors/awards (eg: Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude, travel awards)
60 hours shadowing a neurologist
No clinical volunteering
50 hours non-clinical volunteering (various single-time activities)
3 years of research + thesis + presentation at national conference (no publications)

Will be sending an update letter with the clinical volunteering I hope to do this summer along with the paid research internship I am doing abroad.

In my PS, I make it clear I want to do academic medicine and have seriously considered an MD/PhD but decided MD only.

I feel my numbers are okay, but my EC's are lacking. My pre-med advisor is telling me not to worry about volunteering at a hospital since I've shadowed but I don't believe her.


Tentative School List (will need to trim this down):
UC San Diego
Stanford
George Washington University
Florida International University
Emory
Northwestern
University of Chicago Pritzker
Jefferson
Johns Hopkins
University of Maryland
Boston University
University of Michigan
UMDNJ- Robert Wood Johnson
UMDNJ- New Jersey Medical School
Albert Einstein
Columbia
NYU
Weill Cornell
UNC- Chapel Hill
UPenn
UPitt
Temple
Medical University of South Carolina
Baylor
UT Houston
Dartmouth

Thank you for your help

start clinical volunteering now.

you have a good shot getting in.

 

[Freigeist]

start clinical volunteering now.

you have a good shot getting in.

I am trying to, it's been difficult finding a place in London that allows me to volunteer for just a summer since criminal background checks take a month alone. I have something planned with volunteering at the front desk of a hospice but hopefully my friend who is a med student can hook me up with some shadowing/volunteering opportunities.



My main concern is whether this list is balanced: should I include more safeties/mid-range/top-tier?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Whatyousay]

Baylor
UT Houston

Any reason why you're looking into UT Houston? The school only accepts 10% OOS, and you'll have to fill out a completely new application for it (TMDSAS).

Baylor favors IS, but it's a little less stringent on that versus the other Texas schools. You have the stats to be competitive at both of those schools, but the lack of clinical volunteering will probably hurt.

 

[Freigeist]

Any reason why you're looking into UT Houston? The school only accepts 10% OOS, and you'll have to fill out a completely new application for it (TMDSAS).

Baylor favors IS, but it's a little less stringent on that versus the other Texas schools. You have the stats to be competitive at both of those schools, but the lack of clinical volunteering will probably hurt.

I visited there for a travel award I got for an MD/PhD symposium hosted by both schools. I was impressed with their programs and the whole Texas Medical Center. This experience also let me realize MD/PhD is not the route for me. I also have family that lives in Houston.

 

[Whatyousay]

I visited there for a travel award I got for an MD/PhD symposium hosted by both schools. I was impressed with their programs and the whole Texas Medical Center. This experience also let me realize MD/PhD is not the route for me. I also have family that lives in Houston.

Ah, okay. Well, if you don't mind filling out a new application for one school (it's not too bad, basically copy over your AMCAS stuff), you certainly have a decent shot as an OOS applicant. I would mention your family connections when you get to the residency section.

 

[Freigeist]

Ah, okay. Well, if you don't mind filling out a new application for one school (it's not too bad, basically copy over your AMCAS stuff), you certainly have a decent shot as an OOS applicant. I would mention your family connections when you get to the residency section.

Thanks for the tip. I also have family in San Diego and love the city. Is there a way I could show my family ties to UCSD? Because I heard the screen their secondaries

 

[damndinosaur]

I visited there for a travel award I got for an MD/PhD symposium hosted by both schools. I was impressed with their programs and the whole Texas Medical Center. This experience also let me realize MD/PhD is not the route for me. I also have family that lives in Houston.

just a thought, if you're filling out the TMDSAS for UT Houston, you might as well apply to the other Texas schools on that application too (there's 8 total in TMDSAS). if money isn't a problem that is (i sent my TMDSAS in early June, and I think it was about $140 or something total for 8 schools). just give you more options i guess, without really much extra work

but keep in mind, as someone above said, that getting in OOS is difficult

good luck!

 

[Whatyousay]

Thanks for the tip. I also have family in San Diego and love the city. Is there a way I could show my family ties to UCSD? Because I heard the screen their secondaries

No idea how you would be able to make your case in your primary app for AMCAS.

Perhaps you should try calling the admissions office and see how they screen OOS.

 

[eembzee]

Unless you get >36, the chances of you getting into UCSD w/o residency is pretty low, but there's always a chance! I highly doubt family connection to SD will help. If I were you, I would switch UCSD (or any other UC) with a OOS-friendlier school. Just my 2 cents!

 

[Freigeist]

Unless you get >36, the chances of you getting into UCSD w/o residency is pretty low, but there's always a chance! I highly doubt family connection to SD will help. If I were you, I would switch UCSD (or any other UC) with a OOS-friendlier school. Just my 2 cents!

I'm set on applying to UCSD even though odds are not in my favor.

I may apply to other Texas schools but at this point, I am working on taking some schools off my list to save some money. (26 schools as of now)

What are your guys' opinions on the balance of my list?


I appreciate your input

 

[eembzee]

I would take out FIU, since it's relatively new school and you'll be kinda like guinea pigs.

if it was me, i would replace one or two of the top tier schools (stanford, nw, uchicago, hopkins, umich, columbia, cornell, upenn, pitt) with mid-tier schools (i.e. iowa, wake, maybe some texas schools since you're doing to TMDSAS anyway)...in other words, your list may be a little top heavy

 

[riverdude]

just remember that the texas schools will HEAVILY favor texas residents. if you're an out of stater or (out of countrier ) it's very very difficult to get in. Texas law - no joke, it's an actual law - requires all texas schools (baylor is not included cause it's private) to accept AT LEAST 90% residents, but most schools go over 90%. in some years some texas schools have gone as far as accepting 100% texas residents. not that it's not possible - but you might wanna put your application money somewhere else that doesn't have such high resident restrictions.