3.9 GPA 514 MCAT

[cruisinca]

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[cruisinca]

Bump

 

[GCS-15]

So just to clarify - you haven't applied yet, but you want to apply for the 2016-2017 cycle? If so, I think you should wait. Get a job or get involved in more clinical duties. It's pretty late in the cycle to apply. People have already gotten in schools, and your primary isn't sent


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[cruisinca]

@GCS-15 Hey! Wait sorry this wasn't clear I'm applying for the 2017-2018 cycle so I would apply for the cycle starting in June if my GPA/MCAT/EC's are up to par

 

[GCS-15]

Ahh makes more sense. You seem solid.


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[gyngyn]

I count 13 schools on your list where you have a fair to good chance at an interview. That is usually enough. If you attended UCSD, you have 14 schools.

 

[cruisinca]

@gyngyn Any of the California schools on that list of schools that I'd have a fair to good chance at an interview? Thank you for the help!

 

[gyngyn]

@gyngyn Any of the California schools on that list of schools that I'd have a fair to good chance at an interview? Thank you for the help!

If you add UCI and attended UCSD, you would have 3.

 

[Goro]

I recommend the following:


3. UCLA
5. USC
7. Mayo
8. UC Irvine
9. UC Davis
10. Tufts
11. Dartmouth
12. Albert Einstein
15. Wake Forest
16. Medical College of Wisconsin (I was born in Wisconsin and lived here for 5 years does that count as having ties to the state?No
18. Georgetown
19. Tulane
20. University of Arizona
21. Temple
22. Drexel
23. Creighton
24. Albany
25. VCU
26. WVU

Suggest adding U Miami, BU, Jefferson, Hofstra, Rochester, Loyola, Rush (both Mayos), U VM

 

[cruisinca]

@Goro Thank you! So even though UCSF and UCSD are my state schools, my MCAT makes it not worth for me to apply to them? Thank you for the school list!

 

[Goro]

Correct. The higher up the pole you want to climb, the slipperier it gets.

@Goro Thank you! So even though UCSF and UCSD are my state schools, my MCAT makes it not worth for me to apply to them? Thank you for the school list!

 

[Digitalfire]

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[Goro]

Because every pre-med in the US wants to go to UCSF, and you have to thus be a super star. The higher the pole you want to climb, the slipperier it gets.

@Goro

Why is OP's MCAT not good enough for UCSF? The 2016 entering class profile for UCSF shows that the average MCAT is 91st percentile. http://meded.ucsf.edu/admissions/successful-applicant-profile-class-2020

 

[Danny L]

@Goro is a 514 MCAT that bad that he should eliminate Stanford/Baylor/etc? I saw you suggested that a 517 (with a lower GPA) was okay on a different thread

 

[Goro]

The 514 score is what makes me more conservative when aiming for the tippy top schools. A 514 is ~33 on the old scale, while the median MCAT (again, using old scale) is for Stanford a 35, so it might be worth a shot. I keep forgetting that Stanford is NOT a 36 school like Pitt or Columbia. But like UCSF, everyone wants to go to Stanford as well.


But Baylor I'm even less sanguine on because only 1.5% of OOSer applicants get in there. IF you can wrangle an II from them, then the odds of getting accepted go up to about 1/3! Smart kids, those Texans. Thus, I never recommend Baylor to non-Texans.

One may hedge bets and have a list like:

Keck
Hofstra
BU
Stanford OR Baylor
Cornell OR JHU
Pitt OR NYU

etc.

For someone with a 514, here's my suggested list:

U VM
USF Morsani
Duke
Case
Both Mayos
Miami
St. Louis
Albany
Albert Einstein
Rochester
Rush (note: very service/experience oriented with a 150hr service requirement. Avg student has 800 hours of community service, and >1800 hours of health care exposure.)
Rosy Franklin
BU
MCW
Hofstra
NYMC
VCU
EVMS
Wake Forest
Jefferson
Temple
Drexel
Creighton
George Washington
Emory
USC/Keck
Tulane
Dartmouth
Loyola
Oakland-B
Your state school(s).
Uniformed Services University/Hebert (just be aware of the military service commitment)
Any DO program

@Goro is a 514 MCAT that bad that he should eliminate Stanford/Baylor/etc? I saw you suggested that a 517 (with a lower GPA) was okay on a different thread

 

[cruisinca]

@Goro Thanks for all the advice! I had a potential red flag I did not mention in my description that I forgot about. My freshman year summer I was taking a genetics class at another local state college and got into a minor car accident the day of the midterm and so had to withdraw because the class had a no make up exam policy.I took the same class at my home undergraduate institution and got an A when I took it there and I had only been in the class in the summer for a week. I know a lot of schools have a place to write down significant academic fluctuations/explain withdrawals so would it be worthwhile to mention this in that space? Or should the fact that my gpa is high and my MCAT Bio score is pretty good be enough that I wouldn't need to explain this 1 W? Thanks!

 

[Goro]

I don't see any need to explain the W unless specifically ask for.

One should never draw attention to negatives (and a single W isn't a negative, anyway)

@Goro Thanks for all the advice! I had a potential red flag I did not mention in my description that I forgot about. My freshman year summer I was taking a genetics class at another local state college and got into a minor car accident the day of the midterm and so had to withdraw because the class had a no make up exam policy.I took the same class at my home undergraduate institution and got an A when I took it there and I had only been in the class in the summer for a week. I know a lot of schools have a place to write down significant academic fluctuations/explain withdrawals so would it be worthwhile to mention this in that space? Or should the fact that my gpa is high and my MCAT Bio score is pretty good be enough that I wouldn't need to explain this 1 W? Thanks!