3.91 cGPA 3.94 sGPA 517 MCAT

[colga706]

Hey y'all,

I'd really appreciate some opinions on my chances with the list of schools below for the 2016 cycle. Here are my stats:
Applying as GA resident, white male
3rd year traditional undergraduate in honors program at large state school, 3.91 cGPA, 3.94 sGPA
Microbiology Major, English Minor
517 MCAT, first attempt (96th percentile) 129-129-130-129

My EC's:
~100 hours shadowing across 6 specialties
-Numerous leadership positions on campus
~150 hours non-clinical volunteering in local community/abroad
~120 hours peer tutoring in hard sciences
-Excellent letters of rec.
-One semester of honors faculty-directed lab research (~256 hours) focusing on prostate cancer treatment.

The only area I'm significantly concerned with is research. While all of my other numbers will be higher by the time I apply in 2016, I'm finished with research due to reasons out of my control. Are there any schools in my list in particular that value research more than others? I'd greatly appreciate your feedback. I've included each school's old MCAT median according to the current MSAR.

Public:
UAB - 31
MCG - 32
UF - 33
UNC Chapel Hill - 33
USC (Southern Cal) - 35
UVA - 36

Private:
MUSC (South Carolina) - 31
Wake Forest - 32
Georgetown - 32
Brown - 33
Tulane - 33
Miami - 33
Dartmouth - 33
Emory - 35
Duke - 35
Vanderbilt - 37
Harvard - 37
Yale - 37

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[GrapesofRath]

It'll be tough at big research powerhouses without much research experience. Note you don't necessarily have to stick with basic wet lab stuff; clinical research which moves alot faster often can also suffice and 9 months is a decent amount of time to potentially get something done there.

It would also probably help to keep boosting your volunteering experience. Think volunteering with populations unlike your own, those in need, the disabled, diasdvantaged etc.

Absolutely apply to all colleges in Georgia except Morehouse. That means including Mercer; it would be foolish to not include it.

Out of the schools you have listed, MCG, USC, UVA(maybe), Wake Forest, Tulane, Miami, Georgetown, Emory and perhaps Dartmouth are schools you can be competitive for potentially. Like I said, your state schools in GA are where your odds will definitely be best.

I wouldn't recommend focusing your time on research powerhouses like Duke, Vandy, Harvard etc(if you want to take a stab at a few just to see what happens go for it but that shouldn't be a focus). I also wouldn't focus on all these OOS schools that don't take many OOS applicants like UAB and Florida(I think both are around 10% or less OOS). If you want to take a stab at Brown to see what happens go for it but 60+% of their class is from Brown undergrad which makes the competition fierce if you aren't.

Some others that might be worth consideration
Einstein
Rochester
Hofstra
Eastern Virginia
VCU
U of Arizona
Medical College Wisconsin
Quinnipac
Oakland
Albany
Penn State

If you are hell bent on trying to stay south you might be able to try your luck with these schools. All take mostly from IS but you are the type of applicant with your stats who might be able to attract some interest even from them. Note I don't know a ton about these schools, their could be peculiarities I'm missing that make them not worth pursuing OOS, but all of these take at least 20% OOS I think and some close to 30% or more.

South Carolina
South Carolina-Greensville
USF
FAU
UCF
Va Tech

 

[jaxon]

Awesome stats, good luck. I know that some of these OOS schools (ehem. UNC) are extremely unfriendly. From what I've heard, that 33 MCAT average is artificially low, so for OOS to have a good chance you need a 37+. Schools like Brown also really prefer their own undergrads. Not to say you shouldn't apply, but I feel like some caveats are in order.

 

[7331poas]

You will not get into UNC OOS with those stats.

 

[WedgeDawg]

Agree with everything @GrapesofRath said with a couple exceptions:

1) Brown is not a good school to apply to because they interview 3% of applicants - that's the same number of people that are accepted to Harvard medical school. Probably not worth your time, but if you're really interested, keep it.

2) Remove UNC (OOS is extremely rough - single digits # of people get in)

3) I think it's fine to keep a couple research powerhouses, as you only have 4 of them (and Harvard doesn't really have a secondary, Yale has one fairly straightforward essay, Vanderbilt pre-screens secondaries - Duke has a rough mandatory secondary, but it's only one so you'll be fine) and you have a good list of other schools to back them up. If you really want, you could add a couple more.

4) The schools that grapes listed are very solid additions, so I would strongly consider incorporating them.

 

[Goro]

No clinical volunteering???? If so, that's a kiss of death.

 

[mr.mkitty]

No clinical volunteering???? If so, that's a kiss of death.

This may be silly to ask, but if a student has plenty of clinical work, is it still deemed necessary to have clinical volunteering?

 

[colga706]

No clinical volunteering???? If so, that's a kiss of death.

I do have significant clinical volunteering, but I wrote this post on the fly and didn't include my entire resume. Good point though, that would be a kiss of death.

 

[WedgeDawg]

This may be silly to ask, but if a student has plenty of clinical work, is it still deemed necessary to have clinical volunteering?

You need clinical work and you need volunteering, but they don't have to be the same thing. Some people scribe and then volunteer at a soup kitchen. Some people volunteer at an ED. Others still volunteer at a palliative care facility and then volunteer with kids whose parents are sick. There are a billion possible acceptable permutations.

 

[colga706]

I can't recommend big name research powerhouses(like Duke and Vandy and Harvard) without research experience. Note you don't necessarily have to stick with basic wet lab stuff; clinical research which moves alot faster often can also suffice and 9 months is a decent amount of time to potentially get something done there.

It would also probably help to keep boosting your volunteering experience. Think volunteering with populations unlike your own, those in need, the disabled, diasdvantaged etc.

Absolutely apply to all colleges in Georgia except Morehouse. That means including Mercer; it would be foolish to not include it.

Out of the schools you have listed, MCG, USC, UVA(maybe), Wake Forest, Tulane, Miami, Georgetown, Emory and perhaps Dartmouth are schools you can be competitive for potentially. Like I said, your state schools in GA are where your odds will definitely be best.

I wouldn't recommend focusing your time on research powerhouses like Duke, Vandy, Harvard etc(if you want to take a stab at a few just to see what happens go for it but that shouldn't be a focus). I also wouldn't focus on all these OOS schools that don't take many OOS applicants like UAB and Florida(I think both are around 10% or less OOS). If you want to take a stab at Brown to see what happens go for it but 60+% of their class is from Brown undergrad which makes the competition fierce if you aren't.

Some others that might be worth consideration
Einstein
Rochester
Hofstra
Eastern Virginia
VCU
U of Arizona
Medical College Wisconsin
Quinnipac
Oakland
Albany
Penn State

If you are hell bent on trying to stay south you might be able to try your luck with these schools. All take mostly from IS but you are the type of applicant with your stats who might be able to attract some interest even from them. Note I don't know a ton about these schools, their could be peculiarities I'm missing that make them not worth pursuing OOS, but all of these take at least 20% OOS I think and some close to 30% or more.

South Carolina
South Carolina-Greensville
USF
FAU
UCF
Va Tech

Thanks for your feedback, very helpful. I'm definitely not focusing on the big-name research institutions like Harvard, Vandy, etc. IS schools and middle-tier private schools will be my best bet, and I'll update my list accordingly. Interesting fact about the SC schools is $84,000/yr. OOS tuition... but that wouldn't keep me from attending.

 

[Goro]

You're golden, colga.

Of you list, chances will be great at:


MCG - 32
USC (Southern Cal) - 35
UVA - 36
Wake Forest - 32
Georgetown - 32
Tulane - 33
Miami - 33
Dartmouth - 33
Emory - 35
Duke - 35
Vanderbilt - 37
Harvard - 37
Yale - 37

Clinical work is OK, provided it was patient contact. For example, doing urine specimens is clinical, but not patient contact. You need to show us that you know what you're getting into, and that you really want to be around sick people.

This may be silly to ask, but if a student has plenty of clinical work, is it still deemed necessary to have clinical volunteering?