3.93s 3.89c 33R WI

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nheit

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I applied last year with identical GPAs and the same MCAT score (10VR11PS12BS) to the following schools:

Wisconsin (where I did my undergrad)
Medical College of Wisconsin
U of Chicago
UIC
Columbia
Penn
Yale
Michigan
Minnesota

Before lecturing me about not applying to enough schools and a broader range, I really only wanted to go to UW at the time. I would have opted to wait another year if not accepted there over going somewhere else that wasn't one of the other places I applied to. The only school that granted me an interview was UW which placed me at basically an unreachable position on the wait-list. I'm guessing they only did so as opposed to rejecting me outright to not insult my recommenders, who are distinguished professors at the university.

Other parts of my application were:
2 years research with multiple grants
2 years working for a study org
1 year tutoring
no shadowing
no other volunteer activities

The dean of admissions at UW told me that he really liked my personal statement but thought it was risky.

I know those in bold completely destroyed my chances, and I'm currently working toward changing those.

I was accepted into Mount Sinai's MS biomedical science PM-track and am considering doing that for the next 2 years. My intention isn't to improve my GPA, it's to continue performing research while being in a good position to get volunteering/shadowing opportunities. However, it being a 2 year commitment, I wouldn't be able to apply until next year.

My first question would be what are my chances for admission if I were to apply this year? I continued the research and working with the study org this past year but wasn't able to get that much shadowing and volunteering within the past ~6 months when I realized I have to reapply. My choices of schools would be something like this:

Loyola
Mayo
Medical College of Wisconsin
Rosalind Franklin
Rush
U of Miami
Wisconsin

I'd also apply to some MD/PhD programs:
UCLA
UIC
Iowa
Michigan
Minnesota
USC

My other question is if I were to go to the MS program at Mt. Sinai, what would my chances for admission to some of the more selective schools given that I would work hard toward filling the shadowing/volunteering holes in my application?

Cornell
Columbia
Harvard
Mt Sinai
Northwestern
U of Chicago
UPenn
Yale

I'd also consider the MD/PhD programs of those listed above.

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I applied last year with identical GPAs and the same MCAT score (10VR11PS12BS) to the following schools:

Wisconsin (where I did my undergrad)
Medical College of Wisconsin
U of Chicago
UIC
Columbia
Penn
Yale
Michigan
Minnesota

Before lecturing me about not applying to enough schools and a broader range, I really only wanted to go to UW at the time. I would have opted to wait another year if not accepted there over going somewhere else that wasn't one of the other places I applied to. The only school that granted me an interview was UW which placed me at basically an unreachable position on the wait-list. I'm guessing they only did so as opposed to rejecting me outright to not insult my recommenders, who are distinguished professors at the university.

Other parts of my application were:
2 years research with multiple grants
2 years working for a study org
1 year tutoring
no shadowing
no other volunteer activities
The dean of admissions at UW told me that he really liked my personal statement but thought it was risky.

I know those in bold completely destroyed my chances, and I'm currently working toward changing those.

I was accepted into Mount Sinai's MS biomedical science PM-track and am considering doing that for the next 2 years. My intention isn't to improve my GPA, it's to continue performing research while being in a good position to get volunteering/shadowing opportunities. However, it being a 2 year commitment, I wouldn't be able to apply until next year.

My first question would be what are my chances for admission if I were to apply this year? I continued the research and working with the study org this past year but wasn't able to get that much shadowing and volunteering within the past ~6 months when I realized I have to reapply. My choices of schools would be something like this:

Loyola
Mayo
Medical College of Wisconsin
Rosalind Franklin
Rush
U of Miami
Wisconsin

I'd also apply to some MD/PhD programs:
UCLA
UIC
Iowa
Michigan
Minnesota
USC

My other question is if I were to go to the MS program at Mt. Sinai, what would my chances for admission to some of the more selective schools given that I would work hard toward filling the shadowing/volunteering holes in my application?

Cornell
Columbia
Harvard
Mt Sinai
Northwestern
U of Chicago
UPenn
Yale

I'd also consider the MD/PhD programs of those listed above.
With little improvement in the weak portions of your application, I wouldn't expect your chances at MD-only programs to be much better than last year. It could help if you continue to build your clinical experience and shadowing through the application year and let schools know by update letter.

MD/PhD programs have lower expectations for ECs other than research, but they still expect some familiarity with patient care and what docs do. They also tend to be more selective programs than MD only, stats-wise. Your MCAT score is not as high as the Physician Scientist Forum sticky by Neuronix suggests as necessary to give you a guaranteed chance of an acceptance, but maybe a less-selective program would take you.
What is considered a good GPA and MCAT for MSTP admissions?
Applicants who did not receive an offer: GPA 3.68 (SD .24)/MCAT 32.7 (3.7)
Applicants who received one offer: GPA 3.74 (SD .21)/MCAT 34 (3.7)
Applicants who received more than one offer: GPA 3.82 (SD .15)/MCAT 35.7 (2.5)

Your last question would best be answered by an advisor of the program you've specified. To me it seems that the best way to improve your chances at highly-selective schools would be with a higher MCAT score, in addition to beefing up your ECs.
 
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