3.9sGPA, 3.85 cGPA, 509 MCAT

[blahblahpremeds]

Hi all.

I am an NJ resident and I am looking to apply to schools in the NJ/NY/PA area with the following stats:
Undergrad school: small, private school in NJ
MCAT: 509 (127/124!!, 130, 128)
sGPA: 3.9, cGPA: 3.85

ECs:
editor for Uni newspaper
writer for Uni magazine
TA for Gen Chem, Orgo Chem, Physiology lab
Chem Club
Founder of Premed club
Research (2 years, might get a publication by the end of the year)
Honors Council
Honors Peer Mentor

Clinical Experience:
Shadowing (50 hours)
Worked in a Pediatric office (8 months)
volunteering in a local hospital for +200 hrs for the past 4 years
Will be doing a 10 week summer research program (not at my Uni) in a clinical setting

Work:
Pediatric office (8 months)
University's department of speech and pathology-student worker (8 months)
Private tutor for HS students-Chemistry

Awards:
One for research poster presentation, writer of the year, editor of the year, ACS Chemistry award

Will my MCAT CARS be really bad for MD schools? I'm considering a retake but I'm not sure since I did well in the Sciences. I'm afraid of doing worse in the Sciences and better in only CARS, in which case my overall will be a similar number, but it will be more balanced.

Here are the schools I'm considering:

Robert Wood Johnson
NJMS
Cooper
Rowan School of OM
UConn
Drexel
Temple
PCOM
Sidney Kimmel (Jefferson)

Money is an issue. So, I would be applying to about 7-9 schools.

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[Faha]

UConn accepts mainly their own state residents. Add a few more schools such as Quinnipiac, NYMC, Albany, Oakland Beaumont, Western Michigan. Seton Hall may also have a MD school by 2017.

 

[ChrisMack390]

That is a tough CARS score. Maybe not a death sentence, but I would definitely suggest applying to more than just 9 schools.

If you are really cool with the DO route, add NYITCOM for sure and maybe consider Touro NY.

 

[GrapesofRath]

I don't particularly advise re-taking the MCAT unless you have a really good reason to believe you can do significantly better on CARs this time around(ie not that you just feel you can, something like your practice test scores are way higher than your practice test scores your first time around).

If you can really only apply to 9 schools here is how I might go about it.

Robert Woods
NJMS
Cooper
Rowan SOM
Seton Hall(assuming you apply next year)

These first five are pretty much mandatory if you are only applying to 9 schools. For your last 3 schools, here are where I would pick from
PCOM
NYITCOM
NYCOM
LECOM
Drexel
Quinnipac
Jefferson
Temple
Penn State
NYMC
Albany

If you are hellbent on staying inside the NY relative vicinity I would stick with those schools above. Try to get your biggest bang for your buck. Consider these facts. Quinnipac only gets 5k apps a year with no significant IS bias. Drexel gets 14k apps a year and takes 1/3 of its class from PA. Temple gets over 11k and takes 70% of its class from PA(although they give a greater proportion of their II's to OOS). Jefferson gets 10k apps and takes 1/3 of their class from PA. UCONN is a waste of time OOS. Penn State gets 8.5k apps a year and 40% of their class is from PA. Albany gets 9k apps a year but 40% of their class is from NY. NYMC only takes 28% of their class IS but gets over 12k apps a year.

If it were me for my last 4 schools I would pick 2 DO schools, Quinnipac and probably one of NYMC, Albany or Jefferson. But that's just one person's perspective and thought process, there are many ways to go about it. The important thing is to invest in MSAR and really look into these schools.

 

[ChrisMack390]

I didn't know Quinnipiac got so few apps. Makes me feel good about applying there with pretty strong underserved community volunteering experience.

 

[blahblahpremeds]

Thank you. I appreciate all of your responses. Can an adcom like @Goro give his/her opinion? Much appreciated.

 

[Goro]

I suggest considering:

Robert Wood Johnson
NJMS
Cooper
Rowan
Quinnipiac,
NYMC,
Albany,
Drexel
Temple
PCOM
Sidney Kimmel (Jefferson)
Touro-NY
LECOM
NYITCOM
VCU

 

[blahblahpremeds]

Thanks @Goro . what do you think of the 124 CARS?Would it be looked down upon heavily? Responses from other adcoms such as @gyngyn would also be appreciated.

 

[Goro]

It's the one subsection where I think you'll be given the most slack, especially from your state schools.

Thanks @Goro . what do you think of the 124 CARS?Would it be looked down upon heavily? Responses from other adcoms such as @gyngyn would also be appreciated.

 

[GrapesofRath]

No one can answer how heavily it will be looked down upon in part because how everybody interprets scores like these are different. A 124 falls between a 7 and 8 on verbal on the old scale leaning more towards 8. For ADCOMs who'll just take that CARs as an equivalent to an 8, you'll be fine. For ADCOMs who take that verbal to be looked upon more as a 7, it can cause problems. But given your GPA, I think even if those Jersey schools look at it more like a 7 than an 8, you still have a shot.

The 124 for DO's will be fine. Robert Woods NJMS and Cooper Rowan give you 3 schools you have a realistic shot at getting a II from. Goro listed 7 more MD programs and 5 more DO's. If you pick a list of 12-15 of those, I think you'll be in decent position.