37 mcat, 3.62c, 3.48s. School list help and last minute suggestions?

[pipermint1]

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EDIT: Whoops! Accidentally posted in the wrong spot, I'm reposting this in the what are my chances forum

Hey everyone, thanks in advanced and sorry if this is a bit too detailed, but I want to be thorough.

I'm a non-trad applicant, 2 years out of school. I took some time off after I graduated before applying due to a traumatic personal loss and I felt the need to take a bit of time off from my medical pursuits. I worked as an electrician after graduating until I decided to get a job in a hospital which reinvigorated my passion for medicine. I took the MCAT in January and got a fantastic score that I'm very proud of. I believe it's a result of working in medicine and maturing a bit since college- where my GPA wasn't fantastic.

Anyway, I'm looking for some advice on where to apply and if there is anything I can do in the next few months to boost my chances.

37 mcat, 3.62c, 3.48s. Double majored in anthropology and biology
In case it matters- I'm a white male, but my socioeconomic status is disadvantaged according to AAMC (neither of my parents went to college). Not really sure how this will affect me, thoughts?

Job experience:

• (2014-current) I'm currently working in the OR as an orderly/unit assistant (scrubbing into surgeries and helping the nurse/scrub tech set up the room, position the patient, drape, etc.)/anesthesia technician for the past year. I do all three jobs, but it depends on the day and what is needed. I really love it and get to work closely with patients, nurses, doctors, etc. I'm also a licensed CNA, but it's not required for my job

Non- Clinical Volunteering

• (2009-current) Volunteering at a grief center for children who have had a parent suicide
  • Since 2009, but took a year off last year and started again a couple months back. Twice a month for 3 hours
• (2009) Humanitarian trip to India where I taught english and assisted in a drug rehab facility for three weeks.

Clinical Volunteering

• (2010-2013) helped teach a pre-surgery class at a children's hospital so they can know what to expect when they come in for surgery. About 3 hours per week during that time

Research experiences

• (2009) Worked for a semester in a lab that was looking for cancer bio-markers, no publications or posters. 120 hours
• (2012) Clinical research in the ER for a summer. Enrolled qualified patients in the ER for clinical studies. ~120 hours

Leadership experience

• (2010-2012) Treasurer for pre-med honor society. I ran a couple sub commitees to help with fundraising.

Letters of Rec

• Surgeon that I work closely with (hopefully very strong)
• Nurse that I work very closely with (hopefully very strong)
• Group coordinator at the grief center (hopefully very strong)
• 2 professors that I've not yet been in touch with and didn't know me too well to begin with
  • Definitely not ideal, but hopefully I can meet with them a couple times so they are comfortable writing me a decent letter. Planning on emailing them in the next week so I can have as much time as possible to represent myself. Any advice here would be greatly appreciated.
• 1 additional letter from a doctor who ran the clinical research summer program. I didn't know them too well, but I need a letter from a research supervisor for atleast one school I would like to apply at
  • Again, not ideal, I'll be emailing her soon to see if she would be willing to meet with me to talk.

Shadowing

• 16 hours with a GP and am planning on doing about 16 more hours with atleast one more specialty before I apply. Is this sufficient or should I be shooting for more?

Additional leadership experience?
I am thinking I should pick up another leadership experience in the next few weeks since I only have one long term experience (leading the treasurer sub committees).

Question: A couple years back I spent two days helping a "science olympics" for middle school kids, but I'm not sure if I should add it to my application because it wasn't very significant.

School list so far:
I'm thinking about 25 schools. I know this might be a lot, but I really would like to get in this cycle and I believe I can keep up with all the secondaries. I'm open to almost any school, but I do like the idea of living in a large city.
Reach schools: NYU, Einstein, Colombia, Tufts, Case Western
Others: Boston, St. Louis, SUNY downstate, Wake Forest, Penn State, Georgetown, Rosalind Franklin, U of Maryland, Creighton, Albany, OHSU, U of Vermont, Loyola, Temple, West Virginia, GWU, Tulane, NYMC, Drexel, Virginia Commonwealth, U of Utah(resident), MC of Wisconsin(family member works as a doc there)

Should I add or remove any of these? I used school information from a few years ago

Thanks so much for reading all of this. I know there are a bunch of questions sprinkled in here- but any feedback, thoughts, or answers would be greatly appreciated! My apologies for the length

 

[PlaqueBuster]

I will delete this to make life easier

 

[TheLionheart]

I think your Mcat is fantastic and your gpa is average. I think you don't need to apply to more than 15 schools unless you have the money. I suggest 5 reach, 5 mid tier, and 5 low tier. With your stats you will get into some school unless you bomb an interview.

Reach: Hopkins, Princeton, UPenn, Michigan, Pitt, NYU, Columbia, Brown [go all out here]
Below Reach: Einstein, Tufts, CaseWestern, Boston University, Wake Forest, GWU, Quinnipiac [your best chances]
Below top list: SUNY, Penn State, Rosalind Franklin, Loyola, Temple, Jefferson, Drexel, Utah, Wisconsin [could do better than these safties]

Don't apply to Princeton. You won't get in.

Because it doesn't exist.

Otherwise, I question the design of the school list above.. I'd wait for others to chime in. How is Quinnipiac lumped in with Case and those others in the middle group?

Edit: Upon further inspection, the collection of schools is not a poor one, I just don't understand the organization after the first grouping.

 

[Australopithekus]

I think your Mcat is fantastic and your gpa is average. I think you don't need to apply to more than 15 schools unless you have the money. I suggest 5 reach, 5 mid tier, and 5 low tier. With your stats you will get into some school unless you bomb an interview.

Reach: Hopkins, Princeton, UPenn, Michigan, Pitt, NYU, Columbia, Brown [go all out here]
Below Reach: Einstein, Tufts, CaseWestern, Boston University, Wake Forest, GWU, Quinnipiac [your best chances]
Below top list: SUNY, Penn State, Rosalind Franklin, Loyola, Temple, Jefferson, Drexel, Utah, Wisconsin [could do better than these safties]

Princeton???

What state are you in, OP?

 

[AllThatRacket]

I think your Mcat is fantastic and your gpa is average. I think you don't need to apply to more than 15 schools unless you have the money. I suggest 5 reach, 5 mid tier, and 5 low tier. With your stats you will get into some school unless you bomb an interview.

Reach: Hopkins, Princeton, UPenn, Michigan, Pitt, NYU, Columbia, Brown [go all out here]
Below Reach: Einstein, Tufts, CaseWestern, Boston University, Wake Forest, GWU, Quinnipiac [your best chances]
Below top list: SUNY, Penn State, Rosalind Franklin, Loyola, Temple, Jefferson, Drexel, Utah, Wisconsin [could do better than these safties]

These don't make very much sense. Case is definitely not below a reach for anyone and certainly not as easy to get into as Quinnipiac or even GWU. Wisconsin is not a safety for anyone (although much easier if you are in-state).

I do agree with the idea of casting a wide net; however, please do research on the schools you are applying to, OP.

 

[pipermint1]

Princeton???

What state are you in, OP?

Utah

These don't make very much sense. Case is definitely not below a reach for anyone and certainly not as easy to get into as Quinnipiac or even GWU. Wisconsin is not a safety for anyone (although much easier if you are in-state).

I do agree with the idea of casting a wide net; however, please do research on the schools you are applying to, OP.

I'll definitely be doing more research- this was just a quick list that I mostly based on % of interviews to OOS students- except Wisconsin where I have a family member who is a doc there.

 

[Omppu27]

Ohio State, Northwestern, UChicago? And California schools?

 

[PlaqueBuster]

.

 

[Goro]

I think you're pretty golden. I suggest

Duke
Emory
Dartmouth
BU
Columbia
NYU OR Pitt OR Vanderbilt OR Northwestern OR Cornell
U Rochester
Loyola
U Miami
Tulane
USC
All new MD schools except Cent MI
The Philly triplets
MCW
SLU
U Utah
U AZ
U CO
U VM
SUNY Downstate or Stony Brook
Creighton
USF Morsani

 

[Australopithekus]

EDIT: Whoops! Accidentally posted in the wrong spot, I'm reposting this in the what are my chances forum

Hey everyone, thanks in advanced and sorry if this is a bit too detailed, but I want to be thorough.

I'm a non-trad applicant, 2 years out of school. I took some time off after I graduated before applying due to a traumatic personal loss and I felt the need to take a bit of time off from my medical pursuits. I worked as an electrician after graduating until I decided to get a job in a hospital which reinvigorated my passion for medicine. I took the MCAT in January and got a fantastic score that I'm very proud of. I believe it's a result of working in medicine and maturing a bit since college- where my GPA wasn't fantastic.

Anyway, I'm looking for some advice on where to apply and if there is anything I can do in the next few months to boost my chances.

37 mcat, 3.62c, 3.48s. Double majored in anthropology and biology
In case it matters- I'm a white male, but my socioeconomic status is disadvantaged according to AAMC (neither of my parents went to college). Not really sure how this will affect me, thoughts?

Job experience:

• (2014-current) I'm currently working in the OR as an orderly/unit assistant (scrubbing into surgeries and helping the nurse/scrub tech set up the room, position the patient, drape, etc.)/anesthesia technician for the past year. I do all three jobs, but it depends on the day and what is needed. I really love it and get to work closely with patients, nurses, doctors, etc. I'm also a licensed CNA, but it's not required for my job

Non- Clinical Volunteering

• (2009-current) Volunteering at a grief center for children who have had a parent suicide
  • Since 2009, but took a year off last year and started again a couple months back. Twice a month for 3 hours
• (2009) Humanitarian trip to India where I taught english and assisted in a drug rehab facility for three weeks.

Clinical Volunteering

• (2010-2013) helped teach a pre-surgery class at a children's hospital so they can know what to expect when they come in for surgery. About 3 hours per week during that time

Research experiences

• (2009) Worked for a semester in a lab that was looking for cancer bio-markers, no publications or posters. 120 hours
• (2012) Clinical research in the ER for a summer. Enrolled qualified patients in the ER for clinical studies. ~120 hours

Leadership experience

• (2010-2012) Treasurer for pre-med honor society. I ran a couple sub commitees to help with fundraising.

Letters of Rec

• Surgeon that I work closely with (hopefully very strong)
• Nurse that I work very closely with (hopefully very strong)
• Group coordinator at the grief center (hopefully very strong)
• 2 professors that I've not yet been in touch with and didn't know me too well to begin with
  • Definitely not ideal, but hopefully I can meet with them a couple times so they are comfortable writing me a decent letter. Planning on emailing them in the next week so I can have as much time as possible to represent myself. Any advice here would be greatly appreciated.
• 1 additional letter from a doctor who ran the clinical research summer program. I didn't know them too well, but I need a letter from a research supervisor for atleast one school I would like to apply at
  • Again, not ideal, I'll be emailing her soon to see if she would be willing to meet with me to talk.

Shadowing

• 16 hours with a GP and am planning on doing about 16 more hours with atleast one more specialty before I apply. Is this sufficient or should I be shooting for more?

Additional leadership experience?
I am thinking I should pick up another leadership experience in the next few weeks since I only have one long term experience (leading the treasurer sub committees).

Question: A couple years back I spent two days helping a "science olympics" for middle school kids, but I'm not sure if I should add it to my application because it wasn't very significant.

School list so far:
I'm thinking about 25 schools. I know this might be a lot, but I really would like to get in this cycle and I believe I can keep up with all the secondaries. I'm open to almost any school, but I do like the idea of living in a large city.
Reach schools: NYU, Einstein, Colombia, Tufts, Case Western
Others: Boston, St. Louis, SUNY downstate, Wake Forest, Penn State, Georgetown, Rosalind Franklin, U of Maryland, Creighton, Albany, OHSU, U of Vermont, Loyola, Temple, West Virginia, GWU, Tulane, NYMC, Drexel, Virginia Commonwealth, U of Utah(resident), MC of Wisconsin(family member works as a doc there)

Should I add or remove any of these? I used school information from a few years ago

Thanks so much for reading all of this. I know there are a bunch of questions sprinkled in here- but any feedback, thoughts, or answers would be greatly appreciated! My apologies for the length

You're pretty light on research experience for the top-tier schools, but your stats are very similar to mine. I have a good feeling about your application.

 

[Cyberdyne 101]

You see @moop, you could have contributed to this thread!

 

[mmmcdowe]

Closing duplicate thread