MD 4.0 GPA and 28 MCAT - Texas Resident

[InsertMemberNameHere]

Hello,

I am a first-time MD applicant. I am a Texas Resident, and my application will be submitted in about one to two weeks. Although I just got a 30 (10/10/10) on an AAMC practice test today, I have scored below that on other practice tests (27-29) and would prefer to see what yall think my chances are if I scored a 28.

Stats & Info:

1) GPA: 4.0, Science GPA: 4.0 (at a Texas public university)
2) MCAT: 28 (9/10/9)
3) 72 hours of MD shadowing (Family Practice, Neurology, Pediatrics, Orthopedics, Urology, OB/GYN, Vascular Surgery, Neurosurgery and Dermatology. I was apart of a class that allowed us to shadow a wide variety of specialties and also did some shadowing on my own.)
4) 32 hours of clinical volunteering
5) 1.5 years (~300 hours) of biological/ecology research
6) 24 hours of non-clinical community service
7) Employment: Camp counselor for two summers, Assistant Teacher/Ambassador for school's Honors College for two Fall semesters, paid research

School List:

TMDSAS:
All 7 Texas public schools (UT Houston, UTMB, UT Southwestern, UT San Antonio, A&M, TTU, & TTU-El Paso)

AAMC/Out of State Schols:
1) Baylor (Texas)
2) Uniformed Services University SOM (F Edward Hebert, Maryland)
3) Creighton (Nebraska)
4) Loma Linda SOM (California)
5) Oklahoma SOM (OKC)
6) University of Missouri SOM (Kansas City)

Selection of OOS schools was based upon 2013 MSAR GPA/MCAT stats and the % of interview and % acceptances they took from out-of-state applicants. I have a very large preference to remain in Texas and will prioritize any Texas school above any OOS school (except for maybe the Uniformed Services SOM. I want to be a military doctor after my schooling and residency. Should I include this anywhere in my application/potential interviews in Texas? I haven't so far.)

Summary:

What are my chances of getting into a Texas school with a 4.0 GPA and 28 MCAT (decent extra curriculars, volunteering, shadowing, research, and employment)?

And should I expand/decrease my OOS school list?

I appreciate all comments, help, criticism, advice, etc. Long-time voyeur of the site. SDN is an awesome resource! Thank you.

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[Catalystik]

Hello,

I am a first-time MD applicant. I am a white Texas Resident (Biology major), and my application will be submitted in about one to two weeks. My MCAT is on June 21st, and although I just got a 30 (10/10/10) on an AAMC practice test today, I have scored below that on other practice tests (27-29) and would prefer to see what yall think my chances are if I scored a 28.

Stats & Info:

1) GPA: 4.0, Science GPA: 4.0 (at a Texas public university)
2) MCAT: 28 (9/10/9)
3) 72 hours of MD shadowing (Family Practice, Neurology, Pediatrics, Orthopedics, Urology, OB/GYN, Vascular Surgery, Neurosurgery and Dermatology. I was apart of a class that allowed us to shadow a wide variety of specialties and also did some shadowing on my own.)
4) 32 hours of clinical volunteering (transporter at a hospital)
5) 1.5 years (~300 hours) of biological/ecology research regarding aquatic science, atmospheric science, and climate change
6) 24 hours of non-clinical community service
7) Employment: YMCA camp counselor for two summers, Assistant Teacher/Ambassador for school's Honors College for two Fall semesters, and paid research as an HHMI scholar for one year

School List:

TMDSAS:
All 7 Texas public schools (UT Houston, UTMB, UT Southwestern, UT San Antonio, A&M, TTU, & TTU-El Paso)

AAMC/Out of State Schols:
1) Baylor (Texas)
2) Uniformed Services University SOM (F Edward Hebert, Maryland)
3) Creighton (Nebraska)
4) Loma Linda SOM (California)
5) Oklahoma SOM (OKC)
6) University of Missouri SOM (Kansas City)

Selection of OOS schools was based upon 2013 MSAR GPA/MCAT stats and the % of interview and % acceptances they took from out-of-state applicants. I have a very large preference to remain in Texas and will prioritize any Texas school above any OOS school (except for maybe the Uniformed Services SOM. I want to be a military doctor after my schooling and residency. Should I include this anywhere in my application/potential interviews in Texas? I haven't so far.)

Summary:

What are my chances of getting into a Texas school with a 4.0 GPA and 28 MCAT (decent extra curriculars, volunteering, shadowing, research, and employment)?

And should I expand/decrease my OOS school list?

I appreciate all comments, help, criticism, advice, etc. Long-time voyeur of the site. SDN is an awesome resource! Thank you.

While your shadowing and research look good, your active clinical experience and nonmedical volunteering are seriously on the sparse side. Are you planning to beef those up before applying?

 

[mrh125]

apply to all the texas schools via tmdsas your mcat and gpa and you should get in.

 

[tennischamp822]

...

 

[DokterMom]

A 28 is the 'cliff point' where acceptance rates drop off dramatically, so 29-30 is a whole lot better. (Good Luck!)

White male Bio major is a pretty 'boring' place to start (though a 4.0 is great), so you will need something to set yourself apart. @Catalystik is right that your volunteering is pretty sparse. And even your shadowing, since you mention much of it was part of a class, could get down-graded. Could be just me, but from what you've written, the sense I'm getting is a 'going through the motions, check-box' kind of application, where you participated in opportunities that were made available to you (passively through the school as a pre-med?), but didn't do much on your own to seek out new opportunities and initiate actions that would demonstrate leadership and committment. Again, I've not got much to go on here, but that's the impression I get. Don't let that be the impression your application readers get, or it will be the end of your application.

You're going to need to demonstrate a passion for medicine and for service. Stating that you want to be a military doctor will, I suspect, help somewhat, so I'd say so. Got anything else to show those qualities?

(And not to forget, you know Loma Linda has a very strong campus culture and a strict code of conduct for students, not to mention a lengthy secondary with lots of essays. You'll want to look into that carefully to make sure you 'fit' before sending them your money.)

 

[InsertMemberNameHere]

While your shadowing and research look good, your active clinical experience and nonmedical volunteering are seriously on the sparse side. Are you planning to beef those up before applying?

I don't plan to beef them up before applying. I want to send in my primaries as early as I can this cycle, and focus on improving my MCAT score from now until my June 21st test date. Do you think that's my best plan of action from here on out? Clearly I should have gotten more volunteer hours, but wouldn't focusing on improving my MCAT score be the best option for me at this point? Thank you. I didn't realize that my volunteering part of my application was very weak!

A 28 is the 'cliff point' where acceptance rates drop off dramatically, so 29-30 is a whole lot better. (Good Luck!)

White male Bio major is a pretty 'boring' place to start (though a 4.0 is great), so you will need something to set yourself apart. @Catalystik is right that your volunteering is pretty sparse. And even your shadowing, since you mention much of it was part of a class, could get down-graded. Could be just me, but from what you've written, the sense I'm getting is a 'going through the motions, check-box' kind of application, where you participated in opportunities that were made available to you (passively through the school as a pre-med?), but didn't do much on your own to seek out new opportunities and initiate actions that would demonstrate leadership and committment. Again, I've not got much to go on here, but that's the impression I get. Don't let that be the impression your application readers get, or it will be the end of your application.

You're going to need to demonstrate a passion for medicine and for service. Stating that you want to be a military doctor will, I suspect, help somewhat, so I'd say so. Got anything else to show those qualities?

(And not to forget, you know Loma Linda has a very strong campus culture and a strict code of conduct for students, not to mention a lengthy secondary with lots of essays. You'll want to look into that carefully to make sure you 'fit' before sending them your money.)

I definitely see your point about being a cookie-cutter, white med school applicant. I'll make an effort to really play on the strengths of my application in my primaries, potential secondaries, and any potential interviews. As for Loma Linda, I have not done a bunch of research on them yet outside of MCAT scores/GPA and how many OOS state applicants they take. Thank you for the information!

Since Texas schools are my priority, I only want to apply to OOS schools that both accept a good amount of OOS applicants, and also accept a lot of OOS applicants they interview. I found that some schools interview a bunch of OOS applicants, but only accept a small percentage of them, some even in the 10-15% range of accepted/interview.

Basically, I don't want to fly out to a place for an interview only to have a relatively (compared to other schools acceptance/interview ratio) small shot at getting an acceptance. I'd prefer to stay in Texas, but I thought it was a good idea to apply to 3-4 OOS schools with my stats and good OOS acceptances and OOS acceptances/interview ratios. Is that a good idea?

Does anyone else have any input or advice? I've really liked what I've gotten back so far. It has been helpful. Thank you!

 

[DokterMom]

You're absolutely right to focus on Texas schools, where your odds are much better. If you'll read this year's TMDSAS thread, you'll get my full-length rant on why OOS MD schools are mostly a waste of time for Texans with 'fair to very good' admission chances. If your application is 'fair at best' (with a 28 MCAT and modest ECs, it would be), then your safeties should be DO schools, not OOS MD. If you score a 35+ or are not willing to go DO, then things change. But that's a bridge to cross if/when you come to it.

 

[InsertMemberNameHere]

You're absolutely right to focus on Texas schools, where your odds are much better. If you'll read this year's TMDSAS thread, you'll get my full-length rant on why OOS MD schools are mostly a waste of time for Texans with 'fair to very good' admission chances. If your application is 'fair at best' (with a 28 MCAT and modest ECs, it would be), then your safeties should be DO schools, not OOS MD. If you score a 35+ or are not willing to go DO, then things change. But that's a bridge to cross if/when you come to it.

Thank you, DokterMom. And yes, I have read many, many helpful things you have said about Texas schools on this forum! I really appreciate your feedback.

Does anyone have anything else? These comments have been very helpful. Thank you.