Am I being realistic with my school list? (3.70 cGPA, 3.61 sGPA)

[slick.sloth]

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Hi everyone! First-time poster here, kinda nervous 😓

Just wanted to share a bit about my situation. I'm applying to 20 MD-only schools this cycle since I qualified for the FAP program. I also applied for AACOMAS fee assistance and was approved, but unfortunately, all their fee waivers were already used up by the time I got in.

Since I have access to MSAR, I’ve been doing my best to narrow down a realistic list of 20–25 schools based on my stats. I know it’s tough to gauge school fit without my MCAT score (I won’t get it back until the 24th), but I’m trying to set reasonable expectations in the meantime. Based on a gut feeling and previous practice, let's assume somewhere ~505 ish. I’d really appreciate any feedback on my school list or general advice! At this point, I'm slightly burnt out and borderline second-guessing my hours and stats with all these 1000+ hour applicants 😭💔

Thanks in advance! >o<

• 22 y.o. Female Afghan-American (ORM)
• Disadvantaged financially, from an underserved county
• Applying after graduating from undergrad, will take a gap year solely working as a medical scribe for a pulmonologist (I have my interview in a couple of hours😄)
• Fun fact: Second-gen eldest child out of seven daughters in total (parents immigrated but got their bachelor's)
• cGPA: 3.70 (high school dual credit courses dropped my 3.75 to a 3.7)
• sGPA: 3.61
• MCAT: ??? (waiting for 5/23 results...)
• Also waiting for my PREview and Casper scores 👎🏼
• Residence: Indiana
• Major: Psychology B.S.
• Minors: Chemistry, Neuroscience, English

Clinical Volunteering: 144 hours

• NICU: 76 hours
• Path Lab: 68 hours

Non-clinical Volunteering: 91 hours

• Nursing Home/Memory Care: 72 hours
• Judge at STEM-Based K-12 Olympiads: 19 hours

Shadowing Hours: 160 hours

• General Surgery, 18 hours
• Women’s Health Radiology, 15 hours
• Family Medicine, 19 hours
• Pulmonology, 21 hours
• Neurology, 15 hours
• Intensive Care, 10 hours
• Cardiology, 19 hours
• Otolaryngology, 26 hours
• Nephrology, 17 hours

Research: 540 hours

• Cognitive Memory Lab: 405 hours
• Behavioral Neuroscience Lab: 135 hours

Posters: 6 poster presentations

• 5 posters for the cognitive memory lab, 1 poster for the behavioral neuroscience lab
• Presented 3x at my university’s College of Arts & Sciences Research Conference

Non-Clinical Job Experience: 6820 hours

• Waitress: 6360 hours
• English Tutor: 460 hours

Leadership: 525 hours

• Founder/President/Social Media Rep. of Mental Health Club: 300 hours
• Student Government (College of Arts & Sciences Rep.): 225 hours

Extracurriculars: 360 hours

• Active member of multiple student organizations/clubs, including Bio Club, Chem Club, Pre-Professional Studies Club, and the Muslim Student Association Club

Hobbies: 740 hours

• Crochet & Fiber Arts (which partially led to creating a mental health & wellness student organization based on the emotional, physical, and mental benefits of fiber arts)

Honors/Awards/Recognition

• Graduated Cum Laude
• Financial (90%) & Academic-Based (10%) Scholarships throughout all 4 years of undergrad
• Awarded the Virgil Scott Award and Herman & Mae Feldman Scholarship at my university’s College of Arts & Sciences Honors Tea Program, which is based on faculty recognition
• Listed on Dean's List for 6 semesters & Chancellor’s List for 1 semester (we don't talk about Spring 2024 ochem II...)
• Inducted into Psi Chi as a lifelong member, which is the international Honors Society in Psychology

Tentative School List!

1. Indiana University (state school)
2. Rosalind Franklin (already added to AMCAS to be able to submit for the verification process)
3. Rush Medical College of Rush University Medical Center
4. Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine
5. University of Illinois College of Medicine
6. Albany Medical College
7. Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine
8. Tulane University School of Medicine
9. Drexel University College of Medicine
10. Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University
11. Medical College of Wisconsin
12. Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine
13. Wayne State University School of Medicine
14. Robert Larner, M.D., College of Medicine at the University of Vermont
15. Eastern Virginia Medical School
16. University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
17. University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
18. Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine
19. The University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences
20. West Virginia University School of Medicine
21. Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine
22. Ohio State University College of Medicine
23. New York Medical College

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Welcome to the forums.

Boonshoft Wright State usually takes Ohio residents. Granted, Dayton is closer to Indiana, so I'm not sure how much of a shot you have with that.

West Virginia however is not a great fit unless you have a strong mission fit to Appalachia. I also need a specific reason why Penn State.

 

[Faha]

Rush, Loyola, Tulane expect far more clinical and non clinical hours than you have. Post your MCAT score here when available and I will suggest a more realistic list.

 

[slick.sloth]

Welcome to the forums.

Boonshoft Wright State usually takes Ohio residents. Granted, Dayton is closer to Indiana, so I'm not sure how much of a shot you have with that.

West Virginia however is not a great fit unless you have a strong mission fit to Appalachia. I also need a specific reason why Penn State.

Hi! Thank you for your feedback. To be honest, I was kind of filtering out which medical schools to consider by using MSAR data such as location, private vs. public schools, 25th percentile cGPA & sGPA statistics, and OOS vs IS applicant information. I figured out that since I fit a little bit above Penn State's 25th percentile GPA range, I could add it as a tentative school to consider. Of course, that's not going to get me far without my MCAT score to compare with lol. Good to know that about West Virginia, though. I want to stick closer to the Midwest area, if possible, so I considered OH, WV, and other schools closer to Indiana. Not sure how they'd feel about OOS residents like me...

 

[slick.sloth]

Rush, Loyola, Tulane expect far more clinical and non clinical hours than you have. Post your MCAT score here when available and I will suggest a more realistic list.

Dang... Rush is definitely a school I was considering applying to, especially since it's close to home and I'll be able to commute/have housing by the campus. I won't have time to volunteer, but I'll be scribing for physicians at a pulmonology office full-time during my entire gap year (~36 hours a week). MCAT score aside, do you think this upcoming experience would make up for my lack of clinical hours? Would it be a waste of an application if I applied to Rush? Thanks for your feedback!

Also, I'll make sure to update with an MCAT score come next Tuesday (fingers crossed, hoping for the best)!

 

[candbgirl]

It would be a waste to apply to Rush or Loyola with your current ECs. Projected hours count for very little. Everyone knows the hours might or might not be completed. So much is riding on your MCAT. A 505 isn’t really competitive for MD schools. Why are you applying this year. If you wait a year you can fill in the holes in your application and be a much stronger applicant. Why are you ignoring DO schools?
Also, UofI has crazy high tuition for OOS students. So keep that in mind.