any ideas?

[GTV]

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So I'm trying to work out where to apply--I got my MCAT yesterday and am a little disappointed, but I think I'll try and go with it.
I have a 3.91 GPA and a 32 MCAT (12 PS, 10 VR, 10 BS). I have about a year of hospital volunteer experience in the ER radiology department at an urban hospital in Atlanta (Grady), as well as some (very little, but enough to comment on) shadowing experience. I hold an officer position in a student group that organizes hospital volunteer work. My "uniqueness factor" (which I'm hoping will count for something) is that I am an electrical engineering major, and have research experience in medical imaging (which, I figure if combined with my radiology volunteer work will look good). My biggest problem is that I am from Maine, which doesn't have a state school, so I really have no "safety." As of now, my list of schools is:

BU (reach)
Tufts (reach)
Georgetown (reach)
George Washington
Wake Forest
Tulane
Drexel
Vermont

Any comments/ideas?

 

[longhorn09]

I would say add a couple reach schools. Your no. are decent.

 

[Rzarecta]

According to the Financical Authority of Maine (FAME) the below schools participate in the Maine Access to Medical Education.

* Dartmouth Medical School
* University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine
* University of Vermont College of Medicine
* Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine

Check out the website for more details.

http://www.famemaine.com/education/financialAidPrograms.asp#maineAccesstoMedicalEducation

Also, I would consider adding more reaches/safeties to attain at least 15-20 programs for your application.

 

[GTV]

Yeah, I knew Dartmouth was involved with something Maine-related, but I figured it probably wouldn't be worth applying to since my MCAT is a good 3 points below their average...

 

[Rzarecta]

Yeah, I knew Dartmouth was involved with something Maine-related, but I figured it probably wouldn't be worth applying to since my MCAT is a good 3 points below their average...

Dartmouth does not have a 35 avg MCAT, I think more like 33. Your GPA is also above their average, so give it a whirl!

 

[GTV]

So I've changed my prospective list to:

Dartmouth (reachx10)
Tufts (reach)
BU (reach)
UVM
Drexel
George Washington
Georgetown
Wake Forest
VCU
Eastern Virginia
Tulane

Any more ideas of "low-tier" schools that are not in-state only that I might have a chance at? My pre-med advisor has been telling me that with my MCAT I would essentially be wasting my money applying to the first three on my list and that I should aim lower or think about DO (which I'm not going to do--MD or nothing)

 

[confusedchild]

So I've changed my prospective list to:

Dartmouth (reachx10)
Tufts (reach)
BU (reach)
UVM
Drexel
George Washington
Georgetown
Wake Forest
VCU
Eastern Virginia
Tulane

Any more ideas of "low-tier" schools that are not in-state only that I might have a chance at? My pre-med advisor has been telling me that with my MCAT I would essentially be wasting my money applying to the first three on my list and that I should aim lower or think about DO (which I'm not going to do--MD or nothing)

Hello fellow electrical engineer.

I think your counselor is kind of crazy. I don't know in my opinion (maybe it's because I have very similar stats), a 3.91 with a 32 on the MCAT shouldn't have to think about DO schools. I know I'm not. 32 on the MCAT is average but your GPA is above average for all schools in the nation. As for other schools, Vermont is a very good one to apply to, penn state takes quite a lot of OOSers, Miami, VCU, EVMS. These are all pretty good. I'm applying to all of them with a 3.92 from EE and 33 on the MCAT. Keep your head up. I think you'll be fine (or at least I hope so because I think we're close to identical copies of each other)

 

[witness23]

use mdapps... you will see that your numbers are good (esp 3.91 gpa)

 

[witness23]

just to add

You searched for applicants:
MCAT score less than 33
Overall GPA greater than 3.80
Applied MD/DO and accepted at Dartmouth College

The following profiles matched your search:
11621 Anonymous, 33 MCAT, 3.81 GPA, applied 2009
16393 Anonymous, 32 MCAT, 3.95 GPA, applied 2009
00856 Duke University, 31 MCAT, 3.93 GPA, applied 2003
03716 Johns Hopkins University, 33 MCAT, 3.87 GPA, applied 2006
07788 Anonymous, 32 MCAT, 3.86 GPA, applied 2007
03471 Mount Holyoke College, 33 MCAT, 3.86 GPA, applied 2006
10818 Anonymous, 33 MCAT, 3.97 GPA, applied 2009
08453 Pomona College, 33 MCAT, 3.85 GPA, applied 2008
07805 Anonymous, 28 MCAT, 3.89 GPA, applied 2007
07444 Small women's college, 0 MCAT, 3.84 GPA, applied 2007
00122 U Rochester, 31 MCAT, 3.83 GPA, applied 2003
03338 University of Alaska Anchorage, 32 MCAT, 3.84 GPA, applied 2005
00949 University of Arizona, 31 MCAT, 3.87 GPA, applied 2003
01485 University of Arizona, 32 MCAT, 3.90 GPA, applied 2004
11055 University of Arizona, 33 MCAT, 3.87 GPA, applied 2009
05681 Anonymous, 32 MCAT, 3.91 GPA, applied 2007
00323 University of Michigan, 32 MCAT, 3.83 GPA, applied 2003
00625 University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, 33 MCAT, 3.88 GPA, applied 2003
08897 University of Oklahoma, 32 MCAT, 4.00 GPA, applied 2008
03110 University of Wisconsin-Madison, 33 MCAT, 4.00 GPA, applied 2005
04738 Vanderbilt, 33 MCAT, 3.85 GPA, applied 2006
07509 Wheaton College, 31 MCAT, 3.93 GPA, applied 2007
07067 William Marsh Rice University, 31 MCAT, 3.95 GPA, applied 2007


some of those people had other acceptances too (im just assuming without clicking)


the thing is... you have some choice in deciding where to apply for medical school, and hopefully that means a choice in deciding where to go as well. do not let your adviser limit you in where you want to spend the next 4 years, but keep yourself open to opportunities. especially since you probably worked very hard for it

 

[BJPENNSTATE]

So I've changed my prospective list to:

Dartmouth (reachx10)
Tufts (reach)
BU (reach)
UVM
Drexel
George Washington
Georgetown
Wake Forest
VCU
Eastern Virginia
Tulane

Any more ideas of "low-tier" schools that are not in-state only that I might have a chance at? My pre-med advisor has been telling me that with my MCAT I would essentially be wasting my money applying to the first three on my list and that I should aim lower or think about DO (which I'm not going to do--MD or nothing)

either your maine pre-med advisor is high on crack or dumb as an ox. a 3.91 and a 32 MCAT should AIM for DO? wtf is ur advisor smoking?

anyways, with a 3.91 and 32 MCAT, TRUST me..tufts and bostonu are not REACHES..their avg gpa and mcat combo is like 3.6 and 31 MCAT, which u are obviously higher...

i think you should add some higher tier schools, like columbia, ohio state, mount sinai, NYU.

i think with ur stats, u're way too good for drexel or GWU or Eastern Virginia. GWU might put u on post-secondary hold because ur stats are way higher than their averages

 

[BJPENNSTATE]

also apply to emory or penn state since u volunteered in atlanta and pennst loves kids from the northeast (i.e. maine)

 

[GTV]

wow, encouraging stuff to hear guys-- made my day!

 

[BJPENNSTATE]

also since u're from maine, here are some med schools that i applied to that accepted a lot of OOS students...

Albany, Einstein, BU, Creighton, Drexel, GWU, Georgetown, Jefferson, Loyola, MC of Wisconsin, NYMC, Penn St., Rosalind Franklin, SUNY Upstate, Saint Louis, Temple, Ohio State, Toledo, Vermont, Tufts, Tulane, Rochester, VCU, Wake Forest, Wayne State.

hope that helped (most of these schools accept over 30% OOS students).