cali resident looking at mid tier schools, chances?

[charju]

so this is an update of my latest profile that i posted a few days ago... with a slight few more details/upgraded grades.. advices appreciated.

california resident
undergrad: UC Berkeley
just graduated
major: Molecular cell bio
cumu GPA: 3.49 (strong upward trend, went from a cumu of 2.7 @ end of freshmen year till now, i avg 3.75+ since my second year)
BCPM GPA: 3.47

i have a 32R on the MCAT.. (BS12/PS11/VR9)

i am heavily involved within the campus community:
1. core officer including presidency in a cultural/social club for all 4 years.
2. expanded on this and ran as the first East Asian/first generation immigrant senator candidate for student government with known campus party in an attempt to represent an underrepresented and apathetic community
2. worked in the student government as an international student coalition building director (1yr)
3. founder and president of first east asian coalition on campus with over 10 clubs, hosting events with 400+ people (1yr).
4. returned for another attempt to put the first East Asian community senator on campus in senior year.

Also involved in
1. a community outreach/service project to promote hepatits B, lots of clinical, outreach, education experience (1yr and going)
2. Undergrad student instructor for the main bio lab course (1smster)
3. shadowed the stanford neurosurgery team for two months (once a week) observed various clinics including spine and brain clinics,
surgery including the brain, neck, and spine. and some residence work.
4. volunteer at school health center for 1 smster
5. lab experience for half a year. (not a lab fan)
6. continuous summer volunteer at a medical foundation in taiwan over summer, working on outreaching, education, and fundraising. (every summer)
7. worked for about 9 months and then the lab experience was also work. so 6 more months.
8. will shadow some more/other types of physicians during my summer in Taiwan.

pretty solid letters (2science 1 non science and 1 from student group advisor)

speak mandarin and English. first generation immigrant at the age of 13.

i understand that school name, (if any), and trends will only compensate so much for the GPA, thus i was wondering what people think of my school list?


George Washington University
New York Medical College
Michigan State University
University of Toledo
Albany Medical College
Jefferson Medical College
Drexel University
SUNY--Downstate-removed
Loma Linda University
Temple University
SUNY--Buffalo
University of Maryland
Georgetown University
Pennsylvania State University
SUNY--Upstate
University of Cincinnati
Boston University
University of California--Irvine
University of California--Davis
University of Southern California
Tufts University
UCLA
UCSD
UCSF
Rush
Rosalind Franklin
UIC
MCW
Loyola
eienstein-removed
vermont

also i would appreciate it if people can give me the OOS schools who seem to like cali students =)

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[NotAsking4Much]

You're fine.

 

[DrSmday]

you could also include Rosalind Franklin, Rush University, Virginia Commonwealth...

 

[MiniMoo]

I would remove Michigan State. Their tuition is obscenely high for OOSers -- almost $70k/year if I remember correctly.

I would add RFU. MCW also takes a lot of people from CA.

 

[charju]

thanks thanks.. so aside from those 3 additions and possibly removing Michigan state, any other suggestions to my list?

realistically speaking, i know staying in california is competitive, thus i was wondering what you guys think about it? or should i not put too much hope in it.

thank you!

 

[MiniMoo]

thanks thanks.. so aside from those 3 additions and possibly removing Michigan state, any other suggestions to my list?

realistically speaking, i know staying in california is competitive, thus i was wondering what you guys think about it? or should i not put too much hope in it.

thank you!

You still have a chance at CA schools. I know of people with about your stats that have gotten accepted. But I wouldn't put too much hope in the research heavy-hitters like UCSF. UCSD is also a long shot since they are very stat-based. It wouldn't hurt to still apply though.

 

[DrSmday]

You could also add Tulane as a somewhat "safety" school

 

[charju]

i would prefer to stay either on the west coast or go to the east coast.. i guess illinois will be fine even though it is more likely midwest. Thus takin this into consideration, is there any schools i should add or remove? =)

thanks!!

 

[Catalystik]

MCW and UIllinois also like Californians. UIC can be very expensive for OOSers too, though they are generous with scholarships for URMs. But if you only got one acceptance, wouldn't you take it regardless?

 

[charju]

is there any oos school i shud remove that are too much of a reach for me?

 

[Catalystik]

Einstein

 

[charju]

Einstein

so just yeshiva/eienstein then, any way to narrow it down to 25?

 

[charju]

so after entering the schools on amcas, i realize if possible i would like to cut out some that may be too much of a reach to save some money? any way to narrow this list down?

 

[Evergrey]

so after entering the schools on amcas, i realize if possible i would like to cut out some that may be too much of a reach to save some money? any way to narrow this list down?

I can probably knock off one school for you. Loma Linda is a Seventh Day Adventist institution and although they do not require their students to be 7DA (or even Christian), you are expected to live a life in accordance with their principles. Read on the website for more info. Maybe it sounds great to you, but it did not to me.

 

[charju]

anyone think i can remove tufts and yeshiva since they might be more of a reach?

 

[NotAsking4Much]

Tufts may be in your range.
I wouldn't apply to Einstein though...There are many schools I feel where you would fit in better.

 

[charju]

according to lizzM score.. isnt Tufts above eienstein?


i just realized case western has around the same LizzyM score too.. i know case western is pretty competitive so i nvr thought to put it on my list.. but if their score is the same?

 

[Catalystik]

Yes, Tufts and Einstein have the same LizzyM score. And Case is 2 points higher.

 

[charju]

so then.. whats usually the reason when ppl say apply to one but not the other school with similar LizzyM?

 

[DrSmday]

so then.. whats usually the reason when ppl say apply to one but not the other school with similar LizzyM?

location, the number of OOS they accept, the kind of ECs they prefer, the lowest 10th precentile for gpa/mcat... for example Tufts and Einstein have the same lizzyM but bottom 10% mcat for tufts is 30 while for Einstein its 29.... some schools have a high LizzyM because of high MCAT others because of high GPA... so if your GPA is high but mcat low you would apply to the ones with lower mcat requirements and vice versa...

hope that makes sense.

 

[NotAsking4Much]

location, the number of OOS they accept, the kind of ECs they prefer, the lowest 10th precentile for gpa/mcat... for example Tufts and Einstein have the same LizzyM but bottom 10% mcat for tufts is 30 while for Einstein its 29.... some schools have a high LizzyM because of high MCAT others because of high GPA... so if your GPA is high but mcat low you would apply to the ones with lower mcat requirements and vice versa...

hope that makes sense.

Also some schools are looking for people with a certain type of "fit" and hence some undergrads are more popular with each school (the assumption is that each undergrad more or less leaves a distinct mark in the academic personality of their students).

 

[andolan]

I don't have anything much to add, though as a fellow May '10 Cal grad, it's actually SO incredibly reassuring to see someone with a really similar overall profile as mine (I think my overall GPA maybe a little higher and my sGPA a little lower than yours) and hear something other than that voice in my head that says " .. you're screwed, you're not getting in anywhere!"


My school list is pretty much identical to yours overall. I'll second or third the recommendation for Rosalind Franklin. I have a friend attending right now .. its also referred to as Chicago Medical School (CMS) .. but my friend mentioned that, with the number of Californians there, people often replace Chicago with California! Good luck to both of us! Go Bears!

 

[charju]

I don't have anything much to add, though as a fellow May '10 Cal grad, it's actually SO incredibly reassuring to see someone with a really similar overall profile as mine (I think my overall GPA maybe a little higher and my sGPA a little lower than yours) and hear something other than that voice in my head that says " .. you're screwed, you're not getting in anywhere!"


My school list is pretty much identical to yours overall. I'll second or third the recommendation for Rosalind Franklin. I have a friend attending right now .. its also referred to as Chicago Medical School (CMS) .. but my friend mentioned that, with the number of Californians there, people often replace Chicago with California! Good luck to both of us! Go Bears!

good to know! =) how many schools you thinkin to apply to