MD cGPA 3.575, sGPA 3.491, MCAT 90th-100th percentile school list help

[scoops619]

Hey everyone, I'd love any help piecing together a school list. I have the MSAR and am working through that now, but would definitely appreciate any tips in the right direction. Hoping to apply to 15-20 schools. Thank you!

Stats/background info
cGPA: 3.575
sGPA: 3.491
MCAT: 85-100 for each subsection, 90-100 overall (at least 33, think a 34/35 is a reasonable expecation)
White male, NC resident, top 20 UG
Neurobiology major/Spanish minor
4 LOR + 1 committee letter

Activities

• Service in Jamaica--575 hours
  • Construction, fundraising to support meal program, spoke to home church and raised $20k donation for charitable works
• Construction Volunteer work--372 hours
  • Variety of construction projects (EG rooftop farms, Habitat, low income housing, farms) in NYC, North Charleston, SC Low Country, various Caribbean trips, Asheville NC
• Founder/President of Non-Profit--294 hours
  • founded 501(c)(3), used it to facilitate $10K+ in fundraising to support fledgling wrestling programs in poorest county of NC with 50% HS drop out rate
• International Medical Volunteer--60 hours
  • worked in free clinic in rural, impoverished Nicaraguan town; conducted preventative health care workshops in rural, impoverished Peru towns
• Author of brochure used in eye clinics--20 hours
  • authored brochure detailing patient's experience of enucleation, fitting of prosthesis; is currently used at multiple eye clinics, including Duke
• Variety of Fraternity leadership roles--800 hours
  • Led recruitment, programming, member development, fundraising, and philanthropic efforts of non-hazing, non-pledging fraternity; led push for creation of VP of Philanthropy position to institutionalize philanthropic efforts
• Relay for Life Team Captain--432 hours
  • led team for past 3 years, raised $60K+ for American Cancer Society, team was most successful group on campus
• volunteer EMT--1032 hours
  • serve university and surrounding neighborhood in major city
• Shadowing--45 hours ENT, 440 hours trauma physician, 60 hours Nicaraguan pediatrician
• research--90 hours editing papers at Rutgers, 400+ hours clinical research at trauma center (author in project that was presented at regional conference)
• Charitable 5K planning committee--80 hours
  • planned/originated/executed charitable 5K, raised $10K for battered/homeless women's shelter
• fundraiser for Haitian orphanage--56 hours
  • raised $4K to help fund annual trip of physicians to Haitian orphanage
• scholarship program director--ongoing, anticipate ~100 hours
  • creating and directing merit scholarship program for freshmen at my university; planning banquet including keynote speaker

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[scoops619]

I'm for sure applying to:
Wake
UNC
ECU
Georgetown
Temple
Creighton

I just bought the MSAR, so I'm slowly fleshing out the school list, but would love some pointers as to what kind of school would qualify for safety vs reach. I'm paranoid my low GPA but slightly more competitive MCAT will hurt me. Thanks again!

 

[Doug Underhill]

You have word "expectation" in your MCAT. Did you actually get that score, or are you taking the MCAT in the future? Is this for this cycle? It's kind of late to take the MCAT if you're applying this cycle.

Those are some impressive time commitments for your ECs. Make sure to add some DOs to your list: your GPA is below average for MD matriculants. Otherwise, focus on schools with around a 3.7/31 average.

 

[scoops619]

Sorry for the confusion--I took the June MCAT, and they just gave us a preliminary percentile range. There is a 90% chance my score is between the 90th and 100th percentile, meaning at least the equivalent of a 33. Given how the April/May preliminary percentiles correlated with their final scores, I was assuming that the equivalent of a 34/35 is a safe expectation.

 

[mw18]

You have word "expectation" in your MCAT. Did you actually get that score, or are you taking the MCAT in the future? Is this for this cycle? It's kind of late to take the MCAT if you're applying this cycle.

The new mcat gives preliminary results and then specific results later. OP knows the range is going to be somewhere in the 90+ percentiles.

Edit: redundant.

 

[Banco]

This is a tough one. Your activities are just awesome. Your MCAT is likely going to be 35+ (since all 4 subsections are 85+). Your GPA is the weak link. I think your best bet would be to apply broadly to all tiers of schools.

 

[Faha]

Your GPA is your only weak point in an otherwise strong application. These are additional schools where you could receive interviews based on your stats:
Quinnipiac
Vermont
Hofstra
NYMC
Albany
Penn State
Jefferson
Drexel
GW
Tulane
St.Louis
Loyola
Rosalind Franklin
Western Michigan
Oakland Beaumont
You can add any reach schools to these.

 

[scoops619]

Thanks everyone! I appreciate the help. I've got it narrowed down to 28 schools, but would appreciate any last comments as to if it's relatively well balanced or not. Also, there are a few schools that appear low yield but that I think get recommended relatively regularly here--is there something I'm just missing to explain that?

Albany
Rosalind Franklin
Creighton
Drexel
Quinnipiac
GT
Hofstra
Loyola
NYMC
Oakland Beaumont
Ohio State
Rush
St. Louis
Thomas Jefferson (Is this a waste? They get about 10,000 applicants a year and seems low yield)
Temple (low yield? Also, does anyone know why IS and OOS have different tuitions listed in the MSAR? I thought this was a private school)
ECU
Tulane (low yield?)
UCONN (very expensive...)
Illinois
Iowa
Louisville
Michigan
UNC
Vermont
Virginia Tech
Wake
Western Michigan

 

[Banco]

Pretty good list if your MCAT is on the low side. If your MCAT comes out 96%+ though you can afford to add more reaches.

Replace UConn, and possibly the other state schools (Illinois, Iowa). Temple gets some funding from the state, so that's why there is a slight tuition difference - it is still private. I don't think Jeff and Temple are low yield if you can express your specific interest in them.

 

[GrapesofRath]

Thanks everyone! I appreciate the help. I've got it narrowed down to 28 schools, but would appreciate any last comments as to if it's relatively well balanced or not. Also, there are a few schools that appear low yield but that I think get recommended relatively regularly here--is there something I'm just missing to explain that?

Albany
Rosalind Franklin
Creighton
Drexel
Quinnipiac
GT
Hofstra
Loyola
NYMC
Oakland Beaumont
Ohio State
Rush
St. Louis
Thomas Jefferson (Is this a waste? They get about 10,000 applicants a year and seems low yield)
Temple (low yield? Also, does anyone know why IS and OOS have different tuitions listed in the MSAR? I thought this was a private school)
ECU
Tulane (low yield?)
UCONN (very expensive...)
Illinois
Iowa
Louisville
Michigan
UNC
Vermont
Virginia Tech
Wake
Western Michigan

Cut Louisville, Iowa, Illinois, UCONN and Ohio State. Those are all too much of a long shot for you OOS. If you are worried about yield G-town should be the first school to go and Va Tech with only a 40 person class should also be off in that case also. Other schools to consider dropping if you are worried about yield: Franklin, Drexel, Temple, NYMC and maybe Tulane.

The rest of your list is fine. While research isn't necessarily a strength of your app your EC's stand out to some extent. Coming from a top 20 school can also help your case and how your GPA is looked at, particularly if there is an upward trend. If you want some more reaches: Rochester, USC, Emory, Case Western, Einstein are good places to start. Also were you part of a paper or a poster? That will make a difference in terms of stating your case to start applying to these top 20 research heavy schools, particularly since your science GPA might be below the 10th percentile at some of them. If your MCAT ends up on the high end of your range you can consider throwing a couple applications at top 20 schools. Start with considering Vandy, Duke, NYU, Mt Sinai.

 

[scoops619]

I am worried about yield, but for a few reasons I'd rather not get into just to preserve anonymity I will likely still end up applying to GT. I'll cut the OOS schools, I just wasn't certain what represented a particularly harsh IS vs OOS bias.

I do have an upward trend in my GPA, and am the last author on a poster and was just mentioned for editing, but not an author, on another. So y'all would recommend maybe a reach or two (Say Case Western or Emory), and removing the OOS schools, but otherwise the list is mostly good? Thanks again! You've been hugely helpful.

 

[Goro]

Concur with my learned colleague. Add DO schools as well, starting with CUSOM, VCOMs and PCOM-GA

Your GPA is your only weak point in an otherwise strong application. These are additional schools where you could receive interviews based on your stats:
Quinnipiac
Vermont
Hofstra
NYMC
Albany
Penn State
Jefferson
Drexel
GW
Tulane
St.Louis
Loyola
Rosalind Franklin
Western Michigan
Oakland Beaumont

 

[scoops619]

Concur with my learned colleague. Add DO schools as well, starting with CUSOM, VCOMs and PCOM-GA

@Goro, do you think that DO schools are necessary? Or do I have a reasonably good enough shot with the following list of 20 MD schools only? And thanks again for everyone's help, I think I've finally gotten the list to a good place!

Albany
Rosalind Franklin
Creighton
Drexel
Quinnipiac
GT
Hofstra
Loyola
NYMC
Oakland Beaumont
Rush
St. Louis
Thomas Jefferson
Temple
ECU
UNC
Vermont
Wake
Emory (reach)
Case Western (reach)

 

[Banco]

I think you have a good shot at MD with that list. You can add more reaches if you want.

 

[Goro]

It's really competitive out there, and DO schools would be good to consider if you're closer to 90, than 100. These ranges make it hard to advise well, so I advise conservatively. Obviously, the higher the score, the higher up the pole you should aim.

@Goro, do you think that DO schools are necessary? Or do I have a reasonably good enough shot with the following list of 20 MD schools only? And thanks again for everyone's help, I think I've finally gotten the list to a good place!

Albany
Rosalind Franklin
Creighton
Drexel
Quinnipiac
GT
Hofstra
Loyola
NYMC
Oakland Beaumont
Rush
St. Louis
Thomas Jefferson
Temple
ECU
UNC
Vermont
Wake
Emory (reach)
Case Western (reach)

 

[scoops619]

It's really competitive out there, and DO schools would be good to consider if you're closer to 90, than 100. These ranges make it hard to advise well, so I advise conservatively. Obviously, the higher the score, the higher up the pole you should aim.

That makes sense--I'll keep that in mind when I get the final scores back. Thanks again, everyone, I appreciate it!

 

[mdeast]

Your GPA is gonna be too low for top tier schools, but I think you'll match at a decent MD school with that MCAT. I'd personally shoot for UNC (in-state school and it's great and will be more forgiving of your GPA). But, definitely apply broadly. I'd consider some of the (better) DO schools as a back-up, but if your MCAT pans out to a ~35 I don't think you'll need to.

 

[scoops619]

So I just got my scores back and ended up with a 521 (131 CP, 129 CAR, 131 BB, 130 PsS) for a 99th percentile score. Obviously, I'm ecstatic (honestly a little numb, I left the test thinking I bombed it and even considered voiding it haha glad I didn't!). Would it be prudent to add a reach or two? And, if I get any, should I be fairly certain I'll get asked questions about why my GPA stinks relative to my MCAT?

 

[Banco]

So I just got my scores back and ended up with a 521 (131 CP, 129 CAR, 131 BB, 130 PsS) for a 99th percentile score. Obviously, I'm ecstatic (honestly a little numb, I left the test thinking I bombed it and even considered voiding it haha glad I didn't!). Would it be prudent to add a reach or two? And, if I get any, should I be fairly certain I'll get asked questions about why my GPA stinks relative to my MCAT?

Definitely add a few reaches, just make sure to check their GPA ranges. If you fall within range of the 10-90 then definitely add some top schools. Even if you don't it may still be worth it to add a few.