Help with AMCAS School List? Nontrad with mediocre GPA, high MCAT

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

futbol412

Full Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2020
Messages
15
Reaction score
11
MCAT: 524 (130, 132, 130, 132)
cGPA: 3.6
sGPA: 3.5

Majors: Biochemistry and Latin American Studies

Postgrad “employment”:
  • 1 year Princeton in ___ Fellowship (don’t want to say what region to remain anonymous)
  • Teach for America: I am working 1 additional year at this school this year (so 3 years total)
EC: D1 Sport (3000 hours)

Leadership: 2 leadership positions (250 hours)

Nonclinical volunteering: (1500+ hours in all) tutoring, mentoring, coaching at risk youth over the course of 6 years (this includes college, summers, and postgrad at my TFA school)
I divided these into a few separate “activities” on AMCAS. I didn’t include any projected hours (which would be around 300, 10 hours/wk) because most of my volunteer hours are at my school and I am unsure if they will be able to happen next year due to COVID-19...should I include them?

Clinical Volunteering: (450 hours total): 350 hours volunteering as an interpreter at 2 free clinics, 100 hours volunteering in a community health initiative

Shadowing: definitely a weakness- only 10 hours shadowing a primary care doc, and 70 in gynecology and pediatrics in the country I grew up in (I know this won’t really count because it’s not the US medical system).

Research: 4 projects (650 hours)→ 2 in Latin American Studies, 1 in Biochem, 1 in Public Health (only 1 poster, no productivity)

Letters of Rec: very strong letter of recommendation from my Vice Principal at TFA school and 1 grad school teacher; unfortunately my other ones might not be so great as I have been out of college 3 years now and wasn’t thinking about pre-med back then plus I got a bunch of B's in my science classes🙁

Other: I am bilingual (fluent in Spanish and have a native accent- my schooling was 100% in Spanish)

Demographics: white, US and Mexican citizen, not disadvantaged

I am a TX resident because that is where I did TFA. Otherwise I don’t really have a “home” state since I didn’t grow up here… I will definitely be applying through TMDSAS (haven’t submitted yet, yikes), but I am open to going anywhere in the US that accepts me (my MCAT expires after this cycle!).

What schools should I apply to through AMCAS with my GPA? What should my reach schools be? Thank you in advance!!
 
Last edited:
You could try these AMCAS schools:
Baylor
TCU-UNT
Boston University
Tufts
Brown
Dartmouth
Hofstra
Einstein
Mount Sinai
Rochester
Pittsburgh
Case Western
Cincinnati
Georgetown
Miami
USF Morsani
Duke
Emory
Tulane
St. Louis
Western Michigan
U Michigan
 
Thank you @Faha for the help!! Any thing else to add @Goro @Mr.Smile12 ?

edit to add: I had a 4.0 last year of undergrad GPA (which included 5 upper level sciences) and a 4.0 masters through TFA, not sure if that matters
 
So long as you interview well, I'd be surprised if you didn't match somewhere in Texas, especially PLFSOM, UTRGV, or Long. Do you know any healthcare providers that could write you a letter? Many schools allow non-trads to sub out an academic letter for a recent employer (or in your case, your TFA VP).

Get your TMDSAS app in asap. Worry about AMCAS later.
 
So long as you interview well, I'd be surprised if you didn't match somewhere in Texas, especially PLFSOM, UTRGV, or Long. Do you know any healthcare providers that could write you a letter? Many schools allow non-trads to sub out an academic letter for a recent employer (or in your case, your TFA VP).

Get your TMDSAS app in asap. Worry about AMCAS later.
I'm getting a committee letter "packet", and they require 2 science professors from my university so I had to ask for them unfortunately. Maybe I shouldn't have gone that route, but I guess it's too late now...I was planning on submitting the 24th. Is that a good date?

And I'm very interested in PLFSOM because my siblings still live a relatively short (to me lol) drive away in Mexico! Thanks!
 
I'm getting a committee letter "packet", and they require 2 science professors from my university so I had to ask for them unfortunately. Maybe I shouldn't have gone that route, but I guess it's too late now...I was planning on submitting the 24th. Is that a good date?

And I'm very interested in PLFSOM because my siblings still live a relatively short (to me lol) drive away in Mexico! Thanks!

You should be fine submitting the 24th. Find the secondaries on the school specific threads and start writing them as soon as you submit your TMDSAS. It'll take a few weeks to process, and ideally you'll have your secondaries submitted by August.
 
Any connections with LMSA or SNMA student officers at the medical schools on your list?

I am not URM. Yes, I am a Mexican citizen and was born and raised there, but my parents are not from Mexico, so I was advised to not check Hispanic/latino
 
Top