MD Help with School List! 30 MCAT 3.93 cGPA and sGPA

[agoron]

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Hello all!

I'll be applying to medical school this coming cycle, and would really appreciate it if someone would take a look at my list of schools, possibly suggest any, or steer me away from applying to any that might not be worth it.

So here are my schools, followed by info about me:

Schools:
UMD (state resident)
Ohio State (state ties)
Cincinnati (considering leaving this one out)
Penn State
University of Vermont
GW
Rush
Rosalind Franklin
Tufts (considering cutting this one as well)
Drexel
Loyola of Chicago
Jefferson
Quinnipiac
New York Medical College
Georgetown
Brown
Dartmouth
Temple
Wake Forest
Albany

In terms of location, I would love to preferably be in a small or large city, in an urban area. But I know that I do have some suburban schools on here, which I would happily attend if it were my only option.

Some info about me:

Junior at a large, in-state school, Maryland resident
Animal Sciences- Pre-Professional major
Spanish Language and Cultures Minor
3.93 cGPA, 3.92 sGPA with an upward trend
30 MCAT (10 PS/9 VR/11BS)

Work:
Medical Scribe since Jan 2015
Concessions employee for 5 years
Peer Mentor for my undergraduate college

Volunteer:
Animal Hospital volunteer- 150 hrs
National Zoo Volunteer- 40 hours
Farm volunteer- 30 hours
Public Relations Officer of a nonprofit that provides a free STEM camp to underprivileged middle schoolers since August 2014
Miscellaneous volunteering with my sorority and with AMSA

Clinical:
ER Volunteer- 150 hours
Alzheimer's Care Volunteer- 100 hours
Shadowing- 30 hours
Mobile Health Clinic for underserved residents of Appalachia- 1 week/35 hours

Research:
Children's Language Development Lab- 1.5 years, study leader

Other:
Student Ambassador
VP Professional Sorority
1 semester as a Teaching Assistant for anatomy laboratory
AMSA Member
Member of 2 honors societies (Alpha Lambda Delta, Phi Eta Sigma)
Women's Choir

LORs:
Anatomy professor who I later was a TA for
Biochemistry professor (finished in the top 10% of the class)
Choir professor/director, who I have known for several years
PI for research (still need to ask)
Physician from where I scribe (still need to ask)

Any advice would be appreciated! I'm confident in my grades, LORs, and activities. Just my MCAT that worries me. I have never been a stellar standardized test taker, and have been advised by my pre-health committee to continue with my application for this cycle, but I need to apply early, smart, and broadly, so any help would be great.

Thanks!

 

[gyngyn]

Good list.

 

[agoron]

@gyngyn thanks for looking it over, I appreciate it! Do you think Dartmouth and Brown are worth applying to? I know they're reaches, and Dartmouth is probably one of the least reasonable on my list, but I'm trying to apply broadly and hope that I'm more than a 30 MCAT score. I guess you never know until you try, right?

 

[gyngyn]

@gyngyn thanks for looking it over, I appreciate it! Do you think Dartmouth and Brown are worth applying to? I know they're reaches, and Dartmouth is probably one of the least reasonable on my list, but I'm trying to apply broadly and hope that I'm more than a 30 MCAT score. I guess you never know until you try, right?

They are at least in the realm of possibility and a couple of reaches is normal.

 

[Vain Brother]

dartmouth is definitely a bit of a reach, and they tend to like non-trads. i interviewed there recently and it seemed like everyone there either went to harvard or already had a doctorate.

brown is very low-yield for you, since they prefer their own undergrads and strongly prefer non-trads. that's the first one i'd remove from the list

 

[einsteinm]

Looks good. You can also consider adding SLU/MCW. I'm sure someone will ask why not veterinarian with your activities/major so have an answer ready.

 

[agoron]

@einsteinm thanks for looking it over! Yeah, that was originally the plan, but as you can see, I changed my mind. I'll definitely touch on it in my personal statement and be ready to explain in interviews why I switched tracks.

 

[Goro]

I agree with cutting Brown and Dartmouth. Replace with U WV, U Miami, Tulane, and Hofstra. Also consider VCU, EVMS, PCOM, VCOM, WVSOM, LECOM, NYITCOM, CUSOM, VCOM-SC and Touro-NY

 

[agoron]

@Goro thanks! I will definitely look into the other schools you suggested. I would prefer to stick with allopathic schools, though. Do I have a shot at any allopathic? Hopefully I'm not a lost cause 🙂

 

[Vain Brother]

assuming you're white, table 25 puts you at ~70%, which are decent odds. your ECs are interesting (were you pre-vet at one point?), but you could probably stand to add some volunteering/clinical work with people to beef up your application a little

 

[Doug Underhill]

She has 250 hours of that, does she really need more?

 

[agoron]

I definitely plan on continuing with clinical experience until I graduate undergrad. I just started recently as a scribe in the clinics actually associated with one of the schools on my list so that's definitely good, that'll be full time this summer. But yeah I plan on remaining involved until I apply and throughout the process as well

 

[agoron]

And yes, I was prevet at first, then changed my mind after different experiences. Definitely glad I'm sticking with regular medicine, much more rewarding for me personally 🙂

 

[Goro]

I think odds are really good for MD. Excellent for DO.

 

[sunflower18]

I'd definitely add MCW! I was really impressed with it when I visited and it seems to fit your criteria 🙂