Help with school list-High gpa, low mcat, lowish clinicals

[Firephoenix938]

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Hi all, just got my MCAT score back and was severely disappointed compared to my FL avg, and getting way way way lower than it. My school list got obliterated, but I think I can still apply unless you guys have other opinions.

Demographics:

• Ohio resident
• Indian Asian (ORM)
• Slight focus on underserved areas (mentioned a lot in my application and personal statement as this is ideally where I would want to practice, but my county is no longer underserved)

College: The Ohio State University, graduating a year early, so no gap year either

Previous institution: Kent State University for CCP (early undergrad start)

Major/Minor: Biology Major, Anatomy Minor

Combined GPA: 3.96

sGPA: 3.95 (one B+ ochem 2)

MCAT: 512 (unfortunate and why I am worried since FL avg was 519)

Experiences:

• Head referee- 325 hours for soccer, flag football, and training referees
• Anatomy TA- 175 hours (175 for next school year projected but is guaranteed)
• Indoor and outdoor Soccer Club- cofounded with friends, 65 hours (only included game time not founding and behind scene times which I should've)

Research:

• Clinical research in gastroenterology-325 hours, safety and efficacy of procedures and their outcomes in underserved/community healthcare settings
• Anatomy instructional research- Starting in fall, identifying better ways to provide anatomy instruction and retention

Shadowing:

• Cardiology- 50 hours
• Gastroenterology-25 hours

Volunteering

• Hospital volunteer- 100 hours (projected 225 by matriculation, currently already at 140 hours since submitting primary)- underserved hospital (only full-service hospital in county)
• Summer soccer alumni volunteer- 100 hours, providing competition and instruction to high school soccer players
• Senior center volunteer-75 hours, helping with activities and exercise

Hobbies

• Weightlifting at Barbell Club- 700 hours
• Cooking (self, cook book attempt to make), cooking club-100 hours (fcked up estimation cuz including hobby hours and such it's like 300)

Leadership

• Chess Club-180 hours (most as treasurer, currently vice-president now)

School list: Thoughts and narrow down to 30-40 help please

Albany

OSU (alma mater)

Neomed (in-state)

Wright State (in-state)

Cincy (in-state)

Case Western (in state)

Toledo (in-state)

Tufts (family alumni)

University of Washington-Seattle (ties to state and met their criteria to be considered)

Wayne State

Univ of Vermont

Penn State

UPitt

University of Xichigan (Michigan lol)

Michigan State University

Western Michigan

Cooper Rowan NJ

Creighton

Drexel

Eastern Virginia

Emory

Quinnipac

Geisel Dartmouth

Geisenger

George Washington University

Georgetown

Hackensack

Indiana University

Temple

Loyola

Medical college of Wisconsin

NY medical college

Oakland

Rutgers

Rutgers (robert johnson)

Sidney Kimmel Thomas Jefferson

Rush

University of Colorado

University of Illinois

Univ Iowa

Louisville

Univ Maryland

South carolina (idk if any)

Univ Tennessee

University of Virginia (large mcat range)

West Virginia University

Virginia Commonwealth

Would appreciate help getting to 30-40 schools or adding and removing certain schools

Should I add more reaches (tho most schools are reaches with my mcat)

Should I add other schools etc.

School list help!!

 

[Goro]

Here is a more realistic list.
You have a lot of donations on yours...the schools don't need the money.
I can't recommend applying until you beef up your clinical exposure and nonclinical volunteering. As of right now, you'll just get crowded out by stronger candidates.
Albany
Creighton
Dartmouth
Drexel
Emory
EVMS
Georgetown
GWU
Hackensack Meridian
Jefferson
Loyola
MCW
Netter
Nova MD
NYMC
NYU-LI
Oakland-B
Rochester
Rosy Franklin
St. Louis
TCU
Temple
Tufts
Tulane
U CO
U ILL
U VM
Uniformed Services University/Hebert (just be aware of the military service commitment)
VCU
Wake Forest
Wayne State
Western MI
WVU
Your state school(s)

Any DO program. Sta list with OHCOM, MSUCOM, KYCOM, MUCOM and LECOM. I can't recommend LMU, SOMA, RVU, BCOM, ICOM and LUCOM, for different reasons. Avoid those new schools that haven't graduated a class yet, if at all possible.

 

[Firephoenix938]

Hi all, just got my MCAT score back and was severely disappointed compared to my FL avg, and getting way way way lower than it. My school list got obliterated, but I think I can still apply unless you guys have other opinions.

Demographics:

• Ohio resident
• Indian Asian (ORM)
• Slight focus on underserved areas (mentioned a lot in my application and personal statement as this is ideally where I would want to practice, but my county is no longer underserved)

College: The Ohio State University, graduating a year early, so no gap year either

Previous institution: Kent State University for CCP (early undergrad start)

Major/Minor: Biology Major, Anatomy Minor

Combined GPA: 3.96

sGPA: 3.95 (one B+ ochem 2)

MCAT: 512 (unfortunate and why I am worried since FL avg was 519)

Experiences:

• Head referee- 325 hours for soccer, flag football, and training referees
• Anatomy TA- 175 hours (175 for next school year projected but is guaranteed)
• Indoor and outdoor Soccer Club- cofounded with friends, 65 hours (only included game time not founding and behind scene times which I should've)

Research:

• Clinical research in gastroenterology-325 hours, safety and efficacy of procedures and their outcomes in underserved/community healthcare settings
• Anatomy instructional research- Starting in fall, identifying better ways to provide anatomy instruction and retention

Shadowing:

• Cardiology- 50 hours
• Gastroenterology-25 hours

Volunteering

• Hospital volunteer- 100 hours (projected 225 by matriculation, currently already at 140 hours since submitting primary)- underserved hospital (only full-service hospital in county)
• Summer soccer alumni volunteer- 100 hours, providing competition and instruction to high school soccer players
• Senior center volunteer-75 hours, helping with activities and exercise

Hobbies

• Weightlifting at Barbell Club- 700 hours
• Cooking (self, cook book attempt to make), cooking club-100 hours (fcked up estimation cuz including hobby hours and such it's like 300)

Leadership

• Chess Club-180 hours (most as treasurer, currently vice-president now)

School list: Thoughts and narrow down to 30-40 help please

Albany

OSU (alma mater)

Neomed (in-state)

Wright State (in-state)

Cincy (in-state)

Case Western (in state)

Toledo (in-state)

Tufts (family alumni)

University of Washington-Seattle (ties to state and met their criteria to be considered)

Wayne State

Univ of Vermont

Penn State

UPitt

University of Xichigan (Michigan lol)

Michigan State University

Western Michigan

Cooper Rowan NJ

Creighton

Drexel

Eastern Virginia

Emory

Quinnipac

Geisel Dartmouth

Geisenger

George Washington University

Georgetown

Hackensack

Indiana University

Temple

Loyola

Medical college of Wisconsin

NY medical college

Oakland

Rutgers

Rutgers (robert johnson)

Sidney Kimmel Thomas Jefferson

Rush

University of Colorado

University of Illinois

Univ Iowa

Louisville

Univ Maryland

South carolina (idk if any)

Univ Tennessee

University of Virginia (large mcat range)

West Virginia University

Virginia Commonwealth

Would appreciate help getting to 30-40 schools or adding and removing certain schools

Should I add more reaches (tho most schools are reaches with my mcat)

Should I add other schools etc.
Upvote1Downvote3Go to comments

 

[Firephoenix938]

Here is a more realistic list.
You have a lot of donations on yours...the schools don't need the money.
I can't recommend applying until you beef up your clinical exposure and nonclinical volunteering. As of right now, you'll just get crowded out by stronger candidates.
Albany
Creighton
Dartmouth
Drexel
Emory
EVMS
Georgetown
GWU
Hackensack Meridian
Jefferson
Loyola
MCW
Netter
Nova MD
NYMC
NYU-LI
Oakland-B
Rochester
Rosy Franklin
St. Louis
TCU
Temple
Tufts
Tulane
U CO
U ILL
U VM
Uniformed Services University/Hebert (just be aware of the military service commitment)
VCU
Wake Forest
Wayne State
Western MI
WVU
Your state school(s)

Any DO program. Sta list with OHCOM, MSUCOM, KYCOM, MUCOM and LECOM. I can't recommend LMU, SOMA, RVU, BCOM, ICOM and LUCOM, for different reasons. Avoid those new schools that haven't graduated a class yet, if at all possible.

Thank you so much, which schools were big donations? Tryna comb through the differences and couldnt tell if some of them were just abbreviated differently?

 

[Goro]

I'm not going to go through the whole list, the OOS public schools were ones that heavily favor IS applicants.

 

[Firephoenix938]

Here is a more realistic list.
You have a lot of donations on yours...the schools don't need the money.
I can't recommend applying until you beef up your clinical exposure and nonclinical volunteering. As of right now, you'll just get crowded out by stronger candidates.
Albany
Creighton
Dartmouth
Drexel
Emory
EVMS
Georgetown
GWU
Hackensack Meridian
Jefferson
Loyola
MCW
Netter
Nova MD
NYMC
NYU-LI
Oakland-B
Rochester
Rosy Franklin
St. Louis
TCU
Temple
Tufts
Tulane
U CO
U ILL
U VM
Uniformed Services University/Hebert (just be aware of the military service commitment)
VCU
Wake Forest
Wayne State
Western MI
WVU
Your state school(s)

Any DO program. Sta list with OHCOM, MSUCOM, KYCOM, MUCOM and LECOM. I can't recommend LMU, SOMA, RVU, BCOM, ICOM and LUCOM, for different reasons. Avoid those new schools that haven't graduated a class yet, if at all possible.

Was curious also as to why Vermont, Univeristy of Virginia, indiana, university of washington seattle, rutgers, upenn, etc were donations? Their MSAR looks like im in range. Was it mission?

 

[Firephoenix938]

I'm not going to go through the whole list, the OOS public schools were ones that heavily favor IS applicants.

Oh gotcha thanks. Sorry didn't see this thread update before sending my recent question. Thank you for your help.

 

[Faha]

You only have 75 hours of non clinical volunteering (soccer does not count) and 100 hours of clinical volunteering so your chances for interviews are limited. Many schools screen at 150 hours for each. I suggest these schools with your stats and ECs
NEOMED
Toledo
Wright State
Ohio State
West Virginia
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
Medical College Wisconsin
Ponce (St. Louis)
TCU
Alice Walton
Roseman
Belmont
NOVA MD
Wake Forest
Methodist (when it opens)
Virginia Commonwealth
George Washington
Penn State
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Geisinger
Hackensack
New York Medical College
Albany
Vermont
Quinnipiac

 

[Mr.Smile12]

As I will mention to every Ohio applicant, add OUHCOM (DO).

 

[Firephoenix938]

You only have 75 hours of non clinical volunteering (soccer does not count) and 100 hours of clinical volunteering so your chances for interviews are limited. Many schools screen at 150 hours for each. I suggest these schools with your stats and ECs
NEOMED
Toledo
Wright State
Ohio State
West Virginia
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
Medical College Wisconsin
Ponce (St. Louis)
TCU
Alice Walton
Roseman
Belmont
NOVA MD
Wake Forest
Methodist (when it opens)
Virginia Commonwealth
George Washington
Penn State
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Geisinger
Hackensack
New York Medical College
Albany
Vermont
Quinnipiac

Wait sorry, why wouldn't soccer count? its a verified volunteer coaching position for the summer until their season starts? Player evaluation, training, advice, and meeting the players after their scrimmaging, our school has a long tradition of utilizing volunteers alumni to help with training since there are three teams (Varsity, JV, JVB).

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Wait sorry, why wouldn't soccer count? its a verified volunteer coaching position for the summer until their season starts? Player evaluation, training, advice, and meeting the players after their scrimmaging, our school has a long tradition of utilizing volunteers alumni to help with training since there are three teams (Varsity, JV, JVB).

This does not fit the definition of service orientation, where you at least are present with those who are suffering and want basic social needs addressed. Activities include food distribution, shelter volunteer, job/tax preparation, legal support, transportation services, or housing rehabilitation. You can still count soccer coaching as non-clinical volunteering, but these activities carry greater weight for your application.

 

[Firephoenix938]

This does not fit the definition of service orientation, where you at least are present with those who are suffering and want basic social needs addressed. Activities include food distribution, shelter volunteer, job/tax preparation, legal support, transportation services, or housing rehabilitation.

Oh wow, I see. I didn't know when they meant non-clinical volunteering that it still had a category it needed to fit under. I had 60 hours at habitat for humanity but couldnt get it verified because there was no tracking system and the manager quit (so I didn't list it). I didn't know volunteering still meant solely service-oriented for social needs. Thank you for the input that is very helpful.

 

[Faha]

Oh wow, I see. I didn't know when they meant non-clinical volunteering that it still had a category it needed to fit under. I had 60 hours at habitat for humanity but couldnt get it verified because there was no tracking system and the manager quit (so I didn't list it). I didn't know volunteering still meant solely service-oriented for social needs. Thank you for the input that is very helpful.

Include the 60 hours at Habitat for Humanity.

 

[Firephoenix938]

Include the 60 hours at Habitat for Humanity.

i unfortunately already submitted primary based on advice I got previously. But is that why the soccer volunteer coaching doesnt count? Or did you have a different reasoning?

 

[Faha]

i unfortunately already submitted primary based on advice I got previously. But is that why the soccer volunteer coaching doesnt count? Or did you have a different reasoning?

That is not an activity that medical schools are looking for.

 

[Firephoenix938]

That is not an activity that medical schools are looking for.

Oh okay. I thought service was service originally that would have been good to know

 

[Mr.Smile12]

i unfortunately already submitted primary based on advice I got previously. But is that why the soccer volunteer coaching doesnt count? Or did you have a different reasoning?

That's too bad. The difference between 150 hours and 135 vs. 75 is big. Let's see how the process goes.

 

[candbgirl]

Your clinical experiences are big issue. With only 100 hours you might be screened out. Try to get 50+ hours that you can send as an application update(ito schools that accept updates). Same with nonclinical volunteering (75+). You are competing against applicants with hundreds of hours in each category. And if you have a day, find a primary care doc to shadow. That might be helpful too.

 

[Firephoenix938]

That's too bad. The difference between 150 hours and 135 vs. 75 is big. Let's see how the process goes.

Would it be advisable to send an update letter explaining if I can somehow find verification or explain how I didn't list it in my original application? Also I hinted at it in my descriptions but I have 4 pending papers in submission for publication. They should be published by the end of the year at the latest. Would it be wise to send letters once they are approved? I currently have 40 more hours of clinical and will have 180-200 total by the end of this summer. Is it wise to update this stuff? Also Ik you said adcoms dont even view my hours of helping these kids who need it for soccer volunteering as being real, but I will have 50 hours more of that. Is it worth it to add that at all?

 

[Firephoenix938]

Your clinical experiences are big issue. With only 100 hours you might be screened out. Try to get 50+ hours that you can send as an application update(ito schools that accept updates). Same with nonclinical volunteering (75+). You are competing against applicants with hundreds of hours in each category. And if you have a day, find a primary care doc to shadow. That might be helpful too.

I currently have 140 now and by end of this summer itll be prolly close to 180-200. By the end of year, I should have 4 of our research papers be approved (currently in submission, and our group has never had a paper rejected). Is it worth to update of that stuff? I have 50 more hours of being a volunteer soccer helper to these kids this summer but apparently adcoms view it as miscellaneous hours right? Would it be worth it to list all this stuff in an update? Also I know its research, but doesn't the clinical exposure from it and the mission focusing on underserved areas count for something outside of solely research?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Would it be advisable to send an update letter explaining if I can somehow find verification or explain how I didn't list it in my original application? Also I hinted at it in my descriptions but I have 4 pending papers in submission for publication. They should be published by the end of the year at the latest. Would it be wise to send letters once they are approved? I currently have 40 more hours of clinical and will have 180-200 total by the end of this summer. Is it wise to update this stuff? Also Ik you said adcoms dont even view my hours of helping these kids who need it for soccer volunteering as being real, but I will have 50 hours more of that. Is it worth it to add that at all?

An update letter doesn't work if you just submitted your application. I advise people to throw in update letters once they are invited to interview, i.e., after you have been screened. The volume of apps to screen is too high for an update letter to be that effective.

In other words, you could have waited to submit your app until after you got your MCAT score or more hours.

 

[Firephoenix938]

An update letter doesn't work if you just submitted your application. I advise people to throw in update letters once they are invited to interview, i.e., after you have been screened. The volume of apps to screen is too high for an update letter to be that effective.

In other words, you could have waited to submit your app until after you got your MCAT score or more hours.

I shouldve waited but I was doing the submit early before mcat score thing to get verified earlier, which I wish I didnt now with leaving off habitat and these hours I already racked up. So these hours that I'm racking up now (turning projected into real hours now), potential pubs, and habitat humanity volunteering have no way of being explained or told ig? Is there anything I can do on the secondaries if they ask the “anything else” question or is it there nothing that could help anymore? Really unfortunate that I was told listing myself as a contact was seen as a red flag for the habitat for humanity stuff. Had 60hours of that.

 

[Firephoenix938]

An update letter doesn't work if you just submitted your application. I advise people to throw in update letters once they are invited to interview, i.e., after you have been screened. The volume of apps to screen is too high for an update letter to be that effective.

In other words, you could have waited to submit your app until after you got your MCAT score or more hours.

Sorry for all the questions was just never aware of this stuff before. The question I just asked will be my last

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I shouldve waited but I was doing the submit early before mcat score thing to get verified earlier, which I wish I didnt now with leaving off habitat and these hours I already racked up. So these hours that I'm racking up now (turning projected into real hours now), potential pubs, and habitat humanity volunteering have no way of being explained or told ig? Is there anything I can do on the secondaries if they ask the “anything else” question or is it there nothing that could help anymore? Really unfortunate that I was told listing myself as a contact was seen as a red flag for the habitat for humanity stuff. Had 60hours of that.

Have you checked if the secondary prompts at schools on your list ask "anything else"? Not all of them do.

 

[Firephoenix938]

Have you checked if the secondary prompts at schools on your list ask "anything else"? Not all of them do.

Some of them do on my list

 

[ridebiker]

Some of them do on my list

I've found with a lot of secondaries they are asking "What are you doing in the upcoming application season" or "what activities are you involved in that have helped you prepare for medical school"....maybe not those exact words for each school, but almost every school has a place where they ask you to talk more about your past/current/future activities and how they relate to your path to medicine. You can probably talk about the things you left off your primary here, as long as you can do so meaningfully... maybe it won't be perfect for each school, but you'll have room to explain for a lot of them if you want.

 

[candbgirl]

I currently have 140 now and by end of this summer itll be prolly close to 180-200. By the end of year, I should have 4 of our research papers be approved (currently in submission, and our group has never had a paper rejected). Is it worth to update of that stuff? I have 50 more hours of being a volunteer soccer helper to these kids this summer but apparently adcoms view it as miscellaneous hours right? Would it be worth it to list all this stuff in an update? Also I know its research, but doesn't the clinical exposure from it and the mission focusing on underserved areas count for something outside of solely research?

You shouldn’t send updates when schools don’t even have your primary. You shouldn’t send updates unless you have relevant news to share. (And I think you’ll have to send individual updates to each school.)
The volunteer soccer coach is okay but unless you are sending an update that includes the nonclinical volunteering expected I wouldn’t mention the soccer. It’s obvious you love the soccer work. And that’s a good thing. We all need an outlet that makes us happy. But students are often told that for nonclinical volunteering you must get outside of your comfort zone and learn to work with and deal with people very unlike yourself. Get your hands dirty, figure out how to relate to people that aren’t in awe of you, people who don’t want to trust you.
I just reread your research description. From what you have shared it doesn’t seem like you had face to face contact with the test subjects . That might be completely wrong but I get the impression that you are now trying to roll everything you need into everything you have. I’m not sure how you are going to straighten this out since your application has been submitted already.
Your 4 submitted articles won’t mean much until they are at least accepted and better if they are actually published. So even tho you are very sure they will be accepted you’ll have to wait to update schools. And again , you’ll need to update each school individually. (Maybe this has changed so check and see if there is a mechanism for updating all schools at once}.
Good luck as you move forward.

 

[PickaGodnPray]

Saw your post on Reddit (the soccer stuff was familiar), so wanted to come back and say some stuff I didn't originally. The soccer non-clinical hours are cool, it is a new perspective on you as a person and what makes you unique-ish. However, in this application process schools collect students like they are RARE pokemon cards. Placing a lot of your application around soccer is fine until you compare yourself with someone who played semi-pro, college, or even abroad. That makes your experience go down to just hours, which is fine, but schools that value non-clinical hours for service care about those hours going to people in need. High school soccer players aren't really people in need. Tutoring in low income school districts or advocating for those with disability or supporting those who are unhoused demonstrate the altruism that schools think makes a great physician because at the end of the day, that is why we are all on that path.
Overall, try to address the missing activity in your secondary in some way (preferably in the "what are you up to this academic year" or "anything else you would like to share"). Wait for your publications to come out and update when you get a decision on all of them, though I don't think as many schools actually look at these updates as applicants would like to think.
Lastly, don't worry about people who lie on their application. It happens and guess what? They are gonna be a physician at the end of the day as well. However, these people cut corners. They may get away with it here, but they will most likely continue to do it. They do it enough times and eventually they will get caught, but the consequences of getting caught later in the process have much higher stakes and ramifications (losing license or malpractice lawsuits).

 

[chilly_md]

Duplicate threads were merged.