Help with school list please! 3.5 gpa, 33 MCAT

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UCSDMember

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Hi everyone!

I'm having some trouble coming up with more schools to apply to. I want to apply to at least ~30, given my less than competitive stats.

cGPA ~3.4something
sGPA ~3.4something
MCAT 33 (12/10/11)
CA resident, went to UCSD for undergrad
GPA (strong upward trend, with some informal post-bacc classes, all of which were A's)

shadowing: 45+ hours
volunteer (medical and non-medical): 200+ hours
clinical research: +++++ hours
ER scribe: ++++++ hours
MCAT test prep instructor: +++++++ hours

Overall, the weakest part of my application IMO is my GPA.

So far, I've applied to 20 schools:

Albany
Albert Einstein
Case Western
Creighton
Eastern Virginia
George Washington
Georgetown
Loma Linda
Loyola University
Medical College of Wisconsin
New York Medical College
Oakland Univ. William Beaumont
Quinnipiac University
Rosalind Franklin
Tulane
U of AZ Phoenix
U of AZ Tucson
UC Davis
UC Irvine
UC Riverside

I'm well aware that some of these are reach schools, such as Case Western and Loma Linda, among others.. but I thought I'd apply to some reach schools that really interested me.

I did receive FAP, and I have been saving a lot of money for this application cycle (my first time applying), so money isn't too much of an issue. ~30-35 schools is doable for me.

I'd love any input on any other schools I have a decent shot at!

Thank you!! :)

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Wrong forum. Needs to be in "What Are My Chances."
 
This list is a good start. Look into: Temple, Jefferson, Drexel, Penn State, Vermont, Miami, Wake Forest, SLU, Tufts, EVMS, VCU
 
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Wrong forum. Needs to be in "What Are My Chances."

calm down, buddy. you just joined yesterday and have only 10 posts. i dont think you're in a position to be giving people the business. especially when OP is asking help for a school list, not wondering about their chances.
 
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calm down, buddy. you just joined yesterday and have only 10 posts. i dont think you're in a position to be giving people the business. especially when OP is asking help for a school list, not wondering about their chances.
OK then, I'll say it

OP should post in WAMC not here.

WAMC covers school list input.
 
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OK then, I'll say it

OP should post in WAMC not here.

WAMC covers school list input.

ah yes, thats why i always see threads in here asking for help with their school lists. if only we had some sort of person who could correct these people about the appropriate forum they should use. all our problems would be solved!
 
calm down, buddy. you just joined yesterday and have only 10 posts. i dont think you're in a position to be giving people the business. especially when OP is asking help for a school list, not wondering about their chances.
Lmao neat complex bro. Don't remember my post being threatening or derogatory in any way. Don't need your approval either.
 
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Lmao neat complex bro. Don't remember my post being threatening or derogatory in any way. Don't need your approval either.

whats with people qualifying their statements with the fact they don't seek someones approval? is this common? do people really desire the approval of anonymous posters on a message board?
 
whats with people qualifying their statements with the fact they don't seek someones approval? is this common? do people really desire the approval of anonymous posters on a message board?
Did you really need to condescend to someone (who was giving correct advice) for being a newbie when you have been around for only a couple months and a few hundred posts yourself? Quit while there's only a little egg on your face
 
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whats with people qualifying their statements with the fact they don't seek someones approval? is this common? do people really desire the approval of anonymous posters on a message board?
Jesus Christ you take this place way too seriously. I don't get how my post was unqualified either. I was simply helping out OP by telling him there is a special board that has more people that can help him with his school list.

This is why I lurked for a few months before even posting anything.
 
Did you really need to condescend to someone (who was giving correct advice) for being a newbie when you have been around for only a couple months and a few hundred posts yourself? Quit while there's only a little egg on your face
no, youre right. averaging 3,508 posts over a 16 month period gives you ultimate seniority over me and therefore your opinion is inherently true.
 
Jesus Christ you take this place way too seriously. I don't get how my post was unqualified either. I was simply helping out OP by telling him there is a special board that has more people that can help him with his school list.

This is why I lurked for a few months before even posting anything.

lol, if you had been posting here for more than a day, you'd notice that i dont take this place seriously at all. your post was pointless. you felt the need to take time out of your evening to correct the poster about the misplacement of his post without offering any constructive insight to his situation. boy, you really helped him out. i mean, without you, how would he ever have known where to post this thread?
 
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lol, if you had been posting here for more than a day, you'd notice that i dont take this place seriously at all. your post was pointless. you felt the need to take time out of your evening to correct the poster about the misplacement of his post without offering any constructive insight to his situation. boy, you really helped him out. i mean, without you, how would he ever have known where to post this thread?
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no, youre right. averaging 3,508 posts over a 16 month period gives you ultimate seniority over me and therefore your opinion is inherently true.
A few posts ago you were erroneously telling someone off for being inexperienced with SDN...you're actually a pretty solid satirical account.

7/10 for the slow 'n steady bait. Don't see that around much anymore
 
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A few posts ago you were erroneously telling someone off for being inexperienced with SDN...you're actually a pretty solid satirical account.

7/10 for the slow 'n steady bait. Don't see that around much anymore

im glad to see that the irony isnt lost on you
 
so now you just clog this post up even more with a ridiculously large image?
mgmdog.gif

I can feel you get angrier with each post, coupled with some sort of self-satisfaction.

You haven't posted anything constructive either.
 
View attachment 194952
I can feel you get angrier with each post, coupled with some sort of self-satisfaction.

You haven't posted anything constructive either.
ah yes, im just sitting at my computer yelling to myself. like... who does this kid think he is?! coming onto a forum and telling people what to do with 10 posts?! that is bull****!!! dude, im just so furious right now. so much for getting any sleep tonight, this situation is just gonna eat me up all night.
 
You know I'm actually bumping you to 8/10. Aggressively misinformed but with a wonderful sense of satire, especially the post about contributing nothing which itself contributed nothing. Very meta. I hope you never slip up and say anything too direct to get banned! Look forward to seeing you around the boards

This is why I lurked for a few months before even posting anything.
Most posters are fine when inexperienced, because they don't go around trying to correct other confused newcomers
 
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You know I'm actually bumping you to 8/10. Aggressively misinformed but with a wonderful sense of satire, especially the post about contributing nothing which itself contributed nothing. Very meta. I hope you never slip up and say anything too direct to get banned! Look forward to seeing you around the boards


Most posters are fine when inexperienced, because they don't go around trying to correct other confused newcomers

it really is a fine line here. im still trying to understand it all. but i had fun, thank you for being a good sport. unlike @Hopeful___MD who is still in that "ill post a random doge meme" phase.
 
SDN is devolving.

OP, how about Rush in Illinois?
 
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University of Toledo
Wayne State University
Western Michigan University
SUNYs

Albany - lots of applications, they like non-traditional with prior healthcare experience
Albert Einstein - lots of applications, but also give out lots of interviews
Case Western - reach
Creighton - good, I think they like Cali applicants,
Eastern Virginia - good.
George Washington - lots of apps, but also interview a lot.
Georgetown - same as GWash.
Loma Linda - good fit if you agree with student conduct rules
Loyola University - good fit
Medical College of Wisconsin - regional bias
New York Medical College - good fit
Oakland Univ. William Beaumont - good fit
Quinnipiac University - good fit
Rosalind Franklin - good fit
Tulane - lots of apps, prefer non-traditional.
 
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Here is what I would look into(not an exhaustive list)

Albany
Creighton
Eastern Virginia
GW and G-town
Drexel
Temple
Miami
Jefferson
Loyola
Rush
MCW
Oakland
Vermont
Loma Linda(check out their mission statement and only if you fit it really well should you consider it)
NYMC
Oakland
Penn State
Wake Forest
Quinnipac
Rosalind
Tulane
UC Davis
UC Irvine
UC Riverside(you have to be from the inland empire for this)
Western Michigan
Hofstra
Va Tech
Tufts
Saint Louis
Stony Brook(maybe)
U of Arizona(maybe)
Boston U(maybe)
Emory(maybe)
USC(maybe)

DO Programs: Western, Touro, AZCOM are good starts. Any of them are fine for you.
 
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This list is a good start. Look into: Temple, Jefferson, Drexel, Penn State, Vermont, Miami, Wake Forest, SLU, Tufts, EVMS, VCU

Thank you!! :) Definitely looking into all of those
 
Ah awesome! They accept ~ half OOS. Definitely adding it to my list. Thank you!!

Rush isn't a state school, so you have about as much chance as an in-stater of getting in. Their 1/2 out of state acceptance is just a reflection of who applies - people from Illinois are more likely to apply to schools in Illinois.
 
Rush isn't a state school, so you have about as much chance as an in-stater of getting in. Their 1/2 out of state acceptance is just a reflection of who applies - people from Illinois are more likely to apply to schools in Illinois.

The percentage of applicants who get an interview is far higher at Rush for in-staters than out of staters. Rush last year got 1644 IS applications. They got 7859 OOS applications. They had around 350-400 interviews and around half of the ones granted were given to residents of Illinois. So basically it is around 175/7859 vs 175/1644 for odds of getting an interview if you are in-state vs out of state so your odds definitely aren't even regardless of where you live. State schools aren't the only ones which are easier to get into if you live in that schools state.

That said being a sub 3.5 GPA applicant from CA OP should apply anywhere they have a semi-reasonable shot at and that includes Rush.
 
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The percentage of applicants who get an interview is far higher at Rush for in-staters than out of staters. Rush last year got 1644 IS applications. They got 7859 OOS applications. They had around 350-400 interviews and around half of the ones granted were given to residents of Illinois. So basically it is around 175/7859 vs 175/1644 for odds of getting an interview if you are in-state vs out of state so your odds definitely aren't even regardless of where you live. State schools aren't the only ones which are easier to get into if you live in that schools state.

That said being a sub 3.5 GPA applicant from CA OP should apply anywhere they have a semi-reasonable shot at and that includes Rush.

I hear your point. It's hard with only statistics, though, to paint a truly complete picture of how the admissions process reflects preference. Clearly, in-state students are getting proportionally more interviews, but I imagine there are also other confounding factors.
 
The percentage of applicants who get an interview is far higher at Rush for in-staters than out of staters. Rush last year got 1644 IS applications. They got 7859 OOS applications. They had around 350-400 interviews and around half of the ones granted were given to residents of Illinois. So basically it is around 175/7859 vs 175/1644 for odds of getting an interview if you are in-state vs out of state so your odds definitely aren't even regardless of where you live. State schools aren't the only ones which are easier to get into if you live in that schools state.

That said being a sub 3.5 GPA applicant from CA OP should apply anywhere they have a semi-reasonable shot at and that includes Rush.
Gyngyn has said that the apparent favoritism that can arise in these situations can be a reflection of that state producing, on average, better apps than the other 49 states, in his case regarding the apparent instate favoritism of Cali schools that declare no bias like Stanford. Maybe the Chicago area just produces a similarly above average applicant pool?
 
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Gyngyn has said that the apparent favoritism that can arise in these situations can be a reflection of that state producing, on average, better apps than the other 49 states, in his case regarding the apparent instate favoritism of Cali schools that declare no bias like Stanford. Maybe the Chicago area just produces a similarly above average applicant pool?

Ehh that's a pretty big gap to account for. You are saying Chicago and the Illinois region produces 6X better applicants than the rest of the country when you are talking about a percent of IS applicants interviewed with a difference of 12-13% to 2%? It sounds like a good theory on paper but statistically its just not all that feasible.

CA its much more believable just being how competitive and top notch that state is. I don't really think Stanford or UCSF show IS bias.
 
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I hear your point. It's hard with only statistics, though, to paint a truly complete picture of how the admissions process reflects preference. Clearly, in-state students are getting proportionally more interviews, but I imagine there are also other confounding factors.

Yeah I tend to let minor gaps in those statistics slide but when you are talking about 13% of IS applicants interviewed vs 2% that's a pretty big gap and while its great to talk about confounding variables and say they account for the difference such a big statistical gap is hard to just account for in those variables.
 
Ehh that's a pretty big gap to account for. You are saying Chicago and the Illinois region produces 6X better applicants than the rest of the country when you are talking about a percent of IS applicants interviewed with a difference of 12-13% to 2%? It sounds like a good theory on paper but statistically its just not all that feasible.

CA its much more believable just being how competitive and top notch that state is. I don't really think Stanford or UCSF show IS bias.
did not notice the magnitude of the bias! Stanford and the UCs declaring no bias do show a bias but it is small (less than 2x)
 
I think that your chances will be best with:
Albany
Creighton
Eastern Virginia
George Washington
Georgetown
Loma Linda
Loyola University
Medical College of Wisconsin
New York Medical College
Oakland Univ. William Beaumont
Quinnipiac University
Rosalind Franklin
Tulane
UC Davis
UC Irvine
UC Riverside (only if you're from the Inland Empire)


The reach schools will appreciate the donations.

You should also serious consider Western (both) AZCOM, SOMA, TUNCOM, Touro-CA, and PacNW. The 3.4 GPAs are 0.3 points lower than the median for MD school matriculants.
 
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did not notice the magnitude of the bias! Stanford and the UCs declaring no bias do show a bias but it is small (less than 2x)

The biggest reason it might not be bias is a) CA produces tons of stud applicants b) CA schools like Stanford and UCSF are just more familiar with certain parts of CA applicants. Stanford might be very familiar with UC Berekley undergrand and really think highly of those who really excel there and know that those in their medical school from UC Berekley undergrad go on to do really really well. This is all hypothetical and based off nothing but it could be possible to explain it. Sometimes it might not be direct bias as much as just being really really familar with certain schools and professors of certain schools(and putting alot of weight in a famous Stanford undergrad prof saying this student is the best he's ever seen). Maybe they are really familar with a certain group of labs in the San Fran area and how well the people who leave that lab do or a certain organization an applicant might work for and really respect it. All these small things can sometimes add up and often its these small biases that make a difference(I know a good ex gyngyn always talks about is how some ADCOMs know and respect the difficulty of D1 athletics where as many cant tell the difference between playing intramural squash at Wesleyan and D1 basketball at Duke. That type of thing can make a big difference in some ADCOMs but not others really pumping up say the D1 athlete from Stanford.). This is all just a guess of course but its possible there is something to it.
 
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