high mcat low gpa CA resident *need help with school list*

[heysnow]

Hello! I would like some help constructing a school list. I have read that aiming for schools where your mcat and gpa are at the median would be a good start. However I can't find any schools where I match that criteria.

MCAT- 525 (131/132/131/131)
GPA- 3.54 and 3.43s

CA resident (but went to college OOS)

ECs

3 years in nursing home (400 hours)
1.5 years hospice (120 hours)
2 years free clinic (200 hours)
1.5 years in food pantry (200 hours)
1.5 years tutoring low income children (60 hours)
1 year research (no pubs/posters)
70 hours shadowing EM physician

I think my lors are good.

I wasn't expecting to score so high on the mcat. I told myself I would not retake if I got at least a 508.

I am looking to apply this upcoming cycle.

Please let me know if I posted this in the wrong place, thank you

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[GrapesofRath]

This will get moved to WAMC soon enough but MSAR will tell you all you need.

Focus on schools where you are above the 10th percentile GPA and take at least 25% OOS for starters. Pay attention to schools 90th percentile MCAT as well; the most desirable schools for you are the ones that fit the first two criteria and are where you are closest or at the 90th percentile MCAT of that achool. With that kind of MCAT score targeting a good list of schools most likely to interview you is key; aiming too low won't help you. Aiming too high obviously won't either

 

[Goro]

That sGPA is going to hurt, but your MCAT is nothing to sneeze at. Do you have a strong upward trend???

I suggest the following:

U VM
Duke (maybe)
Case (maybe)
Mayo (maybe)
Miami
St. Louis
Albany
Albert Einstein
Rochester
Rush
Rosy Franklin
BU
Hofstra
NYMC
VCU
EVMS
Wake Forest
Jefferson
Temple
Drexel
Creighton
George Washington
Emory
USC/Keck
Tulane
Dartmouth
Loyola
Any new MD school. Skip Central MI and the three new FL schools. I can't recommend CNU.
UCD
UCI
UCSD
UCR IF you're from the Inland Empire
Any DO program, starting with Western and Touro-CA

Hello! I would like some help constructing a school list. I have read that aiming for schools where your mcat and gpa are at the median would be a good start. However I can't find any schools where I match that criteria.

MCAT- 525 (131/132/131/131)
GPA- 3.54 and 3.43s

CA resident (but went to college OOS)

ECs

3 years in nursing home (400 hours)
1.5 years hospice (120 hours)
2 years free clinic (200 hours)
1.5 years in food pantry (200 hours)
1.5 years tutoring low income children (60 hours)
1 year research (no pubs/posters)
70 hours shadowing EM physician

I think my lors are good.

I wasn't expecting to score so high on the mcat. I told myself I would not retake if I got at least a 508.

I am looking to apply this upcoming cycle.

Please let me know if I posted this in the wrong place, thank you

 

[spiderqueen]

OP, you are like me. Check my MDApps for my stats and my list. I had less love from schools than I would have hoped for, but I am happy with how the cycle turned out. My list was a bit top heavy, and you may find a WAMC thread that I made earlier in the year that Goro also commented on IIRC.

Goro's list is golden.

 

[Cyberdyne 101]

As Goro, pointed out, it's better to know if you have an upward gpa trend because a few of the top 25 schools reward reinvention.

 

[LuluLovesMe]

Jesus Christ that's a high MCAT.

Apply to a lot of mid tiers and throw in 3-4 low tiers and 3-4 upper tiers. Have very good reasons for selecting your 6-8 safeties+reaches because they will both need a good reason to interview you.

@Goro you don't think your list is maybe aiming a bit too low? My experience with the same GPA and a slightly lower MCAT is that lower tier schools really give me no love at all.

 

[Goro]

Yeah, but you had a special consideration, Lulu.

The OP'S sGPA is concerning. Is it due to trouble with the sciences, being lazy, or something else?

Jesus Christ that's a high MCAT.

Apply to a lot of mid tiers and throw in 3-4 low tiers and 3-4 upper tiers. Have very good reasons for selecting your 6-8 safeties+reaches because they will both need a good reason to interview you.

@Goro you don't think your list is maybe aiming a bit too low? My experience with the same GPA and a slightly lower MCAT is that lower tier schools really give me no love at all.

 

[ElanaSilogram]

Holy MCAT, Batman! Is that like a 41/42? You're in a tough situation with that split but you still definitely have a chance. I am a CA resident in a similar situation this cycle (my MCAT was a bit lower and GPA just a smidgen higher) and things are shaping up ok. Make sure you apply broadly and try to pick schools that actually make sense for the picture painted by your app, not just your stats. Here are my remaining thoughts:

1) I think part of the reason I didn't get much love from the lower/mid tiers may have been "resource management" coupled with not having a good reason to be drawn to the specific programs. If your MCAT is 95th percentile, make sure have a dang good reason to apply there and articulate your interest well. ESPECIALLY if you apply to Davis/Irvine (and even moreso for Riverside).

2) I was 10th percentile or lower GPA (c and s) at half of the schools that invited me to interview. Honestly I wish I'd applied to a few more top 20's. (If I'd used Wedgedawg's Applicant rating system as a guide, I probably would've cast a less bottom-heavy net).

3) Submit your secondaries frickin early; you're going to want every advantage you can get. Prewrite for the schools that auto-send secondaries (basically all but the UCs and Vandy and maybe Duke?) instead of waiting around for your AMCAS is verified.

4) Still be prepared for crapshoot results in spite of all this strategy.

Good luck!

 

[Cyberdyne 101]

Yeah that mcat is insane. Congrats OP! I hope things work out for you!

 

[Cawolf]

If you need some OOS public schools that may be friendly to you, I would consider Iowa, Colorado, and Arizona.

 

[WedgeDawg]

moving to WAMC

 

[baratheonfire]

Hello! I would like some help constructing a school list. I have read that aiming for schools where your mcat and gpa are at the median would be a good start. However I can't find any schools where I match that criteria.

MCAT- 525 (131/132/131/131)
GPA- 3.54 and 3.43s

CA resident (but went to college OOS)

ECs

3 years in nursing home (400 hours)
1.5 years hospice (120 hours)
2 years free clinic (200 hours)
1.5 years in food pantry (200 hours)
1.5 years tutoring low income children (60 hours)
1 year research (no pubs/posters)
70 hours shadowing EM physician

I think my lors are good.

I wasn't expecting to score so high on the mcat. I told myself I would not retake if I got at least a 508.

I am looking to apply this upcoming cycle.

Please let me know if I posted this in the wrong place, thank you

Yo dude how long did you study and what materials did you use

OP, you are like me. Check my MDApps for my stats and my list. I had less love from schools than I would have hoped for, but I am happy with how the cycle turned out. My list was a bit top heavy, and you may find a WAMC thread that I made earlier in the year that Goro also commented on IIRC.

Goro's list is golden.

>3.7 gpa
>you are like me
wat

 

[heysnow]

Hi all thanks for the input! I didn't calculate my year by year GPAs yet but its mainly a terrible freshman year bringing me down. I, unfortunately, did get many B+s my soph and junior year though so there is a slight upward trend. My senior year I got mostly As/A-s so my last year for sure I have a gpa of 3.7-8.

It was mostly due to poor choices and not prioritizing school work.

@Goro is this an ok upward trend?

@ElanaSilogram congrats on getting accepted! what were your exact GPAs/MCAT and where did you interview and get accepted?

@spiderqueen I wish I had a 3.7/3.6s...my GPAs are well below the median :/

I will post my list shortly!

 

[heysnow]

Yo dude how long did you study and what materials did you use


>3.7 gpa
>you are like me
wat

I studied 4-5 months and used Kaplan, EK and PR for the P/S section. I also consulted Khan Academy. I used the official AAMC practice test in addition to the EK, Kaplan and PR practice tests. I found doing lots of practice tests helped a lot. Let me know if you have anymore specific questions. Good luck!!

 

[heysnow]

U VM
Case
Mayo
Miami
St. Louis
Albany
Albert Einstein
Rochester
Rush
UConn
Loyola
Howard
Meharry
Northeast Ohio
Quinnipiac
Rosy Franklin
BU
Hofstra
NYMC
VCU
Wash U
Western Michigan
EVMS
Wake Forest
Jefferson
Temple
Drexel
Creighton
George Washington
Emory
Virginia Tech
Mt. Sinai
NYU
Columbia
USC (south Carolina)
Wayne State
Hawaii
Oakland Beaumont
USC/Keck
Tulane
TCMC
Toledo
Stanford
Tufts
U Pitt
Loyola
UCD
UCI
UCSD
UCLA
SUNY Stony Brook
SUNY Downstate
UIC
U Iowa
U Colorado
U Arizona
Georgetown
Cincinatti

Western
Touro-CA
AZCOM
CCOM
DMU
KCUMB

so this is my list. I definitely am looking to cut. I used most of Goro's suggestions but want to make sure to apply broadly. I prefer MD but am certainly open to DO. please let me know what you all think!

 

[GrapesofRath]

List as you can imagine is way too long. Here is how I might go about cutting it down.

Get rid of UCONN, Howard, Meharry, NEOMED and Hawaii for staters due to strong IS bias or being HBMCs. A number of these lower tier schools you have on your list like Rush, G-town, GW, Loyola, NYMC, Drexel, Temple, Creighton amongst others historically do not interview many people who hit 40+ equivalent on the MCAT. The yield on it is just very low, furthermore alot of them have missions to service which Im not sure you really fit. Your list is way too long as is, those are the types of schools I would also look to drop. You dont need DO programs, just a well refined MD list of schools most likely to interview you and I think youll be fine.

There a number of schools I think would be good candidates for your list such as Case, Miami, St Louis, Einstein, Rochester, Boston U, Hofstra, WashU, Wake, Jefferson, Emory, Keck, Pitt, some of the UCs, Tufts, Stony Brook, UIC, Iowa, VCU, U of Arizona and Cincinnati. Couple others worth consideration are Duke, Medical College of Wisconsin Dartmouth and Ohio State. I listed alot of schools there, you could even cut it down a bit more from that if you really desired.

 

[Goro]

It is indeed.

Hi all thanks for the input! I didn't calculate my year by year GPAs yet but its mainly a terrible freshman year bringing me down. I, unfortunately, did get many B+s my soph and junior year though so there is a slight upward trend. My senior year I got mostly As/A-s so my last year for sure I have a gpa of 3.7-8.

@Goro is this an ok upward trend?


Delete the following. Given that your GPA is under the 10th %ile for a number of these schools, even with an upward trend, I think it's best to be conservative. Va Tech is hard for OOsers. Agree with the post above that you have too many OOS state schools, which prefer the home team.


UConn
Northeast Ohio
Wash U
Virginia Tech
Mt. Sinai
NYU
Columbia
USC (south Carolina)
Wayne State
Hawaii
TCMC
Toledo (Maybe)
U Pitt



ADD any state school where you went to university.