iffy GPA good MCAT, CA res in need of advice

[CAwinger]

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Here is the quick and dirty of my stats:

3.57 cumm GPA

3.59 science

MCAT: 12V 14P 15B R

ECs: Research 1.5 years + 1 summer = good work no pubs but good LORs
Volunteering: ~1 year community clinic
Clinical Work: ~1 shadowing doctor (good LOR)
2 seperate internships in South America focusing on rural health, total 3 months

The good: MCAT, clinical eperience, research, upward trend in GPA from frosh
The iffy: my GPA, I know its pretty marginal. Also, I was never in any clubs or anything, hope thats not bad.

Im a CA resident. I want to go to a cali school. I always wanted UCSF, but that might be out. I'm applying to all the UCs and Cali Schools, UW, all Boston Schools, all Ny schools, All philly schools, all chicago schools. Big names like JH, Mayo, Harvard ive left off. Let me know what you guys think, should I apply to all these schools? Also, what are some really good safety schools (short of the carribean)

 

[CAwinger]

I guess what I'm really asking is: does my GPA completely rule me out from top schools, regardless of my other factors?

 

[MilkmanAl]

Your GPA isn't really iffy. It's just a little bit below average. It's well below average for top schools, though. Your MCAT score is phenomenal. I think you'll be competitive wherever you apply.

 

[abcabc1]

Your MCAT score is extremely high. Even the top schools don't receive that many applicants with scores of 41 (as there aren't that many to go around). You're competitive for any school in the country and, with an MCAT score of 41R, I doubt they'll even give your GPA a second thought. Your MCAT scores suggests that you'll do extremely well on Steps 1 (more importantly) and 2 of the USMLE. Step 1 is a major factor in obtaining Residencies and one of the benchmarks by which schools are judged. Any school will feel comfortable having you in its class.

 

[abcabc1]

To answer your question: you should ABSOLUTELY apply to all the 'big name' schools in the country. Harvard, JHU, UCSF, Columbia, Yale, Penn, WashU, etc. Whichever ones you're interested in attending.

You're competitive for any school, so you should apply to all California schools, a handful of Mid-Tier privates and then elite schools (mainly private). I don't think you need to apply to ALL Philly/NY/Chicago schools. Of this group, I recommend: Jefferson and Penn in Philly, Feinberg and Pritzker in Chicago and Columbia, Weill, Sinai and NYU in NY. AECOM is a very good school but it's deep in the Bronx. You'll almost certainly get into at least one of these schools, not to mention at least one of your state schools.

 

[cheesesteak22]

With a 41 on the MCAT, you will be strongly considered wherever you apply. Adcomms favor an MCAT score over a GPA whenever the two do not equate, e.g., if you had a 3.2 and a 37, they favor the MCAT score over GPA, likewise, if you have a 3.8 and a 27, they favor the 27 over your GPA. Your GPA is not marginal at all, it may not be stellar but it is well outweighed by your MCAT. You will be very competitive at the California schools, and will only be wasting money applying to all the schools you mentioned. Check out the school selection spread sheet, but as a safety school I would think BU, NYU, Siani, Case Western and maybe Tufts. On the spreadsheet you are given a high chance everywhere and a "go for it" aka, within their normal range for the top 7 schools, although without many great EC's washu and JH may be out.

 

[Phoenix.]

To answer your question: you should ABSOLUTELY apply to all the 'big name' schools in the country. Harvard, JHU, UCSF, Columbia, Yale, Penn, WashU, etc. Whichever ones you're interested in attending.

You're competitive for any school, so you should apply to all California schools, a handful of Mid-Tier privates and then elite schools (mainly private). I don't think you need to apply to ALL Philly/NY/Chicago schools. Of this group, I recommend: Jefferson and Penn in Philly, Feinberg and Pritzker in Chicago and Columbia, Weill, Sinai and NYU in NY. AECOM is a very good school but it's deep in the Bronx. You'll almost certainly get into at least one of these schools, not to mention at least one of your state schools.

All good advice above. And while it's not in Philly, you could add Pitt too.

 

[CAwinger]

How is Pitt regarded? I always thought of it as just a little bit below top tier schools, am I wrong? Also, of the Top tier schools, what schools are super big on ECs, I feel my ECs are good but not out of the ordinary