In need of some opinions, please and Ty!

[Andrew7793]

Hi All,

I will be applying to several schools, not too top tier, but ones I think I might stand a chance (based off of MSAR Stats). I haven't really discussed my credentials with many people, so I am hoping to get some honest feedback here.

I am currently pursuing an MS degree from XX School of Med (prefer not naming). Courses that I have been taking are the same that 1st and 2nd year med students take. I received a decent gpa, 3.54 ( A-'s and a B+ in biochemistry). I am hoping that the med school classes I have been taking will hold some wait, especially since I did well. I'll need to convey that somehow in my applications.

I will now list the rest of my credentials:

- Undergraduate GPA was a 3.45, with a sGPA of 3.33
- 2 years of extensive research in microbial genetics, with 2 publications in decent journals
- Chemistry club treasurer for 2 years with a good amount of demo's that we held for various events (lots of fun)
- Hospice volunteer for just over 2 years, with individual patient care and event volunteering for the organization
- A volunteer bike mechanic for approximately half a year at the campus bike shop for students
- 2 summers of shadowing a cardiologist
- For this spring of 2016, I will continue to with some hospital volunteering, which will be about a few days a week for the next 5 months
- Assistant Teaching assistant for microbiology lab (1 semester of) at my undergraduate institution
- Mentorship and training for new-comers at my old lab
- 4 poster presentations for ASM and my undergraduate symposium
-** still need to take the MCAT, which will be June 2016 (nervous!)
- Letters will be from: research PI, dean of graduate admissions at my undergrad, new mentor in my MS program, and cardiologist that I shadowed
- I have 3 C's, 2 in general chem and 1 in anatomy lab. I finished with B's in Ochem, which I am hoping can make up for gen chem. As for anatomy Lab, there is no excuse, only underestimating the load.

These are the most important things that I have done the past 4-5 years. I have learned that I love to instill confidence, empowerment and hope in others; these are the things that I plan on conveying in my applications. I will also share my journey through school, how I felt I had to do a lot of catching up in college as compared to my colleagues and that pursuing medicine has given me a sense of worth and I would want nothing more in life than to share my knowledge and help others during their times of distress! ~~Just a tid bit of my story ~~

Anyhow, I tried to be brief, but this is pretty much all of the important things

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[Goro]

You're competitive! let's see your list.

 

[WedgeDawg]

What's your school list?

Actually, it might be better for you to take the MCAT and then come up with a school list.

 

[Andrew7793]

I was thinking the same! @WedgeDawg


Thank you @Goro ! fyi, I am from Arizona and and a California native... I'm hoping that my ties to CA will help me out.
I am open to any other school suggestions as well...

My school list is still very tentative but here they are:



Albany medical college
Boston University
Chicago Med at Rosalind
Cooper Med of Rowan Uni
Drexel Uni
George Washington Uni
LSU
Oregon Health & Science Uni
Penn State
Tulane SOM
U of A tucson
U of A pheonix
UC Davis
Uni of colorado SOM
Uni of illinois college of med
UC riverside
UCLA
State University of New York Upstate med uni
Sidney Kimmel Medical College
University of Washington
Loyola University Chicago Stritch
USC Keck SOM
Michigan State Univ college of med
Iowa state carver college
New York Medical college in Valhalla
Southern Illinois Univ SOM
The commonwealth medical college

 

[WedgeDawg]

I think it would be best to focus on studying for your MCAT now and take a few practice tests close to the time that you're going to take the real thing. Then, erring conservatively, create a school list based on your practice scores, which will be a lot more useful than trying to critique a school list now. MCAT is going to be a huge factor.

 

[candbgirl]

Scratch Southern Illinois. They have pretty specific residency parameters and Cali is way out of bounds. Uof Illinois is hella expensive for OOS so consider that too unless you have lots of money. Did you look at OOS stats when you were using the MSAR? Come back when you have your MCAT score! Good luck.

 

[Andrew7793]

Okay, sounds good! Thank's for your time @WedgeDawg

 

[Andrew7793]

@candbgirl I have been sifting through those In&OOS stats... I have a lot of narrowing down to do. Thank you and I will be back!!

 

[Goro]

[CA is the worst state for an IS resident, alas.

MCAT will make or break you, but I recommend the below: If you have MSAR, go back and pay very careful attention to the Acceptance Information pages. Many of the schools on your list were OOS public schools and these heavily favor the home team.


Albany medical college
Chicago Med at Rosalind
Drexel Uni
George Washington Uni
Tulane SOM
UC Davis
UC riverside (ONLY if you're from the Inland Empire)
Sidney Kimmel Medical College
Loyola University Chicago Stritch
New York Medical college in Valhalla
Oakland B
Western MI
Creighton
Gtown
U WV
U VT
VCU
EVMS
Wake Forest
Any DO school

 

[darkeon]

(Maybe drop the profile picture for privacy issues) But great work dude!!

 

[GrapesofRath]

There's no point making a school list until your SMP is finished and you have those final grades and until you've taken your MCAT.

Your best odds will probably lie with

A) the host program of your SMP depending on which school it is

B) where the grads of your SMP program tend to have the most success applying to and where your SMP performance will likely get most noticed and get the most consideration. You should be able to get a rough idea of this based off talking to your advisors and looking at this type of data your SMP program has and keeps track of

C) if you can establish residency in the state of your SMP program and live there next year it'll be in your best interest to do so if this can easily be pulled off( ie if we are talking about a state like Ohio or Louisiana). That will give you state programs to apply to which as a borderline applicant you really want and don't have really in CA

D) aim for 511+ on the mcat. The higher the better particularly if a 3.54 isn't all that super high of a GPA for your particular SMP. You should be able to know what type of gpa people in your program who get into U.S. MD schools typically have.

 

[Andrew7793]

@Goro Thank you for your feedback! I appreciate it.

@darkeon Thank you very much!!

@GrapesofRath I appreciate your feedback! I hope to finish with greater than a 3.7 after I am finished with my program (Those A-'s are killers). I will definitely try to dig up GPAs of previous years. I appreciate your time!!