Low cGPA, higher sGPA, 3 MCAT retakes, non-trad, chances at MD?

[msmathteacher]

I think my experiences show I have a strong background working with underserved populations, and I would like to work with underserved populations in the future. I'm applying to DO and MD, but which MD schools should I be focusing on? As for DO, I'm applying to Western, PCOM, AZCOM, and LECOM. Not sure if there are any others (especially in urban settings) that I should be applying to. Thanks!

• Year in school: Graduated in 2015 (non-trad)
• Country/state of residence: NY
• Schools to which you are applying: Unsure yet. Would preferably like to go somewhere near Los Angeles (where I'm from) or NYC, but I know those are very difficult to get into. Would love insight on this.
• Major: Economics
• Cumulative GPA: 3.39 (3.18 / 3.14 / 3.18 / 3.51 / 3.79 postbac)
• Science GPA: 3.66 (3.00 / 3.70 / none / 4.00 / 3.79 postbac)
• Postbac GPA: 3.79 (all science prereqs except Gen Chem 1, which I got A- in undergrad)
• MCAT Scores: 503 (06/2018), 505 (08/2018), 510 (06/2020)
• Volunteering (clinical): 1800 hours
  • 1700: AmeriCorps - Health Educator @ Federally Qualified Health Center serving homeless families
  • 50: Rounded with cardiology unit at hospital, navigated them to next room and paged team members (nurse, etc) needed for next room
  • 50: Hospital volunteer
• Physician shadowing: I shadowed a lot in AmeriCorps and when I volunteered with cardiology unit, but not sure how to explain that. Just shadowing is 40 hours:
  • Emergency Medicine: 10 hours
  • Internal Medicine: 20 hours
  • Adolescent Medicine (Pediatrics): 10 hours
• Non-clinical volunteering: 1200 hours
  • White House Summer Intern - 450 hours
  • Site Director for free SAT program serving low-income students - 500 hours
  • Afterschool tutoring for low-income students - 250 hours
• Extracurricular activities: TFA Corps Member Leadership Fellowship, Fundraising Volunteer for college (still involved), Academic Peer Advisor at college, Transportation Advisory Committee at college
• Employment history:
  • Medical Scribe, outpatient for hematologist (October 2019 to present)
  • Teach For America (high school math teacher @ low-income school for 2 years)
  • Site Coordinator for summer reading camp for low-income students (3 months over summer)
• Immediate family members in medicine? (y/n): yes, sister in ob/gyn, mother in radiology, father in cardiology
• Specialty of interest: Pediatrics (maybe adolescent med), in underserved populations
• Graduate degrees: MS in Urban Education
• Interest in rural health (y/n): no

School List:

• NY: NYMC, SUNY Downstate, SUNY Upstate, Buffalo, Albany, Rochester, Hofstra/Northwell, Stony Brook, Einstein
• Philly area: Jefferson, Temple, Drexel, Cooper
• California: Loma Linda, California Northstate, California University of Science, Kaiser (reach, but I was Kaiser born and raised)
• Rush
• Rosalind Franklin
• Loyola
• Tulane
• University of Arizona
• Creighton
• Wright State
• Wayne State
• Quinnipiac
• Vermont
• Seton Hall
• George Washington
• NOVA MD
• Florida Atlantic
• Florida International
• Oakland Beaumont
• Medical College Wisconsin
• Hackensack
• Geisinger
• Meharry
• Howard

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[Faha]

Arizona, Cooper, Wright State accept very few non residents with your stats and no connection to the state. Howard and Meharry accept mainly African Americans or those with extensive service to that community. You could add these schools:
TCU-UNT
Penn State
Also apply to at least 8 DO schools and include NYITCOM and Touro-NY.

 

[msmathteacher]

Arizona, Cooper, Wright State accept very few non residents with your stats and no connection to the state. Howard and Meharry accept mainly African Americans or those with extensive service to that community. You could add these schools:
TCU-UNT
Penn State
Also apply to at least 8 DO schools and include NYITCOM and Touro-NY.

Thank you for your advice @Faha! I do have extensive service to the African American community, through college extracurriculars, TFA (two years), and AmeriCorps (one year)

 

[msmathteacher]

@Goro I would love your advice!

 

[msmathteacher]

@LizzyM I would appreciate your thoughts!

 

[Goro]

@Goro I would love your advice!

Keep the HBCs, including UCLA/Drew
All SUNYs
EVMS
U Miami
Jefferson
Drexel
Albany
Tufts
NYMC
Rush
Loyola
Rosy Franklin
Tulane
Wake
MCW
SLU
Creighton
Wayne State
Netter

Any DO program. I can't recommend Nova, Wm Carey, BCOM, ICOM and LUCOM, for different reasons. MSUCOM? Read up on Larry Nasser and you decide. LMU has an accreditation warning, which concerns me. CUHS is too new and appears to be too limited in rotations sites. UIW refuses to post their Boards scores, which is fishy.

 

[LizzyM]

@LizzyM I would appreciate your thoughts!

I don't do WAMC. My experience is very limited. I recommend WARS.

 

[msmathteacher]

Arizona, Cooper, Wright State accept very few non residents with your stats and no connection to the state. Howard and Meharry accept mainly African Americans or those with extensive service to that community. You could add these schools:
TCU-UNT
Penn State
Also apply to at least 8 DO schools and include NYITCOM and Touro-NY.

Hi! So I ended up getting interviews and acceptances at Cooper and Drexel, and ended up at Cooper. I would recommend adding Cooper if you're ever giving recommendations to students with lower stats, but a strong service background. I think they really valued my service background, which includes Teach For America, AmeriCorps, and other experiences. For more context, I was out of state for Cooper.

 

[MyOdyssey]

Hi! So I ended up getting interviews and acceptances at Cooper and Drexel, and ended up at Cooper. I would recommend adding Cooper if you're ever giving recommendations to students with lower stats, but a strong service background. I think they really valued my service background, which includes Teach For America, AmeriCorps, and other experiences. For more context, I was out of state for Cooper.

Congratulations. Well done.