Med School List Help for 3.9 GPA/509 MCAT

[daisy128]

I'm applying to med school this cycle and would appreciate help adding schools to my official list!

Stats
- CA Resident
- 3.9 overall GPA, 3.83 science GPA
- 509 MCAT
- plenty of clinical volunteer work, shadowing experience, research experience, club/organization leadership, and other extra-curriculars to supplement my application and talk about during interviews

Here are the schools that I know I will be applying to for sure:

Med School List

Targets
- UC Davis
- UC Riverside
- University of Arizona
- George Washington
- Rosalind Franklin
- Drexel
- Penn State
- Oakland
- Creighton
- Rush
- Loyola
- Vermont
- Albany
- NY Medical College
- Kimmel at Jefferson
- Temple
- Western Michigan Stryker

Reaches (applying to most of these because I'm a CA resident)
- UCLA
- UCSF (big reach, I know...)
- UC Irvine
- UC San Diego
- USC Keck
- Georgetown

That totals 23 medical schools. I'm hoping to choose about 12 more from the below list to total about 35 schools. If you guys could help me pick them from this below list, I would appreciate it!

Med School List - need help choosing schools from this list!
- University of Utah
- Florida International University
- Central Michigan
- Michigan State
- SUNY Buffalo
- Toledo
- Commonwealth Medical College
- Medical College of Wisconsin
- Quinnipiac
- University of Central Florida
- Wayne State
- Wake Forest
- OHSU
- St. Louis University
- University of Miami
- Albert Einstein
- Stony Brook
- Tulane
- SUNY Upstate
- SUNY Downstate
- University of Illinois
- Tufts
- Dartmouth (a reach?)
- University of Nevada
- University of Rochester
- University of North Carolina
- University of Minnesota
- University of Colorado
- Hawaii (should I not apply since have no ties to the state?)
- Alpert at Brown University (a reach?)
- BU (a reach?)

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[Goro]

Here is a more realistic list:


- UC Davis
- UC Riverside (ONLY if you're from the Inland Empire)
UCI
- George Washington
- Rosalind Franklin
- Drexel
- Oakland
- Creighton
- Rush
- Loyola
- Vermont
- Albany
- NY Medical College
- Kimmel at Jefferson
- Temple
EVMS
VCU
- Georgetown
- Medical College of Wisconsin
- Quinnipiac
- Wake Forest
- St. Louis University
- University of Miami
- Tulane
- Tufts
- University of Rochester
Dartmouth
MCW
ANY DO school, starting with Western, TUNCOM and Touro-CA

 

[daisy128]

Here is a more realistic list:


- UC Davis
- UC Riverside (ONLY if you're from the Inland Empire)
UCI
- George Washington
- Rosalind Franklin
- Drexel
- Oakland
- Creighton
- Rush
- Loyola
- Vermont
- Albany
- NY Medical College
- Kimmel at Jefferson
- Temple
EVMS
VCU
- Georgetown
- Medical College of Wisconsin
- Quinnipiac
- Wake Forest
- St. Louis University
- University of Miami
- Tulane
- Tufts
- University of Rochester
Dartmouth
MCW
ANY DO school, starting with Western, TUNCOM and Touro-CA

Thanks so much for the reduced list, @Goro! I really appreciate it! I'll also look into some DO schools like you suggested.

Just some questions I had about some of the schools:

1. I've heard and read that UC Riverside prefers Inland Empire residents like you mentioned; does that mean if I'm not from that county that I have no shot of getting in? Just asking because my MCAT score doesn't match up with most of the CA schools, and I'd like to apply to as many CA schools that I have a shot at in hopes of staying in-state.

2. Could I ask why you took off Arizona, Penn State, and Stryker from my original list? Arizona and Penn State were two of my top choices (and I know a couple people who go to Stryker who like it there) so I was just wondering if you had any specific reasons for leaving these three off?

3. On a side note, do you not think Utah, OHSU, Buffalo, Einstein, or Nevada would be good choices? Utah and OHSU are in nice areas (but have heard mixed reviews about their OOS friendliness) and are relatively close to home state. I've heard mixed reviews on Buffalo's OOS friendliness as well. Nevada's also close to CA, but again not sure about its OOS friendliness. If you have any info on these schools, I would really appreciate it! 🙂

 

[Goro]

UCR has a mandate to accept people from the area. Best to inquire int he school-specific thread in any other CA natives made it into there. Keep in mind that CA is a net exporter of medical students.

1. I've heard and read that UC Riverside prefers Inland Empire residents like you mentioned; does that mean if I'm not from that county that I have no shot of getting in? Just asking because my MCAT score doesn't match up with most of the CA schools, and I'd like to apply to as many CA schools that I have a shot at in hopes of staying in-state.

Your MCAT score. State schools favor the home team, and one has to be > avg. Western MI only interviews 6% of OOser's so the game is up for this new school. It's been "discovered". Penn State is private (despite the name) but I can never, ever recommend it because their parent body protected a child molester for > 20 years!

2. Could I ask why you took off Arizona, Penn State, and Stryker from my original list? Arizona and Penn State were two of my top choices (and I know a couple people who go to Stryker who like it there) so I was just wondering if you had any specific reasons for leaving these three off?

See #2. Look at the Acceptance Information pages of MSAR Online to see how difficult it is for OOSers to get into these states.

3. On a side note, do you not think Utah, OHSU, Buffalo, Einstein, or Nevada would be good choices? Utah and OHSU are in nice areas (but have heard mixed reviews about their OOS friendliness) and are relatively close to home state. I've heard mixed reviews on Buffalo's OOS friendliness as well. Nevada's also close to CA, but again not sure about its OOS friendliness. If you have any info on these schools, I would really appreciate it! 🙂[/QUOTE]