Mediocre Prior GPA, Help with School Selection

[MaybeNarcissus]

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Hey Gang!

I probably put this off for longer than I should have, but I still haven't decided what schools to apply for this upcoming cycle, mostly because I honestly don't really know how strong of an applicant I really am. I used the Wedgedawg weighted average, but it wasn't the most helpful as a non-trad. So I'm really hoping for some outside perspective on what level of school I can really aim for, all things considered.

Starting with my old uni work: In 2015 I graduated with several degrees, a cumulative GPA of 3.1, and enough credits that it is basically fixed at that point... forever. After I finally left school, I went off and got a CPA license and did public accounting until now. Unfortunately, I was not able to achieve any sense of spiritual wellness (nevermind the other types) there, as my responsibilities were misaligned with who I wanted to be as a person. I also didn't really want to pursue other opportunities in that field, so I quit and went back to school to pursue my original dream. Perfectly reasonable, I know.

Here comes the info dumpo. I just finished up the pre-reqs over the past year, with a GPA/sGPA of a 3.8 over 34 credit hours. This brought my overall cGPA to about 3.15, and sGPA to about 3.5, with a 522 on the MCAT. In terms of electives, I have about 300 hours of scribing, 250 hours of volunteering, 50 shadowing hours, and ZERO research experience. I have 2 strong LoRs from work/volunteering, and less in depth ones from recent profs. ORM in Maryland. Lastly, not sure if it's particularly relevant, but I am transgender and pretty much all of my volunteering is in LGBTQ+ outreach.

I've seen people saying research isn't as important for non-trads, but I'm still quite worried about it, especially combined with my weak GPA overall. Any and all feedback and/or advice is welcome. Thanks!

 

[Goro]

I suggest:
Columbia
Vandy
Dartmouth
BU
Duke
Pitt
Mayo
Mt Sinai
Keck (maybe)
Temple (maybe)
UCSF
EVMS
Hofstra
Emory
Jefferson
U VM
Miami
Drexel
Albany
Tufts
NYMC
TCU/UNT
Your state schools
Rush
Loyola
Rosy Franklin
Tulane
Wake
MCW
SLU
Creighton
Wayne State
Netter
NovaMD
NYU.LI
Any DO program. Include UNECOM if you’re from the NE, OSUCOM if you’re from the Plains states and PacNW if you’re from that region. I can't recommend ARCOM, RVU, Nova, 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. Avoid those new schools that haven't graduated a class yet, if at all possible.

 

[DocJanItor]

Hey Gang!

I probably put this off for longer than I should have, but I still haven't decided what schools to apply for this upcoming cycle, mostly because I honestly don't really know how strong of an applicant I really am. I used the Wedgedawg weighted average, but it wasn't the most helpful as a non-trad. So I'm really hoping for some outside perspective on what level of school I can really aim for, all things considered.

Starting with my old uni work: In 2015 I graduated with several degrees, a cumulative GPA of 3.1, and enough credits that it is basically fixed at that point... forever. After I finally left school, I went off and got a CPA license and did public accounting until now. Unfortunately, I was not able to achieve any sense of spiritual wellness (nevermind the other types) there, as my responsibilities were misaligned with who I wanted to be as a person. I also didn't really want to pursue other opportunities in that field, so I quit and went back to school to pursue my original dream. Perfectly reasonable, I know.

Here comes the info dumpo. I just finished up the pre-reqs over the past year, with a GPA/sGPA of a 3.8 over 34 credit hours. This brought my overall cGPA to about 3.15, and sGPA to about 3.5, with a 522 on the MCAT. In terms of electives, I have about 300 hours of scribing, 250 hours of volunteering, 50 shadowing hours, and ZERO research experience. I have 2 strong LoRs from work/volunteering, and less in depth ones from recent profs. ORM in Maryland. Lastly, not sure if it's particularly relevant, but I am transgender and pretty much all of my volunteering is in LGBTQ+ outreach.

I've seen people saying research isn't as important for non-trads, but I'm still quite worried about it, especially combined with my weak GPA overall. Any and all feedback and/or advice is welcome. Thanks!

Don't worry about research. Everyone knows that it's practically impossible to get research as a non-trad. Additionally, research is really only valued by certain institutions in deciding how to differentiate their top tier applicants. As long as you have a good story and meaningful activities to fill in the years, your application will be fine.