Need help selecting schools and a reality check

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asoronow

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I really need a more comprehensive list of schools but I'm not sure what range I should be looking in based on my stats and ECs. I know I want to apply to all my state schools but beyond that I'm not too sure. WARS tells me I should only apply to DO schools (E tier). I really hope that's not the case but if it is I just need someone to give it to me straight.

Stats
cGPA: 3.60; sGPA: 3.37
MCAT: 510 (C/P 125, CARS 129, B/B 129, P/S 127)

Residence
State: CA Resident
US Citizen: Yes

Ethnicity
White

Undergraduate
Low tier UC, Biomolecular Engineering Major

Clinical Experience
~100 hours working in free clinic, assisting as a translator for Spanish speakers, taking BP, weight, and height, lead volunteer (trained all new recruits), ran the registration desk. Clinic operations suspended by COVID-19.

Research Experience
~ 2000 hours (2 years), neuroscience research in mice, preforming surgeries and histology. Mid-author position on manuscript in progress. Publication by application time in a mid-tier journal.

Shadowing
None yet. Delayed extremely by COVID-19 lockdowns. Hopefully in March, shadowing emergency medicine physician (~40 hours).

Non-clinical volunteering
~ 100 hours, various online opportunities, mainly tutoring free for K-12

Other ECs
Lead Application Developer at a small startup (2 years), I've been working on their flagship product for a while now. I transitioned to leading a small team working on a completely new project this past year (~300 hours).

Other Info
Working hard on maintaining my upward trend (3.35 cGPA my freshman year) especially in the sciences. Hopefully increasing both my sGPA and cGPA by another half point by application time.

Schools I'm Interested In
UC Davis
UC Irvine
UC Los Angeles
UC Riverside
UC San Diego
UC San Fransisco

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You could add these schools to your list:
California University
TCU-UNT
NOVA MD
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
George Washington
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Penn State
Seton Hall
New York Medical College
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
Medical College Wisconsin
You should also apply broadly to DO schools and I suggest these:
WESTERN
TUCOM-CA
TUNCOM
AZCOM
KCU-COM
ATSU-KCOM
DMU-COM
PCOM (all schools)
LECOM (all schools)
Touro-NY
MU-COM
ACOM
CUSOM
VCOM (all schools except Monroe)
 
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You could add these schools to your list:
California University
TCU-UNT
NOVA MD
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
George Washington
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Penn State
Seton Hall
New York Medical College
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
Medical College Wisconsin
You should also apply broadly to DO schools and I suggest these:
WESTERN
TUCOM-CA
TUNCOM
AZCOM
KCU-COM
ATSU-KCOM
DMU-COM
PCOM (all schools)
LECOM (all schools)
Touro-NY
MU-COM
ACOM
CUSOM
VCOM (all schools except Monroe)
Thank you that's exactly what I was looking for. Do you think I have fair chances at a MD school or below average? I ask since you suggested I apply broad to DO.

Edit: Grammar
 
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Thank you that's exactly what I was looking for. Do you think I have fair chances at a MD school or below average? I ask since you suggested I apply broad to DO.

Edit: Grammar
The GPA-MCAT grid shows you have ~60% chance for a MD acceptance.
 
Your ECs are really lacking. You should add 150+ hours to your clinical experiences (direct patient contact), at least 150+ hours to your nonclinical volunteering. Focus on working with the unserved/underserved in your community. Get off campus and out of your comfort zone. And of course the shadowing. Find a primary care doc to shadow. You only need around 50 hours of shadowing. Your MCAT is about average , your cGPA is a bit below average for MD matriculated students but your sGPA is very much below average. If you want to be a doctor you need to apply to DO schools, but only if you’ll attend if accepted.
 
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The GPA-MCAT grid shows you have ~60% chance for a MD acceptance.
While this is certainly true, your GPA and MCAT (3.60, 510) are both the minimum values for those two categories and your real odds are likely a bit lower - not to mention a more modest sGPA along with the issues CA residents have with applying to IS schools. Are you including all of your engineering courses in your sGPA? AMCAS has some different rules re: which engineering courses qualify as BCPM and if you have some upper-tier engineering coursework dragging your sGPA down you might be in luck. I would also recommend beefing up both your non-clinical and clinical volunteering over the next 6-7 months before you submit, maybe 100-200+ more hours in both domains.
 
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While this is certainly true, your GPA and MCAT (3.60, 510) are both the minimum values for those two categories and your real odds are likely a bit lower - not to mention a more modest sGPA along with the issues CA residents have with applying to IS schools. Are you including all of your engineering courses in your sGPA? AMCAS has some different rules re: which engineering courses qualify as BCPM and if you have some upper-tier engineering coursework dragging your sGPA down you might be in luck. I would also recommend beefing up both your non-clinical and clinical volunteering over the next 6-7 months before you submit, maybe 100-200+ more hours in both domains.

Ah ok that's a big mistake on my part was miscalculating my sGPA. I just reworked it without the engineering and comp sci course work and it comes out to 3.48 which is better. I understand I'm at the edge of what is a passable candidate which is why I made this post to get some tough opinions. Beefing up my volunteering is where I'm at right now.

Your ECs are really lacking. You should add 150+ hours to your clinical experiences (direct patient contact), at least 150+ hours to your nonclinical volunteering. Focus on working with the unserved/underserved in your community. Get off campus and out of your comfort zone. And of course the shadowing. Find a primary care doc to shadow. You only need around 50 hours of shadowing. Your MCAT is about average , your cGPA is a bit below average for MD matriculated students but your sGPA is very much below average. If you want to be a doctor you need to apply to DO schools, but only if you’ll attend if accepted.

I'm in the process of searching for more clinical experience right now. Shadowing is definitely my top priority for now as it's completely missing. The free clinic is my only underserved experience and I see now that really stands out thank you. I need to do more outreach and work in the community I'm living in. COVID has just made things hard but that's no excuse, y'all are motivating me to do more. Thanks.
 
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