Non-trad, 3.5 GPA, 516 MCAT. Not sure where to start with school list!

[LoveNSB]

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cGPA and sGPA: both around 3.55
MCAT: 516 (126/130/132/128)
Clinical experience: 6000+(?) hours of employment as medical assistant in surgical subspecialty
Shadowing: 32 hours, includes primary care
Non-clinical volunteering: 52 hours split between American Cancer Society and a local animal shelter (haven't been volunteering due to COVID)
Research: probably about 1000 hours at a big name hospital, no pubs

Massachusetts resident

I will be applying for the 2021 cycle. Strongly favor staying in New England/northeast US for med school if possible, but obviously would go anywhere really. I'm not really sure how to approach making a school list. Is there like a general rule of thumb for picking schools? Like apply if stats are within X% of average? Also do you think it's worth my time to apply to DO schools?

So far I will definitely be applying to:
UMass Medical School
University of Vermont
Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine
University of Connecticut
Quinnipiac School of Medicine
Rutgers Robert Wood Johson School of Medicine
New York Medical College

 

[deleted1041819]

Hey! We have extremely similar stats and pretty different ECs, but maybe I can help. I'm in my second gap year out of undergrad.

For me, the limiting factor was GPA, so it will likely be the same for you. This spring, purchase the MSAR for the school-specific stats data. I basically added any school that had a 3.5x cGPA above its tenth percentile mark based on MSAR, and added a few reaches (i.e. schools with a tenth percentile of ~3.6) since a 516 was a stronger stat. Also, look at the in-state/out-of-state ratio for each school, as some are very OOS unfriendly so it's not worth your money.

I ended up applying to roughly 45 MD programs (no DO programs), which is overkill but I decided my application was at its peak and I don't have the funds to wait another year and reapply. So far I have had three M.D. interviews, one of which has turned into an acceptance (the school that I had the closest mission fit with, which is no surprise). I am also an ORM.

IDK how helpful that is, but it is my own humble experience so do with it what you will - good luck OP!

 

[Faha]

Rutgers accepts few non residents with no connection to the state. You could add these schools:
Tufts
Boston University
Albany
Rochester
Hofstra
Einstein
Seton Hall
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Penn State
George Washington
Georgetown
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
Oakland Beaumont
Western Michigan
Medical College Wisconsin
Loyola
Creighton
TCU-UNT
NOVA MD
Miami
Wake Forest

 

[LoveNSB]

Rutgers accepts few non residents with no connection to the state. You could add these schools:
Tufts
Boston University
Albany
Rochester
Hofstra
Einstein
Seton Hall
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Penn State
George Washington
Georgetown
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
Oakland Beaumont
Western Michigan
Medical College Wisconsin
Loyola
Creighton
TCU-UNT
NOVA MD
Miami
Wake Forest

Thanks for the suggestions. Do you think it would be wise to include a few DO schools?

 

[Faha]

Thanks for the suggestions. Do you think it would be wise to include a few DO schools?

Yes, and include UNECOM.

 

[LoveNSB]

@Faha I'm curious if you have any insight on this. I did not mention in my original post that I graduated in 2013, making my oldest pre-reqs from 2009. I didn't realize that prereqs "expire" at some schools and I'm kinda panicking because retaking 30+ credits or whatever it amounts to is not an option for me whatsoever. The premed advisor at my undergrad is making it sound like I'm screwed.

 

[Faha]

@Faha I'm curious if you have any insight on this. I did not mention in my original post that I graduated in 2013, making my oldest pre-reqs from 2009. I didn't realize that prereqs "expire" at some schools and I'm kinda panicking because retaking 30+ credits or whatever it amounts to is not an option for me whatsoever. The premed advisor at my undergrad is making it sound like I'm screwed.

You will need to check with each individual school and see what their policy is.