Non-Trad/Reinvention Help. What schools should I go for?

[Mikiras]

[Deleted]

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[Dr Meow]

With those stats, you can easily get any DO.
Maybe someone else knows your chances for MD. I think you can get MD as well.
Well, I say apply to at least 40 or so schools. Apply to more than 10 DO and 30 MD.

For DO, apply to some from every tier as your backup (That you'd be willing to go to).
1. ARCOM (New)
2. ACOM
3. CUSOM (New)
4. LECOM (Erie/Bradenton)
5. DMUCOM (high tier)
6. KCUCOM
7. MSUCOM (Expensive)
8. PCOM (high tier DO)
9. RowanSOM (high tier DO)
10. VCOM (mid tier)

Not sure for MD, but I would also do a tiered approach with your case favoring more lower tier schools

1. Howard (Definitely include ANY african-american favoring schools on your list)
2. EVMS (Lower tier MD)
3. CNU (Low tier MD)
4. Wayne State
etc

 

[GreenDuck12]

Based off the AAMC data, your stats are within range for MD but nothing is guaranteed. Link to AAMC data here: https://www.aamc.org/system/files/2020-10/2020_FACTS_Table_A-18.pdf

 

[Mikiras]

With those stats, you can easily get any DO.
Maybe someone else knows your chances for MD. I think you can get MD as well.
Well, I say apply to at least 40 or so schools. Apply to more than 10 DO and 30 MD.

For DO, apply to some from every tier as your backup (That you'd be willing to go to).
1. ARCOM (New)
2. ACOM
3. CUSOM (New)
4. LECOM (Erie/Bradenton)
5. DMUCOM (high tier)
6. KCUCOM
7. MSUCOM (Expensive)
8. PCOM (high tier DO)
9. RowanSOM (high tier DO)
10. VCOM (mid tier)

Not sure for MD, but I would also do a tiered approach with your case favoring more lower tier schools

1. Howard (Definitely include ANY african-american favoring schools on your list)
2. EVMS (Lower tier MD)
3. CNU (Low tier MD)
4. Wayne State
etc

Thanks for the advice. I definitely plan to apply DO but am unsure which schools to apply to for DO even less so than MD schools. I have a list of about 20 MD schools and want to create a list of 10 DO schools. I can't afford any more than that so I'm trying to be extremely selective with the list.

 

[Dr Meow]

It'll be expensive, but getting into med school, you'll need every chance you can get. Don't skimp. Better to have more acceptances than you need than get nothing and waste time (unless a person has a chance to go MD if an extra year is spent improving app). In your case, I think you've already done as much you can to maximize your app in your situation so not getting in this cycle, you'd only be wasting time. Therefore, your goal should be to get in this cycle no matter what. You have a super good chance of getting in. Don't hold back by limiting your number of applications.

I sent around 55 applications. Around 30 MD in 2019 (ZERO interviews). Then 25 DO in 2020 (3 interviews). Especially if you're non-trad, some schools sent secondaries which I realized later that I didn't qualify for (so I couldn't finish the secondary) so send more primaries than you need. I added more schools after a friend told me not to hold back. And he was right. My one acceptance came from the extra schools after he told me that.
However your stats are much better than mine so maybe it'll be easier for you.

There aren't many DO schools, only 37 so it'll be easier to pick from. And most DO schools don't care where you're from so there's not as much in-state favorability to worry about that you get with MD schools. With DO, the main concern is new vs established and cost. Some schools like CCOM while good, often does not justify the cost.

With MD schools, you need to check the percentage of OOS applicants. Many schools don't want outsiders so don't waste time applying to those. Then you want to check the founding date. Separate out old and new schools. Applying a bunch of new schools as backup. Then, you want to applying to a bunch of schools where your stats are higher than the average. And then add schools where your stats match the average. If you want to save money, then don't bother applying to schools where your stats are lower than average. Use the MSAR tool to check school stats.

And if you end up getting one acceptance, take it no matter what it is.
Afterall, you wouldn't have sent the application unless you were willing to take it.

 

[Mikiras]

Especially if you're non-trad, some schools sent secondaries which I realized later that I didn't qualify for (so I couldn't finish the secondary) so send more primaries than you neneedt.

Can you elaborate a bit further on this? What didn't you qualify for as non-traditional?

 

[Faha]

Where is your state of residence ?

 

[Dr Meow]

If I recall, mainly letters of recommendation. I've been out of college for so long that none of my professors remember me. And some schools REQUIRE letters from past professors.

 

[esob]

Downward trends in GPA can adversely impact your application depending on who is reviewing it. My advice, and what I did, was utilize the MSAR data for schools to see which schools historically had the largest percentage of non-trads. That can change over time so analyzing the current data is a pragmatic approach to answering your question.

 

[Mikiras]

Where is your state of residence ?

I'm in Illinois

 

[Mikiras]

Downward trends in GPA can adversely impact your application depending on who is reviewing it. My advice, and what I did, was utilize the MSAR data for schools to see which schools historically had the largest percentage of non-trads. That can change over time so analyzing the current data is a pragmatic approach to answering your question.

Yeah the downward trend is terrible. Nothing I can do about it except hope my narrative explains why/ how it happened. For looking at schools with high percent of non-trads, what would you consider a high percentage? 25%? Greater?

 

[Goro]

Hi everyone,

This is my first post here and I am looking for some guidance on school lists. I've seen @Goro list for reinvention and am wondering which of those schools I would be an okay candidate for.
Here's a little about me:
I had a strong 4.0 GPA my first two years of undergrad. I transferred schools to go back home and my first semester at my new school was great. Then, my mom-in-law (I lived with her and my fiance) who was the primary provider lost her job due to an injury. We didn't know at the time that she was behind on the mortgage and utilities by months. My fiance and I stepped up to shoulder the financial burden and I had to work full-time (often working more than 40 hours/week at multiple jobs) while also attending school full-time. Things got really bad at home with us being unable to pay the mortgage and all of the utilities and there were times when we had no water, lights, heating, etc. This took a toll on my GPA because it was just damn hard to do it all. My GPA went from a 4.0 to a 3.48 cGPA and a 3.2ish sGPA. I spent a year just working at an optometry practice after graduating and decided to pursue a Master's degree because I honestly wasn't sure if I was going to get into medical school. My MS is in bio and my GPA is a 3.9. I took the MCAT and scored a 511 (125/129/129/128).

For ECs and activities (2013-present)

• I have over 2k hours of paid clinical experience as a scribe/assistant for an ophthalmologist
• 2k hours as an optometric technician (did a lot with optometric patients and counted this as clinical only because it led to working with the ophthalmologist)
• 1k hours as a tutor
• 300 hours as a crisis counselor for crisis text line
• 40 hours of shadowing at a mobile clinic
• EMT certified with 56 hours of shadowing (also contributed to me getting the job as a scribe/medical assistant)
• 9k hours in retail (worked full-time 30-50 hours/week from 2015-2021, averaged it as 35 hours/week; some retail hours overlap with opt tech hours as I was trained as an optician as well and would work both jobs when necessary)
• 600 hours of research
• Miscellaneous ECs in marching band, dance camps, mentorship, etc.

I am URM (African-American and Latina) and a lot of my ECs, volunteering, mentorship, and tutoring have been for underserved and disadvantaged populations. I grew up disadvantaged so my focus is on serving those types of communities.

Target the schools on my reinvention list as well as the HBCs. You're in very good shape.

 

[esob]

Yeah the downward trend is terrible. Nothing I can do about it except hope my narrative explains why/ how it happened. For looking at schools with high percent of non-trads, what would you consider a high percentage? 25%? Greater?

I didn't necessarily focus on the percentage being a threshold, but rather where they were in the spectrum of my MCAT/GPA and % of non-trads. I was also over 40 so those schools w/ at least one student who was over 40 was something I targeted. I think some people have a hard cutoff in their mind of "how old is too old" and the data bears that out.

Overall, you can never go wrong following Goro's list. In fact, when I crunched the numbers during my cycle it was pretty spot on. So, you can do the work yourself if you are a data nerd like me, but if you lack the time or inclination, just follow Goro's list.

 

[Faha]

I'm in Illinois

I suggest these schools with your stats:
U Illinois
Southern Illinois
Loyola
Rush
Rosalind Franklin
Howard
Meharry
Morehouse
UCLA Drew
Medical College Wisconsin
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
St. Louis
Creighton
TCU-UNT
Tulane
Emory
Miami
Eastern Virginia
Georgetown
George Washington
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Pittsburgh
Einstein
New York Medical College
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Dartmouth
Brown
Boston University
Tufts
Ohio State

 

[Mikiras]

Thank you to everyone who posted, this has really broadened my list and gave me some more schools to research and consider. I appreciate it.