Nontrad applying under Disadvantaged status

[polyploidy516]

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hello all,

After taking several years off, I have finally decided to apply this year.

My stats are 3.43 cGPA + sGPA ( from a top 30 west coast school and postbac at a state school) with a 522 MCAT ( 40 old MCAT)

MY ecs are as follows:
2 years Molecular Genetics Research
2 year stem cell research ( 1 pub and was involved in the design and implementation of several other projects).
1 year clinical research involving impoverished children and health access
1 year teaching and mentorship to children who grew up in housing projects ( the center was next to/associated with several housing projects in the area)
1 year volunteering homeless shelter
1000 hours clinical experience at PregnancyPrevention/HIV/STD center.
strongly considering a Bioethics degree during year of application

7 LORS ( 3 research PI's, 3 profs, and 1 work experience--clinical experience)

I will also be applying as socioeconomically disadvantaged ( experienced homelessness/relied on food pantries in addition to spending part of my life in low income housing).

So far, my school list is as follows:

Harvard**
Stanford**
Columbia**
Downstate
Cornell
NYU
UCSF
UCLA
NYMC
SUNY Stonybrook
Pritzker
Miami
Penn
Yale
Pittsburgh
Jefferson

*** = dream schools/top choices. I would be grateful for any school on that list though.

I understand that my GPA is a weak part of my app; I struggled much throughout undergrad but my last 2 years plus a 2 year postbac were roughly 3.7-3.8+ with A's in upper division sciences ( Biophysics, Biochem, Physiology, etc). I also have several withdrawals ( dropped a semester due to a health crisis and several courses in my undergrad due to financial issues--worked 40 hours a week/parents experienced homelessless while I was in college so was super distracted during that time )

How would you rate my chances and how I should approach my application? I have spent multiple years crafting my ecs as I have an incredibly strong focus on the underserved/socioeconomically disadvantaged ( i tremendously empathize with them given my experiences).

Your help and clarification would be appreciated as my gpa is <3.5 despite a strong upward trend; this has left me especially concerned

Thank you <3

 

[Faha]

Where is your state of residence? Are you URM?

 

[polyploidy516]

My state of residence is ca. Does that affect my chances?

 

[Faha]

I suggest these schools with your stats
All your CA schools (except Northstate)
Case Western
Pittsburgh
Rochester
Washington University
St. Louis
Boston University
Tufts
Dartmouth
Brown
Hofstra
Einstein
Mount Sinai
NYU
Jefferson
Georgetown
Virginia Commonwealth
Miami
Tulane
Indiana
Ohio State
Illinois
West Virginia
Vermont
Arizona (both schools)
The difficulty you will have is that your GPA is far below the 10th percentile for schools such as Harvard, Columbia, Cornell and Penn. Your very high MCAT may not help you at schools where you are far above the 90th percentile since they may see you as someone unlikely to attend their school.

 

[polyploidy516]

I suggest these schools with your stats
All your CA schools (except Northstate)
Case Western
Pittsburgh
Rochester
Washington University
St. Louis
Boston University
Tufts
Dartmouth
Brown
Hofstra
Einstein
Mount Sinai
NYU
Jefferson
Georgetown
Virginia Commonwealth
Miami
Tulane
Indiana
Ohio State
Illinois
West Virginia
Vermont
Arizona (both schools)
The difficulty you will have is that your GPA is far below the 10th percentile for schools such as Harvard, Columbia, Cornell and Penn. Your very high MCAT may not help you at schools where you are far above the 90th percentile since they may see you as someone unlikely to attend their school.

Thank you for your help! I will definitely apply to those listed schools.

Regarding the schools that I fall below the 10%, do you think that the fact I did well in my postbac will be considered ( my postbac is in their 10-90% gpa despite the low overall)? I was thinking of taking more undergrad classes to raise my gpa to a 3.5 but I'm unfortunately running out of courses to take. Also two of my lors are from current faculty at those kinds of schools (both are profs and are directors/chairs as well in addition to being MDs)

I'm grateful for your help btw as I want to maximize my success.

 

[Faha]

Your good postbac grades will help. Raising your GPA to 3.5 will help even more.

 

[polyploidy516]

Thank you for your response! Do you thinking applying as disadvantaged will put my application into context? I strongly feel that my GPA would have been higher had It not been for issues related to this ( both parents were unemployed at one point, etc).

 

[Faha]

Applying as disadvantaged will put your application into context.