Overreaching, under reaching or right on target?

[CyberMaxx]

Hey guys, I've been waiting to start one of these threads until I had a pretty good idea what my application will look like, and it seems like now is the time (I'm applying this summer). Please comment on what you think my chances are, especially for the schools I've listed. Let me know if you think I should add or remove any schools, I'll be happy to hear your thoughts! I'll try to make this succinct.

General
Residency: South Carolina
Applicant Type: Traditional
cGPA: 3.63
sGPA: 3.65
MCAT: 35 (12,11,12)
Majors: B.S. Chemistry, B.S. Biochemistry and B.A. History
Minor: Philosophy

Volunteering - Non-Medical
1 Year Food Not Bombs - 3-4 hrs per week
- acquired food and cooked

Volunteering - Medical
1.75 Years Hospital Volunteering - about 250 hours
- stocking supplies, answering phones and call bells, transporting patients

1.5 Years Hospital Infusion Center Volunteering - about 150 hours
- also some stocking supplies, but a lot of my time is spent sitting checking on patients to see if I can get them anything as well as providing them with company while they get their chemo or other treatment.

1.25 Years Hospice Volunteering - about 100 hours
- almost exclusively providing companionship to hospice patients, either in their homes or in a hospice house. Also provided respite care to primary care givers.

Clinical Experience
I consider my volunteer experiences at the infusion center and with hospice to be clinical experience. If I am remiss in this judgement, please let me know.

Research
1.5 Years Biophysics Research - about 15 hrs/ week during school and 40 hrs/ week during summer
- Spent a solid 3 months simply doing prep for experiments such as isolating cells and cell culture. Graduated to running experiments and helping with the thought process. Currently working fairly independently under a faculty member with my own project. May get on a publication before the summer, that just depends on the timeline of when we decide to publish.
- One poster presentation at my university.

Shadowing
Total: about 48 hrs
16 hrs General Surgeon
8 hrs Geriatrics
16 hrs Family Practice
8 hrs Cardiologist

Leadership
Supervisor at a retail store - worked there for 1.5 years, supervisor for 8 months
1 semester of tutoring - this is ongoing
1 semester of being an SI leader

ECs
2 years of film club
recreational runner throughout college - completed a few races and 1 marathon
lifelong motorcycle enthusiast - have ridden since I was 16

Work Experience
1.5 years retail store - during school 15-20 hrs/week during summer 30-40 hrs/week.
1 year restaurant work - during school 15-20 hrs/week during summer 30-40 hrs/week.
1 semester SI Leader - dedicated about 12 hrs/ week to this.
1 summer research lab - easily 45 - 50 hrs per week.
1 semester tutoring - just a few hours per week.

Current School List (roughly descending order according to selectivity)

Dartmouth Medical School
New York University
Case Western Reserve University
Emory University
Tufts University
Brown University
Saint Louis University
University of Rochester
Boston University
Yeshiva University
Georgetown University
Temple University
Loyola University Chicago
Jefferson Medical College
University of Vermont
Wake Forest University
Tulane University
Creighton University
Medical University of South Carolina
George Washington University
University of South Carolina
Virginia Commonwealth University
USC Greenville

Thank you so much for your time and comments.

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[MMPman]

I will start by saying I am, by no means, an expert on the application process, but I see you have listed a lot of schools that receive a ton of applicants (Boston U, GW, Jefferson, Creighton, Temple, Tulane, etc..), and you are well above their averages.

I would remove some of those schools and add more top tier schools. Just about every aspect of my application is weaker than your very impressive app and I received interviews at Duke and Mayo. Maybe consider adding those two schools.

Also consider Vanderbilt, Virginia, and other top programs. I honestly believe if you applied to all the top ten schools, you would stand a good chance to get interviews with at least a couple.

That is obviously a resume you have worked very hard for and I wish you the best of luck.

 

[1TB4RKSB4CK]

MAN, your EC's are very well rounded.
Your schools ado receive a lot of applicants, but with an average GPA which will not get screened out, your ECs will have a big impact among other applicants who has less-than-stellar EC's.

 

[CyberMaxx]

Thanks for your comments and positive feedback! I hadn't thought about how many total applications many of my schools got, but after going back and looking at those numbers I see your point. The reason I put so many "mid-tier" public schools on my list was because I was worried about my mediocre GPA keeping me from getting interviews and acceptances at schools with higher stats (most having GPAs listed in the high 3.7s or low 3.8s). Of course, my fear is that I may put too many reach schools on my list and then not get in anywhere.

Do you guys think that it won't in fact be the case that my GPA holds me back at these more selective schools? Additionally, are there any more mid to low tier schools that anyone could recommend which does not have such a high application rate which I can add to my list? Thanks again for your comments.

 

[flodhi1]

OP you have a very well balanced application and I truly believe any school would be lucky to have you. Please do not take any schools out from your list. You can add schools sure but the reason why I wouldn't remove any is because your school list is well balanced. Some mid tier schools to consider are Rosalind Franklin, Temple, Tuft, MCW, EVMS and Drexel. It's better to have more schools than less because better to be safe than sorry. Your GPA is enough for top heavy schools so definitely add some of them. Please go to my MDapp and read about LORs, personal statement, application dates, interviewing and I think you're good to go! Good luck.

 

[MMPman]

I would have to respectfully diagree with Flodh1. I think a lot of the schools he/she listed receive such a large number of applications. If I were and adcom member for one of these mid-level schools receving over 10k applications, I would contemplate why you would choose my school over your state school that would end up costing way less to attend, or an elite school which you also have a good shot of being accepted to.


Not that I would necessarily call these schools midtier, but consider Ohio State and Cincinnati. If my memory serves me correctly, both schools get around 4,000 applicants and accept a lot of out of state students. I also think you should look into Northwestern, Pittsburgh, Cornell, Mt. Sinai, and as I mentioned previously, Vanderbilt.

 

[flodhi1]

I would have to respectfully diagree with Flodh1. I think a lot of the schools he/she listed receive such a large number of applications. If I were and adcom member for one of these mid-level schools receving over 10k applications, I would contemplate why you would choose my school over your state school that would end up costing way less to attend, or an elite school which you also have a good shot of being accepted to.


Not that I would necessarily call these schools midtier, but consider Ohio State and Cincinnati. If my memory serves me correctly, both schools get around 4,000 applicants and accept a lot of out of state students. I also think you should look into Northwestern, Pittsburgh, Cornell, Mt. Sinai, and as I mentioned previously, Vanderbilt.

I listed the following schools:-
EVMS ( OOS applicants = 3848 interview 298) % chance of interview is 7.7 %
Rosalind Franklin (OOS applicants = 8238 interview 377) = 4.6 %
Temple (8316 but interview 676) = 8.1 %
Tuft (7830 interview 867) = 11!! %
MCW (5405 interview 516) = 9.5 %
Drexel (11,415 interview 915) = 8.1 %

The list you provided:-
NW = 639 interviews / 5283 OOS applicants 12 % (very good!)
Pittsburgh = 846 / 4470 18 % (amazing!)
Cornell:- 15 %
Mt. Sinai:- 12 %
Vandy:- 19 %


Your list is absolutely amazing and I definitely agree that OP should apply to your schools. However, I threw some rough names out there of mid-tier schools and honestly even if OP has amazing stats and ECs I truly believe he would be interviewed at the schools I listed. Interview percentage close to 8 % or above is honestly not bad at all. I listed Rosalind Franklin because they would really appreciate some of the OP's ECs. Again the best bet would just be to apply to all. OP you should land at least 2 interviews out of the 6 schools I listed and the reason why I say that is because an applicant I know with almost identical stats than yours landed 4 interviews at the 6 schools I listed. Either way MMPman thank you for your list of schools and OP seems like you got a bunch of schools to add to your list, good luck!

 

[1TB4RKSB4CK]

Wow, I just saw that you were a triple major and still maintained such a good GPA, along with all the EC/research.
I think you would get some interviews at top schools since your research experience can compensate.

 

[CyberMaxx]

Thanks for all of your good advice guys. After thinking about it for a bit I think I'm going to move a few things around on my list. I am taking off George Washington, Creighton, and Jefferson and putting on Medical College of Wisconsin, University of Virginia, Stanford, Mount Sinai, and Vanderbilt. I am also strongly considering Eastern Virginia Medical School per flodhi1's recommendation. My new list, broken into what I consider my reaches, matches and safeties, is as follows:

Vanderbilt University
University of Virginia
Dartmouth Medical School
Stanford University
Mount Sinai School of Medicine
New York University
Case Western Reserve University
Emory University
Tufts University
Brown University

Saint Louis University
University of Rochester
Boston University
Yeshiva University
Medical College of Wisconsin
Georgetown University
Temple University
Loyola University Chicago

University of Vermont
Wake Forest University
Tulane University
Medical University of South Carolina
University of South Carolina
Virginia Commonwealth University
USC Greenville

I appreciate your help, especially because I probably wouldn't have been audacious enough to add those more selective schools on my own. Let me know what you think about this new list.

 

[flodhi1]

Thanks for all of your good advice guys. After thinking about it for a bit I think I'm going to move a few things around on my list. I am taking off George Washington, Creighton, and Jefferson and putting on Medical College of Wisconsin, University of Virginia, Stanford, Mount Sinai, and Vanderbilt. I am also strongly considering Eastern Virginia Medical School per flodhi1's recommendation. My new list, broken into what I consider my reaches, matches and safeties, is as follows:

Vanderbilt University
University of Virginia
Dartmouth Medical School
Stanford University
Mount Sinai School of Medicine
New York University
Case Western Reserve University
Emory University
Tufts University
Brown University

Saint Louis University
University of Rochester
Boston University
Yeshiva University
Medical College of Wisconsin
Georgetown University
Temple University
Loyola University Chicago

University of Vermont
Wake Forest University
Tulane University
Medical University of South Carolina
University of South Carolina
Virginia Commonwealth University
USC Greenville

I appreciate your help, especially because I probably wouldn't have been audacious enough to add those more selective schools on my own. Let me know what you think about this new list.

The list looks great! definitely put EVMS in your safety schools. I'm going to make a wild prediction that you get at least 5 interviews! good luck.