MD Please help me with school list!!

[wsknight]

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VA Resident, not URM


cGPA: 3.61, sGPA: 3.48

C in Orgo 2, C- in Orgo Lab 1 (re-took and got A-), W in Orgo 2 Lab (re-took and got B-), B- in Microbio

Upward trend (~3.9) for both cGPA and sGPA in the last 2 years of college

Didn’t take a lot of upper-level biology courses or biochemistry


MCAT: 31 (12/9/10), 31 (13/7/11), 30 (11/8/11), 29 (12/8/9)

Took the MCAT 4 times, score stayed the same or went down each time, lowest verbal was a 7, and the most recent score was 29


Hospital Volunteer (high school): ~400 hrs

Nursing home volunteering: ~50 hrs

Medical missions trip

Shadowing: 50 hrs (pathologist, anesthesiologist)

Research (high school): ~600 hrs

Research (college): ~600 hrs

Baseball and soccer clubs: 300 hrs

Tutoring job: 500 hrs

Scribe: ~200 hrs


-School List

Albany

Central Michigan

Rosalind Franklin

Cooper

Creighton

Drexel

EVMS

Quinnipiac

GW

Georgetown

Howard

Hofstra

Loma Linda

Loyola

Marshall

Medical College of Wisconsin

Meharry

Michigan State

Morehouse

NYMC

Oakland

Penn State

Rush

Commonwealth

Thomas Jefferson

Temple

Tulane

Texas A&M

Texas Tech

UT San Antonio

Toledo

Tufts

USUHS

VCU

VT

Wake Forest

Western Michigan

Wright State



Sorry for the long post, but if you guys could help me trim my list down to maybe ~25 schools, I would really appreciate it. If there are schools I should add or remove, please let me know.
I would appreciate any feedback/advice/suggestions. Thank you!

 

[docbsb2015]

Off topic (sort of)… but why did you take the MCAT 4 times with a solid 31 initially?

 

[wsknight]

yeah...about that...

when I took the MCAT for the 1st time, my cGPA was like 3.2 and sGPA was under 3.0
and back then I thought I needed to do super well on MCAT to make up for my poor GPA.
also, I didn't know about SDN back then... 🙁

 

[docbsb2015]

Ahhh I see… you live and you learn. Well to your original post, I can't really comment on many of the schools that you posted. However, I am from TX and I will say that you should keep in mind that TX schools matriculate AT LEAST 90% TX residents. So essentially if OOS you have to have a stellar app/great stats. I am not saying that you don't have good stats but just something to keep in mind. Also, it is a whole separate app so more $ and time (although TMDSAS is relatively cheap). Good luck though man, I wish I could be more help!

 

[gyngyn]

Delete the mission based schools and TX unless you meet the mission..

 

[docbsb2015]

The MSAR is also your friend

 

[Goro]

I suggest

Albany
Rosalind Franklin
Cooper
Creighton
Drexel
EVMS
Quinnipiac
Loma Linda (but read their list of don'ts)
Loyola
Medical College of Wisconsin
NYMC
Oakland
Rush
Commonwealth
Thomas Jefferson
Temple
Tulane
Tufts
USUHS (only if you wish to serve in the military)
VCU
VA Tech
Wake Forest
Western Michigan
Any DO school. Start with VCOM, PCOM, WVSOM, Pikesville, LMU, and CUSOM

 

[wsknight]

Delete the mission based schools and TX unless you meet the mission..

Could you clarify what you mean by mission-based schools and some examples? Thank you

 

[wsknight]

are my ECs ok?
and will the fact that I took mcat 4 times and score either stayed the same or went down hurt my chance significantly?

 

[gyngyn]

are my ECs ok?
and will the fact that I took mcat 4 times and score either stayed the same or went down hurt my chance significantly?

Your EC's are average to good.
You would have been way better off with just one score, but what's done is immutable.

 

[gyngyn]

Could you clarify what you mean by mission-based schools and some examples? Thank you

HBCU's, Loma Linda, schools with regional mandate (TX, U of WA, UCR, many state schools like ND), USUHS...

 

[wsknight]

HBCU's, Loma Linda, schools with regional mandate (TX, U of WA, UCR, many state schools like ND), USUHS...

Ok thank you!

 

[Goro]

Yes.
are my ECs ok?

Yes. Many schools (like mine) average scores. Your judgment in retaking a perfectly fine 31 will be questioned as well. Do your homework and target those schools that accept the most recent or best score.
and will the fact that I took mcat 4 times and score either stayed the same or went down hurt my chance significantly?

 

[wsknight]

I suggest

Albany
Rosalind Franklin
Cooper
Creighton
Drexel
EVMS
Quinnipiac
Loma Linda (but read their list of don'ts)
Loyola
Medical College of Wisconsin
NYMC
Oakland
Rush
Commonwealth
Thomas Jefferson
Temple
Tulane
Tufts
USUHS (only if you wish to serve in the military)
VCU
VA Tech
Wake Forest
Western Michigan
Any DO school. Start with VCOM, PCOM, WVSOM, Pikesville, LMU, and CUSOM

In this list, which schools would you say are target schools for me?
Also, why did you leave out howard, gw, georgetown, meharry and morehouse?
Are these schools out of reach for me?

 

[Goro]

All of them; meaning, I think that you're competitive for them
In this list, which schools would you say are target schools for me?

Meherry and Morehouse because they're HBC. Go read their mission statements. You are expected to do your homework after all.

I took out GW and Gtown because they receive a gazillion apps, and they're statistically harder to get into than Harvard!

Also, why did you leave out howard, gw, georgetown, meharry and morehouse?
Are these schools out of reach for me?

 

[wsknight]

All of them; meaning, I think that you're competitive for them
In this list, which schools would you say are target schools for me?

Meherry and Morehouse because they're HBC. Go read their mission statements. You are expected to do your homework after all.

I took out GW and Gtown because they receive a gazillion apps, and they're statistically harder to get into than Harvard!

Also, why did you leave out howard, gw, georgetown, meharry and morehouse?
Are these schools out of reach for me?

Ok I see. Thank you so much!

I know I'm flooding you with questions, but are there any other private schools or OOS-friendly public schools that I will be competitive for with my stats?

 

[Goro]

Nope.

Ok I see. Thank you so much!

I know I'm flooding you with questions, but are there any other private schools or OOS-friendly public schools that I will be competitive for with my stats?

 

[wsknight]

Nope.

What about Michigan State, Central Michigan, Marshall, and Wright State?

 

[Goro]

When one is applying OOS to a state school, one needs to be above average. You're below avg for MSU, Cent MI, or Wright State. In addition, Central MI accepted only 5/64 students from OOS, so I think it's best to look elsewhere.

OK, Marshall, you might be in striking distance for. You live next door, at least, but you'd better make a really good case for why you want to go to W VA. Spending some volunteer time there would go a long way to convince them.

What about Michigan State, Central Michigan, Marshall, and Wright State?

 

[wsknight]

When one is applying OOS to a state school, one needs to be above average. You're below avg for MSU, Cent MI, or Wright State. In addition, Central MI accepted only 5/64 students from OOS, so I think it's best to look elsewhere.

OK, Marshall, you might be in striking distance for. You live next door, at least, but you'd better make a really good case for why you want to go to W VA. Spending some volunteer time there would go a long way to convince them.

Thank you so much for the replies! I appreciate your help.