MD School list? 3.94 GPA 37 MCAT

[DoctorWho591]

Hey, I would appreciate any help I could get with my school list. My PS and most of my ECs are very primary care/underserved focused. Thanks!

Asian trad pre-med student majoring in Biochemistry and English. I go to a large public university. Oregon resident. I also come from low-income background.

GPA: 3.94
sGPA: 3.95
MCAT: 37 (13P, 13B, 11V)

ECs:
President and founder of two student organizations–both work with underserved populations
100 hours volunteering at large city hospital
250 hours volunteering at free clinic
150 hours shadowing (4+ specialties)
2 years research (public health/health policy research–1 first author publication already submitted)
>1000 hours tutoring, mentoring, and helping with SAT prep for low-income students
300 hours of misc. non-clincal volunteering at house of worship

LORs:
2 Science Profs (I'm assuming they're good–probably generic)
1 non-science Prof (again–probably good but a touch generic)
1 PI (should be good)

My main worry is that my underserved/primary care focus may be a turnoff to research-heavy schools who want their students to go into academia.

School list:
Oregon Health Sciences
Harvard
Tufts
Boston U (born in MA–hoping that gives me a better chance at BU and Tufts)
Hopkins
Sinai
Cornell
Northwestern
Case Western
University of Michigan
University of Virginia
Ohio State
Einstein
UChicago
Washington U
Baylor
NYU
Maybe UC Schools? Not really sure about my chances there...

I was planning on applying to around 15-20 schools, so any school recommendations you guys have would be great. Thanks!!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[WedgeDawg]

Also consider Yale, Duke, Stanford, Columbia, Vanderbilt, etc.

You can honestly probably make your list of 20 schools like this:

All your state schools
10-12 top 20s
UVA, Case, Einstein, and some more mid/upper mid
1-2 schools like Hofstra

Don't bother applying to BU/Tufts (born in Mass means nothing) and UCs outside of maybe SF or LA if you really really want to go there.

Commitment to the underserved always is good and you have plenty of research. You'll do totally fine.

 

[Banco]

This list is perfectly good for an applicant like you. You can add more top schools if you want. Consider: Pitt, Vandy, Duke etc., Rochester

 

[GrapesofRath]

Good list. Add 5 or so lower tier schools and your set.

 

[Goro]

Where on Earth did you hear this excrement? Schools want to see your humanism, lab rat or no.

My main worry is that my underserved/primary care focus may be a turnoff to research-heavy schools who want their students to go into academia.

You're a rock star so aim high.

Oregon Health Sciences
Harvard
Tufts
Boston U
Hopkins
Northwestern
Case Western
University of Michigan
University of Virginia
Einstein
UChicago
Washington U
Baylor
NYU and any of the other three Manhattan Kings.
UCLA
UCSD OR UCSF or Stanford

Consider:
Hofstra
Tulane
U Miami
Emory
Rochester
USC/Keck
Pitt
Yale
U Penn

 

[tenniseagle92]

Agreed with above, and I'd definitely add Penn. Based on last cycle, they seem to interview most high stat/top tier applicants, and then acceptances were based on fit or interviews.

Also, BU and Tufts get bad reps. If you want to go to Boston, I'd apply. They are low yield, but for different reasons. BU loves people with a commitment to the underserved. My roommate and I applied to med school this cycle, and both of us were granted interviews (I chose not to interview due to another acceptance, while he interviewed and was accepted). His LizzyM is around 67, while mine is a 77. The commonality is that we are both committed to helping underserved populations, which is BU and BMC's mission. Tufts, on the other hand, may not want to waste an interview on a high stat applicant like yourself, but if you really want to go you can send an update letter/interest letter mid-cycle and that should prompt them to give you a re-review with knowledge that you're actually interested, not just using them as a safety.

Ultimately, though, I had similar stats last year (lower GPA, slightly higher MCAT), and I used a shotgun approach. I applied to the top 20 minus like 5 schools I didn't have interest in, about 3-4 upper mid-tiers (Einstein, BU, etc.), and my state school. This approach can be rough and it definitely resulted some rejections, but I am incredibly happy with the results. When it comes to top schools, you really can never tell who's gonna bite.

Good luck!