School List Help (3.69/3.79 - 514)

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mitch8017

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AMCAS cGPA/sGPA: 3.69/3.79 (upward trend, explained below)

MCAT: 514 (127/128/129/130)

Residency: Minnesota

Ethnicity/Gender: White/Male

Undergraduate Institution: University of North Dakota

Clinical Experience: 720 hours as CNA in skilled nursing home summer between freshman and sophomore years and some during sophomore winter break, 120 hours volunteering in ER in summer before high school, 40 hours volunteering in ER freshman year of college.

Research: 2000 hours over two years in a government lab. Another 1000 hours or so to come in the next 12 months. Research centered primarily around obesity. Took a gap year this past year to do more work with my research. Wrote my honors thesis this past spring on research I designed and conducted independent of the work going on in the lab. No publications to date, mostly due to some strict rules at the government facility regarding student authorship (haven't had a student author since my PI got here 9 years ago), but am currently a co-author on two papers out for review. I have a lot of responsibility here and have done anything and everything for the lab, from grunt work to data analyses/interpretation to lit review/big picture things and writing sections for manuscripts. I also gave a presentation to a group of PIs and postdocs at the facility regarding my independent research, and some of this is represented in one of the papers out for review.

Shadowing: My weak spot. Currently only 3 hours with an internist. I have two appointments for later this month with my family practitioner, so maybe will add 12-20 hours here, but not before the app is sent in.

Non-clinical volunteering: Throughout HS and my freshman year of college I worked with United Way packing and delivering food kits for the local school kids. During freshman year of college I did this during spring and summer breaks. Roughly 60 hours with United Way. They were even kind enough to create a scholarship for me to thank me for my work. I have also volunteered about 40 hours with the special olympics, 20 miscellaneous hours through a service trip I went on over one spring break, and another 20 miscellaneous hours that involve raking leaves, playing cards with some veterans, things like that.

Other ECs: two leadership roles within a student org that centers around a service oriented bus trip over spring break. One role was as chapter exec (everyone on the exec team had the same title, a less than perfect system that limits accountability, but its how the national office makes us do it) and the other was being one of a small group who planned/lead the bus trip of 48 college students. Every day we would do some service project for roughly 4 hours, then get in the bus and move another 4-5 hours down the road until our final destination. Other ECs are just some little creative hobbies and things like that.

Relevant honors/awards: Some Dean's List/President's Honor Roll, things like that. Nothing too extravagant.

Additional: I was a PSEO student in high school to the tune of 61 credits and an AA from my local community college at the time of high school graduation. The issue here was that immaturity/laziness plagued me my senior year, and that senior slide propelled me to a final GPA of 3.37 (3 C's, rest A's and B's). After high school graduation, I have done quite well at the University of North Dakota, with my calculated AMCAS GPAs from UND being 3.90/3.94 (I know AMCAS will use everything, its just for context). Also, I am submitting my primary this week as I just got my MCAT score, so it will be around late August when everything is in (will prewrite secondaries and all that). It is isn't perfect and I could have played it differently, but at this point it is what it is.


School List:


Definitely Applying:

U of Minnesota - TC
U of North Dakota
U of South Dakota (family ties to the area)
U of Wisconsin
Medical College of Wisconsin


Want To Apply:

Mayo - Minnesota Campus?
U of Michigan
Northwestern?
Harvard?
Stanford?
Tufts


Considering Applying:

U of Indiana
Ohio State
U of Illinois
U of Iowa
U of North Carolina
U of Utah
U of West Viginia
Boston
Case Western?


? acknowledges they may be out of my league, as I fall below 25th percentile, but above 10th percentile for MCAT scores.

Please let me know if I would be wasting my time and money sending an application to some of these schools. Also, if there are schools I would have a decent chance at that I should consider adding, please let me know that as well. Thank you!

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As long as you apply to the 5 schools you are definitely applying to you can add any other schools that appeal to you.
 
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