School List Help: 3.98 GPA , 509 MCAT, Good ECs

[asureshk]

hey guys, this is my first time on Sdn and would greatly appreciate any advice building a school list

For some background info:
cGPA and sGPA as calculated by AMCAS or AACOMAS: 3.98 cGPA / 4.0 sGPA
current MCAT score and breakdown 509(128/123/129/129), will be retaking on May 26th
*CARS was my biggest weakness for last time and so I have prepared as much as I can over the past 5 months to improve here. I've also made some minor improvements in some of the other sections from what I've seen in my recent practice exams but I am really hoping it translates on May 26th.
State of residence: NJ
ORM
Undergraduate institution or category: Northeastern University

Clinical experience (Paid + volunteer)
Patient Care Tech(Paid full time from Jan 2023 - present)- 1,000 hrs so far and anticipating more past this summer
MGH ED Volunteer - 150 hrs so far and anticipating more past this summer
Brigham & Women's MCEP Volunteer - 50 hours and anticipating more past this summer
Hospice Volunteer - 150 hours and anticipating more past this summer
Global medical Brigades Volunteer - 50 hrs (during freshman year)

Research experience
Harvard Medical School Neuro Lab Research Assistant( Full time from January 2022 - June 2022) - 1,000 hrs( got my rec letter from the post doc and PI here too)
Waller Institute Research Intern & Team lead - 350 hrs

Shadowing experience and specialties represented
OR Cardiac Surgery - 20 hrs
Internal Medicine - 30 hrs over last summer
Virtual Shadowing(Pre-healthshadowing, eshadowing, Medschool coach) - 70 hrs


Non-clinical volunteering
Crisis Textline Counselor/Volunteer: 200 hours
Other club/ fraternity outreach volunteering hours: 100

Other extracurricular activities ( Internships, leadership, teaching, etc)
High School AP Calculus AB/BC Tutor - 100 hours
Sakara Wellness Lead Intern(helped write some health related articles with some doctors, started during 2021 summer to 2022 fall) - 250 hrs
Beta Chi Theta Fraternity(served as secretary, Treasurer and VP and have been doing this since my freshman year) - 600 hrs and anticipating more hours
Organ donation advocacy club(served on event planning committee and as a recruiting chair) - 250 hours


Relevant honors or awards
Dean's List
Inducted into TrieBeta Biological Honors society at Northeastern
Inducted into Pre-health honors society at Northeastern

* Northeastern has the co-op program which was why I had been able to gather those 1,000 hr experiences that you guys see above.

I plan on applying to 25-30 schools. Here is my current school list so far:
Harvard medical School - cuz why not lol
NYU
Brown
Boston University
Tufts
Rutgers NJMS
Rutgers RWJ
Hackensack meridian
Cooper School of Medicine in Rowan( applying to both MD and possible DO here as well)
USC Keck
Albert Einstein
Dartmouth
Tulane
Georgetown
Emory

* I know my school list seems pretty top heavy right now which is why I wasn't sure what other schools you guys would recommend to balance it out. I am struggling coming up with the rest of my list so any advice/ suggestions is much appreciated

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[Faha]

Most of the schools on your list are unrealistic with a MCAT of 509. I suggest these schools with your stats:
Rutgers NJMS
Rutgers RWJ
Hackensack Meridian
Cooper School of Medicine in Rowan
New York Medical College
Albany
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Penn State
Georgetown
George Washington
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
Wake Forest
NOVA MD
Tulane
TCU
Creighton
St. Louis
Rosalind Franklin
Loyola
Medical College Wisconsin
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
If you score 513+ on your new MCAT you may be able to add more schools.

 

[asureshk]

Most of the schools on your list are unrealistic with a MCAT of 509. I suggest these schools with your stats:
Rutgers NJMS
Rutgers RWJ
Hackensack Meridian
Cooper School of Medicine in Rowan
New York Medical College
Albany
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Penn State
Georgetown
George Washington
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
Wake Forest
NOVA MD
Tulane
TCU
Creighton
St. Louis
Rosalind Franklin
Loyola
Medical College Wisconsin
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
If you score 513+ on your new MCAT you may be able to add more schools.

thank you for that, I will def look into some of those schools. Just on a side note do you think my current MCAT would close doors on some of top schools I had listed earlier. I know some of these schools are very hard to get into regardless but my main concern was getting potentially screened out without really having a chance for further review. That was also one of the main reasons I signed up to take it again aside from the fact that I was capable of performing much better. Just wanted to hear your thoughts as well. Thanks!

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Come back when you get your retake score. You should know that medical schools are advised to average all (valid) scores when reviewing or screening applications, so go for +10 overall.

 

[Faha]

thank you for that, I will def look into some of those schools. Just on a side note do you think my current MCAT would close doors on some of top schools I had listed earlier. I know some of these schools are very hard to get into regardless but my main concern was getting potentially screened out without really having a chance for further review. That was also one of the main reasons I signed up to take it again aside from the fact that I was capable of performing much better. Just wanted to hear your thoughts as well. Thanks!

Your MCAT of 509 is not competitive for the schools on your list that I did not include. Some schools have a cutoff of 124 or125 for CARS.