School List Help would be great!

[OverlyRomantic]

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Hey guys!

I just wanna say thank you in advance for your help!

Indian male (I gained U.S. citizenship in 2013), early 20's with a B.S. in Biology and minors in Chemistry and Psychology. I'm an Arkansas resident. I have :

• cGPA: 3.39
• sGPA: 3.14
• I had a semester where everything went crazy and I failed two classes. My grandfather was hospitalized, I was sued in another state (I won), I was taking 18 hours and working 40 hours a week. I discussed this in my personal statement.

MCAT: 27 (7,11,9) - I'm planning on taking it again on June 19.
AACOMAS Status: Verified completely. All letters are in (see below)

• 1 Committee letter
• 1 Letter from the head of a clinic where I volunteer at
• 1 letter from M.D.
• Working on a D.O. letter

Experience:

• 40 hours a week paid- Inventory and Purchasing manager for a large wholesale distributor (around 10,000 hours)
• Treasurer for AED- 124 hours
• Member of research team about Autism at a large Children's Hospital- 100 hours
• Head Patient Care Coordinator, Member of the Student Board of Directors at a student ran clinic- 400 hours
• Physician shadowing (Hospitalist) - 100 hours
• Member of a Clinton Health Initiative project to bring awareness to tobacco abuse in my state- 30 hours
• Director of an independent, youth ran community service club- 104 hours
• Volunteer Teacher for an Education Center- 1,500 hours
• Volunteer Teacher for a Reading Program- 40 hours
• Assistant Coordinator for a Golden Club (We try to hold events for senior citizens)- 208 hours
• Program Coordinator for a youth camp- 120 hours
• Skill Builder for another youth camp- 45 hours and counting
• Volunteer Football Coach for teenagers at risk- 136 hours

Current School List

• A.T. Still University - School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona
  
• Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine of Midwestern University
• Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine of Midwestern University
• Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine - Virginia Campus
• Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine
• Nova Southeastern University College of Osteopathic Medicine
• Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine
• Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine
• Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine - Georgia Campus
• Touro University Nevada College of Osteopathic Medicine
• University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine
• A.T. Still University - Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine

 

[MedNation907]

I'm going to bump this because I'm surprised no one has helped you out yet. Where are you applying from?

 

[pericardium]

What is your state of residence? With your stats, I'd definitely consider adding some newer schools and removing some of the higher end schools like AZCOM and CCOM because of your MCAT, along with public schools that you do not have residence in.

Consider adding some or all of the following:

MUCOM
ACOM
CUSOM
LMU-DCOM

 

[adrian710]

Hey guys!

I just wanna say thank you in advance for your help!

Indian male (I gained U.S. citizenship in 2013), early 20's with a B.S. in Biology and minors in Chemistry and Psychology. I have :
cGPA: 3.39
sGPA: 3.14

• I had a semester where everything went crazy and I failed two classes. My grandfather was hospitalized, I was sued in another state (I won), I was taking 18 hours and working 40 hours a week. I discussed this in my personal statement.

MCAT: 27 (7,11,9) - I'm planning on taking it again on June 19.
AACOMAS Status: Verified completely. All letters are in (see below)

• 1 Committee letter
• 1 Letter from the head of a clinic where I volunteer at
• 1 letter from M.D.
• Working on a D.O. letter

Experience:

• 40 hours a week paid- Inventory and Purchasing manager for a large wholesale distributor (around 10,000 hours)
• Treasurer for AED- 124 hours
• Member of research team about Autism at a large Children's Hospital- 100 hours
• Head Patient Care Coordinator, Member of the Student Board of Directors at a student ran clinic- 400 hours
• Physician shadowing (Hospitalist) - 100 hours
• Member of a Clinton Health Initiative project to bring awareness to tobacco abuse in my state- 30 hours
• Director of an independent, youth ran community service club- 104 hours
• Volunteer Teacher for an Education Center- 1,500 hours
• Volunteer Teacher for a Reading Program- 40 hours
• Assistant Coordinator for a Golden Club (We try to hold events for senior citizens)- 208 hours
• Program Coordinator for a youth camp- 120 hours
• Skill Builder for another youth camp- 45 hours and counting
• Volunteer Football Coach for teenagers at risk- 136 hours

Current School List

• A.T. Still University - School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona
  
• Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine of Midwestern University
• Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine of Midwestern University
• Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine - Virginia Campus
• Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine
• Nova Southeastern University College of Osteopathic Medicine
• Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine
• Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine
• Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine - Georgia Campus
• Touro University Nevada College of Osteopathic Medicine
• University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine
• A.T. Still University - Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine

Take out MSUCOM unless you are MI resident and OUHCOM unless you are resident in Ohio. MCAT and stats are low for CCOM and PCOM.

 

[OverlyRomantic]

Thanks for the feedback and bumps guys! I'm an Arkansas residents. Anyone else want to help me out

 

[deleted665733]

Take MSUCOM off(80k+ tuition, favors IS), and OHUCOM off (favors IS, 5 years contract to work in Ohio). Your GPA and MCAT are too low for AZCOM. You might have a very slim shot at CCOM and PCOM. Overall, this list is too top-heavy, I would consider adding some safety schools to this list.

 

[MedNation907]

I'd take off MSUCOM and OU-HCOM for sure (strong in-state bias), consider removing UNE because they tend to have a strong regional preference.

I would add PNWU, (and as suggested above) some balancing by adding CUSOM, ACOM, MUCOM, LMU.

Your GPA and MCAT are too low for AZCOM. You might have a very slim shot at CCOM and PCOM. Overall, this list is too top-heavy, I would consider adding some safety schools to this list.

I'm not sure I agree. Their averages are but 1-2 SD above her MCAT, I think that defines a good 'reach' school. And I have yet to see any evidence that AZCOM is 'only accepting 29+ MCATs for the first half of the cycle' -- not saying it isn't potentially true but I wouldn't let speculation govern my choosing of the school altogether.
A 27 MCAT is exactly the average matriculant score from just last year, in my opinion there isn't a school completely out of her league based on stats alone.

 

[deleted665733]

I'd take off MSUCOM and OU-HCOM for sure (strong in-state bias), consider removing UNE because they tend to have a strong regional preference.

I would add PNWU, (and as suggested above) some balancing by adding CUSOM, ACOM, MUCOM, LMU.



I'm not sure I agree. Their averages are but 1-2 SD above her MCAT, I think that defines a good 'reach' school. And I have yet to see any evidence that AZCOM is 'only accepting 29+ MCATs for the first half of the cycle' -- not saying it isn't potentially true but I wouldn't let speculation govern my choosing of the school altogether.
A 27 MCAT is exactly the average matriculant score from just last year, in my opinion there isn't a school completely out of her league based on stats alone.

I do agree that OP has a shot at AZCOM, but I still don't think it's likely. AZCOM has an average matriculant score of 29, not 27(from AZCOM's website). The reason I advised OP not to apply to AZCOM is based not just the low MCAT score but also the low sGPA. But with a strong app and strong letters, OP does have a shot. And if the OP still wants to apply to these top-heavy schools for any personal reason, I would add more safety schools. If not, I would replace AZCOM, PCOM, and CCOM with some safer schools.

P.S. I'm just an lurking applicant of the upcoming cycle.. I would take this as a fellow applicant's opinion only!

 

[DoctorSynthesis]

I do agree that OP has a shot at AZCOM, but I still don't think it's likely. AZCOM has an average matriculant score of 29, not 27(from AZCOM's website). The reason I advised OP not to apply to AZCOM is based not just the low MCAT score but also the low sGPA. But with a strong app and strong letters, OP does have a shot. And if the OP still wants to apply to these top-heavy schools for any personal reason, I would add more safety schools. If not, I would replace AZCOM, PCOM, and CCOM with some safer schools.

P.S. I'm just an lurking applicant of the upcoming cycle.. I would take this as a fellow applicant's opinion only!

If OP wants to go to azcom/Pcom/Ccom then op should apply to these places.

Taking out oucom and msucom and replacing with three of (acom/cusom/lmu/bcom/lecom) would make for a good list

 

[MedNation907]

AZCOM has an average matriculant score of 29, not 27(from AZCOM's website).

? How do you suspect they have an average of 29 dude? There has to be a pretty large sum of matriculants coming in at +/- 2 SD's from a 29.. less at +/- 4.. and so on. A 27 MCAT on a curve like that hardly qualifies a 'slim chance'.

The reason I advised OP not to apply to AZCOM is based not just the low MCAT score but also the low sGPA.

Fair. In coordination with her sub par GPAs, I agree that it's less likely -- but your dead wrong on the MCAT front and I still don't think it's a bad reach school. You don't have to be at or above school averages to get in.. You have to keep in mind what the word average actually means.

 

[OverlyRomantic]

I do agree that OP has a shot at AZCOM, but I still don't think it's likely. AZCOM has an average matriculant score of 29, not 27(from AZCOM's website). The reason I advised OP not to apply to AZCOM is based not just the low MCAT score but also the low sGPA. But with a strong app and strong letters, OP does have a shot. And if the OP still wants to apply to these top-heavy schools for any personal reason, I would add more safety schools. If not, I would replace AZCOM, PCOM, and CCOM with some safer schools.

P.S. I'm just an lurking applicant of the upcoming cycle.. I would take this as a fellow applicant's opinion only!

? How do you suspect they have an average of 29 dude? There has to be a pretty large sum of matriculants coming in at +/- 2 SD's from a 29.. less at +/- 4.. and so on. A 27 MCAT on a curve like that hardly qualifies a 'slim chance'.



Fair. In coordination with her sub par GPAs, I agree that it's less likely -- but your dead wrong on the MCAT front and I still don't think it's a bad reach school. You don't have to be at or above school averages to get in.. You have to keep in mind what the word average actually means.

Thank you so much for the great advice, both of you! What are some safety schools which you would recommend?

 

[YourMD]

If there is one thing I've learned from this past cycle it is do not limit your school list based on stats. If you have mediocre stats but have a strong desire to attend a top tier school just apply. This is especially true if you fit well with the schools mission. Good luck!

 

[deleted665733]

? How do you suspect they have an average of 29 dude? There has to be a pretty large sum of matriculants coming in at +/- 2 SD's from a 29.. less at +/- 4.. and so on. A 27 MCAT on a curve like that hardly qualifies a 'slim chance'.

I just think OP has a better chance applying to other safer schools, but can still apply to AZCOM with a lesser chance. Maybe I should not have used the word 'slim', but I was advised not to apply to AZCOM by Goro with a 3.5/3.6/26 with a limit on the number of schools(20, but ended up adding a few for personal reasons). I could be wrong in that sense if AZCOM weigh MCAT more than GPA. But the AZCOM's exact wording was that - Class of 2018 average composite MCAT score 28(I'm just what's written on the website.) I'm not sure how AZCOM defines their average, but whether it's mean or median, but there are definitely a pool of applicants who were admitted with lower than a 28. And I'm not the only one who suggested to remove AZCOM, nor I'm trying to pick a fight... It's a great school and definitely worth applying

Fair. In coordination with her sub par GPAs, I agree that it's less likely -- but your dead wrong on the MCAT front and I still don't think it's a bad reach school. You don't have to be at or above school averages to get in.. You have to keep in mind what the word average actually means.

I just thought would be nice to replace or add safer schools given the top-heavy school list, and this is solely my opinion and I'm definitely not an expert. I do know what the average is and suggesting removing it doesn't mean the OP can't get in. sorry if this bothers you..

 

[deleted665733]

Thank you so much for the great advice, both of you! What are some safety schools which you would recommend?

I did apply to WVSOM, CUSOM, TUNCOM, ACOM, LMUCOM, as my safety. I would also consider adding MUCOM, other 2 VCOMs, WCUCOM, DMUCOM.

P.S. I did apply to CCOM and PCOM just to give them a shot. But ultimately I think it's worth the investment to give these schools a try(including AZCOM) unless money is a restraint!