School List Help

[fletcher2]

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Need some help finalizing my school list. I don't want to apply too top-heavy and would love some more mid-tier schools to add to the list.

• Overview:
  
  • GPA: 3.92 cGPA, 3.96 sGPA
    
    
  • MCAT: 523 (132/129/132/130)
    
    
  • ORM, State of Residence: Illinois
    
    
  • LOR's should be strong (all from professors I have done research/TA)
    
• Research:
  
  • Two years as independent researcher (studying bacterial metabolism)
    
    
  • Winter break organic synthesis project (developing drug compounds)
    
    
  • Cancer research award recipient (year-long research project, ongoing)
    
    
  • Year-long research stipend recipient (year-long, will be staying this summer to continue my work)
    
    
  • I have a wide variety of experiences, but will not have any publications at the time of my application.
    
• Clinical Experience:
  
  • 350 hours as a hospital volunteer (over a single summer)
    
    
  • ~100 hours of shadowing (50 w/ anesthesiologist over the course of a summer , 50 w/ orthopedic surgeon over the course of a single week)
    
• Work
  
  • Worked as a teacher for childhood STEM program
    
    
  • Pharmacology Research Program summer internship
    
• Volunteering:
  
  • 200 hours of volunteering through my fraternity
    
• Leadership:
  
  • Vice President of a fraternity
    
    
  • TA for Art History course
    
    
  • Student advisor for pre-health education center
    

Current List:
Boston University
Carle
Case Western
Chicago
Cincinnati
Colorado
Columbia
Cornell
Einstein
Georgetown
George Washington
Harvard
Illinois
Loyola
Michigan
Mt. Sinai
Northwestern
NYU
Ohio State
Penn
Pitt
SLU
Stanford
Tufts
UCSF
Vanderbilt
WashU
Wisconsin
Johns Hopkins

 

[907914]

Need some help finalizing my school list. I don't want to apply too top-heavy and would love some more mid-tier schools to add to the list.

• Overview:
  • GPA: 3.92 cGPA, 3.96 sGPA
    
    
  • MCAT: 523 (132/129/132/130)
    
    
  • ORM, State of Residence: Illinois
    
    
  • LOR's should be strong (all from professors I have done research/TA)
• Research:
  • Two years as independent researcher (studying bacterial metabolism)
    
    
  • Winter break organic synthesis project (developing drug compounds)
    
    
  • Cancer research award recipient (year-long research project, ongoing)
    
    
  • Year-long research stipend recipient (year-long, will be staying this summer to continue my work)
    
    
  • I have a wide variety of experiences, but will not have any publications at the time of my application.
• Clinical Experience:
  • 350 hours as a hospital volunteer (over a single summer)
    
    
  • ~100 hours of shadowing (50 w/ anesthesiologist over the course of a summer , 50 w/ orthopedic surgeon over the course of a single week)
• Work
  • Worked as a teacher for childhood STEM program
    
    
  • Pharmacology Research Program summer internship
• Volunteering:
  • 200 hours of volunteering through my fraternity
• Leadership:
  • Vice President of a fraternity
    
    
  • TA for Art History course
    
    
  • Student advisor for pre-health education center

Current List:
Boston University
Carle
Case Western
Chicago
Cincinnati
Colorado
Columbia
Cornell
Einstein
Georgetown
George Washington
Harvard
Illinois
Loyola
Michigan
Mt. Sinai
Northwestern
NYU
Ohio State
Penn
Pitt
SLU
Stanford
Tufts
UCSF
Vanderbilt
WashU
Wisconsin
Johns Hopkins

With your stats just apply where you want. It’s that simple. Sorry I can’t be of much help, but that’s the honest answer.

 

[stairway2seven]

agree with above, you can pretty much apply anywhere. If you're not opposed to moving to California, I'd recommend adding USC Keck, UCLA and Kaiser (no tuition!!)

 

[raiderette]

As a warning, your volunteering is weak. I had a lot more of that through my sorority and got push back from schools that valued service- such as the Jesuit schools. Get some hours in directly serving the underprivileged, such as soup kitchen, food bank, nursing home.

I still had plenty of non-clinical hours, but this was a specific criticism that they told my advisor from local schools.

 

[DrFortiusNatando]

You need more non-clinical volunteering in the community.
It can not be through your fraternity. (I often have my advisees eliminate any reference to a fraternity on their apps!)
If you went to a very good UG, you can consider adding Yale, especially if you have a story to tell or add to diversity in some way.
Stony Brook is a great place that takes OOS.
Consider Emory, though they do tend to yield/resource protect. Same for GW and Georgetown. Dartmouth too.
Consider adding Drexel, Brown, Jefferson.

 

[gyngyn]

agree with above, you can pretty much apply anywhere. If you're not opposed to moving to California, I'd recommend adding USC Keck, UCLA and Kaiser (no tuition!!)

OP has spectacular stats, but I'm not seeing a mission match for Kaiser or commitment to service for USC (unless there is more to the fraternity volunteering than appears here) ...

 

[Walter Raleigh]

Might something like Americorps help OP get lots of service and bolster his application more? If he'd done 200 hours with Habitat for Humanity, he'd be fine - and Americorps service might be completed before that stellar MCAT expires.