So cliche it hurts....

[TrueWolverine]

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Well...while filling out my app I got distracted and wound up here....didn't see that coming right? Anyways...I could use some help with my school list. I was a little overwhelmed when it came time to officially choose schools on the app and would prefer not to spend $1000 on primaries.

Stats
sGPA- 3.25
cGPA- 3.3
Mcat- Taking it June 20th

EC's
Shadowing- about 40 hours with more to come this month (Anesthesia and Pediatrics)
Volunteer- 2 year LDS (Mormon) mission, about 500 hours of non-religious service (painting houses, teaching English, translating, helping people move, etc) if that stuff wouldn't count I'm open for ways to better apply it
-Various activities on campus (sexual assault campaign, 3on3 basketball tournament)
Leadership- Program Director, then Student Coordinator on university's Service Council (will be VP next year, scholarship position)
Work- PT Aide- Around 250-300 hours (still work here)
Switchboard Operator at Hospital- about 300 hours (still working here as well)
LoR's- DO, MD (Pediatrician), Physical Therapist, 2 Science Prof, Pre-Med Advisor, Mission President (Lawyer), Boss at hospital. I realize this may be too many but I figure it's better to have them and not use some

Ok so here's my list of schools so far....
ACOM
LUCOM (I'm Christian, spent 2 years living by strict Christian rules, if I can get in here I'll go)
Burrell
CUSOM
DMUCOM
Kansas City COM
LECOM (Both?)
AT-STILL AZ
PNWUCOM
TOURO-NV
RVUCOM
PCOM
WVSOM
NOVA

Any schools you guys would add or takeaway? Reasons why would be good as well. Oh and my wife is a Surgical Tech so if there are some that have better job opportunities at hospitals I'm trying to take that into consideration. Thanks!

 

[Goro]

Come back when you have your MCAT score, then we can advise better.

Sadly, there are people at LUCOM's parent organization who do not think that LDS members are Christians.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

All depends on the mcat, but I'll say don't go to LUCOM even if you are Christian. They have no established history of clinical rotations. Always pick a school with a strong history or it may come to haunt you.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

You have relatively strong exposure with patients in a medical setting and you have good non-medical volunteering. Your GPA isn't perfect, but pending a decent mcat, many mid tier schools will eat you up on a cracker.

 

[TrueWolverine]

Sadly, there are people at LUCOM's parent organization who do not think that LDS members are Christians.

Hadn't thought about that in this context so thanks for the heads up.

Would you recommend waiting until I have my mcat score until I submit apps? I know it can be a little risky turning them in before but with my not so stellar gpa I'd like to make sure I get apps in as soon as possible.

 

[Goro]

You can get verified by applying to a "throwaway" school, and then mass targeting your desired schools.

 

[Roxas]

Well...while filling out my app I got distracted and wound up here....didn't see that coming right? Anyways...I could use some help with my school list. I was a little overwhelmed when it came time to officially choose schools on the app and would prefer not to spend $1000 on primaries.

Stats
sGPA- 3.25
cGPA- 3.3
Mcat- Taking it June 20th

EC's
Shadowing- about 40 hours with more to come this month (Anesthesia and Pediatrics)
Volunteer- 2 year LDS (Mormon) mission, about 500 hours of non-religious service (painting houses, teaching English, translating, helping people move, etc) if that stuff wouldn't count I'm open for ways to better apply it
-Various activities on campus (sexual assault campaign, 3on3 basketball tournament)
Leadership- Program Director, then Student Coordinator on university's Service Council (will be VP next year, scholarship position)
Work- PT Aide- Around 250-300 hours (still work here)
Switchboard Operator at Hospital- about 300 hours (still working here as well)
LoR's- DO, MD (Pediatrician), Physical Therapist, 2 Science Prof, Pre-Med Advisor, Mission President (Lawyer), Boss at hospital. I realize this may be too many but I figure it's better to have them and not use some

Ok so here's my list of schools so far....
ACOM
LUCOM (I'm Christian, spent 2 years living by strict Christian rules, if I can get in here I'll go)
Burrell
CUSOM
DMUCOM
Kansas City COM
LECOM (Both?)
AT-STILL AZ
PNWUCOM
TOURO-NV
RVUCOM
PCOM
WVSOM
NOVA

Any schools you guys would add or takeaway? Reasons why would be good as well. Oh and my wife is a Surgical Tech so if there are some that have better job opportunities at hospitals I'm trying to take that into consideration. Thanks!

I'd echo what others said about LUCOM, and needing an MCAT score.

I would also forego the letter from your mission president. It's likely a glowing letter, but I feel like there are more applicable letter writers in your pool. Just my .o2

 

[JW2020]

You don't need the PT or Mission President letters. Some schools actually get annoyed when an applicant floods them with way more LORs than they asked for.

 

[MarshMedic]

You don't need the PT or Mission President letters. Some schools actually get annoyed when an applicant floods them with way more LORs than they asked for.

Offtopic, but at PCOMs open house they said last cycle they had a kid with 45 LOR 😱

 

[Deranged Medic]

Offtopic, but at PCOMs open house they said last cycle they had a kid with 45 LOR 😱

That's insane

 

[TrueWolverine]

Offtopic, but at PCOMs open house they said last cycle they had a kid with 45 LOR 😱

Holy crap haha yeah not planning on having that many and I realize I'm on the heavy side. I'll pass on the mission president one but wouldn't the physical therapist be a good one for a patient contact style letter? At least that's what I was thinking but if you guys have some better insight I'm open to feedback.

 

[MarshMedic]

Well, I haven't applied and I'm no adcom but I think the DPT letter would be good.

 

[chizledfrmstone]

Offtopic, but at PCOMs open house they said last cycle they had a kid with 45 LOR 😱

Probably thought they could make up for lackluster grades.

OP, if you get an equivalent of 27 or higher on the MCAT then keep DMU, KCU, NOVA, and RVU on the list.

If you get lower than a 27 then I would add stuff like LMU or VCOM.

 

[JW2020]

Holy crap haha yeah not planning on having that many and I realize I'm on the heavy side. I'll pass on the mission president one but wouldn't the physical therapist be a good one for a patient contact style letter? At least that's what I was thinking but if you guys have some better insight I'm open to feedback.

Med schools wants to know you have insight into what a physician's work is like, how they interact with patients, etc. Yes the PT is patient interaction and fine to include in your app, but the letter itself likely won't carry much weight since the scope of work and work environment of PTs vs physicians, while possessing some similarities, is very different.

 

[allantois]

Probably thought they could make up for lackluster grades.

OP, if you get an equivalent of 27 or higher on the MCAT then keep DMU, KCU, NOVA, and RVU on the list.

If you get lower than a 27 then I would add stuff like LMU or VCOM.

That's a rather tricky suggestion since we will not have MCAT scores on the old scale anymore.