DrLiver, I am currrently coordinating clinical studies at the Dallas VA for UTSW. I applied this year, for the second time and interviewed at 6 of the 7 schools, including SW. I was in your similar situation last year. I had a very low MCAT with a 3.8+ GPA, great extra currics. and leadership experience, and what I thought was a pretty solid personal statement. I only got one interview though. I had just started the research thing so I wasn't able to put much about it in my app. I called schools to see what exactly was holding me back. Their answer, your MCAT needs to be higher. So I busted my buns and the third try I improved it by 6pts. I feel pretty positive about my chances getting in this year. The research definitely played a huge role I feel. It was always the main topic of discussion. I had my PI write a LOR which I feel also helped tremendously. From my perspective (meaning take this with a grain of salt), your research and a lor from your PI will help tremendously. The flip side to that is, is that your MCAT is low and your GPA is average compared to the national applicant average. The problem with this is, is that you have to hope that schools will look at your whole app, instead of merely imputting your numbers and computing an average to see if they will interview you or not. From what I have seen most schools in TX look at the whole thing, so you may be safe in that regards, but it could be a problem. If they look at your app they will realize how dedicated your are to Medicine and how great a physician you would be. They just have to look. Unfortunately the MCAT is such a huge factor and many times they just pass you by. My suggestion is to possibly take the MCAT one last time. Do something different to improve your score. If you can bring it up just 2-3pts, you should definitely be competitive. This is only an observation so please don't take offense to anything I have said. I have several friends in your exact situation as we speak. Good luck, and what ever you decide to do, make sure you apply to med school. You never know what can happen. You might get in with what you currently have. Good luck.
