Start with your gpa and MCAT combined using the formula gpa(10)+MCAT. This is called the
LizzyM score. You can compare this to the average gpa and average MCAT publicized by each school for its most recently admitted class or by the AAMC in the publication MSAR which shows the median MCAT subscores and median gpa for applicants offered admission at that school (often these medians are higher than the means of matriculants... go with the higher numbers if you have any doubts).
If your LizzyM is 65 don't consider yourself to have a great chance of getting into a school with a LizzyM of 75. Someone might be so kind as to direct you to a handy interactive spreadsheet that will help you compare your stats to med schools' stats.
Next cross of the list any schools that are not in your state of residence and not friendly to OOS applicants.
If you do not speak Spanish, take the Puerto Rican Schools off your list.
If you are not interested in attending a Historically Black Medical School, take those schools off your list.
If you would have a problem with the religious character of a school affiliated with a particular denomination, cross that school from your list.
If there are more than 15 schools on your list, it is reasonable to begin shaving the list based on geography, how well the mission fits with your goals (are you most interested in research, rural medicine, family practice, super-subspecialty academic medicine, etc), issues related to housing and transportation (do you prefer to live in a dorm or an apartment, want/don't want to be dependent on a car).
If you would prefer to stay home and listen to podcasts of the lectures, don't choose a school with mandatory lecture attendance.
