Thoughts on school list

Started by blackgirlmd
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blackgirlmd

Full Member
7+ Year Member
Hello everyone!

Could I get some thoughts on my school list?

Stats:
4.0 GPA
29 MCAT
URM
Louisiana resident


Tulane
Brown
Loyola
Meharry
Morehouse
UCSF
UPENN
Emory
Baylor
Northwestern
 
This definitely needs work. You're not going to be competitive for half the schools on your list.

You should probably remove Brown, UCSF, Penn, and Northwestern. I think Emory is okay to keep as a reach, but it's still a reach. I don't know much about Baylor, so I'll leave that up to others to help you with. I assume from your username that you are black and/or AA, so it might be a good idea to apply to Howard as well.

More realistic reaches might include Wake Forest, Rochester, Einstein, and possibly USC-Keck. However, without your ECs, I can't really tell you whether you'd really be competitive there. You should also have a solid list of schools that are closer to your MCAT range that include EVMS, VCU, Quinnipiac, Jefferson, Drexel, Penn State, Temple, Loyola, and NYMC.
 
WedgeDawg said:
This definitely needs work. You're not going to be competitive for half the schools on your list.

You should probably remove Brown, UCSF, Penn, and Northwestern. I think Emory is okay to keep as a reach, but it's still a reach. I don't know much about Baylor, so I'll leave that up to others to help you with. I assume from your username that you are black and/or AA, so it might be a good idea to apply to Howard as well.

More realistic reaches might include Wake Forest, Rochester, Einstein, and possibly USC-Keck. However, without your ECs, I can't really tell you whether you'd really be competitive there. You should also have a solid list of schools that are closer to your MCAT range that include EVMS, VCU, Quinnipiac, Jefferson, Drexel, Penn State, Temple, Loyola, and NYMC.
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That's interesting. I was told to add those schools by someone with similar stats that got accepted To those places.
 
blackgirlmd said:
Hello everyone!

Could I get some thoughts on my school list?

Stats:
4.0 GPA
29 MCAT
URM
Louisiana resident


Tulane
Brown
Loyola
Meharry
Morehouse
UCSF
UPENN
Emory
Baylor
Northwestern
Click to expand...

I hope this isn't your entire list.. At a glance it looks very top heavy. Should look at MSAR and see which schools are realistic with a 29 MCAT. Look at both median MCAT and what the 10th percentile is. 30+ 10th percentile means its a pretty big reach with a 29 MCAT.

Also, you didn't give any indication of EC's which from my understanding makes a huge difference, especially for borderline applicants.

Northwestern? their 10th percentile is a 32, median of 37, applying there would be a donation unless you are an Olympic athlete who also built an orphanage with your bare hands and founded a clinic for sick orphans, even then who knows.

Baylor? same story, it's unrealistic. I could keep going but you get the idea, many of these schools are not realistic.

With a 29 MCAT I would suggest applying to at least 15 schools, preferably 20. It's okay to have some hail marry dream schools on there, but not when they make up a large portion of your list. MSAR is your friend.
 
Since you're URM, it is okay to have those reach schools, but they are still reaches. You need more realistic options as a solid foundation.
Add all your state schools.

Look into: Wake Forest, Miami, Duke, Rochester, Einstein, BU, Tufts, EVMS, VCU

These are just some suggestions.

What are your ECs like so we can better advise?
 
ECs

Volunteer at planned parenthood (hands on experience)-counseled female patients
1.5 yr research
Summer enrichment program on how to work in underserved communities--shadowed in these communities and first year med experience
Work at youth homeless shelters--mentored teens
Obvious shadowing
Dance teacher
Leader of student run dance organization at school
Other stuff
 
blackgirlmd said:
ECs

Volunteer at planned parenthood (hands on experience)-counseled female patients
1.5 yr research
Summer enrichment program on how to work in underserved communities--shadowed in these communities and first year med experience
Work at youth homeless shelters--mentored teens
Obvious shadowing
Dance teacher
Leader of student run dance organization at school
Other stuff
Click to expand...

Pretty cool and interesting ECs in there, but not enough to make you a highly competitive candidate for schools like Northwestern (and certainly not Penn which is arguably one of the most competitive schools in the country). If you're really set on some of these schools, you can keep a couple in, but be advised that they should not replace more realistic schools. My advice would be to go through MSAR and look for schools with a 10th percentile MCAT score of no less than 30 and pick and choose from those. As was mentioned earlier, your school list should be far more than 10 schools - I would personally advise no less than 20, and no more than 5 of those 20 should be these high reach Northwestern types.
 
blackgirlmd said:
ECs

Volunteer at planned parenthood (hands on experience)-counseled female patients
1.5 yr research
Summer enrichment program on how to work in underserved communities--shadowed in these communities and first year med experience
Work at youth homeless shelters--mentored teens
Obvious shadowing
Dance teacher
Leader of student run dance organization at school
Other stuff
Click to expand...

Great activities.

Now just come up with a bigger, more well balanced list.
 
gyngyn said:
If you interview well and that is your only MCAT, you are likely to have success with your list.
I do recommend adding a handful of private schools with a 10th% MCAT around 30.
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Yes this is my only MCAT. And I had a mock interview at Loyola and it went pretty well so I think that's good 🙂
Thank you for your input.

Do you have any recommendations?
 
blackgirlmd said:
Yes this is my only MCAT. And I had a mock interview at Loyola and it went pretty well so I think that's good 🙂
Thank you for your input.

Do you have any recommendations?
Click to expand...
Einstein, BU, Creighton. SLU, Dartmouth, Hofstra. Keck, Rush, Jeff, Temple, Brown, Cornell, Tufts, U Miami, V Tech, Wake. Pick your favorites.
 
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