top 10 schools?

[mvalento]

i need some advice, i am a student at notre dame and am applying to med school this summer. my gpa is 3.6, however it has averaged over 3.8 over the last 4 semesters (i was in engineering during freshman year and my grades weren't too great). my mcat score is 37-39. i have moderate extracurricular activity (student gov't, dorm athletics), some volunteer work in 2 hospitals and at a free clinic, plus some undergrad research in organic chem and ecology. would it be a waste of time and money to apply to any top 10 schools? my grades are not as high as their averages but, as i said they went up when i switched to pre-med. i have written to my advisor at school and haven't heard back yet but i am sure he will discourage me from applying to the top schools because he is more concerned with the number of acceptances that he gets from each class. so, do i stand a chance at getting an interview at the top schools? i am considering duke, stanford, cornell, vanderbilt, and columbia, along with another (longer) list of schools that aren't in the top 10-15. any advice would be appreciated. thanks!

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[bsthomas]

With your MCAT scores i would recommend applying to the schools you listed. That is an excellent score. GPA is not the only thing AdComm looks at.

 

[PimplePopperMD]

APPLY! and don't let anyone tell you different. Many of us who are in med school were told not to apply, to pick up our gpas. it's not a waste if YOU will be wondering two years from now if you could have gotten in.

 

[Djanaba]

What's the worst that could happen to you if you apply? Hmm, you might not get in. Which leaves you precisely in the same boat you'd be in had you never applied.

The cost of applying to med schools is a mere drop in the bucked compared to the overall cost of medical application. Apply to whichever programs you feel are right for you, regardless. Remember these places report *averages*, and there are always outliers as well as those right on the button. Good luck!