WAMC (3.711/513) ORM in CA, School List Help

[hxm]

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Hi! I would appreciate help removing OOS unfriendly schools. I had kept everything with more than 10% OOS students, but didn’t know what cut-off was more appropriate. Would also appreciate the addition of any OOS-friendly schools I may have a decent chance at, especially if they are in Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta, Miami, and NYC.

I also welcome feedback on how to improve my application and whether I should retake the MCAT. I only applied to one school near me in 2024 just in case I had a chance of starting a year earlier and to prevent relocation. (Not rejected yet, but still no II.) I will be applying everywhere in 2025, but don’t have the bandwidth to significantly improve my application due to my load (work, 3 young kids, and I am retaking one English class and one social science class Spring 2025 to be able to apply to some of the schools on my list).

1. cGPA 3.686
   sGPA 3.711
   Undergrad GPA 3.633,
   DIY Post-Bacc GPA 4.0 - was pre-med in college, but some schools required classes to be taken within the past 5-10 years
2. MCAT June 2024, 513 (130/128/127/128)
   Preview 9
3. CA
4. ORM
5. T10 Liberal Arts College (graduated 13 years ago)
6. 9000+ hours, inpatient and outpatient as an allied health professional
   1700 hours supervised practice
7. 1250 hours in two different labs; no publications
8. No explicit shadowing, but worked closely with teams in rounds (specifically pediatrics, OB, burns, rehab)
9. Limited due to current obligations. (Recent) volunteering with children’s PTA/school: 100 (From a while back): 30 mental health services/80 memory ward/40 disadvantaged youth
10. Extracurriculars: gardening
11. One of my private practice jobs won the “Best of ***” for our County in 2024
12. Willing to move but strong preference for Northern California to avoid relocating the family and to stay close to elderly family– which is why I wonder if I should retake the MCAT in April 2025. I have been advised on a separate post here that I should not retake the MCAT (and I would gladly not!), but I did not mention my strong preference for Norcal in that thread.

• UC Davis
• California Northstate University
• Touro University California
• UCSF
• Stanford
• California Health Sciences University
• Loma Linda
• Kaiser Permanente
• USC
• UCLA
• UC Riverside
• UCSD
• Western University of Health Sciences
• Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin
• Rush Medical College
• Loyola University Chicago
• University of Illinois College of Medicine
• Emory
• Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
• Florida International University
• Nova Southeastern University Dr. Kiran C Patel College
• University of Washington
• Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine
• University of Nevada, Reno
• U of Hawaii - John Burns
• George Washington
• Georgetown
• University of Minnesota
• Drexel
• Temple
• University of Alabama
• University of Maryland School of Medicine
• Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine
• Wayne State
• Tulane
• Medical College of Wisconsin
• Quinnipiac
• Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine
• Penn State University College of Medicine
• University of Kansas School of Medicine
• University of Missouri- Kansas City School of Medicine
• Wake Forest University
• University of Louisville School of Medicine
• Washington State University Elson S. Floyd
• Michigan State University College of Human Medicine
• University of South Carolina
• University of Missouri-Columbia School of Medicine
• Eastern Virginia Medical School
• Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine
• University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
• University of College of Medicine
• Albany Medical College
• SUNY Upstate Medical University
• Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine
• West Virginia University School of Medicine

 

[Faha]

U Washington admits less than 1% of applicants who are not from states in the Northwest. You also have many other state public schools on your list that admit few non residents with no connection to the state or region. Loyola and Rush expect far more non clinical volunteering hours than you have. I suggest these OOS schools with your stats:
Arizona (Phoenix)
Roseman (when it opens)
NOVA MD
Alice Walton
Belmont
TCU
Wake Forest
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
George Washington
Rosalind Franklin
Medical College Wisconsin
Western Michigan
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
Iowa
Penn State
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Hackensack
New York Medical College
Albany
Vermont
Quinnipiac
UMass
Ponce (St. Louis)
Methodist (when it opens)

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Because you graduated over a decade ago, why are you interested in medicine in the last 2 years? Can you highlight the hours of activities done while you were in your postbac program (presuming this was done in the last two years)? You'll obviously carry thousands of hours of activities in, so we need help with the chronology.

You don't need to retake a 513. You should talk with admissions staff at the schools where you want to attend. You should include DO schools to increase the probability you can stay in northern California or relocate to the desired big cities that you listed.

 

[LunaOri]

Dartmouth is also friendly to older nontrad applicants.

 

[KaiBuzz]

Remove Univ of AZ PHX as a 513 is not competitive for an OOS candidate. Any leadership?

 

[hxm]

U Washington admits less than 1% of applicants who are not from states in the Northwest. You also have many other state public schools on your list that admit few non residents with no connection to the state or region. Loyola and Rush expect far more non clinical volunteering hours than you have. I suggest these OOS schools with your stats:
Arizona (Phoenix)
Roseman (when it opens)
NOVA MD
Alice Walton
Belmont
TCU
Wake Forest
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
George Washington
Rosalind Franklin
Medical College Wisconsin
Western Michigan
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
Iowa
Penn State
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Hackensack
New York Medical College
Albany
Vermont
Quinnipiac
UMass
Ponce (St. Louis)
Methodist (when it opens)

Thank you for the list, I really appreciate it!

 

[hxm]

Remove Univ of AZ PHX as a 513 is not competitive for an OOS candidate. Any leadership?

Thank you - removed.

~60 hours from 2019-2021 as a community educator/leader in social justice and vaccine education, leading book clubs and talks
~320 hours from 2015-2020 as a small group leader for young adults in a church, coordinating weekly meetings and opportunities to volunteer together (neighborhood cleanups, city enhancements, intentional care for those undergoing hardship)

 

[hxm]

Because you graduated over a decade ago, why are you interested in medicine in the last 2 years? Can you highlight the hours of activities done while you were in your postbac program (presuming this was done in the last two years)? You'll obviously carry thousands of hours of activities in, so we need help with the chronology.

You don't need to retake a 513. You should talk with admissions staff at the schools where you want to attend. You should include DO schools to increase the probability you can stay in northern California or relocate to the desired big cities that you listed.

I was pre-med in undergrad, but opted for graduate school/research for financial and familial reasons. I switched to an allied health professional job within my field because I preferred the clinical aspect, and while I love most aspects of my job, I wish for a wider scope. I've thought of applying to medical school multiple times, but always found reasons not to. 1.5 years ago, someone point blank asked me why I wasn't applying to med school, and when I started listing my reasons, I realized that those were no longer valid reasons for me.

Activities from the postbacc period:
No extracurriculars asides from volunteering at my children's schools
Work: inpatient + Telehealth 2-3 days a week
Coursework: (completed at night asides from exams) September 2023-May 2024, retook 2 semesters of Bio, Chem, OChem, and Physics. June 2024 MCAT. September-December 2024 English and Biochem.

I have 3 Californian DO schools on my list:
Touro University California
California Health Sciences University
Western University of Health Sciences
Would you advise adding more DO schools?

Sorry if this is a silly question -- Regarding talking to the admissions staff where I would like to attend, do you recommend attending info sessions and asking questions? Or emailing admissions staff regarding my interest and asking questions prior to applying?

If you have any advice for extracurriculars (volunteering? or initiating/leading projects at one of my non-profit jobs?) between now and May/June 2025 when I apply, I would welcome that. Thank you!

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Sorry if this is a silly question -- Regarding talking to the admissions staff where I would like to attend, do you recommend attending info sessions and asking questions? Or emailing admissions staff regarding my interest and asking questions prior to applying?

As an older nontraditional applicant, I would recommend an individual appointment. Your questions will likely focus on making the case to transition to medicine given your past experiences.