- Joined
- Mar 7, 2018
- Messages
- 137
- Reaction score
- 305
As the title states, I am a non-traditional applicant looking to get some help finalizing a strategic school list to hopefully get an MD/DO admit with only one application cycle. The specifics are below, but I am a career-changer and reinventor with poor/uneven stats and several red flags. I believe I have addressed the weaknesses in my application, but I am still unsure of the best way to craft my school list since my GPA and MCAT are so mismatched.
I know I am limiting myself by focusing geographically to the Northeast/Midatlantic region, with PA/NJ/NY preferred. I have strong ties to PA & NJ because of proximity to family. Additionally, my significant other is a medical student in NJ, so I would prefer to stay within a 6-hour driving radius of this area.
1. cGPA and sGPA as calculated by AMCAS or AACOMAS
AMCAS:
3.07 cGPA (2.72 undergrad, 3.98 post-bacc, 4.0 graduate)
3.69 sGPA (2.68 undergrad, 3.98 post-bacc)
AACOMAS:
3.06 cGPA (2.73 undergrad, 3.98 post-bacc, 4.0 graduate)
3.54 sGPA (2.00 undergrad, 3.98 post-bacc)
Post-bacc represents 50-60 credit hours of science coursework (one A-, the rest A & A+)
Graduate represents non-science coursework.
2. MCAT score(s) and breakdown
517 (129/128/130/130)
3. State of residence or country of citizenship (if non-US)
PA
4. Ethnicity and/or race
White, ORM
5. Undergraduate institution or category
Undergrad: Ivy (HYP)
Formal Post-bac: Ivy
Graduate: Ivy
6. Clinical experience (volunteer and non-volunteer)
3600 hrs extracted from dedicated clinical time as a full-time clinical research coordinator (paid).
325 hrs as a research assistant in the emergency department (volunteer).
3800 hrs as an EMT (volunteer).
7. Research experience and productivity
2400 hrs extracted from dedicated research time as a full-time clinical research coordinator.
8. Shadowing experience and specialties represented
88 hours combined in endocrinology, obesity medicine, gastroenterology, GI surgery, and emergency medicine
30 hour combined virtual shadowing in various specialties during COVID.
9. Non-clinical volunteering
1000+ hrs as a firefighter
600 hrs in technical rescue
40 hrs as a community CPR instructor. Paused due to COVID.
25 hrs as a chemistry tutor in my post-bac program.
10. Other extracurricular activities (including athletics, military service, gap year activities, leadership, teaching, etc)
Leadership positions in EMS organizations
AMWA chapter membership
Journal club membership
Did not list undergrad extracurriculars on the primary app because I did not have room in the 15 slots.
11. Relevant honors or awards
None listed on application.
12. Anything else not listed you think might be important
Disadvantaged background, low SES, EO-1 first generation college student, FAP recipient.
4000+ hrs paid employment during undergrad, part of my story that helps explain my poor grades in college.
4000+ hrs waitressing. I think this demonstrates real-world experience and also customer service/interpersonal skills.
Currently completing a Master’s degree in non-science health policy field. I know this doesn’t help academically. I consider this an extracurricular and am pursuing this during my application year out of genuine interest in the topics.
Red Flags:
Institutional Action: Required withdrawal and academic probation due to poor academic performance (sub-2.0) during undergrad. I believe I have addressed this in my IA essay, by having a dean from my undergrad address this in one of my LORs, and by performing well in the post-bacc.
Several withdrawal gaps in undergrad due to poor health. This is part of my story of why I performed poorly in college. I understand that this will give adcoms concerns over my ability to perform in medical school. This is why I spent 3 years working full time while completing 10-12 credits of post-bac courses per semester, with the hope of demonstrating that who I was is not who I am now.
LizzyM: 65.7
WARS: 71, C-Level
School List:
I’m assuming I will need to apply to at least 30 schools to have a chance. For financial reasons, I would prefer not to apply to more than 40.
Definitely applying to all PA & NJ schools (already submitted primaries here):
UPitt
UPenn
Jefferson
Temple
Drexel
Penn State
Geisinger
PCOM
LECOM
Rowan
NJMS
RWJ
Cooper
Hackensack
Considering the following based on @Goro ’s list of schools that reward reinvention and geography. However, I recognize that I am NOT competitive for most of these schools, so I need advice on where to actually apply. Generally avoiding OOS publics, but I have seen that a few can be OOS and/or non-trad friendly. I recognize this list is too top-heavy because I’ve included all private schools in the region.
NYIT
Touro-NY
Albany
NYMC
Einstein ?
Rochester ?
Hofstra
Icahn
Columbia ?
Cornell ?
NYU ?
Netter
Yale ?
Brown ?
Tufts
Boston
Harvard?
UVM?
Dartmouth
UNECOM
Maryland?
Hopkins?
Georgetown
GWU
Any input would be greatly appreciated! I feel like this is too few DO schools, but I have included all the DO schools within the region.
I know I am limiting myself by focusing geographically to the Northeast/Midatlantic region, with PA/NJ/NY preferred. I have strong ties to PA & NJ because of proximity to family. Additionally, my significant other is a medical student in NJ, so I would prefer to stay within a 6-hour driving radius of this area.
1. cGPA and sGPA as calculated by AMCAS or AACOMAS
AMCAS:
3.07 cGPA (2.72 undergrad, 3.98 post-bacc, 4.0 graduate)
3.69 sGPA (2.68 undergrad, 3.98 post-bacc)
AACOMAS:
3.06 cGPA (2.73 undergrad, 3.98 post-bacc, 4.0 graduate)
3.54 sGPA (2.00 undergrad, 3.98 post-bacc)
Post-bacc represents 50-60 credit hours of science coursework (one A-, the rest A & A+)
Graduate represents non-science coursework.
2. MCAT score(s) and breakdown
517 (129/128/130/130)
3. State of residence or country of citizenship (if non-US)
PA
4. Ethnicity and/or race
White, ORM
5. Undergraduate institution or category
Undergrad: Ivy (HYP)
Formal Post-bac: Ivy
Graduate: Ivy
6. Clinical experience (volunteer and non-volunteer)
3600 hrs extracted from dedicated clinical time as a full-time clinical research coordinator (paid).
325 hrs as a research assistant in the emergency department (volunteer).
3800 hrs as an EMT (volunteer).
7. Research experience and productivity
2400 hrs extracted from dedicated research time as a full-time clinical research coordinator.
No publications, most of the research is industry-sponsored clinical trials.
2nd author on project with 2 poster presentations
1st author on project with 4 poster presentations
220 hrs undergraduate research projects8. Shadowing experience and specialties represented
88 hours combined in endocrinology, obesity medicine, gastroenterology, GI surgery, and emergency medicine
30 hour combined virtual shadowing in various specialties during COVID.
9. Non-clinical volunteering
1000+ hrs as a firefighter
600 hrs in technical rescue
40 hrs as a community CPR instructor. Paused due to COVID.
25 hrs as a chemistry tutor in my post-bac program.
10. Other extracurricular activities (including athletics, military service, gap year activities, leadership, teaching, etc)
Leadership positions in EMS organizations
AMWA chapter membership
Journal club membership
Did not list undergrad extracurriculars on the primary app because I did not have room in the 15 slots.
11. Relevant honors or awards
None listed on application.
12. Anything else not listed you think might be important
Disadvantaged background, low SES, EO-1 first generation college student, FAP recipient.
4000+ hrs paid employment during undergrad, part of my story that helps explain my poor grades in college.
4000+ hrs waitressing. I think this demonstrates real-world experience and also customer service/interpersonal skills.
Currently completing a Master’s degree in non-science health policy field. I know this doesn’t help academically. I consider this an extracurricular and am pursuing this during my application year out of genuine interest in the topics.
Red Flags:
Institutional Action: Required withdrawal and academic probation due to poor academic performance (sub-2.0) during undergrad. I believe I have addressed this in my IA essay, by having a dean from my undergrad address this in one of my LORs, and by performing well in the post-bacc.
Several withdrawal gaps in undergrad due to poor health. This is part of my story of why I performed poorly in college. I understand that this will give adcoms concerns over my ability to perform in medical school. This is why I spent 3 years working full time while completing 10-12 credits of post-bac courses per semester, with the hope of demonstrating that who I was is not who I am now.
LizzyM: 65.7
WARS: 71, C-Level
School List:
I’m assuming I will need to apply to at least 30 schools to have a chance. For financial reasons, I would prefer not to apply to more than 40.
Definitely applying to all PA & NJ schools (already submitted primaries here):
UPitt
UPenn
Jefferson
Temple
Drexel
Penn State
Geisinger
PCOM
LECOM
Rowan
NJMS
RWJ
Cooper
Hackensack
Considering the following based on @Goro ’s list of schools that reward reinvention and geography. However, I recognize that I am NOT competitive for most of these schools, so I need advice on where to actually apply. Generally avoiding OOS publics, but I have seen that a few can be OOS and/or non-trad friendly. I recognize this list is too top-heavy because I’ve included all private schools in the region.
NYIT
Touro-NY
Albany
NYMC
Einstein ?
Rochester ?
Hofstra
Icahn
Columbia ?
Cornell ?
NYU ?
Netter
Yale ?
Brown ?
Tufts
Boston
Harvard?
UVM?
Dartmouth
UNECOM
Maryland?
Hopkins?
Georgetown
GWU
Any input would be greatly appreciated! I feel like this is too few DO schools, but I have included all the DO schools within the region.
