MD WAMC - cGPA 3.84, 514 , Need help with school list

[friedburrito]

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[Shunsui]

Your list is too top heavy imo. Also, I don't know how much weight is placed on projected hours, but I can't imagine it's equivalent to already having the hours. I'm sure the experts can tailor your list but given your MCAT, lack of longevity in your activities, and ORM, I really think the upper third of your list are reaches. Your narrative is inspiring and i'm not trying to be an a hole, but I think you'll have better success if you don't aim as high with your list. Just my two cents.

Best of luck!

 

[friedburrito]

Your list is too top heavy imo. Also, I don't know how much weight is placed on projected hours, but I can't imagine it's equivalent to already having the hours. I'm sure the experts can tailor your list but given your MCAT, lack of longevity in your activities, and ORM, I really think the upper third of your list are reaches. Your narrative is inspiring and i'm not trying to be an a hole, but I think you'll have better success if you don't aim as high with your list. Just my two cents.

Best of luck!

The edits are made accordingly, but yeah I had a feeling it was going to be too top-heavy as well LOL. I deleted 3-4 reaches and added another state school if that's sufficient. I had a hard time deleting other schools, but if there are programs on the list that I don't fit in values wise please lemme know. Most of the projected hours I listed will have an additional year of experience before I apply, but I should've clarified that more, my bad. But I do agree that they most likely put less weight on projected hours, especially if it was a last-minute thing.

I appreciate your honest feedback and good luck to you too!

 

[m1redsox]

I would remove all the T10 schools from your list. Even Northwestern is known to be a “stat wh*re”, and they will all likely entertain applicants with higher stats. Your MCAT score is <25th percentile at all of those schools.

I would certainly add NYU-Long Island to your list since you are a NY resident.

 

[Mr.Blackdoc.5]

Ehh let OP apply to all the reach schools if he has the funds. Worst case scenario he just loses some money, but you miss all the shots you don’t take.
OP - sure your mcat may be below median at most schools, but you aren’t applying for two cycles so definitely time to polish the ECs and make sure you stick out. Schools want leaders so I would perhaps focus your efforts on making that tutoring program successful, perhaps focus on recruiting students from groups traditionally underrepresented in science and medicine, bring speakers in health and science professions who look like them so they see there are people that look like them in these professions. Finish the lgtbq book and if it’s published start book clubs at local high schools / college and donate copies. Don’t know what the research mentorship program is but grow that , again, perhaps focus on recruiting kids who specifically have no research experience. ECs like this are what make applicants stick out and can overcome a lower than average mcat storage at the top institutions.
lastly, if the basic research is taking up too much of your time I’d consider stopping it especially if you don’t want to make it a main part of your career. I have interviewed at 15 of top 20-25 research heavy schools and was only asked about research like 3 times and each time I spoke about it for less than a minute (except Cleveland clinic had to speak about it a bit more). After a certain point, med schools don’t care about research (especially since you have a co authorship) unless you have a first author publications. You will be a much more impressive applicant if you grow the ECs I mentioned.

 

[Putkernerinthehall]

I think one should be cautious of underestimating the significance of the MCAT score. My experience / knowledge gained over last couple years is that for non-URM applicants, the MCAT is the single most important factor in getting an II from a top 15 school. If one's MCAT is not strong enough, and for those first 10 or so schools on OP's list we're talking about ~517-520 to even be in the hunt, the rest of your application may not even get serious review. Maybe take some shots, sure, but you have to be realistic unless you've just got money to burn. Better to target ~30 schools where you have a solid shot at 80% of them and do an outstanding job on your secondaries. With too many schools, the secondaries suffer in quality and timeliness. 2 cents.

 

[friedburrito]

Ehh let OP apply to all the reach schools if he has the funds. Worst case scenario he just loses some money, but you miss all the shots you don’t take.
OP - sure your mcat may be below median at most schools, but you aren’t applying for two cycles so definitely time to polish the ECs and make sure you stick out. Schools want leaders so I would perhaps focus your efforts on making that tutoring program successful, perhaps focus on recruiting students from groups traditionally underrepresented in science and medicine, bring speakers in health and science professions who look like them so they see there are people that look like them in these professions. Finish the lgtbq book and if it’s published start book clubs at local high schools / college and donate copies. Don’t know what the research mentorship program is but grow that , again, perhaps focus on recruiting kids who specifically have no research experience. ECs like this are what make applicants stick out and can overcome a lower than average mcat storage at the top institutions.
lastly, if the basic research is taking up too much of your time I’d consider stopping it especially if you don’t want to make it a main part of your career. I have interviewed at 15 of top 20-25 research heavy schools and was only asked about research like 3 times and each time I spoke about it for less than a minute (except Cleveland clinic had to speak about it a bit more). After a certain point, med schools don’t care about research (especially since you have a co authorship) unless you have a first author publications. You will be a much more impressive applicant if you grow the ECs I mentioned.

Thanks for the ECs advice! This has been helpful and will take that into consideration. As for the reach schools, I do recognize my MCAT score is lower than the median, but I'll still go for my reach schools since the chance is still greater than 0. I did plan on retaking my MCAT since my practice exams had 518+ average scores, but I'm not sure if I would have the time to do that, and I could run the risk of getting a lower score. For my ECs, I was also planning on donating my books to homeless youth programs as well and create book clubs, but I'm not sure. What do you think about that?

 

[friedburrito]

I think one should be cautious of underestimating the significance of the MCAT score. My experience / knowledge gained over last couple years is that for non-URM applicants, the MCAT is the single most important factor in getting an II from a top 15 school. If one's MCAT is not strong enough, and for those first 10 or so schools on OP's list we're talking about ~517-520 to even be in the hunt, the rest of your application may not even get serious review. Maybe take some shots, sure, but you have to be realistic unless you've just got money to burn. Better to target ~30 schools where you have a solid shot at 80% of them and do an outstanding job on your secondaries. With too many schools, the secondaries suffer in quality and timeliness. 2 cents.

I do understand that the MCAT score is the cause for concern as far as applying to my reach schools. I am aware that there are AAMC reports showing that it's the most important factor, especially for T15 schools, but GPA is also an important factor which I feel the proudest of, especially when it's at an upward trend. Unless they have MCAT cutoffs that are super high (perhaps 515+) then that is a different story, and I would reconsider applying. Do you have any recommendations for target schools close to the east coast I should be applying for? Cuz most "safety" schools I find on MSAR tend to be low yield (either too many applications or in-state bias).

 

[Mr.Blackdoc.5]

Thanks for the ECs advice! This has been helpful and will take that into consideration. As for the reach schools, I do recognize my MCAT score is lower than the median, but I'll still go for my reach schools since the chance is still greater than 0. I did plan on retaking my MCAT since my practice exams had 518+ average scores, but I'm not sure if I would have the time to do that, and I could run the risk of getting a lower score. For my ECs, I was also planning on donating my books to homeless youth programs as well and create book clubs, but I'm not sure. What do you think about that?

That sounds great. Can’t go wrong with helping out those are less likely to access your resources. I don’t know what the breakdown was for your score. There are people who have retaken scores like yours because they believe they would get 520+. Some have succeeded, some have failed and done worse. That’s a personal decision you’ll have to do a cost-benefit analysis of...

 

[friedburrito]

That sounds great. Can’t go wrong with helping out those are less likely to access your resources. I don’t know what the breakdown was for your score. There are people who have retaken scores like yours because they believe they would get 520+. Some have succeeded, some have failed and done worse. That’s a personal decision you’ll have to do a cost-benefit analysis of...

Yeah, you're right about that. I'll see what I can do once that is done. I mean my score is sorta balanced for the most part (130/126/130/128), but I've gotten as high as 130 CARS and 131 P/S on the practice. My guess for doing worse on the exam is a bad migraine during CARS and other life circumstances. Nevertheless, I might retake, but I also might not. For now, I'll just continue with Anki 1-2 hours a day while taking FLs here and there to see how I do I guess, and I'll decide if I wanna retake.

 

[Mr.Blackdoc.5]

Yeah, you're right about that. I'll see what I can do once that is done. I mean my score is sorta balanced for the most part (130/126/130/128), but I've gotten as high as 130 CARS and 131 P/S on the practice. My guess for doing worse on the exam is a bad migraine during CARS and other life circumstances. Nevertheless, I might retake, but I also might not. For now, I'll just continue with Anki 1-2 hours a day while taking FLs here and there to see how I do I guess, and I'll decide if I wanna retake.

I strongly believe with appropriate time anyone can get 132 on c/p and b/b as well as 130+ on p/s. Cars is harder to do well in. Check out my post history should have included a link to a Reddit post I made on how I prepared for the exam. Most people score within two of the average of their four aamc practice exams so if you did then your score is not unexpected .

 

[Putkernerinthehall]

Vermont, Penn State, Temple, Virginia Tech, Quinnipiac, Eastern Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth, Georgetown, Cincy.

 

[deleted1020966]

N=1 but I have a similar MCAT to you, am not URM, and have had 6 T20 interviews. If you have a strong narrative and are able to write well, I say shoot your shot.

 

[Banco]

You have a strong application and a compelling narrative. But as others have said, the schools listed above Rochester there are pretty much all reaches due to the MCAT. But that's okay, you are completely fine in having those reaches as long as you have good targets/safeties. (Also you forgot Sinai in NY).

The schools from Rochester downwards are good targets. As always, you should apply to ALL state schools, which I think you have - you have the best shot at those. But I think for your targets you should have at least 15-20, which I think you just seem to hit.

With regards to Maryland - check their OOS stats, I am not sure how many they accept.

I would consider adding: Temple, Drexel, Quinnipiac, Georgetown, Tufts.