WAMC + MD/DO school list suggestions- reapplicant from 2019-2020 cycle

[Slashdoppelganger1]

Hello all -

Last year, I made a post seeking advice on how to improve my application after an unsuccessful 2019 cycle. I received some great feedback on my plan, both on this site and from schools willing to consult me, and so now I'd like to repost with updates to gauge my competitiveness for this upcoming cycle. (The previous post, along with the list of schools I applied to, can be found here: Should I do an SMP?)

Summary (new activities in bold) -

Applied to 26 MD schools only and received 0 II's

Caucasian male/Maryland resident

Graduated 2017 from a public university in Virginia

cGPA: 3.53 (2.62 -> 3.42 -> 3.59 -> 3.86 -> 4.0)

sGPA: 3.50 (2.71 -> 3.22 -> 3.50 -> 3.73 -> 4.0)

Over the past year, I have completed 26 credits of upper-level bio courses at my local 4-year institution. I've maintained a 4.0 throughout this time, bumping my cGPA/sGPA from 3.43/3.34 in 2019 to 3.53/3.50.

MCAT: 518 (130/125/132/131; May 2019)

Clinical experience:
- ED scribe (will have ~700+ hours by the time of application)
- Volunteer patient transporter (150 hours over 18 months)
- Volunteer at a free clinic (50 hours over 6 months)
- ICU shadowing (~40 hours)

Research experience:
- 3 years as NIH IRTA (1 mid-author publication in Nature, 1 poster presentation, cited on 3 additional posters)
- 3 summers as a research fellow at FDA (no pubs)

Community service:
- Tutor/Childcare at a local homeless shelter (~120 hours over last 2 years; activity was suspended due to covid)
- Crisis counselor at crisis text line (started 01/2020; will have 200+ hours by the time of application)
- Election poll worker (~20 hours)

Leadership:
- Elected position in undergrad fraternity

Thank you all for your time and help!

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[Putkernerinthehall]

You competitiveness will depend on your school list. Do you have a draft list ? Your MCAT and recent coursework make you a stronger candidate.

 

[mvsrocks]

Clear upward GPA trend, good MCAT, okay/good/cookie-cutter clinical experience, great research, good non-clinical volunteering. I'm confident you will be accepted next cycle, as long as you have a good school list and apply broadly!

 

[Faha]

I suggest these schools with your stats:
Eastern Virginia
Virginia Commonwealth
Virginia Tech
UVA
West Virginia
Wake Forest
George Washington
Georgetown
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Penn State
Pittsburgh
Seton Hall
Albany
New York Medical College
Hofstra
Rochester
Einstein
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Cincinnati
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
Western Michigan
Medical College Wisconsin
Loyola
Creighton
St. Louis
TCU-UNT
Tulane
NOVA MD

 

[Slashdoppelganger1]

You competitiveness will depend on your school list. Do you have a draft list ? Your MCAT and recent coursework make you a stronger candidate.

Thank you for the response. I do have a tentative MD list that I'd appreciate your feedback on, but I'm still working on putting together a list of DO schools. I'll also look into the list kindly provided below to see which of those schools I should add.

- University of Maryland
- Virginia Tech Carilion
- Rosalind Franklin
- Quinnipiac
- Drexel
- Georgetown
- George Washington
- Temple
- MC Wisconsin
- NYMC
- Thomas Jefferson
- Tufts
- Tulane
- U Miami
- Virginia Commonwealth
- Wake Forest
- Western Michigan
- Case Western/Cleveland Clinic
- Emory
- Rochester
- Hofstra
- USUHS (I'm aware of the service commitment)

 

[Slashdoppelganger1]

Clear upward GPA trend, good MCAT, okay/good/cookie-cutter clinical experience, great research, good non-clinical volunteering. I'm confident you will be accepted next cycle, as long as you have a good school list and apply broadly!

Thanks so much for the encouragement! I'm still finalizing my list, but I hope the one I provided below casts a wide enough net.

Congrats on your success this cycle!

 

[Slashdoppelganger1]

I suggest these schools with your stats:
Eastern Virginia
Virginia Commonwealth
Virginia Tech
UVA
West Virginia
Wake Forest
George Washington
Georgetown
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Penn State
Pittsburgh
Seton Hall
Albany
New York Medical College
Hofstra
Rochester
Einstein
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Cincinnati
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
Western Michigan
Medical College Wisconsin
Loyola
Creighton
St. Louis
TCU-UNT
Tulane
NOVA MD

Thank you very much, Faha. I just have two questions for you whenever you get a chance.

1. There are some schools on this list that I am only slightly above/below the 10th percentile GPA for both applicants and matriculants (UVA, Pitt, Einstein, etc.). Would you say I have a respectable chance of interviewing at these places, or would these be more shots in the dark?

2. I notice UMD is not on this list. Was that intentional? Personally, I tend to lean against applying there even though it's my state school due to my GPAs being far below their 10th percentile.

 

[Faha]

Thank you very much, Faha. I just have two questions for you whenever you get a chance.

1. There are some schools on this list that I am only slightly above/below the 10th percentile GPA for both applicants and matriculants (UVA, Pitt, Einstein, etc.). Would you say I have a respectable chance of interviewing at these places, or would these be more shots in the dark?

2. I notice UMD is not on this list. Was that intentional? Personally, I tend to lean against applying there even though it's my state school due to my GPAs being far below their 10th percentile.

I assumed you would automatically apply to your state public school. You have a very strong upward trend in your GPA and your MCAT is competitive for all the schools I listed.