WAMC/School List? 3.56 cGPA/3.52 sGPA/514 MCAT. AA Male, strong upward trend.

[YAK---GO]

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Hello everyone, just wanted some insight on my chances for this current cycle. I've put off making this thread because I'm caught up in a very stressful situation that is still ongoing, which I will address in either this thread or another. My metrics are as follows:

1. cGPA and sGPA as calculated by AMCAS or AACOMAS - 3.565 cGPA | 3.52 sGPA (started off really rough simply due to my own laziness)
2. GPA Trend from freshman to senior year- 2.735cgpa/2.51sgpa -> 3.9cGPA/4.0sGPA -> 4.0cGPA/4.0sGPA -> 3.846cGPA/3.826sGPA
3. MCAT score(s) and breakdown - 514 (128 CP | 127 CARS | 128 BB | 131 PS)
4. State of residence or country of citizenship (if non-US) - VA
5. Ethnicity and/or race - African American (Born in Africa, moved to the states when I was very young)
6. Undergraduate institution or category - Would rather not divulge, but it's a public state school.
7. Clinical experience (volunteer and non-volunteer) - ~100 hours volunteering at a hospital near me. Mainly volunteered in the ED. Hours are low due to the pandemic. Was going to ramp up my volunteering during the Summer before my Senior year since I finally managed to somewhat fix my abysmal GPA, but then COVID hit. I'm currently searching for a full time non-volunteer position during my gap year.
8. Research experience and productivity - none
9. Shadowing experience and specialties represented - ~50 hours of virtual shadowing across a variety of specialties. Looking into setting up in person shadowing since it seems some hospitals are allowing students in again.
10. Non-clinical volunteering - ~130 hours with an organization that packages excess medical supplies from hospitals and sends them to countries that need them. ~100 hours with another organization started by my colleagues and I which fundraised money to help build schools for children with special needs. ~40 hours with an organization I joined earlier in February which gathered donations of various sorts such as clothing, food, and books to the local homeless populations in several different cities (Norfolk, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake). Starting meals on wheels soon, so might update schools regarding this in my secondary essays.
11. Other extracurricular activities (including athletics, military service, gap year activities, leadership, teaching, etc) - 400+ hours as a campus tutor for courses such as the gen bios, chems, organic chemistries, physiology, cell bio, genetics, etc. ~150 hours as an organic chemistry TA (I & II). ~100 hours as a physiology TA.
12. Relevant honors or awards - Dean's list since sophomore year but that's about it. Don't really plan on adding to my W/A section because it's listed on the transcript.
13. Anything else not listed you think might be important - A few hobbies of mine include playing the guitar (since I was 11), Piano (since I was about 17), weight lifting and playing futbol. The music in particular has been put to use during my volunteering experiences, as I was able to get to know some of the patients while I played piano in the lobby of the hospital that I volunteered with during my lunch breaks. I don't have any accolades pertaining to my hobbies, but I've stuck with them for many years on end and could talk about them extensively in interviews.

I'm looking to apply to about 20-25 schools, so far I only have these few in mind:
EVMS
VCU
Virginia Tech
Georgetown
George Washington University
John Hopkins University (pipe dream but figured I'd throw in a few reaches)
UVA (another reach)
Albany
Einstein
Hofstra
Mt Sinai (reach)
Howard
Morehouse

I'd like to stay on the east coast if possible, but I'm open to any suggestions for schools that match more metrics. Thank you in advance for any help you can provide.

 

[Banco]

East coast schools you should look into: Jefferson, Temple, Rochester, Vermont, Emory, Miami, USF, BU, Wake Forest, USF + a couple reaches like Cornell, Pitt, Yale etc.

 

[YAK---GO]

East coast schools you should look into: Jefferson, Temple, Rochester, Vermont, Emory, Miami, USF, BU, Wake Forest, USF + a couple reaches like Cornell, Pitt, Yale etc.

Thanks for the input! Any particular reason why I should consider those reaches? Or is it more so a "you miss 100% of the shots you don't take" situation. My stats and lack of research have already dissuaded me from applying to too many top 20 institutions.

 

[Faha]

I suggest adding these schools with your stats:
Meharry
West Virginia
Dartmouth
Brown
Vermont
Boston University
Tufts
NYU
Pittsburgh
Case Western
Cincinnati
Miami
USF Morsani
Duke
Emory

 

[Banco]

Thanks for the input! Any particular reason why I should consider those reaches? Or is it more so a "you miss 100% of the shots you don't take" situation. My stats and lack of research have already dissuaded me from applying to too many top 20 institutions.

No I was just naming random schools that I’d consider as reaches on the East coast. Your stats will be helped a bit by URM status but they are still reaches nevertheless. I agree you shouldn’t focus on Top 20s but it’s fine to have a few because sometimes you just never know.