WAMC/School List, 3.57/510, reapplicant

[hopelesslexicon]

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Hello all, I am new here and need some advice for the upcoming cycle. I am a recently graduated senior trying to go to medical school. I applied this cycle, and have not heard back, so since November, I have been getting set for reapplication. This cycle, I applied to all of the TX MD schools, and have only received rejections (no II). I know my school list was very top heavy and not representative of my stats, so I am trying to get my school list right this time around and would appreciate any help I can get.
Here are my stats:
GPA: 3.57, sGPA: 3.50 (to elaborate: 2 C's, 1 D in organic chemistry II - retook this for an A+ at the same institution)
MCAT: 504 -> 510 (128, 126, 127, 129)
Degree: BA in Natural Sciences major from t5 university.
ORM East Asian Female

Research experience:
First lab- worked here since high school and into first year of college, around 150 hours in freshman year. Resulted in a conference poster and publication (co-first author), basic sciences lab.
Second lab - Worked here after finishing my project from first lab (freshman year until end of junior year). Resulted in two conference posters and a forthcoming publication (second author). I had around 1,000 hours clocked here.
Third lab - Worked here during summer after sophomore year and junior year, and did analysis during school year. Resulted in a conference poster and publication (second author). This was a clinical research lab (wanted to gain more clinical experience), and had around 700 hours from here, 400 of which were patient-facing in cardiology.
I have 5 scientific awards spread across each of these projects.
Overall, from college, I have around 1800 hours of research from these projects.

Activities:
4 leadership positions (TAing, Club Exec, Conference leadership posn). All natural sciences related.
700 hours in healthcare activities (volunteering at two different institutions, shadowing at two different institutions, EMT work). From my healthcare activities, I will be obtaining two physician LORs for the upcoming cycle.
400 hours in community service (Food bank, outreach programs from my college, fundraising for charity)

My goal to tackle here is my plans for this cycle. I have signed up for an MCAT date in late May, basically near the last date that the upcoming cycle accepts scores, and have done some light studying for it (this would be my third MCAT attempt). I just graduated college, so I will have no new incoming grades. Attempting a post-bac / masters is not something I can do, as it would put financial constraints on my family. I just started a clinical research job, which I will be working in part time. I also plan to continue community service/work on applications.

Last cycle, I only applied to 12 medical schools (TX MD only, IS). This cycle, I want to see whether GPA/MCAT repair is necessary or if I have a feasible shot if I expand my school list. I plan to include DO schools this time around.
Here is my tentative school list:

Sam Houston
TCU
TAMU
Texas Tech - El Paso
Texas Tech - Lubbock
UT San Antonio - Long
UT Austin - Dell
UTMB Galveston
UT Rio Grande Valley
UH College of Medicine
TCOM
UT Tyler
Nova Southeastern - KPCOM
Drexel College of Medicine
Des Moines University College of Osteopathic Medicine
UIWSOM
Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine
Tulane SOM
Roseman (NEW)
Alice Walton (NEW)
Belmont SOM
Methodist SOM
OSU-COM
AZCOM
AT Still COM
Arkansas COM
VCOM
PCOM
NYITCOM
Touro-NY
KCUCOM
RVUCOM
WCUCOM
CHSUCOM
LECOM
CUSM
Rosalind
FIU SOM
Wake Forest
Marian
NoordaCOM

I guess my main questions are, should this school list yield better results for me than my last application attempt? Should I retake my MCAT/go through a post-bacc or SMP, and do my stats warrant it? And, just overall, are my stats competitive enough to generate action from my new school list?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

to elaborate: 2 C's, 1 D in organic chemistry II - retook this for an A+ at the same institution

Clarify: you took Org 2 four times. Is that the only class where you had significant difficulty?
Is the GPA you disclose an AMCAS, TMDSAS, or AACOMAS GPA?

Where did you grow up in Texas? Many of the Texas schools have strong preferences for applicants from their constituency regions.

What do your prehealth advisors say about your academic metrics? Do they think you need a postbac or an SMP? Why are you not considering a science research-oriented career direction (Masters or PhD)? You have 1800 hours of research over 4 years vs. 700 hours of clinical (over ??? years? You don't say much about what you did compared to your research).

 

[hopelesslexicon]

Clarify: you took Org 2 four times. Is that the only class where you had significant difficulty?
Is the GPA you disclose an AMCAS, TMDSAS, or AACOMAS GPA?

Where did you grow up in Texas? Many of the Texas schools have strong preferences for applicants from their constituency regions.

What do your prehealth advisors say about your academic metrics? Do they think you need a postbac or an SMP? Why are you not considering a science research-oriented career direction (Masters or PhD)? You have 1800 hours of research over 4 years vs. 700 hours of clinical (over ??? years? You don't say much about what you did compared to your research).

I took org 2 twice. I had a D in it. I got C's in physics II and org 1. I did not retake those. The GPA is AMCAS and AACOMAS GPA. TMDSAS GPA is a 3.6/3.53. I grew up in the Dallas metro area. My prehealth advisor stated that a postbac/SMP was not really necessary, and to focus on my clinical hours (a bit unsure about this, just wanted a second opinion).
I am not considering a science-research career direction as after doing my first scientific research project, I spent some time volunteering in a clinic where my project results were being used to aid real patients, and fully fell in love with patient-facing interaction. A few months after this, my mother fell ill with the same condition that my first research project was on, and I ended up being her primary caretaker for a while (same time where my grades started to slip). This experience showed me that leading a team of providers means having a large depth of knowledge + having a large scope of practice, things I started to pick up on while doing basic science research as well as clinical research. In short, it stems from seeing how scientific results can impact real lives, like my Mom's, which is something I would not be able to do as easily/on a daily basis if I chose a research oriented career path.
As for my clinical hours, I have 1,800 hours of research over four years and 700 hours of clinical over 4 years. I just included college hours. I volunteered in two different hospitals, one was in the general ICU (at this time I did not really know what I wanted to see, so I picked a volunteer opportunity related to primary care to make sure I even liked healthcare in the first place) and the other was in the Neurological ICU (this stems from my research project). I furthered interest in Neurology through shadowing two clinics, one was a Alzheimer's institute, one was a Seizure clinic. I also worked as an EMT for quite a while doing night shifts and learning more about immediate emergency care. My current clinical research position revolves around an Alzheimer's study. Please let me know if you need any more info.

 

[Faha]

Most OOS MD schools interview few Texas residents since they know from years of experience that Texas residents will attend a Texas school.
For MD schools I suggest these:
All your Texas TMDSAS schools
Tulane
TCU
Roseman
Alice Walton
Belmont
Methodist
For DO schools I suggest these:
TCOM
SAM HOUSTON STATE
UIWSOM
OSU-COM
ACOM
VCOM (all schools)
AZCOM
ATSU-KCOM
KCU-COM
DMU-COM
PCOM
NYITCOM
Touro-NY
MU-COM
WCU-COM

 

[hopelesslexicon]

Most OOS MD schools interview few Texas residents since they know from years of experience that Texas residents will attend a Texas school.
For MD schools I suggest these:
All your Texas TMDSAS schools
Tulane
TCU
Roseman
Alice Walton
Belmont
Methodist
For DO schools I suggest these:
TCOM
SAM HOUSTON STATE
UIWSOM
OSU-COM
ACOM
VCOM (all schools)
AZCOM
ATSU-KCOM
KCU-COM
DMU-COM
PCOM
NYITCOM
Touro-NY
MU-COM
WCU-COM

Thanks for the reply! Just wondering, I heard that VCOM treats TX residents as IS, is this true? Just wondering.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Thanks for the reply! Just wondering, I heard that VCOM treats TX residents as IS, is this true? Just wondering.

That is correct. We posted that announcement a couple of years ago.

 

[chilly_md]

Closing duplicate thread from a duplicate user.