WAMC + School List? 3.95 sGPA, 523 MCAT, 3.65 cGPA. Non-trad software eng. w/ unique background

[j_diggity]

Hello, I'm looking for some advice about my chances and especially on coming up with a school list. I have no idea which schools to apply to besides the few I have listed already (in a comment below), due to my MCAT/GPA combo. I'm a non-traditional student, with 6 years experience as a software engineer before making the switch to medicine. I just finished a career-changer postbac program where I did all my science prereqs.

GPA: 3.65 cGPA, 3.95 sGPA, 3.98 postbac GPA
MCAT: 523 (132/129/130/132)
State of Residence: Illinois (with Texas ties - lived there 7 years and my family lives there now, consider it "home," would love to go back)
Race: Caucasian
Undergrad: UT Austin. Postbac at WashU
Background: Disadvantaged, grew up very poor by US standards w/ family income <$25,000, public housing, food stamps, food insecurity. FAP recipient so not too worried about cost of applying to a lot of schools. However, I'm not SES disadvantaged according to AMCAS due to dad's educational level and occupation.
Clinical Experience:

• ~950 hours as an EMT doing IFT transfers, 911 calls, and first aid.
• ~150 hours clinical volunteering at a children's hospital, blankets and popsicles kind of thing
• ~200 hours as a volunteer medical assistant at a free clinic

Research:

• 200-300 hours from very recently starting (earlier this year) a clinical research assistant job at an ER. Zero potential for publications out of this, not too worried about it. Don't think I'll pursue any other research during my application year.

Shadowing:

• ~50 hours shadowing in a major city's ER
• ~30 hours shadowing a psychiatrist

Non-clinical:

• Meals on Wheels - 250 hours
• Member of a national community service organization - 150 hours
• Suicide crisis hotline - 100 hours

Other/Hobbies:

• Jazz instrument playing - 1000 hours
• Radio DJ - a few hundred hours in college
• Private library membership - 1000+ hours, read a lot of interesting stuff and learned a lot, grew as a person, very significant experience in my personal development, growth, and maturation.
• Venture Capital experience - 400 hours, from an internship in college.
• Software career - 10,000 hours easily

LORs:

• Orgo prof
• Physics prof
• Children's hospital volunteer director
• Free clinic director, Nurse practitioner

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[j_diggity]

SCHOOL LIST: (ignore this list, see more updated school list in a later post)

Illinois
Southern IL
Missouri (ties)
UVM (ties)
St. Louis University (ties)
WashU (ties)
Harvard
Mayo Clinic
NYU
Michigan
Brown
Boston University
U of Rochester
Emory
Miami
Jefferson Kimmel
Temple Lewis Katz
Einstein
Cornell
GW
Rush
Rosalind Franklin
Wake Forest
Cooper Rowan
Tufts
Hofstra
East Virginia
Med College Wisconsin
Dartmouth
NYMC
Icahn Mt. Sinai
Creighton
Baylor
Long @ San Antonio
Sealy @ UTMB
McGovern @ Houston
Texas A&M @ Bryan
Texas Tech Lubbock
Dell Med @ UT Austin
UT Southwestern

Altogether, that's 39 schools.

I removed Yale as I don't have much research experience.

I'm debating on adding: Ohio State, Iowa, UChicago, Georgetown, Loyola, Drexel, and USF Morsani. Leaning toward adding Morsani in, maybe Drexel too (have I heard bad things about this school?).

OLD, PRELIMINARY SCHOOL LIST:

University of Illinois (would love to go here)
Southern Illinois (grew up/officially reside in central/southern IL - would love to attend)
Mizzou (ties to Missouri)
UVM Larner (experiences/ties in Vermont - would love to attend)
St. Louis U (St. Louis ties)
WashU (St. Louis ties/reach/dream)
Yale (reach/dream)
Brown (reach/dream)
Harvard (reach/dream)
Baylor
Boston U
Rochester
TMDSAS schools: UTHSA, UTMB, McGovern, UT Southwestern, Texas Tech Lubbock, Dell Med

I have no idea if the above schools are even good for my app (except the state schools of course), but this is what I have so far.

Geographic preference: Anywhere in the midwest, east coast (Mass to Florida), or Texas. I prefer not to do west coast (no ties, never been) but am open if the school is right. Colorado and Arizona are both states I could vibe with.

I'm open to any suggestions! Tell me where you think I should apply.

 

[wysdoc]

Are you still interested in engineering or trying to switch away from it?
The reason I ask is there is one school in your home state (IL) that only wants engineers & CS majors - Carle Illinois,
and one more Texas school - the separate application to EnMed affiliated with Texas A&M which would base you in Houston.

 

[Faha]

I suggest these schools with your stats:
U Illinois
Southern Illinois
Carle Illinois
Northwestern
U Chicago
Western Michigan
U Michigan
St. Louis
Washington University
Vanderbilt
Miami
USF Morsani
Duke
Georgetown
Jefferson
Pittsburgh
Hofstra
Einstein
Mount Sinai
NYU
Columbia
Cornell
Rochester
Vermont
Dartmouth
Brown
Tufts
Boston University
Yale
Harvard

 

[j_diggity]

Are you still interested in engineering or trying to switch away from it?
The reason I ask is there is one school in your home state (IL) that only wants engineers & CS majors - Carle Illinois,
and one more Texas school - the separate application to EnMed affiliated with Texas A&M which would base you in Houston.

I'm definitely still interested in tech, but the issue with Carle is that I'm a self-taught engineer (was actually a finance undergrad), so no differential equations and such. I understood that was a hard requirement, is it? Would actually love to combine my tech background with medicine, but didn't get the sense that Carle was the right fit.

I hadn't heard about EnMed, but I'll take a look! Thank you =)

 

[wysdoc]

I'm definitely still interested in tech, but the issue with Carle is that I'm a self-taught engineer (was actually a finance undergrad), so no differential equations and such. I understood that was a hard requirement, is it? Would actually love to combine my tech background with medicine, but didn't get the sense that Carle was the right fit.

I hadn't heard about EnMed, but I'll take a look! Thank you =)

I think you’re right about the firm higher math pre-reqs at Carle. See if EnMed is a better fit

 

[Mr.Smile12]

OP: did you verify your eligibility as a Texas legacy and possible resident? Did you submit a TMDSAS application?

 

[j_diggity]

OP: did you verify your eligibility as a Texas legacy and possible resident? Did you submit a TMDSAS application?

I wish. I only moved to TX after high school, and I'm not considered a resident. I have to apply as an OOS. Hopefully my ties and stats get me in the door! I'm currently still working on my TMDSAS application though.

 

[j_diggity]

I suggest these schools with your stats:
U Illinois
Southern Illinois
Carle Illinois
Northwestern
U Chicago
Western Michigan
U Michigan
St. Louis
Washington University
Vanderbilt
Miami
USF Morsani
Duke
Georgetown
Jefferson
Pittsburgh
Hofstra
Einstein
Mount Sinai
NYU
Columbia
Cornell
Rochester
Vermont
Dartmouth
Brown
Tufts
Boston University
Yale
Harvard

Thank you for this list! I really appreciate it. There are a lot of good schools on your list that I was just looking at - Hofstra, USF, Jefferson, Pitt, for example. I'm not sure if these are considered "high tier" or extremely competitive but I'm right in the ballpark for both MCAT and GPA for these schools.

I think I'll probably cut out some of the higher tier schools. I don't think I have a real shot at Duke or Columbia, for example, but I'll add Cornell, Vanderbilt, and maybe one or two of the Chicago schools (UChi or Northwestern) just depending on how I feel about their secondaries.

Would love to go to any of these schools, however.

 

[j_diggity]

Hello, I'm looking for some advice on cutting a few schools from my list to get it under 40. I'd like to remove schools where I'm wasting my time or where I'm a poor fit. My goals aren't really research-oriented, although I like research and probably will do some in med school, and would enjoy going to a research-oriented school just as much as a service-oriented one. I envision myself working in underserved areas or practicing some form of community-based medicine, however, I don't have the STRONGEST service-orientation in my activities.

School List:

• Illinois
• Southern IL
• Missouri
• UVM
• St. Louis University
• Brown
• Boston University
• U of Rochester
• WashU
• Harvard
• NYU
• Yale? Was advised not to due to their research focus
• Mayo Clinic - is this a waste of time?
• Penn? Was advised not to due to their research focus. Their bottom 10% cGPA is also 3.82. However I hear they like non-trads.
• Emory
• Miami? Was advised not to due to their research focus
• USF Morsani? Was advised not to due to their research focus
• Jefferson
• Temple
• Einstein
• Cornell
• GW (was advised that they might yield protect me, considering removing it)
• Rush
• Rosalind Franklin
• Wake Forest
• Cooper Rowan (I'm OOS but believe strongly in the mission)
• Tufts
• Hofstra
• East Virginia
• Med College Wisconsin
• Dartmouth
• NYMC
• Icahn Mt. Sinai
• Creighton
• Iowa?
• Loyola
• Fertitta @ U of H? I love their focus on the underserved, but their top 10% MCAT is 10 points below mine and they interview only 1% of OOS applicants.
• Baylor
• Long @ San Antonio
• Sealy @ UTMB
• McGovern @ Houston
• Texas Tech Lubbock
• Dell Med @ UT austin (dream school, alma mater, realistically I know I have almost no chance, have to shoot my shot anyway)
• UT Southwestern

 

[wysdoc]

@j_diggity I merged your request for list culling to your pre-existing WAMC thread.

The master list-maker @Faha has already analyzed your first request & given advice
I think you're a poor fit for U of Houston but have a chance at Dell which likes non-trads and innovators.
High-stat OOS applicants do have a chance at the other TX schools you listed.

I'll leave to others to comment on your AMCAS list

 

[j_diggity]

@j_diggity I merged your request for list culling to your pre-existing WAMC thread.

The master list-maker @Faha has already analyzed your first request & given advice
I think you're a poor fit for U of Houston but have a chance at Dell which likes non-trads and innovators.
High-stat OOS applicants do have a chance at the other TX schools you listed.

I'll leave to others to comment on your AMCAS list

Thank you for the advice on the Texas schools! I would really love to end up back home in TX. And apologies for misunderstanding the rules on creating new threads.

 

[wysdoc]

Thank you for the advice on the Texas schools! I would really love to end up back home in TX. And apologies for misunderstanding the rules on creating new threads.

No problem @j_diggity but it just saves time for those who helped you to see what has already been considered so they can not start all over again on someone they already took time for

 

[theoceanman]

Follow Faha’s list and you’re more than likely to have a successful cycle, speaking from personal experience and recounting people who have thanked him for their own successful cycles. Best of luck, just ace those interviews and secondaries!