WAMC & School List Help: 3.85 cGPA & 3.81 sGPA, 513 MCAT URM

[saiyan.uzumaki17]

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1. cGPA and sGPA: cGPA = 3.86, sGPA = 3.81

2. MCAT: 513 (127/130/126/130)

3. State of residence or country of citizenship (if non-US): Virginia

4. Ethnicity and/or race: URM (African)

5. Undergraduate institution: Liberal Arts College

6. Clinical experience (volunteer and non-volunteer): 720 hours of clinical volunteering, of which 450 hours were at a Free Clinic

7. Research experience and productivity: 550 hours in a toxicology wet lab with a poster presentation at an undergraduate symposium; 160 hours as a Clinical Research Coordinator

8. Shadowing experience/specialties represented: 85 hours in Family Medicine, 12 hours in General Surgery, and 10 hours in Pulmonology/ICU

9. Non-clinical volunteering:
- 85 hours with outreach programs distributing hygiene kits, food, medical supplies, and harm reduction supplies
- 30 hours tutoring at underserved elementary schools

10. Other extracurricular activities (including athletics, military service, gap year activities, leadership, teaching, etc):
- AAMC's SHPEP Program (240 hrs)
- President of School's Pre-Health Club (130 hrs)
- Community Service Leadership Program (170 hrs)
- Teaching Assistant for Organic Chemistry (110 hrs)
- Peer Advisor in helping students find volunteer opportunities and guiding their pre-health journey (95 hrs)
- 1400+ hours weightlifting

11. Relevant honors or awards: Multiple school-specific awards and scholarships, and honor societies

Initial School List (put together through Admit.org) - which schools would you recommend I remove/add?

• Harvard
• UCSF (University of California, San Francisco)
• Johns Hopkins
• Columbia
• Duke
• University of Pennsylvania (Perelman)
• NYU Grossman
• Stanford
• Washington University in St. Louis (WashU)
• University of Michigan
• Vanderbilt
• University of Pittsburgh
• Weill Cornell
• Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
• University of Chicago (Pritzker)
• Hofstra
• University of South Florida (Morsani)
• University of Iowa
• Northwestern
• University of Virginia (UVA)
• Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU)
• Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS)
• Virginia Tech Carilion
• Case Western Reserve
• Kaiser Permanente
• University of Rochester
• Boston University
• Albert Einstein College of Medicine
• New York Medical College (NYMC)
• Indiana University
• University of Arizona – Phoenix
• Dartmouth (Geisel)
• Hackensack
• Georgetown
• George Washington (GW)
• University of Maryland
• USC Keck
• Tufts
• University of Central Florida (UCF)
• University of Cincinnati
• Temple
• Howard University
• Wake Forest
• UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles)
• UC Davis (University of California, Davis)
• UC San Diego (UCSD)
• Rutgers New Jersey Medical School (NJMS)
• Wayne State University
• Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine
• Emory

 

[saiyan.uzumaki17]

@Faha @Mr.Smile12 @LizzyM @Goro Any help would be appreciated!!

 

[Faha]

50 schools is far too many to apply to and you have state public schools on your list that admit few non residents ( UC Davis only 2 or 3 per year) with no connection to the state. Your low non clinical volunteering hours will limit your chances at top tier schools and some schools screen at 150 hours. I suggest these schools with your stats:

• UCSF (University of California, San Francisco)
• Johns Hopkins
• Columbia
• Duke
• NYU Grossman
• University of Michigan
• University of Pittsburgh
• Weill Cornell
• Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
• Hofstra
• University of South Florida (Morsani)
• Northwestern
• University of Virginia (UVA)
• Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU)
• Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS)
• Virginia Tech Carilion
• Case Western Reserve
• Kaiser Permanente
• University of Rochester
• Boston University
• Albert Einstein College of Medicine
• New York Medical College (NYMC)
• Indiana University
• Dartmouth (Geisel)
• Hackensack
• Georgetown
• George Washington (GW)
• University of Maryland
• USC Keck
• Tufts
• University of Cincinnati
• Temple
• Howard University
• Wake Forest
• UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles)
• Wayne State University
• Emory

 

[LizzyM]

With a 513, I'm afraid that some of the schools on your list might be out of reach. The MSAR will be the best use of your time and money. I'd suggest not applying to schools where your MCAT is below the 10th percentile.

 

[saiyan.uzumaki17]

50 schools is far too many to apply to and you have state public schools on your list that admit few non residents ( UC Davis only 2 or 3 per year) with no connection to the state. Your low non clinical volunteering hours will limit your chances at top tier schools and some schools screen at 150 hours. I suggest these schools with your stats:

• UCSF (University of California, San Francisco)
• Johns Hopkins
• Columbia
• Duke
• NYU Grossman
• University of Michigan
• University of Pittsburgh
• Weill Cornell
• Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
• Hofstra
• University of South Florida (Morsani)
• Northwestern
• University of Virginia (UVA)
• Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU)
• Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS)
• Virginia Tech Carilion
• Case Western Reserve
• Kaiser Permanente
• University of Rochester
• Boston University
• Albert Einstein College of Medicine
• New York Medical College (NYMC)
• Indiana University
• Dartmouth (Geisel)
• Hackensack
• Georgetown
• George Washington (GW)
• University of Maryland
• USC Keck
• Tufts
• University of Cincinnati
• Temple
• Howard University
• Wake Forest
• UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles)
• Wayne State University
• Emory

Thank you so much! Really appreciate your help!

 

[saiyan.uzumaki17]

With a 513, I'm afraid that some of the schools on your list might be out of reach. The MSAR will be the best use of your time and money. I'd suggest not applying to schools where your MCAT is below the 10th percentile.

Thank you! Would you suggest applying to schools where I'm in the 10th percentile or the 25th at least?

 

[LizzyM]

Thank you! Would you suggest applying to schools where I'm in the 10th percentile or the 25th at least?

If you have at least 20 schools where you are at the 25th percentile and you would attend if offered admission without a scholarship use that as a cut-off. If you have to go lower, I wouldn't go below 10th percentile. You are less likely to get an interview and likely to be in the lower half of the class when it comes to exams if you do matriculate. I think you are better set-up for success if you are a good match with other students as well as with the school's mission.

 

[Goro]

Add Meharry, Morehouse, Charles Drew to the wise Faha's list.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I agree 50 schools is way too many. And you don't have 150 non-clinical service orientation hours (food distribution, shelter volunteer, job/tax preparation, legal support, transportation services, or housing rehabilitation); keep adding to this throughout your application cycle in case you need the hours for a reapplication.

I see you have SHPEP, so have you talked with other mentors or those who run mentoring programs for aspiring Black (male?) physicians?

In short:
* All your in-state Virginia options should be in play. (4)
* All HBCU programs should be in play. (4)
* The DC schools should be included. (GW, Georgetown, and I'll throw in Hopkins for free tuition)
* Any SHPEP host schools should be included. (11, since Howard is included)
* Consider any UC PRIME programs that resonate with you among the California programs; look for similar tracks at other schools on the list.

From Faha's list, add schools where you realistically see yourself practicing as an M3/M4 (sure, you can choose away electives in your fourth year but you need the local angle first). How much "urban/suburban" experience do you want vs. rural? That should help you discern where you want to go. Look at the secondary prompts carefully.