WAMC? Texas resident, 3.874 cGPA, 3.822 sGPA, 515 MCAT

[johndooe9]

1. cGPA=3.874, AMCAS sGPA=3.822, TMDSAS sGPA=3.888
2. 515 (130,128,126,131)
3. Texas resident
4. ORM male
5. Relatively highly ranked public school (out of state); biochemistry major
6. Clinical experience: 200 hours of hospital volunteering by the time I apply (Ortho/Trauma and Cardiac telemetry floors), 100 hours hands-on unpaid physical therapy internship, 60ish hours clinical volunteering with a school-affiliated club (kidney screenings for underserved populations)
7. Research experience: 1200 hours total across three biochemistry labs by the time I apply (500ish hours and two poster presentations researching the effect of carbon nanomaterials on neurodegenerative diseases, 260 hours performing data analysis on mutation rates of rRNA, 500ish hours by the time I apply researching single-molecule interactions and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase in coronavirus)
8. Shadowing: 50 hours shadowing an internal medicine hospitalist, 20 hours shadowing a family doctor, several hours virtual shadowing (I will only include this in my application if shadowing two specialties is not enough, and I can not find another doctor to shadow by the time I apply.)
9. Non-clinical volunteering: 312 hours volunteering at a food bank (likely more by the time I apply), 150ish hours (by the time I apply) leading and mentoring a small group of undergraduates as part of an on-campus club that also volunteers with underserved populations (creating pamphlets on various health care topics to help underserved populations make educated choices regarding their health, distributing these pamphlets and other supplies [masks, blankets, pillows, safe sex devices] during community health fairs), 75ish hours miscellaneous volunteering both independently and with on-campus clubs (volunteering during run/walks, at a community garden, at a food pantry specializing in serving HIV/AIDS impacted individuals), 25 hours volunteering with Medical Reserve Corps
10. Other extracurricular activities: Teaching: 100 hours tutoring STEM subjects, 500ish hours as a learning assistant by the time I apply (works alongside TA in STEM classes to help undergraduate students work together and understand course material), Leadership: 200ish hours as an officer in an on-campus premed club by the time I apply (this club does outreach to high school students to help inform them about the college application process and various health careers), 150 hours in another premed club that involves competition
11. Dean's list; qualified for state level in previously mentioned competition premed club but was unable to go because of the pandemic; I won an iPad in a trivia competition.
12. Hello everyone! I am currently in my third year, and I hope to apply in May/June of the coming year (no gap year). I was wondering what my chances would be at medical schools such as Baylor College of Medicine and UTSW Medical School. I recently got my MCAT score back and while most of the sections are good, I did worse than expected on the B/B section (126). I was wondering whether I still have a chance at these schools and what out of state schools I should consider applying to. Thank you!
13. School list:

Baylor
UTSW
Long School of Medicine
UTMB
McGovern
Dell
A&M
UTSA
Texas Tech (Lubbock)
Texas Tech El Paso
UH
UT Tyler
UTRGV
[undergraduate institution-affiliated medical school]
NYU
Northwestern
Duke
Keck

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[Mr.Smile12]

Could you come up with the reasons you listed your OOS schools?

How's your Casper score?

 

[Faha]

You should receive several interviews from your Texas schools. OOS MD schools interview few Texas residents since they know from years of experience that Texas applicants will attend a Texas school. For AMCAS schools you could try TCU and Tulane.

 

[johndooe9]

I have not taken the Casper yet. I will take it in early May. I want to apply to these OOS schools because I know that they are more research-oriented. I also have some friends who have gone to some of these and have told me about how much they have enjoyed it. However, I have not done as much research into OOS schools as I would like because I had been focusing more on my personal statement and other

Could you come up with the reasons you listed your OOS schools?

How's your Casper score?

essays.

 

[johndooe9]

You should receive several interviews from your Texas schools. OOS MD schools interview few Texas residents since they know from years of experience that Texas applicants will attend a Texas school. For AMCAS schools you could try TCU and Tulane.

Thank you so much for the suggestions! Do you think it would be worth it to keep my current OOS schools, or should I simply replace them with TCU and Tulane?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I have not taken the Casper yet. I will take it in early May. I want to apply to these OOS schools because I know that they are more research-oriented. I also have some friends who have gone to some of these and have told me about how much they have enjoyed it. However, I have not done as much research into OOS schools as I would like because I had been focusing more on my personal statement and other essays.

I would not pay attention to your friends unless they share the same metrics with you. Sorry to be that blunt. 🙂 You can see if you can do research over the summer as a medical student. There are also plenty of schools with solid research, including the schools in TMDSAS, but the reality of applying as a Texas resident is that you have to show some very strong affinity with mission fit with those schools. Do you have the research?

 

[johndooe9]

I would not pay attention to your friends unless they share the same metrics with you. Sorry to be that blunt. 🙂

No worries. Thank you for the advice!

 

[johndooe9]

I would not pay attention to your friends unless they share the same metrics with you. Sorry to be that blunt. 🙂 You can see if you can do research over the summer as a medical student. There are also plenty of schools with solid research, including the schools in TMDSAS, but the reality of applying as a Texas resident is that you have to show some very strong affinity with mission fit with those schools. Do you have the research?

I have a lot of experience in biochemistry labs; a lot of my research here has been described as "pre-clinical" because we are evaluating potential treatments and imaging methods in vitro before testing them in animal models. I also have two poster presentations and may have a publication (probably will not have the publication before applying). My current PI is writing a letter of recommendation for me, and I am expecting it to be quite strong. Would this be sufficient?

 

[Faha]

Thank you so much for the suggestions! Do you think it would be worth it to keep my current OOS schools, or should I simply replace them with TCU and Tulane?

No, those other schools are reaches with a MCAT of 516, even for non Texas applicants.

 

[johndooe9]

No, those other schools are reaches with a MCAT of 516, even for non Texas applicants.

I see. Thank you again for the advice!