MD WAMC with this list? 3.714/519

[calmdownpremeds]

Hi future docs, I'm an Asian girl applying this cycle. My primary was just verified (submitted early Aug) and now I'm working on secondaries.

cGPA: 3.714, sGPA: 3.65. Fwiw, my premed advisor said the average sGPA of accepted students from my school is a 3.5. I did my undergrad at a top 15 school without much grade inflation. I also worked ~20 hours/week in college and was in a sorority which didn't help my GPA.

MCAT: 519, 29/29/29/32

ECs in college: 650 hours community service/work-study, tutoring/mentoring inner city kids
500 hours cashiering, 300 hours babysitting
Two 14-week summer molecular bio research internships at a pharmaceutical company the summers before junior and senior year
850 hours Research Assistant at a microbiology lab during the school year, junior and senior year

Post college: I consulted for almost a year. Advertising/marketing. I was an econ major and the pay was enticing. However I hated it and switched to a molecular bio research job in Feb 2017. I'm just a research tech, however some of the work I am doing is destined for publication in 2019 or 2020.

I started volunteering in 2 hospitals this April (2017), 5 hours/week. Recreational activities with the patients and random things like stocking shelves or making beds in the ED.

I also draw/paint pretty well (have sold some work, but far from pro), and have shadowed 2 physicians for a day each (but only put one of those days on my app because the other day happened recently).

My school list (listed from where I think I have the best chance to the lowest chance):

My State School (median MCAT = 512)
Temple
Jefferson
Tufts
USC Keck
Brown
Einstein
BU
Mount Sinai
UCLA Geffen
UCSD
UCSF
Feinberg
Harvard

I'm not from California, obviously. I'm worried my list is stacked. I'm willing to add a few schools but only if necessary. WAMC, and if they aren't great with this list, what should I add?

Thanks for reading!

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[Faha]

You should receive some interviews from your list but your lack of clinical volunteering and shadowing hours will limit your chances at the more competitive schools. You could add a few more schools such as:
Hofstra
Tulane
Cincinnati
Virginia Commonwealth

 

[Walter Raleigh]

Hi future docs, I'm an Asian girl applying this cycle. My primary was just verified (submitted early Aug) and now I'm working on secondaries.

cGPA: 3.714, sGPA: 3.65. Fwiw, my premed advisor said the average sGPA of accepted students from my school is a 3.5. I did my undergrad at a top 15 school without much grade inflation. I also worked ~20 hours/week in college and was in a sorority which didn't help my GPA.

MCAT: 519, 29/29/29/32

ECs in college: 650 hours community service/work-study, tutoring/mentoring inner city kids
500 hours cashiering, 300 hours babysitting
Two 14-week summer molecular bio research internships at a pharmaceutical company the summers before junior and senior year
850 hours Research Assistant at a microbiology lab during the school year, junior and senior year

Post college: I consulted for almost a year. Advertising/marketing. I was an econ major and the pay was enticing. However I hated it and switched to a molecular bio research job in Feb 2017. I'm just a research tech, however some of the work I am doing is destined for publication in 2019 or 2020.

I started volunteering in 2 hospitals this April (2017), 5 hours/week. Recreational activities with the patients and random things like stocking shelves or making beds in the ED.

I also draw/paint pretty well (have sold some work, but far from pro), and have shadowed 2 physicians for a day each (but only put one of those days on my app because the other day happened recently).

My school list (listed from where I think I have the best chance to the lowest chance):

My State School (median MCAT = 512)
Temple
Jefferson
Tufts
USC Keck
Brown
Einstein
BU
Mount Sinai
UCLA Geffen
UCSD
UCSF
Feinberg
Harvard

I'm not from California, obviously. I'm worried my list is stacked. I'm willing to add a few schools but only if necessary. WAMC, and if they aren't great with this list, what should I add?

Thanks for reading!

You're a bit late; you should probably get some love from your state school and mid-tiers. Sometimes, schools will cut you slack for working during undergrad, but that clinical experience is slim. If you take a year off to get more clinical experience, you'll be a fairly strong candidate.

 

[calmdownpremeds]

@Faha, I considered Hofstra but was discouraged by their in-state bias. The other schools I didn't consider because of their location...I don't want to come off the wrong way because they are great schools, but I am keeping in mind that I will be living there for the next 4 or more years. Could you list a few more schools?

@Walter Raleigh what would you consider mid-tier? I know I'm late, with the job situation, I didn't start MCAT prep until April and took it mid June. If I don't get in this cycle, I will definitely apply early next year and keep volunteering at the 2 hospitals. What are other ways to get clinical experience that wouldn't require me to quit my 9-5 M-F research job?

I will have about 300 hours of hospital volunteering by next August. I tried to find other clinical opportunities and even got a job offer to be a scribe, but couldn't live in my relatively expensive city on the $10/hr and 20 hrs/week wage, so I chose my research tech job instead.

I mean, if I get rejected by my state school, Temple, Jefferson, and Tufts, which should accept me stats-wise, then the issue is probably one that wouldn't be fixed by adding more lower tier schools, right?

 

[Walter Raleigh]

@Faha, I considered Hofstra but was discouraged by their in-state bias. The other schools I didn't consider because of their location...I don't want to come off the wrong way because they are great schools, but I am keeping in mind that I will be living there for the next 4 or more years. Could you list a few more schools?

@Walter Raleigh what would you consider mid-tier? I know I'm late, with the job situation, I didn't start MCAT prep until April and took it mid June. If I don't get in this cycle, I will definitely apply early next year and keep volunteering at the 2 hospitals. What are other ways to get clinical experience that wouldn't require me to quit my 9-5 M-F research job?

I will have about 300 hours of hospital volunteering by next August. I tried to find other clinical opportunities and even got a job offer to be a scribe, but couldn't live in my relatively expensive city on the $10/hr and 20 hrs/week wage, so I chose my research tech job instead.

I mean, if I get rejected by my state school, Temple, Jefferson, and Tufts, which should accept me stats-wise, then the issue is probably one that wouldn't be fixed by adding more lower tier schools, right?

Anything outside the top 20 where your GPA is as high as the 25th percentile or better.

 

[calmdownpremeds]

That's my whole list except Einstein and my reaches- UCSF, Harvard, and Feinberg. 10 "mid-tiers" on my list sounds good, but then I'll look at the list and not see most of them like Mount Sinai, BU, or Brown as mid-tier at all...

 

[Faha]

What areas of the country are you willing to relocate to?

 

[calmdownpremeds]

The coasts, ideally close to the Northeast because that's home. Chicago would be the main exception to that because I currently work here. I did consider Rush, Loyola, and Rosalind Franklin, but I think Rush emphasizes clinical experience, and Loyola and Rosy may not take me seriously, just based off anecdotal evidence from a friend with a 519 who did not get interviews at either and is now at Feinberg.

I recently found out I am a IL resident for UIC's purposes (though I also fulfill the residency requirements of my other state school). Is that a school I should add? I only want to do so if you think a) UIC will like my stats/ECs and b) my chances with my current list are wobbly. Please bless me with your boundless expertise!

 

[Faha]

You can add UIC since they matriculate 70 non residents yearly and like high stat non residents. Loyola is worth adding too. For schools in the Northeast consider these:
Vermont
Hofstra (they like high MCAT applicants)
Rochester
Pitt