Medical What schools should I apply to as a CA native with a lower GPA?

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MusicDOc124

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Hello,
I would like some advice on my situation and possibly a school list.
A bit about me:
I am a hispanic female who comes from an extremely low SES. I am also a CA native.
I was able to graduate from college in only 2 years since my family could not afford 4 years and I have been pursuing a research oriented Master’s degree but not an SMP.
My Master’s GPA is a 3.8, but my undergraduate GPA is low as it is a 3.3 with an upward trend.
My MCAT is a 508.
I have tons of EC’s
- 5000 hours volunteering/interning in a low income school, about 3 years
- 2000 hours being a home health provider
- 1500 hours of research, I have 3 different projects. Mostly based on clinical psychology.
- 50 hours shadowing a primary care physician.
My biggest concern is that my undergrad GPA and my MCAT will hurt my application. I have kind of a unique story, but I don’t know how far unique will take me.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and for responding!

While the GPA is a little on the low side.. having the upward trend, the high GPA in a masters, and a decent MCAT along with all of your ECs - and the extensive hours for them as listed, you have a great shot most, if not all, DO schools. For MD, since they usually don't put any weight on masters degrees, even with the upward trend, the GPA and MCAT may hinder you, sans schools that take low SES into account and state schools (though I'm admittedly less familiar with the CA schools and their policies or trends).

If you want DO, you're pretty solid as is for virtually anywhere.

But If you want MD, some might suggest retaking the MCAT to compensate for the GPA and to apply to state schools plus probably a list of additional schools that take your stats typically.

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One of my projects led to a presentation at two poster presentations, the WPA and my school's poster sessions
My science GPA is a 3.0 as well.

My spanish speaking skills are fair as I've picked up a lot working with students at a title 1 school who do not speak any English. Although, it would be very difficult for me to carry on a formal conversation. My UG GPA situation is kind of odd because I did dual enrollment when I was in high school at my community college because it was free.

After I graduated high school, the GPA's at my 4-year university are

-1st year: 2.9 (I struggled because I had just graduated high school, and since I took all of my lower divisions at CC, I was immediately put into upper division classes, and I was not prepared for the rigor).
-2nd year: 3.68

I graduated with an institutional GPA of a 3.29, but with my community college classes, I have a 3.34. Not really that big of a difference.

I suggest the following:
UCD
UCI
SLU
UTx-RG
U AZ
Creighton
Netter
Rush
Loyola
Albany
Gtown
Seton Hall
NovaMD
TCU/UNT
Drexel
NYMC
Rosalind Franklin
Tulane
GWU
Tufts
Touro-CA
TUNCOM
BCOM
both Westerns
AZCOM
PacNW
UIW
KCU
DMU
 
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