What to do......?

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RTP424

Pre-Med
10+ Year Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2009
Messages
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Location
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  1. Pre-Medical
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Major: Forensic Science (focus on Molecular Biology)
Minor: Anthropology

cGPA: 3.8
sGPA: 3.76

MCAT: 28Q - PS 10 / VR 7 / BS 11 / WS Q

Research:
~ 350 hours of research with a poster presentation, Manuscript in Progress

Medical Volunteer Experiences:
1). .Pre-Med Program at Holy Name Hospital
Summer 2009 – Selected as one of 8 students to partake in pre-med program. ~ 200 hours of volunteering in the Emergency Room, at a Nursing Unit, attending rounds, etc.
Summer 2010 – Invited to help run Pre-med program for the summer of 2010 for new inductees.

2). .Regular Volunteering
Jan 2009 – present- Aside from pre-med program spent ~ 150 hours volunteering at a nursing unit, courtesy desk, and discharging/feeding/bringing gifts to patients.

3) Physician Shadowing
Shadowed Chief of Surgery for ~100 hours

Extracurricular Activities:

1). .Co-founder and executive board member of school's first ever Pre-med society for 3 years.
2). .Petitioned for & Helped establish Human physiology course at school
3). .Tutor (~10 hrs/ week for 1 school yr) in Biology I & II, Organic Chemistry I & II, Physics I & II, Calculus I & II, Genetics, Analytical Chemistry I & II, Biochemistry
4). .Teacher’s assistant for Organic Chemistry class, 1 school year.
5). . Freshman Orientation Leader, summer of 2008
6). .Peer Mentor for forensic science entering freshman
7). .Phi Eta Sigma & Alpha Phi Sigma National Honors Society Member
8). .Recipient of Justice Scholarship, Undergraduate Research Scholarship, Thurgood Marshall Scholarship, Upper Division Scholarship
9). .Recipient of Forensic Science Scholarship funded by National Science Foundation
10). . Recreation Indoor Soccer Coach for 2007 season ~ 50 hours


NJ Resident by the way. I feel like my application will be fairly decent except for that 7 in VR. I'm willing to cast out a huge net of schools, with a few real reaches that I've always wanted to go to, along with my state schools and some lower tier schools. I feel as if applying really early along with the rest of my application will slightly offset that 7.



Any ideas?
 
It soiunds like you already have a plan. There are a limited number of allopathic med schools that have a VS of 7 or lower for their bottom tenth percentile. I'd look through a copy of the MSAR and see which ones they are, so you know you are targeting schools where you'd have a better shot.
 
My current ( but VERY rough) list of schools (top of list are longshots, but I just need to apply to them anyway):

UMich
Cornell
Duke
Columbia
Albert Einstein
Penn State
Thomas Jefferson
Drexel
UMDNJ-Newark
UMDNJ- RWJ
Loyola
Rosalind Franklin
Loma Linda
U Vermont
St. Louis U
Georgetown
George Washington U
Howard
Boston U
Case Western

And a couple more I am debating . I will probably end up taking some of these off my list and adding new ones possibly, But from the looks of it, do I stand a chance of getting in Somewhere? Or should I retake the MCAT (really dreading this lol) and wait a year to boost my GPA further, get more EC's etc.

Also, I have 5 excellent LoR's as well: 2 covering my medical experience, and 1 covering my research, a departmental letter and a letter from my boss at the tutoring center.

Thanks in advance.
 
UMich
Cornell
Duke
Columbia
Albert Einstein
Penn State
Thomas Jefferson
Drexel
UMDNJ-Newark
UMDNJ- RWJ
Loyola
Rosalind Franklin
Loma Linda
U Vermont
St. Louis U
Georgetown
George Washington U
Howard
Boston U
Case Wester
I've bolded the ones with a bottom tenth percentile for VS of 7 or lower.
 
Thanks, but do you think my chances at any of the other schools are good despite my 7 in VR?
 
Take out Jefferson because you need 8 in each section for them.
 
It soiunds like you already have a plan. There are a limited number of allopathic med schools that have a VS of 7 or lower for their bottom tenth percentile. I'd look through a copy of the MSAR and see which ones they are, so you know you are targeting schools where you'd have a better shot.

This. Btw op, your EC's are amazing.
 
Thanks for the advice. Are there any schools that I should add / remove from this list?
 
So Here is the new list: any advice?

Loma Linda
George Washington
Georgetown
Rosalidnd Franklin
Loyola
Tulane
Boston U
Michigan State
U Michigan
St. Louis U
UMDNJ - NJMS
UMDNJ - RWJ
Cornell
Columbia
Duke
Drexel
Penn State
Toledo
Vermont
 
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BTW Utah ranks people in 8 categories and you need to be average or above in at least 5 of them and.for each.that you're below you need something above. Check out their website o.p.
 
I was looking at Utah and some other lower schools, but they are in places I'm not sure I would want to spend the next 4 years in. I would ideally like to stay in the northern east coast area. I know my best chances would then probably be at Drexel or UMDNJ, which in my home state. Do you think my chances are decent with the other schools on my list? Also, money is not a huge factor for me, but if I'm casting my net out wide with alot of schools, I'd really like to get in.
 
If you want to add more schools where you have a decent chance of consideration, and you are limiting yourself geographically, and you don't want to retake the MCAT, then consider adding some of the NE regional DO medical schools to your list.
 
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