Where to Apply? 3.6 GPA 515 MCAT

[KPstudent]

Hi guys! I am starting to make a list of where to apply to med school and honestly have no idea where to start. With the new scoring I am not really sure where to put myself. My GPA is lower than many of my target schools, but I go to a top 10 undergraduate school so I'm not sure if they will take that into account when considering my GPA. My mcat looks like this:

Chem/Phys: 126 CARS: 131 Bio/Biochem: 128 Psych/Soc: 130

I have about 200 hours of shadowing, am writing a distinction thesis in neuroscience, am the music director of an acapella group, 500+ hours of volunteering, studied abroad, etc etc. I anticipate that I should be applying to mid-tier schools, but don't really know how to go about finding out how good my chances are, again with the very meh GPA at a great school and the new MCAT. any ideas? I am a Maryland resident so will definitely apply to UMD, other than that I hope to be in a big city. help!

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[OrangeTub]

That's a pretty insane CARS score - congrats! Not sure how willing people are going to be generating a school list for you, but I would just suggest applying as broadly as possible. Top 10 schools are probably a high reach for you, but you seem competitive for many top 50 schools.

Get a subscription to the MSAR to get a relative idea of what stats the average applicants to schools are hovering around. Peeps on these forums are usually much more responsive once you already have a list of schools started.

 

[KPstudent]

Thanks for the advice! I have started generating a list and I have way too many right now. I'm hoping to apply to a lot though, probably about 24 or 25. Here are some schools I'm considering, I would appreciate any advice at all about which schools are completely unrealistic for me (I know I have too many reaches right now) and just aren't worth applying to, or if you have any other ideas of schools that might fit what i'm interested in based on other schools in my list. Ideally I would be in or right outside a big city. Thank you!

(organized by location, not chances or preference)

University of Maryland
Georgetown University
George Washington University
Mt. Sinai
NYU
Columbia
Cornell
Albert Einstein (Yeshiva)
State University of New York Downstate
Stony Brook
Hofstra
New York Medical College
Thomas Jefferson (Sydney Kimmel)
Drexel
Temple
Boston University
Tufts University
University of Illinois
Northwestern
USC
UC Davis
UC San Francisco
UC San Diego
Stanford University
Emory University
Tulane University
University of Virginia
Duke University
University of North Carolina
Vanderbilt
Brown University
Miami
University of Washington
University of St. Louis
Mayo Clinic

 

[md-2020]

Is your sGPA also a 3.6x?

 

[GrapesofRath]

515's a 34. Use that when making your list. Get MSAR and look at schools with a median MCAT in your range. Your GPA is fine by and large although it does highlight the need to limit the 36+ median MCAT schools on your list. A top 10 school name isnt going to help you at schools with 37+ median MCAT's when you have a 34 that's close to their 10th percentile.

You know you arent applying to 40+ schools. Couple top 20 reaches are fine but being from Maryland you really want at least a dozen schools OOS you have a reasonable shot at getting a II at. Maryland is as competitive as it gets. Einstein, Jefferson and Wake Forest are examples of reasonable choices. Stanford, Brown and WashU arent. Pay attention to OOS stats, you really want schools that at bare minimum take at least 20-25% OOS.

 

[KPstudent]

Is your sGPA also a 3.6x?

Yes it is also a 3.6!

 

[KPstudent]

515's a 34. Use that when making your list. Get MSAR and look at schools with a median MCAT in your range. Your GPA is fine by and large although it does highlight the need to limit the 36+ median MCAT schools on your list. A top 10 school name isnt going to help you at schools with 37+ median MCAT's when you have a 34 that's close to their 10th percentile.

You know you arent applying to 40+ schools. Couple top 20 reaches are fine but being from Maryland you really want at least a dozen schools OOS you have a reasonable shot at getting a II at. Maryland is as competitive as it gets. Einstein, Jefferson and Wake Forest are examples of reasonable choices. Stanford, Brown and WashU arent. Pay attention to OOS stats, you really want schools that at bare minimum take at least 20-25% OOS.

Thank you for your help! WashU was never part of my list, I was considering University of St. Louis, which is different. I took Stanford off (I knew this would never happen, it's just a dream haha). I'm curious about why you say Brown is not reasonable. They are ranked #35 by US News and World Report, and MSAR says that their MCAT median is a 33 and their median GPA is a 3.75, which doesn't seem unreasonable to me at all (my MCAT is a bit better and GPA a bit lower). Do you have any insight into why Brown may not consider my application like you imply?

 

[GrapesofRath]

Thank you for your help! WashU was never part of my list, I was considering University of St. Louis, which is different. I took Stanford off (I knew this would never happen, it's just a dream haha). I'm curious about why you say Brown is not reasonable. They are ranked #35 by US News and World Report, and MSAR says that their MCAT median is a 33 and their median GPA is a 3.75, which doesn't seem unreasonable to me at all (my MCAT is a bit better and GPA a bit lower). Do you have any insight into why Brown may not consider my application like you imply?

It's just very low yield. Probably more than half their class comes from special programs or went to Brown for UG. And amongst people who dont fit this profile, Brown clearly looks for a rather specific type of applicant. The majority of non PLME matriculants took 3+ gap years and tend to be the non trad types with unique diverse experiences. Brown's also been known for regional NE bias and taking a healthy number of grads from other Ivies and has a high URM population. In other words, for your traditional applicant, they are about as low yield as it gets. You dont really fit their profile.