MD Low MCAT, Student Athlete: Chances & School List?

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JaxJax17

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  1. 3.63/3.5 GPA
  2. 505 MCAT Score. 125 P/C, 125 CARS, 127 Bio, 128 Psych
  3. State of residence: California
  4. Ethnicity and/or race: White/Caucasian
  5. Undergraduate institution or category: State University in CT
  6. Clinical experience (volunteer and non-volunteer): 350+ hours at the Griffin Hospital. (Currently looking for more opprotunities)
  7. Research experience and productivity: 250+ hours, no publications, 2 poster presentations
  8. Shadowing experience and specialties represented: 80 hours shadowing(40 derm, 20 Trauma, 20 oncology, looking for primary care now).
  9. Non-clinical volunteering: 100 hours volunteering with under-represented individuals through honors society (ZDE), 500+ hours volunteering at Mesothelioma Reserch Foundation on Medical committee, 50+ hours In a Heartbeat Foundation, Mentor (Team Impact) to a child with special needs 300+ hours, 25 hours Hoops for Hunger camp counselor
  10. Other extracurricular activities (including athletics, military service, gap year activities, leadership, teaching, etc.): I was a collegiate athlete 4 years, Captain 2 years, Student Athlete Advisory Committee member, 75 hours tutoring for exercise physiology, I play the cello (in HS I played in an orchestra and chamber group) now just as a hobby
  11. Relevant honors or awards: Male Student Athlete of the Year 2017 (Univ. Award) Deans List-mult. semesters, NABC honors court-mult. semesters
  12. Anything else not listed you think might be important:

A. I have been helping out with a tech start up with my brother. I have done a lot of the sales-like associated work while he’s doing the business and coding aspects.

B. I have a mother with lupus, Grandmother (deceased, suffered from Alzheimer’s) and brother with bipolar-disorder-this is to say I have been surrounded by medicine my entire life.

C. I have also recently broken my neck and suffered from Central Cord syndrome (temp. paralysis) in October 2017 (in recovery and doing really well), so I have a somewhat unique story.


I am currently trying to put together a school list with schools with stats close to mine as I know my MCAT is low for many MD programs. As of now I am going to apply to most CA schools (excluding UCSD, UCSF, and Stanford) – even though others are also very difficult I want to at least apply. My other school list as of now is as follows:


Quinnipiac & UCONN (undergrad in CT)

Univ Arkansas

Univ. Colorado (ties in CO)

Univ. South Carolina

Univ Arizona Pheonix/Tuscon

Oakland Univ. Beaumont

Mich. State

Wake Forrest

GWU

Loyola-Stritch of Chicago

Seton Hall

Creighton

Univ. Nevada Reno

Florida International

Central Mich. University

Rosalind Franklin

Wright State

Geisinger Commonwealth

Roseman Univ

Univ. Vermont


Is there any more schools or should I take other schools off this list? And realistically do I have a shot at getting into an MD program in the next cycle (Start Fall 2019) if I apply broadly enough? Thank you all in advance!!

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I can speak for Geisinger because I live near it and unfortunately they do not accept many out of state applicants, however, your GPA is right around the average of accepted students (3.61) but MCAT is rather low for their average (510). It may be a reach applying there, but of course it is up to you.

I got the GPA and MCAT stats from their website based on their MD class of 2021
 
I can speak for Geisinger because I live near it and unfortunately they do not accept many out of state applicants, however, your GPA is right around the average of accepted students (3.61) but MCAT is rather low for their average (510). It may be a reach applying there, but of course it is up to you.

I got the GPA and MCAT stats from their website based on their MD class of 2021

Thank you for the info! Looking at the MSAR i see that there is ~30% OOS and with my gpa/mcat stats this is on the higher side for private schools that are within my range. Trying to figure out where to apply is difficult because of my low MCAT, but I am hoping my EC's as well as being an athlete throughout college will give my application a little boost
 
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You have several state public schools on your list that accept very few non residents with your MCAT and no connection to the state such as Arkansas, South Carolina, Arizona, Michigan State, Nevada, Florida International, Wright State, Central Michigan. I suggest these schools instead:
New York Medical College
Drexel
Temple
NOVA MD
California University ( new school)
Also apply to at least 6 DO schools and you are competitive for all DO schools.
 
Thank you for the info! Looking at the MSAR i see that there is ~30% OOS and with my gpa/mcat stats this is on the higher side for private schools that are within my range. Trying to figure out where to apply is difficult because of my low MCAT, but I am hoping my EC's as well as being an athlete throughout college will give my application a little boost
Best of luck with with everything.
 
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You have several state public schools on your list that accept very few non residents with your MCAT and no connection to the state such as Arkansas, South Carolina, Arizona, Michigan State, Nevada, Florida International, Wright State, Central Michigan. I suggest these schools instead:
New York Medical College
Drexel
Temple
NOVA MD
California University ( new school)
Also apply to at least 6 DO schools and you are competitive for all DO schools.
Thank you for updating my list. As far as my chances for MD, I know a lot of schools are lower chance, but don’t I need to apply to a ton of schools because of my lower stats? Or is it pointless to even apply to those?
 
Thank you for updating my list. As far as my chances for MD, I know a lot of schools are lower chance, but don’t I need to apply to a ton of schools because of my lower stats? Or is it pointless to even apply to those?
The number of MD schools where you could receive an interview is limited by your MCAT score and your CA residence. The newer schools are where your best chances are.
 
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