Non-trad veteran | 513 | 3.63 cGPA | Need a school list

[IsleyOfTheNorth]

First, thanks to everyone on this forum for your help. You're all awesome.

Now for the ask: I need help creating a school list. I'm looking at MD schools specifically, but I'll happily move anywhere in the US if necessary. If there's a Mars Med (and it's a US school), I'm willing to wear a space suit to class.

1. AAMC cGPA: 3.63 sGPA: 3.65
Strong upward trend (First generation freshman mistakes - forgot to withdraw, etc.)

2. MCAT: 513 -- 127/128/130/128 -- 88%

Wedgedawg score: 58

3. Living in Virginia with ties in Ohio, Wisconsin, and Vermont

4. URM - white male but significant SES hardship

5. Undergrad: Top 140 school, some CC credits

6. 70 clinical volunteer hours (more likely this year) Emergency Department

7. No research

8. Shadowing: No formal shadowing, but some informal

9. 30 non-clinical volunteer hours (underprivileged youth)

10. Non-trad military veteran, Leadership experience

11. Military and other non-scholastic awards

12. Very non-traditional background due to SES hardship + first generation college.

Note: I'm already verified so no worries there.

Any and all advice is welcome, and thank you.

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[Faha]

I suggest these schools with your stats:
Eastern Virginia
Virginia Commonwealth
Virginia Tech
UVA
West Virginia
Wake Forest
George Washington
Penn State
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Seton Hall
New York Medical College
Albany
Quinnipiac
NOVA MD
Wayne State
Oakland Beaumont
Medical College Wisconsin
Rosalind Franklin
TCU-UNT
Loma Linda
You should accumulate 50 hours of physician shadowing and another 200 hours of clinical volunteering in case you need to reapply next year.

 

[IsleyOfTheNorth]

I suggest these schools with your stats:

First, thank you for getting me started!

I've had to pare down the list a bit for the reasons stated:

Eastern Virginia
Virginia Commonwealth
Virginia Tech
West Virginia
George Washington
Penn State
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Albany
Quinnipiac
NOVA MD
Wayne State
Medical College Wisconsin
Rosalind Franklin

== Removed ==
I'm not even a little bit religious, to the point where I don't think I could fake it.
Loma Linda (Religious)
TCU-UNT (Religious)
Wake Forest (I have no research + Religious)

I removed these until I can decide whether I'm willing to do mandatory lectures. If it's my only choice, I could do it, but I don't tend to learn as well in such environments.
Seton Hall (Mandatory lectures)
New York Medical College (Mandatory lectures)
Oakland Beaumont (Mandatory lectures)

UVA is a state school for me, but given my stats, isn't applying just a donation? My MCAT and GPA are both outside their 10-90% range.

I feel like I should add more schools to my list.

 

[Bonne Nuit]

Wait a minute, is Wake Forest super religious? I just looked at their mission statement and values list on their website, and it really didn't seem very religious at all.

 

[IsleyOfTheNorth]

Wait a minute, is Wake Forest super religious? I just looked at their mission statement and values list on their website, and it really didn't seem very religious at all.

I don't think they're super-religious, but I have a low tolerance for religiosity in what I see as a science field (read: I won't be able to keep my mouth shut).

 

[IsleyOfTheNorth]

I'm thinking about adding these to my list as they're near my stats. Any reason I shouldn't? @Goro

Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Central Michigan University College of Medicine (20%)
Creighton
Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine
Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine
Robert Larner, M.D., College of Medicine at the University of Vermont
Rush Medical College of Rush University Medical Center
The University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences
Tufts University School of Medicine
Tulane
University of Illinois College of Medicine
University of Louisville School of Medicine
University of Washington School of Medicine
Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine

 

[SweetBurger]

I'm thinking about adding these to my list as they're near my stats. Any reason I shouldn't? @Goro

Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Central Michigan University College of Medicine (20%)
Creighton
Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine
Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine
Robert Larner, M.D., College of Medicine at the University of Vermont
Rush Medical College of Rush University Medical Center
The University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences
Tufts University School of Medicine
Tulane
University of Illinois College of Medicine
University of Louisville School of Medicine
University of Washington School of Medicine
Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine

creighton and rush are both jesuit mission if religiosity is gonna be an issue fyi (also major service focus)

 

[IsleyOfTheNorth]

creighton and rush are both jesuit mission if religiosity is gonna be an issue fyi (also major service focus)

Yikes. Like historically religious or prayer-in-class religious?

 

[Goro]

I'm thinking about adding these to my list as they're near my stats. Any reason I shouldn't? @Goro

Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Central Michigan University College of Medicine (20%)
Creighton
Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine
Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine
Robert Larner, M.D., College of Medicine at the University of Vermont
Rush Medical College of Rush University Medical Center
The University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences
Tufts University School of Medicine
Tulane
University of Illinois College of Medicine
University of Louisville School of Medicine
University of Washington School of Medicine
Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine

I suggest the following:
BU (maybe)
UCF
Ohio State
Hofstra
U Toledo
U IA
U VM
Pitt
Miami
St. Louis
Albany
Albert Einstein
Rochester
Rush
Rosy Franklin
Wayne State
MCW
U WV
Va Tech IF you're living in rural western VA
NYMC
VCU
EVMS
Wake Forest
Jefferson
Temple
Tufts
Drexel
Creighton
George Washington
Georgetown
Emory
Tulane
Dartmouth
Loyola
Netter
TCU/UNT
Oakland-B
Western MI
Seton Hall
Your state school(s).
Nova MD

 

[Bonne Nuit]

Yikes. Like historically religious or prayer-in-class religious?

Way more religious than Wake Forest is. Saint Louis and Georgetown too. All have Christ-centered mission statements. Go check out their websites.

I don't think it affects day-to-day education much, if at all, but it's there.

 

[IsleyOfTheNorth]

Way more religious than Wake Forest is. Saint Louis and Georgetown too. All have Christ-centered mission statements. Go check out their websites.

I don't think it affects day-to-day education much, if at all, but it's there.

Good to know, thank you. I'd feel like a hypocrite going to an overtly religious school.

 

[IsleyOfTheNorth]

Here is my updated list, factoring out religious schools and schools with mandatory lectures. Feedback welcome!

Albany Medical College
Boston University School of Medicine
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Central Michigan University College of Medicine (20%)
Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine & Science
Drexel University College of Medicine
Eastern Virginia Medical School
Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine
Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University
Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences
Indiana University School of Medicine
Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University
Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine
Medical College of Wisconsin
Nova Southeastern University Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Allopathic Medicine
Ohio State University College of Medicine
Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine
Robert Larner, M.D., College of Medicine at the University of Vermont
Saint Louis University School of Medicine
Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University
Tufts University School of Medicine
Tulane University School of Medicine
University of Illinois College of Medicine
University of Louisville School of Medicine
University of Central Florida College of Medicine
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry
University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences
Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine
Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine
Wayne State University School of Medicine
Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine
West Virginia University School of Medicine
Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine

 

[IsleyOfTheNorth]

I had to nix Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine as they apparently have an in-state residency requirement. Just FYI.

 

[907914]

Western Reserve University School of Medicine as they apparently have an in-state residency

Does this mean you must complete your residency in Ohio? Because I def know they accept OOS applicants.

 

[IsleyOfTheNorth]

Does this mean you must complete your residency in Ohio? Because I def know they accept OOS applicants.

I'm not sure. AAMC wouldn't let me apply there due to unfulfilled requirements and their example is a residency requirement. I can't imagine any other requirements that I don't meet.

 

[907914]

Wedgedawg score: 58

Not that the wedgedawg score particularly matters, but this sounds pretty low...Also, from your military service be sure to split up any clinical and non-clinical volunteering you did in that.

I had 6 military categories:
Military clinical employment
Military Clinical volunteering
Military Non-clinical Employment
Military non-clinical volunteering
Awards
Military teaching/tutoring

Just having one "military service" category really doesn't do the totality of service justice.

 

[907914]

Not that the wedgedawg score particularly matters, but this sounds pretty low...Also, from your military service be sure to split up any clinical and non-clinical volunteering you did in that.

I had 6 military categories:
Military clinical employment
Military Clinical volunteering
Military Non-clinical Employment
Military non-clinical volunteering
Awards
Military teaching/tutoring

Just having one "military service" category really doesn't do the totality of service justice.

Disregard - I just noticed you are already verified. NVM!

 

[907914]

I'm not sure. AAMC wouldn't let me apply there due to unfulfilled requirements and their example is a residency requirement. I can't imagine any other requirements that I don't meet.

Interesting....I would double check to make sure you didn't accidentally select EDP maybe? I have not heard of anyone having issues with Case...

 

[IsleyOfTheNorth]

Interesting....I would double check to make sure you didn't accidentally select EDP maybe? I have not heard of anyone having issues with Case...

Good call. It's working now. I'm not sure what I did wrong previously, but I blame tiny computer elves.

Thanks!

 

[82Scout]

Your list looks good and your stats are great imo. Fellow Vet applying wishing you luck this cycle

 

[IsleyOfTheNorth]

Your list looks good and your stats are great imo. Fellow Vet applying wishing you luck this cycle

Thanks! Best of luck to you as well!

 

[IsleyOfTheNorth]

Somehow I failed to realize that St. Louis is a religious school.

What's the best way to withdraw my application there? I don't see any links in their portal. Do I email them?

Thanks,
-IotN

 

[premed20172017]

Somehow I failed to realize that St. Louis is a religious school.

What's the best way to withdraw my application there? I don't see any links in their portal. Do I email them?

Thanks,
-IotN

It's Jesuit...not sure how religious it is. I don't think it has any affect on day-to-day, but I could be wrong. Gerogetown is Jesuit, too.

 

[electropartyogram]

It is pretty concerning that you are so adamant about attending a school that even remotely has Christian ties. A lot of the patients you plan on taking care of will be very religious, and will have needs that you might have to take into consideration.

The only very religious school is Loma Linda. Rush, Loyola, Creighton are more religious but not even close to Loma Linda. St. Louis and Georgetown are Jesuit but that is their founding. Sure, their educational structure might be influenced by Catholicism but going to mass and prayer are certainly not mandatory.

Many of the founders of medical schools were certainly religious. Why are you letting something that is not that big of a deal diminish your chances of attending medical school and some good ones at that?

 

[Bonne Nuit]

It is pretty concerning that you are so adamant about attending a school that even remotely has Christian ties. A lot of the patients you plan on taking care of will be very religious, and will have needs that you might have to take into consideration.

The only very religious school is Loma Linda. Rush, Loyola, Creighton are more religious but not even close to Loma Linda. St. Louis and Georgetown are Jesuit but that is their founding. Sure, their educational structure might be influenced by Catholicism but going to mass and prayer are certainly not mandatory.

Many of the founders of medical schools were certainly religious. Why are you letting something that is not that big of a deal diminish your chances of attending medical school and some good ones at that?

Ehh. It's not the choice I'd make, but OP is entitled to apply to whatever schools he wants for whatever reasons he wants.

If someone wants to look beyond a stats fit and create their school list based on criteria like a school's historically religious background, research funding, proximity to the beach, school colors, student attractiveness, availability of gluten free cafeteria options, etc., that's their prerogative. It may be inadvisable from a "playing the numbers game" standpoint, but OP has been told that he's intentionally limiting his options - and he knows this and is apparently OK with it.

I'm also not religious at all, but I'm happily applying to many Jesuit schools since I think I fit the overall mission well. To each their own.

 

[IsleyOfTheNorth]

It is pretty concerning that you are so adamant about attending a school that even remotely has Christian ties. A lot of the patients you plan on taking care of will be very religious, and will have needs that you might have to take into consideration.

I don't mind schools with religious histories, but some of the secondaries and mission statements have included references to an almighty creator. I'm fine treating religious patients and, indeed, I have friends of many religions - some quite devoted.

Why are you letting something that is not that big of a deal diminish your chances of attending medical school and some good ones at that?

For me, it's a question of personal integrity. I don't want to pretend that I'm something I'm not, regarding religion. I also don't want my presence to indicate an endorsement of or a bias towards a specific religion.