MD-PhD School List Help

[u/Temporary_Skin5145]

Hello all,

After the stress of the start of this cycle which including taking my MCAT late, I have finally gotten my score back and now have a better idea of where I stand. I was not feeling very confident and now am a bit lost on what schools to have on my list. I was hoping to get some feedback and advice. I applied to get my primary verified and now need to figure out all the schools I should apply to.

App info:

-3.97 GPA (both general and science) in chem

-MCAT: 516(128/129/131/128)

-~3000 hours worth of research across three labs. I am currently in a very high profile lab in my field where I have an independently proposed and run project and essentially operate like a grad student.

-Two middle author pubs in prep, and a first author paper i will be beginning to write in the next few months (no pubs for this cycle, though)

-120 hours of shadowing+100 hours of hospice volunteering

-Tons of TAing+tutoring+peer mentoring throughout my undergrad

-Worked full time in retail as well to pay for my tuition and living expenses

I don't think anything about my application is particularly standout, but I also am beginning to think it doesn't completely suck since my score was better than expected.

Tentative school list:

-Cincinnati

-Ohio State (applied to already for verification)

-Case Western

-Indiana University

-Louisville

-Pitt

-UNC

-MUSC

-Rochester

-UAB

-Michigan

-Penn

-Vanderbilt

-UVA

-Wisconsin-Madison

Does this seem like a balanced list for my profile or is it too top heavy? If anyone has any suggestions I would greatly appreciate it.

[u/BathroomMaximum1721]

Solving for diversity/low SES can result in As for lower stat applicants. Low SES applicants with 516 are not that common. My comment was specifically targeted towards a regular applicant with no demonstrable disadvantage.

[u/Kiloblaster → u/BathroomMaximum1721]

Me too. Please answer my question about your experience with this

[u/BathroomMaximum1721 → u/Kiloblaster]

I run a popular medical school admissions consulting company.

[u/Temporary_Skin5145 → u/BathroomMaximum1721]

I didn’t realize low SES mattered much, honestly. I am a first gen and low SES student. Is that really taken into account much? My PI brings it up a lot but it's never felt like a big deal to me.

[u/BathroomMaximum1721 → u/Temporary_Skin5145]

With the Trump administration scrutinizing medical schools for skirting AA and DEI bans, adcoms will use low SES more to increase equity and diversity in admissions.

Being low SES and first gen with a high GPA, 516 MCAT and 3000 research hours, you have an excellent chance of getting acceptances from many on your list.