school list advice
Hello everyone. I'm trying to figure out what schools to apply to as a low GPA high MCAT student. I have no idea if I'm applying too top-heavy or not, so here's my app and list.
About me: 21M, ORM, will have a ~3.45 c GPAand sGPA (w/ strong upward trend), majoring in neuroscience. 520 MCAT, PA resident.
Clinical paid: ~1000hrs EMT in an underserved community
Non-clinical paid: ~700 hours debate coach, ~2000 hours martial arts instructor
Clinical volunteering: ~50 volunteering in the ED of children's hospital, should I include this? I helped pts find their rooms, that's really all there is to it.
Non-clinical volunteering: ~50 hours violin instruction, ~200 hours of a student org that runs policy analysis on local food and housing security issues
Research: ~300 hours psychology lab about kids learning and development, ~1200 hours trauma reseach in the ED, ~300 hours ALS research, no pubs for anything but hopefully a poster in the spring?
Shadowing: 40 hours, only shadowed a cardiologist so far but hoping to get more soon. Also have observed/seen many surgeries as part of my ED research so idk if I need more.
Now for my list:
I left out Drexel since its teaching hospital closed down, should I put it back? Places like Hopkins and Harvard are my 'fuck it why not' apps, so don't take those too seriously.
Thank you to all of you in advance! Hopefully this can help others who may be in my situation too.
Posted Dec 30, 2025, 8:55 PM UTC