<p>Male, African American
33 O
GPA- 3.88
Science- 4.00</p>
<p>I have done clinical research, smdep, bench research, co president of an organization… among other things</p>
<p>What are my chances at the top schools like Mayo and Harvard?? My undergrad is not highly ranked at all…fwiw</p>
<p>Are you a senior?</p>
<p>In addition to the above schools, where else have you applied?</p>
<p>I am applying in the next cycle. I am applying only to the the top twenty schools and morehouse</p>
<p>Any schools do you think it would be prudent to add</p>
<p>Volunteering?</p>
<p>Your chances are good if you apply to basically all the top 20 (other than UW, etc who don’t take many OOS) and the historically black medical schools…</p>
<p>Really?! What if I only apply to morehouse? Although I would jump at the chance to got to a hbms (historically black medical school). I am really interested in Mayo and Harvard. I have quite a bit of volunteering and will continue to garner more as the application year approaches. I think the next cycle will be the most competitive season ever! Thus, I think I may throw in a safety. What do you think?</p>
<p>Generally it is also a good idea to apply to your instate schools</p>
<p>Why are you ONLY applying to Top 20 and Morehouse?</p>
<p>Can’t speak to Harvard, can speak to Mayo–interviewed there a few weeks ago. First, your MCAT/GPA is fine.</p>
<p>Mayo places a LOT of emphasis on leadership and service. It’s not something they just pay lip service to–it’s at their core and it underlies everything that they do. In order to be competitive for Mayo, you need to have a ridiculously strong and varied resume that shows a genuine interest in working with others and a natural tendency toward substantial leadership positions. While I don’t know for sure, it seems like it’s practically required to have a unique “hook.” Examples from the people I met while interviewing: started a health literacy nonprofit that’s garnered national attention, graduated from Julliard School then spent 10 years writing scores for Broadway before volunteering with inner city clinics and deciding to go back to school to do medicine, Native American who speaks 3 languages fluently and has almost single handedly improved the health of elderly on his reservation (while in HIGH SCHOOL), consulting for an international firm for a few years after graduating with a business degree from Yale (ran into almost an identical person at Northwestern too). </p>
<p>Run-of-the-mill extracurriculars won’t get you much attention from schools like Mayo. Impressive extracurriculars, the absolute strongest recommendation letters from people who know you at many different levels, authentic service and leadership, and extensive clinical experience PLUS a cool hook MIGHT get you an interview. The upside is, 99% (they’ve studied the stats of their applicants) of the people who interview at Mayo are accepted to multiple other schools, so if you make it to the interview–it’s no longer an issue of “if” you’ll go, it’s “where” you’ll go (and they’ll tell you that during your interview too). </p>
<p>I’m not trying to brag. I am very happy that I interviewed at Mayo and am looking forward to hearing results soon. I was just so impressed by everything Mayo–the other applicants notwithstanding–that I want to at least attempt to do it justice when advising others about it. Really, I’m thrilled this group even would consider me a peer!</p>
<p>mom2collegekids, It is because OP stands out academically. That is why. Morehouse and at least a few of the top 20 will likely take him. Actually, as compared to non-top schools, it is likely the top schools may even more likely take him.</p>
<p>DS happens to know an applicant with a similar background. He is so confident that he would get in somewhere that he applied to likely 5 schools only. He has zero interests in applying to a very top school though as he prefers to stay close to his home and very much likes some program that is offered there. (He had no problems in getting into schools like unc or uva.)</p>
<p>And, just to point out the politically correct elephant in the room, OP has the stats that are about average for schools ranked from around 11 to 30 with the significant advantage of being an African American male. I would still recommend applying to more than one non-top 20 school, meaning all of the historically black schools or if OP is from a state with a few in state public school then apply to those. OP’s ECs sound pretty average at best for top 20s, so I’d rather he not shoot himself in the foot by not having some safeties to fall back on. I know of several URM applicants with similar stats who had to reapply because of this.</p>
<p>I think the OP will get into practically any med school he gets into. Yes, his EC’s are run-of-the-mill. What’s not run of the mill is that he’s a black male with good stats. Good stats + AA male + serviceable EC’s = multiple top 20 acceptances. Normally, I’d say it’s not very smart to only apply to top 20’s but in this case, I think the OP is a slam dunk.</p>
<p>@Kristan Thanks for your opinion. Athough, I am not as amazing as those people that you stated. I must say that I do have leadership experience (TA’ed,President of minority organization). I am also from a single parent household and since high school I have supported my mother (single parent… dad walked out when I was couple months old never to be seen again) and I have worked all through college. I am not saying I am amazing as the people you stated but I feel that I have overcome extraordinary odds to get to the point I am at the moment.</p>
<p>@mmmcdowe, I will also apply to all my state medical schools. Thank you for the warning.</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids- I will add a couple of more schools to my list</p>
<p>I believe that your chances are very high.</p>
<p>I assume you’re applying next cycle. In that case, you can literally apply to the top five schools in the country and forget about the others.</p>
<p>I’d do at least ten applications just to be safe (since you can’t trust some anonymous voice on the Internet), but I’d be stunned if you got rejected from a single program anywhere in the country.</p>
<p>Thanks for your opinion but, I do believe that you are over-estimating the URM effect. Looking at the AAMC charts concerning AA and GPA/MCAT only ~90ish percent of applicants were accepted. An individual with my stats was indeed rejected. I will apply more broadly like the above poster suggested. I will report back on what the outcome is.</p>
<p>As mentioned, I think you’re wise not to take an anonymous Internet poster (namely, me) at total face value.</p>
<p><a href=“https://www.aamc.org/download/157594/data/table25-b-mcatgpa-grid-black-0810.pdf.pdf[/url]”>https://www.aamc.org/download/157594/data/table25-b-mcatgpa-grid-black-0810.pdf.pdf</a></p>
<p>This shows that 54 out of 56 applicants in your bracket got into medical school somewhere, and I’m willing to bet that the remaining two got turned down for reasons unrelated to academic merit.</p>
<p>That 96% is better than any bracket for Whites, including the bracket that starts at 3.8/39.</p>
<hr>
<p>In general, I remember that the gaps for African Americans were something like 0.3 GPA points and 6.5 MCAT points. So you’re essentially applying with a 4.28/39.5.</p>
<p>True. But remember the sample size is much smaller. It may not be totally representative. I hope I am just not one of the those two people who did not get in due to something else in my application. I know I fit the bill academically. I have big dreams for Mayo. I am writing my personal statement as we speak. I know Mayo is rolling admission so I hope sending my application on the earliest date will prove worthwhile during this rigorous process I am about to undertake.</p>
<p>Put a lot of thought into that personal statement if Mayo’s on your radar. As I’m sure you’re aware by now, Mayo does not have a secondary–so all they see is your 1) AMCAS 2) personal statement 3) recommendation letters and if you choose to send them 4) update letters.</p>
<p>Those really should speak for themselves! </p>
<p>Applying early is a great idea. I was complete in July, had “letters requested” in September, had a complete file in October, and was in the second to last week of interviews. No doubt I wouldn’t have stood a chance had I waited until September to apply. The earlier the better should be your mantra for about the next year!</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Kristan I was wondering… What school did you end up going to?</p>