3.68/ 35 Chances for top tier, and help with school list

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areserine

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Thanks for all the advice in the past! I edited for anonymity at this point in the process. If you have similar stats and are looking at this thread for advice for yourself, feel free to pm me for more info.

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Is there a reason UCF isn't on your list? It really should be. Don't be scared away by the newness, they have their act together there.

Take away University of Washington, virtually impossible for OOS to get in there.

Chances are good for top tier but I'd just make your list shorter. It's not going to be worth the time and money to apply to that many. With several good state school options you shouldn't apply to more than 20 schools. Going to get in here before the usual suspects to say that Brown does NOT favor it's own undergrads, so ignore that if someone tells you that's a reason to take them off the list.
 
@SN12357 Thanks! I'll add UCF to the list. Do you have any thoughts on whether that internship counts as clinical experience/ clinical volunteering?
 
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@SN12357 Thanks! I'll add UCF to the list. Do you have any thoughts on whether that internship counts as clinical experience/ clinical volunteering?

Sounds like it! It passes the LizzyM "if you can smell patients, it's a clinical experience" test. You should not worry about listing it as clinical.
 
Suggest the schools below, and ALL FL schools. Also suggest deleting U MN, as I'm not a fan of "strong ties" unless you grew up in the place. FL is a state full of doctors who graduated from U MN. The Gopher taxpayers have an interest in you wanting to stay there. I deleted Brown because they prefer their own UGs.

I am a non-URM FL resident student who graduated from a top 10 liberal arts college in 2013. I am currently in the middle of my first of two gap years doing bench research at a highly regarded institution. I studied abroad twice.





UChicago
Yale
Harvard
Hopkins
Cornell
Mayo
Duke
Columbia
Mt. Sinai
Stanford
Baylor
NYU
USC
Einstein
U of Florida
Tufts
Virginia Tech Carillion
Wake Forest
U of Wisconsin
U of South Florida
Tulane
Florida State
Pitt
Vanderbilt
Northwestern
Penn
BU
Tufts
Emory




What do you think my chances are for some of these top tier schools? Do you have any other school suggestions? Do you think that the internship will count in the eyes of adcoms as clinical experience?

Thanks![/quote]
 
Going to get in here before the usual suspects to say that Brown does NOT favor it's own undergrads, so ignore that if someone tells you that's a reason to take them off the list.

While it's hard to argue what actually goes on in their adcom based on statistics alone, a huge part of their class are PLME students. Thus, it makes it incredibly hard to get in.
 
While it's hard to argue what actually goes on in their adcom based on statistics alone, a huge part of their class are PLME students. Thus, it makes it incredibly hard to get in.

You do not understand how the PLME process works. Those students are admitted when they are high schoolers. They are not part of the admissions process after that. Brown uses the regular AMCAS admissions process for the remaining 65-70 seats in their class. Which, while small, is more seats than Mayo has, period. It's also more seats than any state school has for out of staters. By your logic no one should apply to Mayo and no out of stater should apply to ANY state school other than their own.

No medical school is easy to get into. Brown isn't an outlier.
 
You do not understand how the PLME process works. Those students are admitted when they are high schoolers. They are not part of the admissions process after that. Brown uses the regular AMCAS admissions process for the remaining 65-70 seats in their class. Which, while small, is more seats than Mayo has, period. It's also more seats than any state school has for out of staters. By your logic no one should apply to Mayo and no out of stater should apply to ANY state school other than their own.

No medical school is easy to get into. Brown isn't an outlier.

No, you misunderstand my post. Because of PLME, Brown has fewer seats than your typical med school. (Sort of like Mayo, yes)

Applicants who apply to these schools should be extraordinary applicants. OP is a very good applicant, but his numbers are not extraordinary. It may just be a waste of money to apply. But again, I never opposed his applying to these schools, just putting this idea out there.
 
No, you misunderstand my post. Because of PLME, Brown has fewer seats than your typical med school. (Sort of like Mayo, yes)

Applicants who apply to these schools should be extraordinary applicants. OP is a very good applicant, but his numbers are not extraordinary. It may just be a waste of money to apply. But again, I never opposed his applying to these schools, just putting this idea out there.

Except Brown isn't a top tier medical school, which their stats immediately make clear. As is also clear if you know anything about the school and its research reputation. It's a good school, but it isn't comparable to the other ivies on the med school front. Median MCAT is only a 33. Median GPA is only a 3.7, per the MSAR. So the OP's GPA is right in line and MCAT is above average.

Solid applicants on this board are told all the time not to apply there, and it's ludicrous. It is in fact a perfect school for applicants whose numbers are good enough for the top but not extraordinary to apply to.

It's so obvious sometimes that advice is thrown around in WAMC when people literally have no idea about the schools they're talking about aside from what gets voiced in the echo chamber here.
 
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Except Brown isn't a top tier medical school, which their stats immediately make clear. As is also clear if you know anything about the school and its research reputation. It's a good school, but it isn't comparable to the other ivies on the med school front. Median MCAT is only a 33. Median GPA is only a 3.7, per the MSAR. So the OP's GPA is right in line and MCAT is above average.

Solid applicants on this board are told all the time not to apply there, and it's ludicrous. It is in fact a perfect school for applicants whose numbers are good enough for the top but not extraordinary to apply to.

It's so obvious sometimes that advice is thrown around in WAMC when people literally have no idea about the schools they're talking about aside from what gets voiced in the echo chamber here.
I guess their median MCAT decreases because I see a 35 median MCAT for Brown University in my 2011-2012 MSAR.
 
Thanks for all the advice regarding school suggestions. Do any of you have suggestions for any weak spots in my application or things that I can do in the next 6 months- a year to help myself gain an edge?
 
Hey OP, I'm currently applying this cycle and it looks like we have very similar applications (Almost identical numbers and similar research experiences etc.). I feel like the sweet spot (with respect to numbers) for me has been schools ranked 25-35, to use the USN&WR as a common reference point. Using the LizzyM metric this range of schools generally turns out to be a good match. Whether you would define these schools as top tier is a matter of personal opinion. For reach schools I would recommend focusing your attention in the 15-25 range with a few super reach schools thrown in that you especially like/fit with. Of course, if you can afford it and you have the time then definitely apply to all top tier programs, but otherwise I would recommend taking a few off. For example the bottom 10th percentile gpa for those accepted at Harvard and Hopkins is 3.71, which makes it very unlikely that you would be considered.

Like I said, unless you have unlimited funds, here are my suggestions: Add Remove

Reach
UChicago
Yale
Harvard
Hopkins

Cornell
Mayo
Duke
Columbia
Mt. Sinai

Stanford
Baylor
NYU
Pitt
Vanderbilt
Northwestern

Penn

UVA

Match
Rochester
Case Western

USC
Einstein
Virginia Tech Carillion
Tufts
Emory
BU
U of Florida
U of Wisconsin

Safety
Wake Forest
Tulane
Florida State
U of South Florida

Best of Luck :)
 
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Also make sure you are aware of how "OOS unfriendly" some of the schools can be. An example is how UWisc interviews 180/3000+ of their OOSers, and has rejected numerous folks with stats that are competitive for UCSF and a few top tiers. Good luck :D
 
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Thanks for all the advice! @cybermaxx12 thank you especially for your relevant experience, best of luck this cycle!
 
Hope I don't offend anyone by bumping my own thread, but I was wondering if anyone had any additional suggestions as I'm generating my potential school list for my pre-med adviser. Thanks!
 
Agree with CyberMaxx -- And good luck!

One suggestion -- The 'thin air' schools are looking for more than just 'solid' applicants with great stats (which you are). They're looking for unique and diverse. Aim for a catchy 'sound bite' type handle that the AdComs could use to remember your application and help you stand out. Ex. "This is the guy who rescued the beached whale with his hands tied behind his back."
 
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Might "the chick who build houses" be catchy enough? I've got over 250 hours with Habitat for Humanity in 5 different parts of the country.
 
Since you're female, I'd say yes. Throw in some power tool jokes :p
For a guy, less unusual, so borderline.
 
Pay heed to C-max's post.

I'd group your Reaches like this:
Super-Elite: Harvard, Yale, Hopkins, Columbia, Penn,Stanford
Still-Elite: Chicago, Cornell, Mayo, Duke, Vanderbilt
Reachable: Mt. Sinai, Baylor, NYU, Pitt, Northwestern, UVA

The Super-Elite schools tend to admit in robust numbers the superstar undergrads from the Ivies + Stanford, which leaves fewer spots for the non-superstar undergrads from those same schools and the superstar undergrads from everywhere else.
 
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Sorry! I actually have another question as I try to craft this all into an application. In terms of my "hook" does this need to be a major part of my personal statement? @DokterMom, would it be okay to have that as one of my most meaningful activities?
 
Your goal here is to snag an interview invitation -- So your 'hook' needs to be prominent enough that the person reading your application will see it and (hopefully) notice and remember. So if your hook is such a tiny part of your application that it slips by unnoticed, then it hasn't done the job. But on the other hand, if it isn't rightfully or reasonably key to your personal statement, then it doesn't belong there either. You're really the best judge of how prominent to make it.
 
Your goal here is to snag an interview invitation -- So your 'hook' needs to be prominent enough that the person reading your application will see it and (hopefully) notice and remember. So if your hook is such a tiny part of your application that it slips by unnoticed, then it hasn't done the job. But on the other hand, if it isn't rightfully or reasonably key to your personal statement, then it doesn't belong there either. You're really the best judge of how prominent to make it.

Thanks! I hope I'm not taking too much of your time, but is athlete too common of a hook? I was also a varsity swimmer throughout college. I wore a lot of "hats", and I'm having trouble picking one "hat" as my hook. As this isn't a college essay, I assume that being the athlete, and the musician, and the researcher, and the habitat volunteer isn't going to work as a hook since "well rounded" is something that everyone is trying to portray.
 
Thanks! I hope I'm not taking too much of your time, but is athlete too common of a hook? I was also a varsity swimmer throughout college. I wore a lot of "hats", and I'm having trouble picking one "hat" as my hook. As this isn't a college essay, I assume that being the athlete, and the musician, and the researcher, and the habitat volunteer isn't going to work as a hook since "well rounded" is something that everyone is trying to portray.

Sure, to some extent, well-rounded is something everyone tries to portray. But most people don't have as many options to choose from, and truly aren't as well-rounded as you are. Keep in mind, this is only one person's opinion, and I'm not an Adcom.
 
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