Any clinical-geared heavy schools?

[zebalong]

This might be crazy.. but i heard from my premed advisor that some schools are geared more toward applicants with a strong clinical background. just like some schools seem to favor very research oriented applicants... at least that is what my pre-med advisor said (she is a bit crazy so im not sure if this is true). She really encouraged me to research schools who favor people with strong clinical experience since im a emergency dept. nursing supervisor for a large hospital ... has anyone else heard of this? She mentioned UCSF haha which is such a tease since it is my dream school but that is a whole nother matter completely. This is coming from the same person who told me it would be super hard for me to get into med school because of my nursing background, then when i got a 4.0 on my prerequs and did a 35 on the mcat she flipped it around and said my nursing background would be an unparralleled asset... sometimes i think she is either a bit outdated or just a bit bipolar, but she does have great feedback on my personal statement even though she was so discouraging at first. So has anyone heard or know of schools that favor applicants with extensive clinical experience?
Any other RN's to MD's know any schools that were really receptive and open to your previous nursing career?

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[DrMidlife]

I'd file that advice under wtf.

If your question is another way of saying "what schools can I NOT get into without research" the answer is none. If you're applying MSTP, or you specifically WANT to pursue research, then your story isn't solid without a research background.

Assuming you have a compelling story for why you are giving up nursing for medicine, your nursing background is a pure asset.

I am 100% comfortable with your list of schools on mdapps, with your GPA, MCAT and background. (I think you could add another 5 "reaches" if you wanted, like Dartmouth.)

I am about 25% comfortable with your premed adviser's feedback on your PS, without even knowing what he/she said. Please make sure to get 2nd and 3rd opinions. What I did (that worked really well) was to present my PS in draft form as "collateral" when I was pursuing LORs, which got me a ton of feedback. An LOR writer is a great deal closer to the adcom demographic than a typical premed adviser, bipolar or not.

Best of luck to you.

 

[dragonfly99]

Sure, I think there are schools that favor clinical experience more (most state med schools, and most DO schools) and ones that favor research, particularly bench research (Johns Hopkins and Washington U. med school come to mind). However, even the more clinical schools sometimes admit people with a lot of research experience, and even the research-heavy private med schools sometimes admit people who say they want to do public health or family practice, etc. You will find along the interview trail that some interviewers have bias (i.e. some will only want to talk about research, and some will assume you are a personality-less automaton if you work in a basic research lab, no matter how much volunteer work you did and how personable you act, etc.).

I think a 35 MCAT will make you competitive at many schools, as long as your overall GPA is good. At this point I think the nursing experience will be a definite plus, as it gives you the complete package (since you proved yourself academically and obviously must know what it is like to work in an actual hospital environment, while some premeds do not).

A school like UCSF is very hard to get in for anyone, and there is a lot of what seems to be randomness in the application process as well. I think you should just apply to where you really want to go to school, and definitely apply to every single in state med school b/c that is your best chance of an admission. Your chances should be good to get in somewhere.

 

[dragonfly99]

With a nursing background, and a relatively high MCAT score and it sounds like an overall good GPA (I assume if you got 4.0 in your prerequisites), I don't think you have to do research to get into med school. Of course everything helps, but very few applicants have "everything". Plenty of people get into med school every year without significant research experience.

 

[zebalong]

i always knew she was a "lil" crazy.. but she is actually kind of fun to talk to as well.. you can imagine she is "colorful"

I'll just try and steer clear of research heavy schools...