MD cGPA 3.95, sGPA 3.9, 37 MAT Need help assembling a list - CA resident

[Juxxtaposition]

Hi guys, I will be applying this upcoming cycle and need a lot of help assembling my list.



CA resident

cGPA = 3.95

sGPA = 3.9

MCAT = 37



EC: 3 years of research with 2 pubs (mid author on both), hospital volunteering for 2 years, 250+ shadowing hours, TA for chemistry. Really cookie cutter, but heavy on research. I am looking to apply to 35-40 schools, but I feel like my list is too top heavy / I don't know what "safeties" I should do, since I am a CA applicant. I just don't even know where to start.





Albert Einstein

Boston U

Case Western

Rosalind Franklin

Columbia

Drexel

Duke

Emory

Georgetown

Harvard

Mt. Sinai

Johns Hopkins

USC

Loma Linda

Loyola University Chicago

Mayo <-- the dream school

NY medical college

NYU

Northwestern

Penn state

Stanford

SUNY Downstate

SUNY Upstate

Stony Brook

Temple

Tufts

UC Davis

UC Irvine

UCLA

UCSD

UCSF

Pritzker

Pitt

Vandy

Washu in St. Louis

Yale

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[CaliforniaDreamer]

I am in the same boat as you, just posting here so I can check back when more knowledgeable people give you an answer.

 

[Rainbow Zebra]

Hi guys, I will be applying this upcoming cycle and need a lot of help assembling my list.



CA resident

cGPA = 3.95

sGPA = 3.9

MCAT = 37



EC: 3 years of research with 2 pubs (mid author on both), hospital volunteering for 2 years, 250+ shadowing hours, TA for chemistry. Really cookie cutter, but heavy on research. I am looking to apply to 35-40 schools, but I feel like my list is too top heavy / I don't know what "safeties" I should do, since I am a CA applicant. I just don't even know where to start.





Albert Einstein

Boston U

Case Western

Rosalind Franklin

Columbia

Drexel

Duke

Emory

Georgetown

Harvard

Mt. Sinai

Johns Hopkins

USC

Loma Linda

Loyola University Chicago

Mayo <-- the dream school

NY medical college

NYU

Northwestern

Penn state

Stanford

SUNY Downstate

SUNY Upstate

Stony Brook

Temple

Tufts

UC Davis

UC Irvine

UCLA

UCSD

UCSF

Pritzker

Pitt

Vandy

Washu in St. Louis

Yale

Good luck with writing 35-40 secondaries. I would trim the list to 25 schools max. I think the average is like 20. Check out the monster secondaries for Duke and Vandy (tell us your life story).

Loma Linda is 7th day adventist, very specific religious values. Make sure you check them out before applying.

With your stats and research, add University of Michigan, Ohio State University (50% of OOS at both) and University of Pennsylvania, but I would delete Rosalind Franklin/Temple/Penn State. Your stats make you highly competitive for CA schools, and the "safety" schools make take a pass at you, as they know they are your "safety"

FWIW, My brother interviewed at Mayo, as they were really interested in his community service and volunteering. If you are cookie cutter, you may not make the cut with just average ECs, as Mayo is less interested in stats and research, more in what you would bring to the table in a small class of 50. Very patient care centric too. Also, Rochester MN is in the middle of nowhere (and this is coming from a Michigander), so you need to figure out if 4 years in the great white north is for you. Good luck

 

[Juxxtaposition]

Thank you for your insights Rainbow!!

 

[Goro]

I suggest

Albert Einstein
Boston U
Case Western
Columbia OR Cornell
Duke
Emory
Harvard
Mt. Sinai
Johns Hopkins
USC
Loyola University Chicago
Mayo
NYU
Northwestern
Stanford
SUNY Downstate
SUNY Stony Brook
UC Davis
UC Irvine
UCLA
UCSD
UCSF
Pitt
Vandy
Washu in St. Louis
Yale
Tulane
U Miami
Hofstra
U AZ
U CO
U VA
U MI
U NV (maybe)
Va Tech

 

[Juxxtaposition]

Thank you Goro! For U Az do you mean Phoenix or Tucson?

 

[tenniseagle92]

I'd definitely add Penn and U of M. Also, someone gave me some advice before the app cycle that helped a lot. They told me to apply to a wide variety of schools via primary app, but to first complete secondaries for reach/competitive schools that are known for giving out interviews somewhat early (Michigan, Pitt, Chicago, etc.). I was put on hold at Chicago within a few days, so i continued plugging forward with secondaries...but within two weeks I also had interview invites at Michigan and Pitt. This gave me a sense that I would have a relatively competitive app cycle, so I chose to not fill out all of my secondaries at schools that were safeties (except for a couple, including a state school).

That said, if I hadn't gotten interviews at Mich and Pitt I would have continued completely secondaries for all the schools on my original list. The disclaimer here is that you have to be somewhat confident in your interview skills - I was most confident about the interview portion of the process, so knowing Michigan had a high post interview acceptance right gave me the peace of mind to not apply to too many safeties.

This method allowed me to save about $800 on secondary fees, so it's something to consider.

EDIT: Also, to protect myself from criticism, this isn't foolproof at ALL. Interviewing early is not a guaranteed admission (especially at non-rolling schools), and getting passed over at Mich, Chicago, etc. initially also does not mean your app cycle is going to be bad. I would just say being passed over by schools like that would be a sign to err on the side of caution and apply very broadly.

 

[breakintheroof]

Also, someone gave me some advice before the app cycle that helped a lot. They told me to apply to a wide variety of schools via primary app, but to first complete secondaries for reach/competitive schools that are known for giving out interviews somewhat early (Michigan, Pitt, Chicago, etc.).
...
This method allowed me to save about $800 on secondary fees, so it's something to consider.

You know, this is an interesting strategy. There are so many people around who have such strong applications who put together such a school list like this:

My sense is that it's hard to have the confidence to shorten a school list without competent premed advising. Which, of course, is about as common as a solar eclipse. The secondary triage described here seems like a useful hedge. I think I'd recommend it for someone, as you have to OP, whose application appears quite strong from the outside, but who doesn't feel quite certain about it for one reason or another. Although of course it would have to be done with care and reasonable expectations.

While I'm here @Juxxtaposition, I second what @Rainbow Zebra said about specific schools, although perhaps he's (edit: she's, my apologies) trying to help you not get your hopes up about Mayo. Fair enough (their acceptance rate approaches negligibible), but if it's your dream school, you'll of course apply anyway.