Chances at top 25

[justanothernutc]

I’m looking to apply to medical school soon, and was wondering about my chances at a top 25 medical school. Also, if anyone is familiar with some of the UC schools, I would appreciate you putting in your two cents about how my app matches up with their philosophies/mission statements. Thanks in advance for your input.

CA resident
GPA: 3.77 cGPA, 3.77 sGPA (molecular biology major)
MCAT: 40R (14 PS, 12 V, 14 BS)

ECs

Research:
-2 years of research (15-20 hours per week), received acknowledgment in one paper, no publications

Volunteer/Clinical/Shadowing:
-1 year of volunteering (~200 hours) at a street-side clinic that helps provide homeless and poverty-stricken individuals with basic medical services, medications, referrals, etc.
-2 summers (~200 hours total) of volunteering in the surgery clinic at a hospital in my area, helped with materials management, clinic organization, etc.
-Shadowed (~40 hours) anesthesiologists in the operating room at that same hospital

Other:
-2 years of working in student government (1 year as a committee member, 1 years as a committee director)
-Member of a national men’s fraternity
-Various honor societies
-Eagle Scout

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[darkjedi]

You'll be fine getting interviews at the top schools.

 

[aassimd]

Your GPA is okay. Your big push is the 40. I don't see a problem in you getting into a school like UM-AA Med School although a publication in your research would have really bumped your application. You'll definitely get an interview, all you have to do is articulate on your research, show a little charm and you're straight.

 

[girlonfire]

Our MCAT scores match!

Try to get that name on an abstract or poster just as a boost and write a strong personal statement and you'll be set.

 

[SOMBound13]

You're good for a number of top schools....will likely get IIs from most of your schools. Fine for UC's as well. Are you applying to all UC SOMs?

Include a few better mid-tiers as back-ups. Avoid too many lowly ranked schools. They'll assume that you're using them as safeties.

 

[justanothernutc]

You're good for a number of top schools....will likely get IIs from most of your schools. Fine for UC's as well. Are you applying to all UC SOMs?

Include a few better mid-tiers as back-ups. Avoid too many lowly ranked schools. They'll assume that you're using them as safeties.

Yes, I am planning on applying to all of the UCs, a few west coast privates, and a few east coast publics and privates; basically, I'm going to apply everywhere. Would you say a school like UC Davis could be one of my "mid-tier backups," or should my backups be schools with lower scores than that?

Edit: Not that Davis isn't competitive, it just has statistically lower numbers than places like Harvard, Stanford, Yale, etc. Sorry if I offended anyone..

 

[ZJX90]

Yes, I am planning on applying to all of the UCs, a few west coast privates, and a few east coast publics and privates; basically, I'm going to apply everywhere. Would you say a school like UC Davis could be one of my "mid-tier backups," or should my backups be schools with lower scores than that?

Edit: Not that Davis isn't competitive, it just has statistically lower numbers than places like Harvard, Stanford, Yale, etc. Sorry if I offended anyone..

UC Davis has scores lower than the other UCs, but my impression of the school is that they are a bit unique in that they have more of a focus on the underserved and rural medicine. (They have seven student run clinics targeted to different ethnic groups in the area!) So although it's not as competitive statistically, there are things they look for that make them just as selective as the other UCs. If you plan on applying to UCD, that may be something to keep in mind.

But in general, for your school list, it wouldn't hurt to throw in a few schools that are below the stats of UCD, especially if there is something about the school that you particularly like. I find that in general, for a high-stat applicant applying to a lower stat school, the school cares much more about your experiences and interest than your numbers. And if you apply to OOS public schools, it may be wise to check that the school actually accepts a decent amount of OOS. Also, have any non-clinical volunteering, employment, or interesting hobbies? That may help to show that you are "diverse," well-rounded individual.

 

[DoctorLacrosse]

how does one go about getting a 40? what a fantastic score. well done on that.

I think you'll have no problems at top schools either. make your research sound great when you talk about it, and maybe shadow a primary care physician if you can. you'll be fine

 

[SOMBound13]

Yes, I am planning on applying to all of the UCs, a few west coast privates, and a few east coast publics and privates; basically, I'm going to apply everywhere. Would you say a school like UC Davis could be one of my "mid-tier backups," or should my backups be schools with lower scores than that?

Edit: Not that Davis isn't competitive, it just has statistically lower numbers than places like Harvard, Stanford, Yale, etc. Sorry if I offended anyone..

I would say that UCI, UCD, and UCR are as low as you should go. Any lower schools will probably just assume that you'll have many other offers.

What east coast publics are you applying to?

What about the Midwest?? Or Duke, Wash U, Tulane, Emory, and Vandy?

 

[justanothernutc]

Ok, that's good to know about Davis. I guess I'll do some more in-depth research before totally committing to a list of schools to apply to.

I would say that UCI, UCD, and UCR are as low as you should go. Any lower schools will probably just assume that you'll have many other offers.

What east coast publics are you applying to?

What about the Midwest?? Or Duke, Wash U, Tulane, Emory, and Vandy?

Speaking of a list of schools, I actually started making one recently:
-UC Davis
-UC Irvine
-USC
-BU
-Tufts
-UCLA
-UCSD
-UCSF
-Stanford
-Michigan
-Vanderbilt
-Case Western
-UW
-Duke
-Dartmouth
-UVirginia
-UNC
-Baylor
-UMaryland

IMO most of them are reach schools, but feel free to critique this and give any input (places I should take off the list, places that I should add, etc.) Thanks again to everyone for all of the help.

Edit: Added a couple more schools that I forgot to put down

 

[altamont850]

Way to go *******, maybe you should try Meharry/Morehouse/Howard.

You ****ed up

 

[487806]

Way to go *******, maybe you should try Meharry/Morehouse/Howard.

You ****ed up

Well, the good news is I was able to end your other thread.

 

[ZJX90]

Ok, that's good to know about Davis. I guess I'll do some more in-depth research before totally committing to a list of schools to apply to.



Speaking of a list of schools, I actually started making one recently:
-UC Davis
-UC Irvine
-USC
-BU
-Tufts
-UCLA
-UCSD
-UCSF
-Stanford
-Michigan
-Vanderbilt
-Case Western
-UW
-Duke
-Dartmouth
-UVirginia
-UNC
-Baylor
-UMaryland

IMO most of them are reach schools, but feel free to critique this and give any input (places I should take off the list, places that I should add, etc.) Thanks again to everyone for all of the help.

Edit: Added a couple more schools that I forgot to put down

List does seem a little top heavy to me. I'd recommend adding a couple more non-CA "safeties"/mid- and lower-tiered schools just to be on the caution side; the UCs are very competitive since there are so many applicants, so they may not be all that reliable.

Is UW referring to University of Washington? They accept very, very few OOS, so unless if there is something particular that draws you to that school, I wouldn't waste my money on them. And just curious, but why didn't you add some of the other top 10 schools, like Harvard, Yale, etc.? You certainly have the stats for them. GPA may be slightly lower than their avg but they are still within you reach. Also, why not any New York schools? NY has A LOT of schools, and in a wide range stats-wise, such as: NYMC (unranked), Albert Einstein (mid-tier), NYU (high-mid tier), Columbia (obv high tier).

 

[justanothernutc]

List does seem a little top heavy to me. I'd recommend adding a couple more non-CA "safeties"/mid- and lower-tiered schools just to be on the caution side; the UCs are very competitive since there are so many applicants, so they may not be all that reliable.

Is UW referring to University of Washington? They accept very, very few OOS, so unless if there is something particular that draws you to that school, I wouldn't waste my money on them. And just curious, but why didn't you add some of the other top 10 schools, like Harvard, Yale, etc.? You certainly have the stats for them. GPA may be slightly lower than their avg but they are still within you reach. Also, why not any New York schools? NY has A LOT of schools, and in a wide range stats-wise, such as: NYMC (unranked), Albert Einstein (mid-tier), NYU (high-mid tier), Columbia (obv high tier).

Ok, that sounds pretty reasonable to me. I'm not really familiar with the non-CA mid/low-tier schools though, could anyone give me a couple that you think I should add to my list?

With regards to the top 10s, I thought that Stanford would be as high of a reach as my stats/ECs could get me (and by that I do mean it is a pretty high reach), but I guess it doesn't hurt for me to do some research into a few of those schools. I also never really looked at the New York schools, so thanks for throwing those out there. Not that there is a magic number, but about how many of each level of school (reaches, mid-levels, safeties) should I be looking to apply to?

 

[d12]

Ok, that sounds pretty reasonable to me. I’m not really familiar with the non-CA mid/low-tier schools though, could anyone give me a couple that you think I should add to my list?

With regards to the top 10s, I thought that Stanford would be as high of a reach as my stats/ECs could get me (and by that I do mean it is a pretty high reach), but I guess it doesn’t hurt for me to do some research into a few of those schools. I also never really looked at the New York schools, so thanks for throwing those out there. Not that there is a magic number, but about how many of each level of school (reaches, mid-levels, safeties) should I be looking to apply to?

You have a pretty damn solid application, so it really just depends on how many applications you have the time/money for. Apply to at least 15 and try to split schools evenly into tiers. So if you applied to 15, apply to 5 reaches, 5 that are good fits and 5 "safeties." Assuming your LORs are fine and your PS is solid, you shouldn't have any trouble landing many interviews and several acceptances. Apply early!

If I were you I'd mainly focus on areas of the US that you could realistically see yourself living and go from there. If you like the city life, look into Columbia, NYU, Mount Sinai, Cornell, U Chicago, Northwestern, etc.

 

[darkjedi]

Ok, that's good to know about Davis. I guess I'll do some more in-depth research before totally committing to a list of schools to apply to.



Speaking of a list of schools, I actually started making one recently:
-UC Davis
-UC Irvine
-USC
-BU
-Tufts
-UCLA
-UCSD
-UCSF
-Stanford
-Michigan
-Vanderbilt
-Case Western
-UW
-Duke
-Dartmouth
-UVirginia
-UNC
-Baylor
-UMaryland

IMO most of them are reach schools, but feel free to critique this and give any input (places I should take off the list, places that I should add, etc.) Thanks again to everyone for all of the help.

Edit: Added a couple more schools that I forgot to put down

Given your stats and application, I will say that your list is actually not too top heavy and perfectly fine. There really are no 'safety' schools, as adcoms tend to decline to interview/accept people who have much higher stats than their matriculant average. Consider maybe adding a handful of mid-tiers, but you already have 20 schools on your list. You should have no problem getting several interviews at those schools, just brush up on your interview skills and good luck!