Confused about what is reach/safety. Help?

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sophie.lu101

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These schools you are considering are all reasonable though obviously some are very competitive. Your 3 schools in MA are where your chances are best, especially UMass.
 
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You have a good list! Your research is definitely a strong EC for you, so I would focus more attention on schools that love research:
Harvard
NYU
Cornell
Michigan
Case Western
Yale

If you're looking to narrow down your list:
Brown - loves their own undergrads so if that's not the Ivy you went to it might be worth taking them off
Georgetown - gets tons of apps
UCs - are hard for OOS to get in, might be worth throwing UCLA/UCSF on if you really want to say "what if"

You should get some love from many schools on that list, so apply to schools you would absolutely go to if they were the only place that accepted you. Good luck!
 
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Thanks for the feedback guys!

I had a few other questions I was wondering if you could help me out with. I heard that Mt Sinai has their FlexMed kids coming in so it's getting even more competitive. Do you think it'd still be worthwhile for me to apply?

Additionally, I'm thinking of adding 2 more targets and 2 more reaches. Do you guys have suggestions? I was thinking maybe Albany and someplace else, as well as maybe UPenn and WashU, but would those reaches be too high since they seem to like people with better stats than mine?
 
I think it's still okay to apply to Mt. Sinai, the FlexMed program still won't be a majority of the class and I don't think it would be a throwaway application for you. I visited there this past cycle and really enjoyed the school, the students were probably the happiest I saw and the program really helps students succeed. If you like NYC, definitely apply.

As for 2 reaches, Penn and WashU do love good stats and you have a great MCAT, but I think you are below their median (if 519~37..their median is a 38? double check with MSAR). A better, more targeted reach might be UChicago or Northwestern. If you want "what if" reaches, I'd apply to Penn, WashU, Stanford, JHU, UCSF, Duke, or Harvard. Penn and WashU love high stats, Duke loves research and well-rounded people, JHU/Stanford/UCSF/Harvard are reaches for everyone and I would encourage you to apply to at least one of them. You have a strong application, in my opinion, and I think you will have a successful cycle and will get some love from a handful of top 20 programs.

As for safeties, that's more tricky. With your high MCAT and GPA and research experience, a lot of the "safety" schools might not give you any love because they know you won't go there. There's a lot of options so only pick a school you would absolutely go to if that was the only place you got in. Options might include:
Drexel/Jefferson/Temple
Albany
NYMC
VCU
Wake Forest
Hofstra Northwell
Basically any school where your MCAT is right around or below the 90th percentile of admitted students (check MSAR).

I hope that helped! Good luck with your applications!
 
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Shotgun approach top 20, you've already got your state school + your IS schools, round it out with 4-6 mid tiers + your home institution, and you're good to go.

If you want it broken down more, here you go.

Apply to 14-16 of these:
Harvard, Stanford, Hopkins, Penn, UCSF, WashU, Columbia, Yale, Duke, Michigan, Chicago-Pritzker, Vanderbilt, Pitt, Northwestern, NYU, Case Western, Mt. Sinai, Cornell

Apply 4-6 of these:
Hofstra (definitely), USC-Keck (definitely), Emory, UVA, Ohio State, SLU, Miami, Rochester, Einstein

I say definitely for Hofstra and Keck because they really like Ivy Leaguers.

Apply to your state school:
UMass - you got it

Apply to your UG's med school (unless it's Princeton for obvious reasons, but if it's Princeton, you're at this point nearly guaranteed a top 20 acceptance anyway).

Don't apply to Dartmouth unless you are a Dartmouth undergrad; same goes for Brown.

As for UCs, definitely apply to UCSF. If you really want to, apply to UCLA. The other ones are incredibly low yield for non-CA students.

Not worth applying to Vermont or Georgetown - they will be very low yield for you.

I wouldn't have recommended BU, Tufts, or NYMC, but since you already applied, just roll with it.

Don't try to classify schools based on reach/safety/match/whatever. It doesn't really work that way. Apply to schools where your application fits the profile based on your undergrad, stats, research and service profiles, and state of residence. If you follow my plan here, you'll be totally fine.
 
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Thank you guys so much for taking the time to give me this advice!! This was unbelievably helpful. I'll definitely be taking both of your approaches into account and edit my list accordingly!
 
Shotgun approach top 20, you've already got your state school + your IS schools, round it out with 4-6 mid tiers + your home institution, and you're good to go.

If you want it broken down more, here you go.

Apply to 14-16 of these:
Harvard, Stanford, Hopkins, Penn, UCSF, WashU, Columbia, Yale, Duke, Michigan, Chicago-Pritzker, Vanderbilt, Pitt, Northwestern, NYU, Case Western, Mt. Sinai, Cornell

Apply 4-6 of these:
Hofstra (definitely), USC-Keck (definitely), Emory, UVA, Ohio State, SLU, Miami, Rochester, Einstein

I say definitely for Hofstra and Keck because they really like Ivy Leaguers.

Apply to your state school:
UMass - you got it

Apply to your UG's med school (unless it's Princeton for obvious reasons, but if it's Princeton, you're at this point nearly guaranteed a top 20 acceptance anyway).

Don't apply to Dartmouth unless you are a Dartmouth undergrad; same goes for Brown.

As for UCs, definitely apply to UCSF. If you really want to, apply to UCLA. The other ones are incredibly low yield for non-CA students.

Not worth applying to Vermont or Georgetown - they will be very low yield for you.

I wouldn't have recommended BU, Tufts, or NYMC, but since you already applied, just roll with it.

Don't try to classify schools based on reach/safety/match/whatever. It doesn't really work that way. Apply to schools where your application fits the profile based on your undergrad, stats, research and service profiles, and state of residence. If you follow my plan here, you'll be totally fine.

I've begun adding some of the schools on this list based on your suggestions, but the list is sort of long now and I'm unsure if I should be applying to so many reaches. Do you have any advice as to which schools to cut or at least which kind? Thanks in advance!

This is my current list:

Super reaches (from the 14-16 group you have above): Harvard, Stanford, UCSF, JHU, UPenn, WUSTL, Columbia, Duke, Yale, Michigan, NYU, Chicago, Cornell, Mt. Sinai (14 total, and this includes my UG school)

(From the 4 - 6 group): UVA, Rochester, Ohio, and unsure about either Miami or Emory

Other: UMass, BU, Tufts, Dartmouth, NYMC
 
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