Full List of Schools Applied Too

[SKaminski]

Hey Everyone,

I've dedicated a huge amount of time to coming up with a list of schools to apply to. I officially sent in my application on 9/10/2013, and while i'm waiting for it to verify i was wanting to see if their was any schools I have overlooked. I will detail basic application information, and later on I will document why i excluded certain schools from the list.

Sex: M.
Age: 24
Ethnicity: Declined to State.
State: California

cGPA: 3.425
sGPA: 3.71
MCAT: 31 (10,11V,10)

Items holding back my application: One semester of college math taken.
No letter of recommendation from someone who can comment on my most recent two years since graduation. (I don't feel comfortable approaching my boss. This could cost my a promotion, an end-of-the-year bonus, or my job.)

The categories are broken down as follows:
Hopeful: I am within one standard deviation BELOW their LizzyM Score.
Go For It: I am within one standard deviation ABOVE their LizzyM Score.
Safety: I am more than one standard deviation ABOVE their LizzyM Score.

M.D. Granting Schools:
Hopeful:
Wake Forest
SUNY Upstate
Suny Downstate
SUNY Buffalo
Univeristy of Illinois
University of Buffalo (NY)
Loyola (stritch medical school)
Temple
West Virginia University School of Medicine
University of Louisville School of Medicine
Albany
Saint Louis Univeristy
University of Cincinatti

Go For It:
George Washington
University of Nevada
Michigan State
New York Medical College (Valhalla)
U of Utah
Marshall
Rosalind Franklin University - need physician letter.
Tulane
EVMS

Safety:
Howard

D.O. Granting Schools.
Safety:
A.T. Still University, Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine, MO
A.T. Still University, School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona, AZ
Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine of Midwestern University, AZ
Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine of Midwestern University, Admissions Office, IL
Des Moines University College of Osteopathic Medicine, IA
Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences, College of Osteopathic Medicine, MO
Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine, MI
Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, PA
Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine - California, CA
Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine - Nevada, NV
Western University of Health Sciences/College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific - Lebanon, OR
Western University of Health Sciences/College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific - Pomona, CA

So, this gives me 32 Schools.
13 Hopeful's
9 Go For It's
13 Safety's

Which I would say is a pretty good distribution! That's 35 schools total. However, I would really like to maximize my chances of getting into a good M.D. granting school. Money is not a problem, as my current job pays enough that I will be able to apply to as many schools as I need. The following schools I havn't applied too, and I'll detail the reasons below:

HOPEFUL:
UC Davis - I need to take statistics
University of Riverside (That would put me in their second class) - I need to take calc 2 and stats
University of Toledo - I need to take statistics

Go For It:
Wright State - I need to take statistics
Virgina Commonwealth University - I need to take statistics
U of Arkansas - I need to take statistics
Rush - I need someone who can comment on my last two years.
Drexel - I need someone who can comment on my last two years.

Safety:
Morehouse -statistics


OTHERS:
University of Louisville: Needs to be on official letterhead from the university. I have recently re-contacted my LOR writters and am taking care of this.
Boston University: Needs to be on official letterhead from the university. I have recently re-contacted my LOR writters and am taking care of this.

So, as a last consideration, I have only applied to schools that are in california or who accept > 10% students from OOS. I believe i've done a fairly comprehensive job so far, but I was hoping/wondering if anyone else had any other schools they would be willing to recommend for me.

My dream would be going to school in Ohio, North Carolina, New York, or Colorado, but that isn't that important.

Thanks!

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[solitarius]

wait... dude....

did you just say you submitted your AMCAS application on 9/10/2013?

 

[SKaminski]

Yeah. I know it's very late. I won't make excuses, but after i took my mcat on 4/27 I had some family issues pop up that kept me from focusing on getting my application out. It's definitely a late apply, but i'm not cut off by any deadlines, so i'm hoping it'll be okay. I know that it decreases my chances, which is why i'm fine with applying so broadly.

Thoughts?

 

[jk1006]

your app is going to be incredibly late, so late you may not even finish the secondaries before their deadlines

youve really put yourself at a disadvantage applying so late (for MD)

not only that, but howard and morehouse are historically black colleges who favor URMs, and since you declined to state your ethnicity im assuming youre ORM (or else you'd be milking the URM status)

so there go two safety MDs....

I honestly dont think MD is very likely, never say never, but youve defnitely not helped your chances. your stats arent terrible, hopefully you have good recs and good ECs

 

[solitarius]

I just applied to 17 schools, and it's already set me back $2,100. That's just for all the application fees.

 

[SKaminski]

your app is going to be incredibly late, so late you may not even finish the secondaries before their deadlines

youve really put yourself at a disadvantage applying so late (for MD)

not only that, but howard and morehouse are historically black colleges who favor URMs, and since you declined to state your ethnicity im assuming youre ORM (or else you'd be milking the URM status)

so there go two safety MDs....

I honestly dont think MD is very likely, never say never, but youve defnitely not helped your chances. your stats arent terrible, hopefully you have good recs and good ECs

Thanks for the tips. I havn't applied to morehouse, but it seems like it would be a good idea for me to avoid. I've been wondering about what applying next year will be like. I'm thinking that for next year I will study for the GRE so I can apply to PT schools (not my dream, but if I can't make it to being a physician I want to be the next best thing). That means I'd have to use this years MCAT scores for my application next year which is...questionable since the MCAT is changing. Do you think it would be okay for me to use this years MCAT score for next year, even though they have the new sections?

As for my extracurriculars: I do programming for Healthcare EMR's now (Centricity/EPIC) and in college i was the president of a club and an RA. I hope i'm doing alright. I did a medical mission to the DR.

 

[SKaminski]

I just applied to 17 schools, and it's already set me back $2,100. That's just for all the application fees.

Hah, yeah, I hear you on that.. I'm almost at 2,000 and the only secondaries i've gotten back are the ones that send you the secondaries before they even get your primary transcript.

 

[jk1006]

you had a very good shot at DO, if being a doctor is what you want, there are still ways to go.

and hey with MD you never know... but with AMCAS taking 6-8 weeks, youre looking at late october early november verification, and many schools have december 1st deadlines, if not even november deadlines

 

[SKaminski]

you had a very good shot at DO, if being a doctor is what you want, there are still ways to go.

and hey with MD you never know... but with AMCAS taking 6-8 weeks, youre looking at late october early november verification, and many schools have december 1st deadlines, if not even november deadlines

I totally understand what you're saying. I was reading here:
https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/amcas/

That the deadline only applies to when you SUBMIT, so hopefully i'll be okay their. I know it's a long shot, i'm just hoping it'll be worth it. Do you think i've been thorough with my school and my choice list? I know SDN has a tendency to overstate things, but do you think my chances of MD are that dire?

 

[jk1006]

I totally understand what you're saying. I was reading here:
https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/amcas/

That the deadline only applies to when you SUBMIT, so hopefully i'll be okay their. I know it's a long shot, i'm just hoping it'll be worth it. Do you think i've been thorough with my school and my choice list? I know SDN has a tendency to overstate things, but do you think my chances of MD are that dire?

i meant deadlines for secondary applications
with how many schools youre applying to, youre gonna get inundated with secondary apps and many schools have dec 1 deadlines for their secondary apps. If amcas does take 8 weeks with your verification that would leave you with roughly 3 weeks to finish a ton of secondaries (assuming you get every secondary immediately, some schools take a little while to send out the secondary)

as for your chances, nobody will say for sure. ive read advice that applying so late is equivalent to dropping your MCAT 3 points and other stuff like that.

but lets look at the stats, according to sector9's graphs (assuming you are ORM) with a cGPA of 3.425 and an MCAT of 31 you have roughly around a 45-50% shot of getting into medical school. now lets say the MCAT being 3 points less analogy is true, that would drop your chances to 25-30%. That gives a perspective onto why being late is such a deathblow. your chances were already 50-50, and by being late youve tipped the scales not in your favor.

 

[SKaminski]

#jk1006, you're absolutely right.

Thats part of the reason i'm applying to so many places, and also part of the reason im posting. I'm hoping i'll find another place i can apply too.

Now, as it pertains to what you were saying about secondaries. Not EVERY school will send me a secondary, right? There are some that auto-send secondaries, but i thought the majority of them didn't. Am i wrong in my understanding here?

 

[mcloaf]

#jk1006, you're absolutely right.

Thats part of the reason i'm applying to so many places, and also part of the reason im posting. I'm hoping i'll find another place i can apply too.

Now, as it pertains to what you were saying about secondaries. Not EVERY school will send me a secondary, right? There are some that auto-send secondaries, but i thought the majority of them didn't. Am i wrong in my understanding here?

Schools that bother to screen applicants before sending secondaries are few and far between.

 

[SKaminski]

Schools that bother to screen applicants before sending secondaries are few and far between.

Oh, that's scu.mmy.

 

[jk1006]

yup, youre gonna get a ton, they want your money

and youll get passed most if not all auto screens
since you have a >3.0 and >8 in each section