Help Picking OOS Schools for Asian California-Resident

[psp251]

Hi there,

I would greatly appreciate it if I could get your opinions on what OOS schools to apply to as an Asian Californian applicant. Here are my relevant stats/extracurriculars:

Stats:
cGPA: 3.95
sGPA: 3.9
MCAT: 36 (12/12/12)

EC's:
Summa cum laude, Dean's honor list, etc.
Research: 3-5 hours a week for 3 semesters + 1 summer (17 months total)
-Resulted in secondary authorship in 2 publications (though not a high-impact journal)
300 hours of clinical volunteering
Counselor at 1-week camp relating to the aforementioned clinical volunteering for 3 summers
Member in club relating to clinical volunteering - 2 years
Mentoring/tutoring at elementary school for 3 years
Currently work at public health tech company - will be there 1.5 years by next June
DO NOT currently have any shadowing, but will hopefully have that by next summer

Schools:
In-state: I'm applying to all California schools except Loma Linda (not religious), UC Riverside (not from that region), and Northstate (...) for a total of 7.

Out of state: I would really appreciate your help and experience in picking ~23 schools from out of state since I'm aiming to apply to 30 schools total. I will definitely use MSAR and comb through the data, but I'm not exactly sure where to start. I would love to have a good jumping off point with your suggestions. Thank you very much in advance, and good luck to everyone!

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[Banco]

Aim for schools that have similar numbers to yours in MSAR.

This means mainly top 25 + mid tier private schools. Have a few private schools where your numbers above the medians as safeties. You have a great application.

 

[Goro]

Start with Harvard
Yale
JHU
Duke
Vandy
Baylor
All NYC schools
SUNY SB
Pitt
Northwestern
Tulane
U Miami
Emory
Hofstra
Rochester
BU
Jefferson
U MI
U VA
U VM
U AZ
Gtown

Should I go on???

Hi there,

I would greatly appreciate it if I could get your opinions on what OOS schools to apply to as an Asian Californian applicant. Here are my relevant stats/extracurriculars:

Stats:
cGPA: 3.95
sGPA: 3.9
MCAT: 36 (12/12/12)

EC's:
Summa cum laude, Dean's honor list, etc.
Research: 3-5 hours a week for 3 semesters + 1 summer (17 months total)
-Resulted in secondary authorship in 2 publications (though not a high-impact journal)
300 hours of clinical volunteering
Counselor at 1-week camp relating to the aforementioned clinical volunteering for 3 summers
Member in club relating to clinical volunteering - 2 years
Mentoring/tutoring at elementary school for 3 years
Currently work at public health tech company - will be there 1.5 years by next June
DO NOT currently have any shadowing, but will hopefully have that by next summer

Schools:
In-state: I'm applying to all California schools except Loma Linda (not religious), UC Riverside (not from that region), and Northstate (...) for a total of 7.

Out of state: I would really appreciate your help and experience in picking ~23 schools from out of state since I'm aiming to apply to 30 schools total. I will definitely use MSAR and comb through the data, but I'm not exactly sure where to start. I would love to have a good jumping off point with your suggestions. Thank you very much in advance, and good luck to everyone!

 

[psp251]

@Banco: Thanks for the advice! I remember you replied in a previous thread of mine too

@Goro: Thank you! I think it'll take me a while to figure out the final 30 schools to apply to. Could you please help me go over that list once I have it all figured out?

 

[Banco]

Apply ASAP though so you can enter the verification cue. Then refine your list by adding more schools.

 

[Goro]

of course!

@Goro: Thank you! I think it'll take me a while to figure out the final 30 schools to apply to. Could you please help me go over that list once I have it all figured out?

 

[neekzg]

Are you sure you want to apply to 30 schools? This is a costly and exhausting process (well, secondaries feel exhausting at the moment but it's not terrible). Personally with your stats I'd probably apply to 20 or less total.. but certainly feel free if you can afford it.

When you get to the MSAR, some of the criteria I used to eliminate schools (outside of rank/competitiveness):
- location: big city life? East vs. West coast, etc
- cost (particularly whether they charge OOS students significantly more than IS)
- I suppose you could look into grading methods (like true P/F vs. letter grade etc)

 

[WedgeDawg]

You would be the type of person who would benefit from a shotgun approach to applications. You are what I like to call the "average" top-tier applicant. Your best bet is to apply to all top 20s (except University of Washington) and all UCs (except, as you noted, Riverside) and then target a few other schools like Hofstra, VA Tech, Stony Brook, Rochester, Einstein, UVA. This strategy will most likely get you into the best school possible given your stats and experiences. Note that the competition at these schools will be tough, so you won't sweep the floor like some superstar applicants may, but you'll have a fighting shot at any of these schools and will hopefully land a top acceptance.

 

[psp251]

@neekzg @WedgeDawg : Thank you for your advice as well!

I actually have a question about applying to the top 20 schools. After reading this thread (http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/mcat-519-gpa-3-999-school-list-help-please.1151758/), I became concerned that these research-heavy powerhouses might not deem me a good fit for their schools because of the information in my personal statement. In my essay, I talk about how my life experiences have led me to want to pursue family medicine/pediatrics. I'm wondering if this explicit intent would result in automatic rejections from the top 20. I'm actually perfectly fine with doing some research while in medical school if the opportunity presents itself, but this is not something that will be apparent from my personal statement since I don't mention it at all.

In short, I'm wondering which schools of the top 20 should I apply to when my personal statement shows passion to pursue primary care over research?

 

[WedgeDawg]

@neekzg @WedgeDawg : Thank you for your advice as well!

I actually have a question about applying to the top 20 schools. After reading this thread (http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/mcat-519-gpa-3-999-school-list-help-please.1151758/), I became concerned that these research-heavy powerhouses might not deem me a good fit for their schools because of the information in my personal statement. In my essay, I talk about how my life experiences have led me to want to pursue family medicine/pediatrics. I'm wondering if this explicit intent would result in automatic rejections from the top 20. I'm actually perfectly fine with doing some research while in medical school if the opportunity presents itself, but this is not something that will be apparent from my personal statement since I don't mention it at all.

In short, I'm wondering which schools of the top 20 should I apply to when my personal statement shows passion to pursue primary care over research?

This will in no way hinder you.

 

[psp251]

Hello again! I'm still deciding on which of the Top 20's to apply to (I consider them reaches so I definitely won't apply to all of them). In the meantime, could I please get your guys' thoughts on the following schools? Below are all private schools where the 90th percentile for MCAT is 36 or higher (so that they're a good fit for my stats) and 4 public schools with the highest percentages for OOS seats out of class size.

My questions are: Are any of these schools not worth looking at/applying to? And are there any schools missing from my list that I'd be foolish to leave out?

Thanks in advance for any input!

Private Schools:
Albany
Albert Einstein
Baylor
Boston University
Case Western
Emory
Geisel (Dartmouth)
Georgetown
Hofstra
Loyola
Mayo
Medical College of Wisconsin
Saint Louis
Sidney Kimmel
Temple
Tufts
Tulane
University of Miami
University of Rochester

Public Schools:
Ohio State
University of Vermont
University of Virginia
Virginia Commonwealth

 

[GrapesofRath]

Hello again! I'm still deciding on which of the Top 20's to apply to (I consider them reaches so I definitely won't apply to all of them). In the meantime, could I please get your guys' thoughts on the following schools? Below are all private schools where the 90th percentile for MCAT is 36 or higher (so that they're a good fit for my stats) and 4 public schools with the highest percentages for OOS seats out of class size.

My questions are: Are any of these schools not worth looking at/applying to? And are there any schools missing from my list that I'd be foolish to leave out?

Thanks in advance for any input!

Private Schools:
Albany
Albert Einstein
Baylor
Boston University
Case Western
Emory
Geisel (Dartmouth)
Georgetown
Hofstra
Loyola
Mayo
Medical College of Wisconsin
Saint Louis
Sidney Kimmel
Temple
Tufts
Tulane
University of Miami
University of Rochester

Public Schools:
Ohio State
University of Vermont
University of Virginia
Virginia Commonwealth

Goro gave you a great template for schools to pick; the best one you'll get. Those are the ones to look into; all of them. With your stats any school on that list can be within reach. The thing is you basically have only listed lower tier and middle tier schools. Gonnif always talks about how a number of current medical students tell him they wished they aimed higher. This is a good example right here; the top tier schools Goro list are all worth the chance. There is no need to apply to more than 10 lower tier schools(particularly when these schools get tons of apps and aren't going to be overly focused on interviewing 3.95/36 applicants they know are unlikely to attend).

Goro gave you a good list of lower tiers; Stony Brook, U of Arizona, Tulane, Miami, Jefferson and Vermont. I would just stick with that, maybe switch a few lower tiers if you have a stronger preference for them. There were also a number of the "middle" tiers Goro listed and you have on your app to pick several from, be it Boston U, to Hofstra, to Emory, to Rochester to Einstein to Case to USC. UVA and some other public schools which take some number of OOS applicants aren't terrible choices either. The rest is your prerogative.