please help me narrow down this list

[chickenpotpie]

Forgive me if this is a redundant question. I don't post much here but I do need some advice. I have a 3.8 BCPM and cumulative is a 3.8 as well. Still awaiting the MCAT scores but hoping for 29-33 if my practice tests are indicative of how I will fare. I want to narrow this list to 20-25. I live in California and plan to apply to all of the CA schools. Any suggestions as to where to make cuts. Do you feel I have a balanced list of reaches, matches and possibilities? Thank you so much for your help. Here is the list:

Baylor College of Medicine
Columbia University
NYU
Stanford University
U. of Michigan- Ann Arbor
UCLA
UCSD
UCSF
University of Washington
Case Western Reserve U.
Georgetown University
Indiana University
Loma Linda University
Mayo Medical School
Ohio State University
University of Cal., Davis
UC Irvine
Creighton University
Dartmouth Medical School
Mt. Sinai School of Medicine
Northwestern University
Oregon Health & Science U.
Temple University
Tulane University
University of Colorado
University of Southern California
Wayne State University
Finch University of Health Sc.
Jefferson Medical College
Michigan State University
New York Medical College
University of Miami

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[mikedc813]

from a brief glance your list looks good, but what ECs do you have as well as any health-related experience? both are key, as i'm sure you're aware.... i bring this up because i know certain schools favor certain ECs (i.e. research, community service) over others

best of luck

 

[JohnHolmes]

I have narrowed down your list:

Forgive me if this is a redundant question. I don't post much here but I do need some advice. I have a 3.8 BCPM and cumulative is a 3.8 as well. Still awaiting the MCAT scores but hoping for 29-33 if my practice tests are indicative of how I will fare. I want to narrow this list to 20-25. I live in California and plan to apply to all of the CA schools. Any suggestions as to where to make cuts. Do you feel I have a balanced list of reaches, matches and possibilities? Thank you so much for your help. Here is the list:

Baylor College of Medicine
Columbia University
Stanford University
U. of Michigan- Ann Arbor
UCLA
UCSD
UCSF
Case Western Reserve U.
Indiana University
Mayo Medical School
Ohio State University
University of Cal., Davis
UC Irvine
Dartmouth Medical School
Mt. Sinai School of Medicine
NYU
Northwestern University
Temple University
Tulane University
University of Southern California
Wayne State University
Finch University of Health Sc.
Jefferson Medical College
New York Medical College
University of Miami

 

[chickenpotpie]

I have done one clinical (to be continued next summer) and one labaratory research project (in progress), have 100+ volunteer hours, and was an undergraduate teaching assistant for a bio lab last spring. Also involved in IM sports and the school's choir. Hopefully this will suffice.

Thanks for your response.

 

[Newquagmire]

aim higher

 

[UCLAstudent]

Are you SDA? If not, you might want to hold off on Loma Linda. I'm applying, myself, so I'm not really sure what else you should cut.

 

[Anka]

I would make sure you don't take off Mt. Sinai. It was a great place to interview, they really care about their students, and it might be very neat to live in New York after being out on the other coast all this time. they also have incredibly varied clinical experiences available, electives during the first year, and they have training for their residents on how to teach medical students (this is incredibly rare). Temple is one of those places you should either love or hate -- it's a great place for urban medicine, so if you want to do urban medicine, they have 1 GSW/day! But if you want a more polite population, are afraid to walk through a dangerous neighborhood, or something like that, might not be your place. Wayne State is pretty similar to Temple as far as feel goes.

Mayo is out if you want a place where a patient is comfortable puking on the floor, or if you don't like small town living. I'd be surprised if anyone who was drawn to the Temple/Wayne State thing would also be drawn to Mayo. Do you want a phlebotomy team drawing all your blood, or do you want to learn to draw it from patients with hep... that is the question.

It looks like you don't want a career in research from your list (if you got a 40 on your MCATs, would you apply to Harvard, Penn, Hopkins, etc?). Something to consider.

Anka

 

[chickenpotpie]

Are you SDA? If not, you might want to hold off on Loma Linda. I'm applying, myself, so I'm not really sure what else you should cut.

No, I am not SDA, but I have heard that Loma Linda accepts a small percentage of people who are not SDA. Also, I think my outlook would be in line with theirs. I definitely am interested in UCLA. I go to Cal and am ready to move "down south."

 

[opus03]

I might take off Indiana U. unless you have strong ties to the state. They are kind of picky about that. Good luck!

 

[Lil'Bunny]

I like your list. Have you considered Vermont? I had heard that lots of Cal. students are at Vermont.

I think I have my list. I'm applying to ten, maybe 12.

 

[UCIgrad2002]

Forgive me if this is a redundant question. I don't post much here but I do need some advice. I have a 3.8 BCPM and cumulative is a 3.8 as well. Still awaiting the MCAT scores but hoping for 29-33 if my practice tests are indicative of how I will fare. I want to narrow this list to 20-25. I live in California and plan to apply to all of the CA schools. Any suggestions as to where to make cuts. Do you feel I have a balanced list of reaches, matches and possibilities? Thank you so much for your help. Here is the list:

Baylor College of Medicine
Columbia University
NYU
Stanford University
U. of Michigan- Ann Arbor
UCLA
UCSD
UCSF
University of Washington
Case Western Reserve U.
Georgetown University
Indiana University
Loma Linda University
Mayo Medical School
Ohio State University
University of Cal., Davis
UC Irvine
Creighton University
Dartmouth Medical School
Mt. Sinai School of Medicine
Northwestern University
Oregon Health & Science U.
Temple University
Tulane University
University of Colorado
University of Southern California
Wayne State University
Finch University of Health Sc.
Jefferson Medical College
Michigan State University
New York Medical College
University of Miami

i would personally add more to your list. coming from california, u gotta keep in mind that we have it kind of bad when it comes to applying, cuz our own state schools are outrageously difficult to get into. with your stats however, especially your gpa, you have a solid chance. just to be on the safe side, i would apply to a few more schools, schools which especially take an interest to cali applicants, such as GW, VCU/MCV, Drexel, Loyola, UPitt, Vermont, and MCW. also, keep in mind that they call NYMC UC Valhalla, cuz over 30% of their incoming class are californians. gluck to ya.

 

[Mistress S]

I might take off Indiana U. unless you have strong ties to the state. They are kind of picky about that. Good luck!

I second this--according to the MSAR, they only accepted 13 non-residents out of a class of 280 for 2003-4 application cycle (<5%). I'd remove U of Washington for the same reason (unless you have strong ties to the state). U of Colorado looks like it has stepped up its acceptance of non-residents to ~20%, but considering their out-of-state tuition is $67,000/yr, you may want to consider taking them off too if you are looking to reduce your list. Good luck!

 

[BaylorLion]

You cannot be serious? $67K for out-of-staters? How do they charge that with a straight face?

 

[calcrew14]

So you want to remain in CA. Someone has already advises on Loma Linda. With a good MCAT of 32 or higher, USC should be the first one that accepts you as early as October. That will render you a luxury of interview selection especially those out-of-state schools. UCSD and UCSF are the next ones to let you know. The rest take much longer time. The most difficult one to get in is Stanford. It may not be worth to try.

The best out of state back up schools for you should be all schools in Ohio except Wright State and Northeastern. Then, you can pick 5 more upper division schools. Go up to Pittsburgh and Michigan first. Back down to the last five schools at the bottom, your list should include Creighton, Iowa, MCW, NYMC and GW. There are more Creighton?s graduates in CA than Nebraska.

With MCAT of 30 or less, follow UCI?s advice. If your EC?s is good, you always have a chance at a UC school. You could get in UCI with MCAT as low as 27. You have to wait until July though. Don?t leave MCV out of this scenario.

 

[Jalby]

Ditch Loma Linda. You have to be very religous to get in as a non-SDA. As in they ask for a letter from your pastor.

 

[freaker]

I'd drop UW. They reserve a certain number of their out-of-state students from Wyoming, Montana, and Alaska, whose state governments fund these seats as their respective states have no med school.

 

[freaker]

Ditch Loma Linda. You have to be very religous to get in as a non-SDA. As in they ask for a letter from your pastor.

I think you might be making a hasty assumption, beyond the fact that we live in a pretty religious nation in which a ton of people would consider that a positive.

There's also the consideration that Chickenpotpie has already told us that his/her views are in line with theirs, which I think speaks to this point even more clearly.

--------------------------------------------

I might consider adding the Medical College of Ohio and Cincinnati to your list, OP.

 

[scooter31]

You cannot be serious? $67K for out-of-staters? How do they charge that with a straight face?

You are considered in state and start paying in-state fees after the first year, if memory serves correct.

 

[babyface]

I think there are so many factors in med school selection that are personal that perhaps you, the OP, are best suited to narrow down the list. Ultimately, you want to end up where you'll be happiest, right? So here's my suggestion: think about some factors that are important to you and adjust your list accordingly.

Your list here seems to be all over the place geographically, have you thought about where you want to study medicine? In big city or rural areas? If you think you'll be happier in big cities (which is my assumption since you have schools in NYC, Chicago, DC, etc. on the list), I'd take out schools like Creighton and Dartmouth and some others.

I'd also look at each school's curriculum and see how that matches your personal learning style. Again, your list is pretty all over the place in that respect too. Columbia is quite traditional as far as curriculum is concerned while a school like NW is pretty heavily dependent on PBL. So just think about how you learn best first, and you can probably cross off some schools that way.

I'd keep maybe 3-4 "safety schools" around and maybe 3-4 "reach schools" around. Then the other 10-15 or so, they all depend on where and how you want to study medicine.