reach schools

[waterlily]

What exactly is considered a reach school? their avg mcat being how many points higher than your mcat score? Also, how many reach schools do you guys suggest applying to? People say apply to reach schools since this application process is such a crapshoot, you never know. But I feel like if a school's avg mcat score is 2 points above my score per say and I have no publications to date, then they would no way accept me and I don't want to waste my money on schools I know I won't get into. Has anyone gotten into their reach school with less than avg stats for the school without being an urm?

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[waterlily]

anyone??

 

[OSUdoc08]

What exactly is considered a reach school? their avg mcat being how many points higher than your mcat score? Also, how many reach schools do you guys suggest applying to? People say apply to reach schools since this application process is such a crapshoot, you never know. But I feel like if a school's avg mcat score is 2 points above my score per say and I have no publications to date, then they would no way accept me and I don't want to waste my money on schools I know I won't get into. Has anyone gotten into their reach school with less than avg stats for the school without being an urm?

The application for medical school requires more than just an MCAT score. It would be a poor decision to base your applications solely off of MCAT averages.

This is especially true because an average does not include a range of scores.

 

[Shredder]

check mdapplicants.com but you never know whats fake and real

 

[crys20]

They are just schools that are long-shots for you, given your numbers. This varies obviously depending on the applicant. It does happen, yes. I'm applying to just 2 or 3 reaches since I'm sort of a mediocre applicant. You just never know who is going to be the one who picks up your file. It's a guy with a background in finance at Yale and you majored in finance. It IS random, so buck up and apply to the extra couple reaches. May be the best thing you ever do

 

[MrJiggyLee]

They are just schools that are long-shots for you, given your numbers. This varies obviously depending on the applicant. It does happen, yes. I'm applying to just 2 or 3 reaches since I'm sort of a mediocre applicant. You just never know who is going to be the one who picks up your file. It's a guy with a background in finance at Yale and you majored in finance. It IS random, so buck up and apply to the extra couple reaches. May be the best thing you ever do

On the otherhand, I applied to 26 schools around the entire spectrum, GPA around a 3.7, MCAT 31, with lots of research, EMT training, etc, and I only got tapped by my safety school, and waitlisted by a couple of midrange schools. Didn't make it past secondaries for any schools with an MCAT average above mine, waitlisted at one school with mcat average same as mine, and accepted at several with averages about 2 points under mine. So..not to discourage you, maybe I'm just unlucky. But if I had to do this process again, I'd apply to less schools and save my money on each of the the top 10 and cali schools I applied to. I'd also tried to have done better on the MCAT, personally I think it makes a huge difference.

 

[DarkFark]

What exactly is considered a reach school? their avg mcat being how many points higher than your mcat score? Also, how many reach schools do you guys suggest applying to? People say apply to reach schools since this application process is such a crapshoot, you never know. But I feel like if a school's avg mcat score is 2 points above my score per say and I have no publications to date, then they would no way accept me and I don't want to waste my money on schools I know I won't get into. Has anyone gotten into their reach school with less than avg stats for the school without being an urm?

I don't think the traditional reach/match/safety scheme works here the way it did for college admissions. I mean, the least competitive MD schools still have the acceptance rates of Harvard or Princeton undergrad, so in that respect, they're all reach schools.

If you really like a school (not just its ranking, but the school itself), then apply and see what happens. If you can see the adcom of a particular school liking something in your app, then apply. That's all you can do imo.

 

[waterlily]

On the otherhand, I applied to 26 schools around the entire spectrum, GPA around a 3.7, MCAT 31, with lots of research, EMT training, etc, and I only got tapped by my safety school, and waitlisted by a couple of midrange schools. Didn't make it past secondaries for any schools with an MCAT average above mine, waitlisted at one school with mcat average same as mine, and accepted at several with averages about 2 points under mine. So..not to discourage you, maybe I'm just unlucky. But if I had to do this process again, I'd apply to less schools and save my money on each of the the top 10 and cali schools I applied to. I'd also tried to have done better on the MCAT, personally I think it makes a huge difference.

Gee that is discouraging to hear, since my gpa and I assume my mcat will be around that range.

 

[OSUdoc08]

Gee that is discouraging to hear, since my gpa and I assume my mcat will be around that range.

You'll get into plenty of schools with those stats. Just apply to the right ones.