School list help (too many)

[floured]

Hi all, thanks for reading. I need help culling the number of schools I am applying to.

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I know my stats are not terrible but not the best, and I have a strong suspicion my list is too top heavy. I've listed some of the programs I am interested in; please help me bring balance to my application. I've noted their US News rankings and marked the ones that I have already selected with an asterisk. I greatly appreciate any advice.

*Miami - #44
*USC Keck HTE or MDPhD? - #31
*UTSW - #25
*Baylor - #20
*Cornell Tri I - #18
*UCSD - #18
*Northwestern - #17
*UCLA-Caltech - #14
*NYU - #11
*Michigan - #11
*U Chicago - #11
*Duke - #8
*Columbia - #7
*Wash U St Louis - #6
*Johns Hopkins - #3
*UCSF - #3
*Stanford - #2
*Harvard - #1

Stony Brook - #56
Tufts - #47
Illinois - #47
UC Irvine - #44
Florida - #40
Colorado - #35
Oregon - #31
Rochester - #29
Boston - #29
Emory - #23
Icahn Mount Sinai - #21
Vanderbilt - #15
Yale - #8
U Wash - #8
Penn - #3

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[Lucca]

Narrow this list down to programs with very strong cancer, hematology, or stem cell research programs. Don't focus so much on USNWR rank, MSTP status and strength in your field are probably the best metrics to whittle down this list.

 

[eteshoe]

Start looking for PI's doing research that you'd be interested in doing at each of these institutes as well (3-5 per institute).

 

[floured]

Thanks for the advice. Of course schools like Harvard and UCSF have amazing cancer and hematology research; there are many PIs at these institutions that I would love to work for. The research I do now is built off the work of a PI at UCSF. My real question is whether or not I should remove some of the more competitive schools? I'm worried I will be screened out immediately with my stats and I should save the money and apply to less competitive schools. Or is it impossible to tell?

 

[eteshoe]

What? Your stats are strong overall.
GPA = solid (I was at a 3.85 - didn't stop me)
MCAT = solid (in my book, there are diminishing differences between a 96th percentile and a 99th percentile)
Research + presentations = solid (I was a non-trad so I had a bit more research and my paper didn't get accepted until I'd already matriculated)
Medical ECs = looks good to me

Your list isn't absurd or anything, you just need to tailor it down to places doing research you can see yourself pursuing in locations that you can realistically see yourself staying for a decade

 

[Lucca]

Thanks for the advice. Of course schools like Harvard and UCSF have amazing cancer and hematology research; there are many PIs at these institutions that I would love to work for. The research I do now is built off the work of a PI at UCSF. My real question is whether or not I should remove some of the more competitive schools? I'm worried I will be screened out immediately with my stats and I should save the money and apply to less competitive schools. Or is it impossible to tell?

Your stats are near or above the median for every program out there. They won't be what keeps you out of any given program.

 

[floured]

What? Your stats are strong overall.

Your stats are near or above the median for every program out there.

Ok, thank you Lucca and eteshoe for the reassurance. Should I feel comfortable applying to the following schools? Most of them have strong PIs in my field. Are there any I should remove?

N=27
UTHSCSA MSTP - #60 (3.1%)
Illinois MSTP - #47 (3.5%)
Miami MSTP - #44 (3.6%)
UC Denver MSTP - #35 (2.8%)
UTSW MSTP - #25 (2.9%)
Emory MSTP - #23 (2.6%)
UNC MSTP - #22 (2.3%)
Icahn Mount Sinai MSTP - #21 (3.3%)
Baylor MSTP - #20 (2.1%)
Cornell MSTP - #18 (2.6%)
UCSD MSTP - #18 (2.5%)
Northwestern MSTP - #17 (2.4%)
Vanderbilt MSTP - #15 (2.7%)
UCLA-Caltech MSTP - #14 (3.3%)
NYU MSTP - #11 (2.2%)
Michigan MSTP - #11 (2.2%)
U Chicago MSTP - #11 (1.6%)
Yale MSTP - #8 (3%)
WashU MSTP - #8 (2.4%)
Duke MSTP - #8 (1.2%)
Columbia MSTP - #7 (1.8%)
Wash U St Louis MSTP - #6 (3.7%)
Penn MSTP - #3 (3.9%)
Johns Hopkins MSTP- #3 (1.6%)
UCSF MSTP - #3 (2.2%)
Stanford MSTP - #2 (1.5%)
Harvard MSTP - #1 (2.1%)

 

[Lucca]

Ok, thank you Lucca and eteshoe for the reassurance. Should I feel comfortable applying to the following schools? Most of them have strong PIs in my field. Are there any I should remove?

N=27
UTHSCSA MSTP - #60 (3.1%)
Illinois MSTP - #47 (3.5%)
Miami MSTP - #44 (3.6%)
UC Denver MSTP - #35 (2.8%)
UTSW MSTP - #25 (2.9%)
Emory MSTP - #23 (2.6%)
UNC MSTP - #22 (2.3%)
Icahn Mount Sinai MSTP - #21 (3.3%)
Baylor MSTP - #20 (2.1%)
Cornell MSTP - #18 (2.6%)
UCSD MSTP - #18 (2.5%)
Northwestern MSTP - #17 (2.4%)
Vanderbilt MSTP - #15 (2.7%)
UCLA-Caltech MSTP - #14 (3.3%)
NYU MSTP - #11 (2.2%)
Michigan MSTP - #11 (2.2%)
U Chicago MSTP - #11 (1.6%)
Yale MSTP - #8 (3%)
WashU MSTP - #8 (2.4%)
Duke MSTP - #8 (1.2%)
Columbia MSTP - #7 (1.8%)
Wash U St Louis MSTP - #6 (3.7%)
Penn MSTP - #3 (3.9%)
Johns Hopkins MSTP- #3 (1.6%)
UCSF MSTP - #3 (2.2%)
Stanford MSTP - #2 (1.5%)
Harvard MSTP - #1 (2.1%)

The list itself looks good to me; it's diverse and you've narrowed it down to programs where your interests would be well matched. However, 27 seems like way too many schools to me. That could just be me. I have no idea how many schools people tend to apply to but anything over 20 really seems overkill to me in both expense and effort, especially with your stats/experience.

 

[eteshoe]

Agree w/ @Lucca - the list looks good albeit a bit too long. I ended up applying to 15 programs and got 12 interviews and honestly was getting burned out by the end of it. Something to think about.

 

[Fencer]

You can triage interviews once you have get invitations for interview, but accept them with some variety of DREAM/MATCH/SAFETY. Your list is very top-heavy with many of the top 20 most competitive programs. Out of those, you might get half of them (hopefully more) to send requests for interviews. Given your strong academics and experiences, it truly depends on your LORs. You seem confident about them, but you never know until you see multiple acceptances...

 

[purplerainbow]

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[floured]

Agree w/ @Lucca - the list looks good albeit a bit too long. I ended up applying to 15 programs and got 12 interviews and honestly was getting burned out by the end of it. Something to think about.

You can triage interviews once you have get invitations for interview, but accept them with some variety of DREAM/MATCH/SAFETY.

Thank you all for your input. I 100% agree 27 schools is a bit ridiculous, and I am trying to cut down to at most 20. @Fencer, are you suggesting that I apply to more schools and then start being more selective after receiving interviews? I understand that secondaries can be very tedious but I would like to maximize my chances of receiving an acceptance this cycle.

@purplerainbow are you all MSTP as well? I look forward to seeing you on the application trail.

 

[purplerainbow]

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