What is a target school?

[kaim10]

When looking at a school's GPA and MCAT stats, what is a target vs reach?

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[piii]

Sorry for being nitpicky but because your question involves analyzing numbers, then you should know that a 510 = 83rd% = exactly a 31.

Anyway, yeah a target school is where you numbers are as close to the schools median. But obviously it is a range: a target school for you could be a school with a 3.6/32 or a 3.8/30, etc.

Also, stats are important, but mission and fit matter tremendously too. Not every school in your stat range is target.

 

[kaim10]

Sorry for being nitpicky but because your question involves analyzing numbers, then you should know that a 510 = 83rd% = exactly a 31.

Anyway, yeah a target school is where you numbers are as close to the schools median. But obviously it is a range: a target school for you could be a school with a 3.6/32 or a 3.8/30, etc.

Also, stats are important, but mission and fit matter tremendously too. Not every school in your stat range is target.

Okay that makes sense. So a 3.8 wouldn't be too high for a school to be a target if the school has a slightly lower MCAT than me basically? I guess it's all just a balancing act.

 

[piii]

Okay that makes sense. So a 3.8 wouldn't be too high for a school to be a target if the school has a slightly lower MCAT than me basically? I guess it's all just a balancing act.

Not even a balancing act. A 3.8/31 could be too. Even a 3.8/32. Just make sure your numbers aren't close to the bottom 10th%

 

[WedgeDawg]

The vast majority of MD schools (i.e. those outside the top 40 or so) will be target schools for you (look for schools where the LizzyM score is 68 +/- 2). The LizzyM score, if you don't know, is GPA*10+(old)MCAT, so for you it is 3.7*10+31 = 68. Unfortunately, there really won't be any schools that are "safeties" for you. Reaches, in general, will be schools with a median MCAT over 33 or median GPA over 3.8.

 

[kaim10]

The vast majority of MD schools (i.e. those outside the top 40 or so) will be target schools for you (look for schools where the LizzyM score is 68 +/- 2). The LizzyM score, if you don't know, is GPA*10+(old)MCAT, so for you it is 3.7*10+31 = 68. Unfortunately, there really won't be any schools that are "safeties" for you. Reaches, in general, will be schools with a median MCAT over 33 or median GPA over 3.8.

This is helpful- thanks!

 

[lucin]

As you probably know, this process has a lot of elasticity.