3 years off, all NYC schools

[capn jazz]

hey!

i have a 3.65 science/ 3.76 all-other / 3.69 overall GPA
35R MCAT

clinical experience, research experience, TA experience, volunteer experience, and 3 shadowing experiences

i've taken 3 years off to teach English abroad

i desperately want to go back to NYC because I miss my hometown & my family, but is applying to only NYC schools risky?

Columbia, NYU, Cornell, Einstein, SUNY Downstate, Mt. Sinai

what would you do if you were me? i can't re-apply because my MCAT will expire (july 2009)

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[Catalystik]

Short answer: Yes, it's risky to apply to only 6 schools. It's even riskier if you can't use the same MCAT score next year (but some schools expire in in three years rather than two. A few expire it in 4-10 years).

Besides teaching, what else have you done in the last three years to enhance your application?

Are you still a legal resident of the state of NY?

 

[capn jazz]

i work at some schools for students with special needs here, but that's about it. volunteering in medical settings (esp. for foreigners) is unheard of. most of my time is spent working.

i think the NY residency is up to schools - I have a NY state ID, I am filing taxes in NY this year, I'm registered to vote in NY... but my address for the past 3 years will have been foreign, and I went to college in another state for 4 years before that. so although i'm a resident on paper, i'm worried SUNY will say i'm not a resident because i haven't lived in NY for a while.

i suppose i could add in schools in Chicago (where I went to university) or around NYC but it would break my heart to come back to America after all this time just to be in a different place again.

 

[Catalystik]

Some schools may have concerns that you have no recent (personal) academic credentials, others may wonder at your not having more recent clinical experience or medically-related ECs. You never know what excuse they might use to toss your application aside, so it's best to spread your net wide.

 

[capn jazz]

all good advice

i like to think med schools will see my transcript/MCAT and read my essays and realize that i'm not unintelligent. there isn't much i can do about re-proving my academic ability - I'm great at studying the language of the country I live in! haha.

i had clinical experience nearly the entirety of college, and again, I can't do much about that here. even if i could, the medical system/education system is different, so i'm not sure how much good that would even do.

but maybe i'll finally get off my butt and look up a non-medical volunteer activity...

 

[Catalystik]

i'll finally get off my butt and look up a non-medical volunteer activity...

Good idea.

 

[capn jazz]

bump!/update!

went to the volunteer center today and after much discussion, i might be starting up a fun-with-english visiting program to a group home for disabled students! assuming i can get the home on board with it.

my new school list looks like this. probably too heavily waited towards impossible reaches, so i'll be removing a few before app time.

Columbia
Cornell
UChicago
Yale
Northwestern
Harvard
Tufts
Sinai
NYU

Georgetown
George Washington
Einstein
SUNY Downstate
Rosalind Franklin
Loyola
Rush
NYMC
Boston U

any input on schools to add/remove? maybe a general # i should apply to?

 

[raltima07]

bump!/update!

went to the volunteer center today and after much discussion, i might be starting up a fun-with-english visiting program to a group home for disabled students! assuming i can get the home on board with it.

my new school list looks like this. probably too heavily waited towards impossible reaches, so i'll be removing a few before app time.

Columbia
Cornell
UChicago
Yale
Northwestern
Harvard
Tufts
Sinai
NYU

Georgetown
George Washington
Einstein
SUNY Downstate
Rosalind Franklin
Loyola
Rush
NYMC
Boston U

any input on schools to add/remove? maybe a general # i should apply to?

Add in all the SUNY's

 

[bucks2010]

Yea definitely add in all the SUNY's. Also, not sure if UConn takes a significant amount OOS but it's something to look into. Also, consider U. Rochester. Of course these are all assuming that being somewhat close to NYC is a big priority for you.

 

[capn jazz]

being close to NYC is a big priority, but i would take a school in Chicago over a school in upstate NY. i'd like to end up in a city. so i don't think i should add the SUNYs if i wouldn't be OK going to school in Albany/suny upstate/rochester for 4 years.

 

[Catalystik]

Hofstra? It's 25 miles from Manhattan. http://medicine.hofstra.edu

 

[capn jazz]

didn't hofstra get their first class of med students this past summer? are they even fully accredited yet?

i suppose it would be an ok option for a safety school, right?

 

[rockyrado]

Hofstra? It's 25 miles from Manhattan. http://medicine.hofstra.edu

Also, SUNY Downstate is in Brooklyn, which is still technically NYC, though not Manhattan. And SUNY Stony Brook is on Long Island, which is a relatively short trip on the LIRR away.

 

[bucks2010]

didn't hofstra get their first class of med students this past summer? are they even fully accredited yet?

i suppose it would be an ok option for a safety school, right?

 

[Catalystik]

didn't hofstra get their first class of med students this past summer? are they even fully accredited yet?

i suppose it would be an ok option for a safety school, right?

Would you prefer a newly opened med school over a Chicago school in order to stay closer to home?

Maybe a newer school would be more liberal about the issues mentioned in Post #4 in light of your stats? Would you prefer to attend a new school sooner vs spending a year freshening up your academics and ECs?

You decide if it's a good option for a "safety school."

 

[capn jazz]

Would you prefer a newly opened med school over a Chicago school in order to stay closer to home?

Maybe a newer school would be more liberal about the issues mentioned in Post #4 in light of your stats? Would you prefer to attend a new school sooner vs spending a year freshening up your academics and ECs?

You decide if it's a good option for a "safety school."

Knowing nothing about Hofstra or the risks/benefits of newly opened med schools, I was simply asking a question.

Re: my time off, I think many schools would not see it as a negative, but as an interesting, unique time that gives me more life experience and an edge over people who have done nothing but the standard med school straight after college route.

I literally worked in or volunteered in the hospital throughout my entire time in college, so I don't think choosing a route where clinical volunteering/academics are impossible for me to get means that I am putting myself at a disadvantage.

That said, why would I be amiss to consider Hofstra a safety? I'm just trying to get a feel for schools I can feel relatively safe about applying to versus matches versus reaches.

 

[Catalystik]

I was posing questions to help you decide if you'd list it at all. If it were your only acceptance, would you attend? If not, then don't include it. With the link provided above, you might gain more information to make an informed decision. There is often "good gossip" in the School Specific Forums, too, that can be helpful.