Last edited:
Advice for my older brother
- Thread starter drjay16
- Start date
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2011
- Messages
- 1,251
- Reaction score
- 419
He's right about UW. They accept a handful of students from OOS with amazing stats and a proven interest in rural medicine. I'd say your brother is quite competitive for most MD schools. As I'm sure he knows, a lot will depend on his MCAT, but if he can get over a 30 or so he will probably get in somewhere. Taking classes at a state school won't be a disadvantage at all. College name doesn't really matter in this process. Community college might matter, but I doubt it in his case, since he already has a history of good grades elsewhere.
Other than the UCs, the only other option in the area is OHSU, which will be worth applying to. Your brother will probably have to apply to some schools away from the west coast unless he's willing to consider DO schools. There are some good options for those in California and Oregon.
Other than the UCs, the only other option in the area is OHSU, which will be worth applying to. Your brother will probably have to apply to some schools away from the west coast unless he's willing to consider DO schools. There are some good options for those in California and Oregon.
He would like to work with low income areas, not sure if that counts or will help with UW. Should he even bother applying there. Like do you think they would even grant him an interview , assuming he gets above average MCAT score for them? Do you know where we could find numbers on OOS applicants for UW?He definitely doesn't want to do a DO. What schools on the east coast would he have a shot at. We have looked at stats but not sure if there are strong biases towards out of state applicants. Do you have any insight into Colorado school of medicine in Denver? I guess my main question would be, if he doesn't want to spend tons of money on applications, what schools on the easy coast or in general would he have a good shot at. He's not thinking about wasting money applying to Harvard or anything like that, but funds are very tight and he doesn't want to throw away money. He's also a URM, not sure if that matters though.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free
- Joined
- Apr 28, 2010
- Messages
- 6,208
- Reaction score
- 36
That's quite some stamina right there...
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2011
- Messages
- 1,251
- Reaction score
- 419
I wouldn't bother. Anyone can say they want to work in low income areas, and many do, truthfully or not, when they apply to med school. UW wants proof that you are interested in rural medicine. If you haven't already gotten some work or volunteer experience that shows you want to work in a rural area, they probably won't take you. An above average MCAT for UW OOS is probably going to be something like a 40. You can't count on getting a score that good, and your GPA will still be well below their OOS average.
Tell your brother to buy a copy of the MSAR. It will be money well spent. That will give him the stats on every MD school in the country, including Colorado. You can get an idea of a school's OOS bias by seeing how many seats they have for OOS and how many people apply for those seats. I'm not going to give you a list of schools because there are plenty of middle and lower tier MD schools that he will be reasonably competitive for, depending on his MCAT. Once he's narrowed down his list of schools based on geography and competitiveness, tell him to look at the pre-allo school-specific threads. There's a lot of good information on the school culture and admissions process there if you take the time to dig through the garbage.
- Joined
- May 20, 2010
- Messages
- 1,464
- Reaction score
- 1,165
This.
UW is not stats-driven. One 40 is not going to meaningfully change the sea of accepted 27 - 31's from Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, and Alaska.
OHSU is not as friendly to OOS-ers as people think. They take 6 - 8 people for the OOS MD-only program. Plus, their secondary is painful, and they draw & quarter their applicants through a tediously long application cycle. And they prefer really different non-traditional backgrounds. I didn't bother applying here for these reasons.
As you know, UC is just tough. If your brother has some connection to Riverside County, UCR would be a great option.
To be honest, I think the best option for your brother is the new University of Arizona school in Phoenix if he has a strong west coast bias.
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2011
- Messages
- 1,578
- Reaction score
- 37
Not quite true. I believe that the current class at OHSU is more than 1/3 from OOS, including many from California. As long as he meets the "mission based group" category of having exceptional stats, or is a minority, he could have a shot. Furthermore, OHSU is non-traditional friendly. The average age of the MS1 class is 26. It is true that most people have an agonizing application cycle, with many getting put "on hold" until May. It is very stressful. If there was one thing that I had the power to change about OHSU, this would be one of the things on the top of my list.
I also interviewed at UA Phoenix Med. I would have loved to go to the new school. New building, progressive curriculum, pass/fail grades... There is a lot to like about the program. But I was passed over for two adcom meetings, then I received acceptances elsewhere so I withdrew my application.
I am happy that I ended up where I am at. Further, OHSU will have a new building for the med students next year.
dsoz
- Joined
- May 20, 2010
- Messages
- 1,464
- Reaction score
- 1,165
^ You go there, so you certainly have more up-to-date information than me. I just remember looking at a recent MSAR for OHSU, which was confirmed by the last post in this thread.
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=736313
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=736313
- Joined
- Nov 4, 2011
- Messages
- 28,440
- Reaction score
- 54,200
What community does he represent? How has he validated his committment to this community?
- Joined
- Apr 28, 2010
- Messages
- 6,208
- Reaction score
- 36
Haha, I know. I was just poking fun. I think the best thing to do is wait for your brother's MCAT. A 31 and a 36 can have very different consequences in terms of where to apply.
My point is that it's silly to do that on an anonymous forum where you've already posted your story as yourself before.
You just need to get a copy of the MSAR and apply to your IS schools and then pick OOS schools where there are a significant # of OOS students. There is a chart for each school that shows the range of MCAT and GPA -- pick ones where you are better than or no less than approximately 1 standard deviation below the average. You'll be competitive at many schools, especially as a URM if you choose to present yourself that way. As far as that goes, it lowers the bar in many cases, especially if you are also economically disadvantaged. A lot of the med school admissions process is a gamble, so nobody can tell you any "for sure" place where you'll be admitted, but if you do the above and apply broadly I'd expect you to get into more than one program.
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2004
- Messages
- 30,873
- Reaction score
- 10,063
if the MCAT pans out and your "brother" is willing to apply more broadly than just a few west coast high ranked places I think the numeric stats will be fine, notwithstanding the CC. There are other things important to admissions though so we are assuming they will be adequate by the time he applies (lots of research and "working on volunteering" might need to be improved). Wanting to work in low income areas when you are coming from working in "finance" is a bit of a hard sell, although not impossible.
Your bother will also need to make sure his "fiancee" is on board with med school because he won't have the time to put in the hours with her you are describing during the clinical years and residency.
- Joined
- Jun 11, 2010
- Messages
- 72,623
- Reaction score
- 115,667
Taking classes at a CC will not hurt.
Looks like everything he's doing is fine, but if he has little patient contact experience or shadowing, he'll need to bone up on that.
Looks like everything he's doing is fine, but if he has little patient contact experience or shadowing, he'll need to bone up on that.
Similar threads
