am i being too ambitious for the college i am coming from?

[cafune]

---

Members do not see this ad.

stats: i'm a senior with a double major in classics & biology, current total gpa is 3.85, science gpa is 3.88, non science gpa is 3.85. i got an MCAT score of 34 that was pretty even in breakdown. i have volunteered at surgery clinics every summer of my college career and worked at a bio lab. i feel okay about my chances. or i should.

however, i don't go to a very good college. it's a typical four year private liberal arts instate school, nothing special, and i'm worried that this will work against me as i compete against applicants from ivies and prestigious, well known pre-med schools, when mine didn't even offer a pre-med program. i'm worried that, even though i worked hard my entire college career, adcoms may be hesitant about my grades because they will assume i had easier classes by default since my college is just average.

i do have two balancing factors for this, and i'm wondering how much they might help: i did a semester of study abroad at a very good university in england, taking difficult classes and maintained the same grades (some even better) as i did at my regular college. the other is that i got into all my top choice pre-med schools as a senior in high school, but could not afford to go because of finances.


these are the schools i am applying/have applied to (i wish to be a pediatric surgeon):

john hopkins
northwestern
university of michigan
emory
duke
ucla
harvard
tulane


i just want to be the best doctor i can be, and i worry that not being able to afford the colleges of my choice years ago has crippled me in that regard. thank you for your help.

 

[Stumpyman]

Yeah, in Pre med prestige isn't THAT big a deciding factor. As long as your schools is accredited and all and doesn't have a 100% drop out rate it is definitely fine. Good stats man, you shouldn't have trouble getting in.

 

[Catalystik]

stats: i'm a senior with a double major in classics & biology, current total gpa is 3.85, science gpa is 3.88, non science gpa is 3.85. i got an MCAT score of 34 that was pretty even in breakdown. i have volunteered at surgery clinics every summer of my college career and worked at a bio lab. i feel okay about my chances. or i should.

however, i don't go to a very good college. it's a typical four year private liberal arts instate school, nothing special, and i'm worried that this will work against me as i compete against applicants from ivies and prestigious, well known pre-med schools, when mine didn't even offer a pre-med program. i'm worried that, even though i worked hard my entire college career, adcoms may be hesitant about my grades because they will assume i had easier classes by default since my college is just average.

i do have two balancing factors for this, and i'm wondering how much they might help: i did a semester of study abroad at a very good university in england, taking difficult classes and maintained the same grades (some even better) as i did at my regular college. the other is that i got into all my top choice pre-med schools as a senior in high school, but could not afford to go because of finances.


these are the schools i am applying/have applied to (i wish to be a pediatric surgeon):

john hopkins
northwestern
university of michigan
emory
duke
ucla
harvard
tulane


i just want to be the best doctor i can be, and i worry that not being able to afford the colleges of my choice years ago has crippled me in that regard. thank you for your help.

Your very good MCAT score will negate thoughts that your premed curriculum wasn't sufficiently rigorous.

Your application list is, however, too top heavy and not long enough. Not knowing your ECs in detail (what about Shadowing, Leadership, Teaching, Nonmedical Community Service, Publications or Posters, Hobbies, Sports, the Arts?), I can't judge if they are sufficiently substantive to appeal to the more selective schools, but even if they are terrific, you should add more schools to your list. Eight schools isn't enough when 7 of them are in the Top Twenty and there are thousands of other worthy applicants competing for the same spots (8000+ in Tulane's case). A better list would include half target schools, some reaches and a number of safeties. Consider a total of 15 at least.

 

[cafune]

Yeah, in Pre med prestige isn't THAT big a deciding factor. As long as your schools is accredited and all and doesn't have a 100% drop out rate it is definitely fine. Good stats man, you shouldn't have trouble getting in.

thank you for your help

Your very good MCAT score will negate thoughts that your premed curriculum wasn't sufficiently rigorous.

Your application list is, however, too top heavy and not long enough. Not knowing your ECs in detail (what about Shadowing, Leadership, Teaching, Nonmedical Community Service, Publications or Posters, Hobbies, Sports, the Arts?), I can't judge if they are sufficiently substantive to appeal to the more selective schools, but even if they are terrific, you should add more schools to your list. Eight schools isn't enough when 7 of them are in the Top Twenty and there are thousands of other worthy applicants competing for the same spots (8000+ in Tulane's case). A better list would include half target schools, some reaches and a number of safeties. Consider a total of 15 at least.

i've done shadowing and racked up around 400 hours of non medical comm service teaching latin and history at summer programs for underprivileged kids thanks to my classics major. i'm also an editor for the campus literary magazine and a member of two sports clubs (soccer and baseball.) my apologies for not including that in the original post, it slipped my mind.


do you have any advice on good safety & target schools considering both my stats and interest in surgery?

 

[Catalystik]

do you have any advice on good safety & target schools considering both my stats and interest in surgery?

I still don't have a clear idea on how substantive your research experience was. Did you have some creative control over your project or did you mainly follow someone else's protocol? How many years did you spend in a Bio lab? I'm sure you know that to appeal to top research schools, your research should have been significant.

One can match into a surgery residency from any med school.

Schools for you to check out that are in accord with your stats with a decent OOS matricualtion rate might be:

UPitt, UVirginia, Dartmouth,
Sinai, Case, SLU, NYU, Brown, Tufts,
Emory, UCentral Florida, Ohio State, Iowa, UMinn,
Rochester, MCW, Miami, Einstein, SUNY Downstate, UMaryland, UConn, Loyola, Stony Brook, Wake, Cinncinnati

Do enough research to be sure they are a "fit" for you before adding some of them to your list.

 

[cafune]

I still don't have a clear idea on how substantive your research experience was. Did you have some creative control over your project or did you mainly follow someone else's protocol? How many years did you spend in a Bio lab? I'm sure you know that to appeal to top research schools, your research should have been significant.

the first research project i was ever in i was meant to just follow orders, but ended up assuming responsibility by some weird circumstances. after that, i was given free reign over the rest of the projects i was involved in. i've spent about three years in a bio lab, but all three of them were part time because they were concurrent with my schooling.

Schools for you to check out that are in accord with your stats with a decent OOS matricualtion rate might be:

UPitt, UVirginia, Dartmouth,
Sinai, Case, SLU, NYU, Brown, Tufts,
Emory, UCentral Florida, Ohio State, Iowa, UMinn,
Rochester, MCW, Miami, Einstein, SUNY Downstate, UMaryland, UConn, Loyola, Stony Brook, Wake, Cinncinnati

Do enough research to be sure they are a "fit" for you before adding some of them to your list.

[/quote]

thank you for such a thorough list, i will start looking into those right away, although there are some of them i am already familiar with.

i'm sorry if i come across as a tad ignorant for someone applying...i am doing this on my own with no familial support of any kind, financial or even moral, and i am often overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of what has to be accomplished, especially with two majors (i am working on my senior thesis for classics along with my applications). i wish i had found this site earlier in my student career, it is a true blessing.

 

[Catalystik]

1) ended up assuming responsibility by some weird circumstances. after that, i was given free reign over the rest of the projects i was involved in. i've spent about three years in a bio lab, but all three of them were part time because they were concurrent with my schooling.

2) i'm sorry if i come across as a tad ignorant for someone applying...i am doing this on my own with no familial support of any kind, financial or even moral, and i am often overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of what has to be accomplished, especially with two majors (i am working on my senior thesis for classics along with my applications).

1) I am reassured.

2) That's why we're here.