Am I being too arrogant?

[CallistoCal]

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I am graduating from Case Western Reserve University this Sunday and going to Switzerland next year for a Fullbright Fellowship. I will be applying to medical school this cycle so that I can matriculate in 2013 after the Fellowship.

Considering I will be overseas it will be very expensive for me to fly back to the USA for a lot of interviews hence I will only be applying to a small number of select schools and try to minimize my interview trips to 1 or at most 2 (hopefully I can swing some during the christmas holidays where I have 2 weeks of time off built in).

I feel comfortable doing this because of my exemplary academic record, but my premed adviser seems to think I am being too arrogant by not applying to 14-20 schools as he prefers.

Stats:
4.0 GPA, 4.0 sGPA (Biomedical Engineering/Political Science dual degree)
38 MCAT (13P,12V,13B)

Schools I anticipate applying to:

Safety:
Ohio State (top state school, very competitive based on stats, hoping for scholarships)

Competitive Range:
Case Western Reserve (Undergraduate ties for research built in already)

Reach Schools:
Harvard
UPENN
Columbia
Stanford

I really see no need to apply anywhere else as I feel I should be able to get into OSU (which is a good school) plus have in state tuition and a possible scholarship. Besides that I selected a few of my favorite top reach schools to drop apps for and I am applying to my undergraduate institution.

Should I toss out more apps like my adviser says?

 

[flodhi1]

Listen to your advisor. No one is guaranteed an acceptance not even a 4.0/45 simply because there's a lot more to an applicant than just his stats. I would say at the very least apply to 10 schools.

 

[theseeker4]

Listen to your advisor. No one is guaranteed an acceptance not even a 4.0/45 simply because there's a lot more to an applicant than just his stats. I would say at the very least apply to 10 schools.

I agree with this. Throw in more "safety" schools so you don't have to apply a second year. You might get into your reach schools, but if you don't, and your single safety for some reason doesn't accept you, you are f-ed and have to re-apply. Look at the accepted percentages for people in your range of GPA and MCAT; at least some of those who were not accepted were not because they applied to too many top schools and too few safeties.....do you want to be one of those having to reapply despite a top GPA and MCAT?

 

[reidjones]

I agree with theseeker4. It is always better to be safe then sorry. You definitely have a better chance of getting in, but there is still a chance that you will not.

 

[MedBound1]

I agree that the general rule of thumb is to try to be as humble as possible about the whole process, it can really be a crapshoot sometimes, even with high stats. Given your situation, what i'd recommend is to find some additional schools in the geographic areas of the ones you already really want to apply to. If you get interviews at your current list, you can email the other schools with a "I'm going to be in the area" email. If you say to them in the email that you're out of the country and your travel options are limited, I would expect this to be very effective with your stats. Hope this helps,

 

[Kuuaku]

Most schools do not grant interviews during the Christmas Holidays. This is important to consider as well.

 

[Goro]

Nope...go with your gut!

I
Should I toss out more apps like my adviser says?

 

[Charles Darwin]

Do not apply to 6 schools with 4 of them being top 10s. Imagine all the time and money you'll waste if you don't get in this cycle and are forced to reapply next year. Apply to at least 5 or 6 more schools that are safety/matches.

 

[SnowyRox]

Will you be happy taking a gap year after the Fullbright?
Yes: Then just apply to your current list.
No: Then add some more schools.

You have a high chance at acceptance to your state school but nothing is guaranteed in this process.

 

[Jamie561]

I am graduating from Case Western Reserve University this Sunday and going to Switzerland next year for a Fullbright Fellowship. I will be applying to medical school this cycle so that I can matriculate in 2013 after the Fellowship.

Considering I will be overseas it will be very expensive for me to fly back to the USA for a lot of interviews hence I will only be applying to a small number of select schools and try to minimize my interview trips to 1 or at most 2 (hopefully I can swing some during the christmas holidays where I have 2 weeks of time off built in).

I feel comfortable doing this because of my exemplary academic record, but my premed adviser seems to think I am being too arrogant by not applying to 14-20 schools as he prefers.

Stats:
4.0 GPA, 4.0 sGPA (Biomedical Engineering/Political Science dual degree)
38 MCAT (13P,12V,13B)

Schools I anticipate applying to:

Safety:
Ohio State (top state school, very competitive based on stats, hoping for scholarships)

Competitive Range:
Case Western Reserve (Undergraduate ties for research built in already)

Reach Schools:
Harvard
UPENN
Columbia
Stanford

I really see no need to apply anywhere else as I feel I should be able to get into OSU (which is a good school) plus have in state tuition and a possible scholarship. Besides that I selected a few of my favorite top reach schools to drop apps for and I am applying to my undergraduate institution.

Should I toss out more apps like my adviser says?

With your numbers, I recommend WUSTL, Michigan, Vandy, and Chicago. These schools are aggressively rolling, and will render rapid decisions. In particular, WUSTL and Michigan are known to love high stat applicants.

 

[ChiSox]

I hope the best for you but I'd be careful with Ohio State, I had a friend with similar stats (Ohio Resident, 3.9ish GPA, 38 MCAT) get flat out rejected before the interview because they had accepted too many students for their incoming class.