Anyone else not sure where to apply?

[JJMrK]

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oh okay, that makes sense. Thanks!

np.

 

[scarletgirl777]

So I'm awful at narrowing down top schools. I am wondering about what your inputs are on these following top schools:

Stanford University
University of North Caroline - Chapel Hill
Duke
Washington University in St. Louis
Harvard
UC San Francisco

I am having particular difficulty choosing between Duke and UNC since both are good, but I'm not a state resident of NC.

If i have to pick 3 schools out of those to apply, which should it be? The only stats that I am having challenging time with is Washington U, however, I don't think MCAT and GPA are really good indicators for med school acceptance anyways. Plenty good schools reject good applicants.

Thank you

Are you SURE you're ready to fill out that Duke secondary? Take a look at last year's essays. If you can honestly say yes to that and really love the Duke curriculum, then throw out UNC. As for the other 4 schools, they all have some unique attributes. Stanford is the only one not in the urban environment. WashU has grades for MS2. UCSF does not have a true campus and is a stand alone health school. Harvard New Pathways is on the heavy side of the PBL spectrum.

 

[ilovechoco]

Are you SURE you're ready to fill out that Duke secondary? Take a look at last year's essays. If you can honestly say yes to that and really love the Duke curriculum, then throw out UNC. As for the other 4 schools, they all have some unique attributes. Stanford is the only one not in the urban environment. WashU has grades for MS2. UCSF does not have a true campus and is a stand alone health school. Harvard New Pathways is on the heavy side of the PBL spectrum.

Wow thanks for that advice. I looked at Duke's secondary, kinda ridiculous. However, I do feel like that there's a lot about me that was not covered in my medical school essay or my activities list. Like my origin and how that plays a role in my life. So while the Duke's secondary is hard, I want to go enough that I want to sit through it and write something out. Anyhow, it's been a few days, so I guess this is my update on my list of school I may apply (not in order of how much I like them)

1 Umass
2 Harvard
3 Tufts
4 UCSF
5 USC/Keck
6 Jefferson
7 Einstein
8 Mt. Sinai
9 Emory
10 Duke
11 Uchicago/Pritzker
12 Upittsburgh
13 Mayo
14 UMiami
15 Columbia
16 Brown Warren Alpert
17 Georgetown
18 Tulane
19 WashU

What do you think? Is it a bit too top heavy? I have an MDapp account with my activities and stats on. Can someone look at them, any suggestions? Also, I am thinking about these maybes:

UCLA - OOS difficult
Drexel - not as good as jefferson
Loyola
Uvermont - too white? (I'm Asian)
Wake Forest - a little in middle of no where?

If you care to nominate any lower/middle tier schools near a nice city with good match, good program in primary care and cancer research that would be great!! 😀 or you can justify schools in the maybe areas?

 

[scarletgirl777]

Wow thanks for that advice. I looked at Duke's secondary, kinda ridiculous. However, I do feel like that there's a lot about me that was not covered in my medical school essay or my activities list. Like my origin and how that plays a role in my life. So while the Duke's secondary is hard, I want to go enough that I want to sit through it and write something out. Anyhow, it's been a few days, so I guess this is my update on my list of school I may apply (not in order of how much I like them)

1 Umass
2 Harvard
3 Tufts
4 UCSF
5 USC/Keck
6 Jefferson
7 Einstein
8 Mt. Sinai
9 Emory
10 Duke
11 Uchicago/Pritzker
12 Upittsburgh
13 Mayo
14 UMiami
15 Columbia
16 Brown Warren Alpert
17 Georgetown
18 Tulane
19 WashU

What do you think? Is it a bit too top heavy? I have an MDapp account with my activities and stats on. Can someone look at them, any suggestions? Also, I am thinking about these maybes:

UCLA - OOS difficult
Drexel - not as good as jefferson
Loyola
Uvermont - too white? (I'm Asian)
Wake Forest - a little in middle of no where?

If you care to nominate any lower/middle tier schools near a nice city with good match, good program in primary care and cancer research that would be great!! 😀 or you can justify schools in the maybe areas?

You have a lot of ECs, but I can't tell the time commitments on any of them so it's hard to evaluate. Assuming they were all serious commitments, I would say your ECs match your stats and 20 schools is enough. And yes, your list is more top heavy than the average applicant, but if your ECs are strong then you are a strong candidate, not an average candidate, and I think that's fine. You have your state school, which only allows MA residents, and some other private schools at a different range of the spectrum from WashU/Columbia, so I think you're good to go.

EDIT: Many a student thought they could handle the Duke secondary and were cut down. You have been warned 😉