Applying to ~100 medical schools

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studentp0x said:
OP, don't listen to all these idiots on here.
I highly highly recommend applying to EVERY single medical school in the US, both MD and DO.
I ALSO recommend to apply to all schools in Canada as well. I mean sure you need a 4.0 up here to even be considered, but may as well increase your chances! Also apply to every school in Ireland, Australia.. and of course the good ol' caribbean.

You need to expand your geographic limits... I think with your poverty stats and non-URM status, applying to about 350 schools should get you in somewhere. Invest in some adderall and forget eating, eating and fapping for a couple months and you should be good to go in terms of completing dem secondaries.

Good luck brah!
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Might as well start cranking out those free rosetta stone trials and apply to non-English speaking foreign medical schools too? Now I call that dedication!
 
mrh125 said:
Being at a disadvantage just because of the race you're born as and not winning the genetic lottery sucks. I know a ORM student with a 37/3.7 and a good app that got mostly waitlists and he applied super broadly. No entitlement is needed. When you do everything right down to dotting your Is and crossing your ts you should get into a school considering how many medical schools there are.
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The fact he didn't get in is not due to him being ORM at all. Someone with a 37/3.7 who doesn't get into medical school had something majorly wrong with his application, whether LORs or how he came off in interviews or essays.
 
100+ schools, good lord... OP Neuroticism level: >1000000

Joking aside, here's how I'd do it.
Step 1: Take a gap year, retake some classes, retake MCAT if need be, do some EC's, etc.
Step 2: Apply to <30 MD and DO schools
Step 3: Get accepted and be happy you didn't flush your money down the toilet along with your sanity
 
chenzt said:
Might as well start cranking out those free rosetta stone trials and apply to non-English speaking foreign medical schools too? Now I call that dedication!
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OP is a true gunner. If anything he should he learning the foreign languages.
 
You have my full support on this. The trick would be to email all 100 medical schools and explain to them that you are applying to 100 schools and ask them to take your circumstances into account and give you the special "less involved and less time consuming secondary." I'm sure that they would understand and maybe even grant you a waiver on the secondaries altogether. You are welcome.
 
IIRC there are something like 140 med schools total. Any reason why you're slacking off on the other 40 or so? You'd want to maximally increase your chances by applying to them all
 
Do it. I dare you. Turn in mediocre secondaries to 100+ schools, and get flat rejected. Reapply next year, making excuses for your complete lack of judgement and maturity, and get flat rejected again. Troll.
 
Ismet said:
The fact he didn't get in is not due to him being ORM at all. Someone with a 37/3.7 who doesn't get into medical school had something majorly wrong with his application, whether LORs or how he came off in interviews or essays.
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What kind of schools would an applicant with those stats and mediocre EC's be almost guaranteed into? I have very similar stats and I'm wondering where I ought to spend the most time polishing my secondaries
 
OP, don't listen to the naysayers. Do it.

However, keep this thread open as your personal blog and update us on how it all turns out.
 
I'm going to cut my list to like 50...it wasn't my idea to apply to 100, it was my bro's.. but I think it will be too much given what the non-offended people had to say in the thread
 
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I can help you write some of these secondaries OP... $75-100/each depending on the length.

Full disclosure: English is my 3rd language... 🙁
 
Why would I want it to be a cake walk? Cake walks are for underachievers
 
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I think you just apply to those 30 schools you have identified.

letsgoblue2015 said:
How big is a secondary application? There would definitely be schools that I would put my all out effort into, and those are a list of about 30 schools that have my stats range. The others would be playing my odds..because who knows right?
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Is it doable? MAYBE, if you start writing essays now for every school you're applying to based on last years prompts here on SDN, the prompts don't change for 95% of them, you have unlimited funds for applications, etc. Even then, I feel it would be challenging to just stay on top of it.

Is it wise? NO. There are surely extreme reaches that you can cull if you're applying that broadly, diminishing returns, etc. Focus on the schools you have a chance at and I'm sure you can get it below 40. And even at 40, it's very difficult to turn those essays around quickly and well.
 
50 schools isn't enough. 100 schools isn't enough. Apply to every one of em, including the Carribean!
 
I don't think you realize how awful the whole secondary application process is. I applied to 20 and burned out after 14 secondaries, never finished the rest. Dare I say that mortal man has the stamina to do 100 secondaries properly.
 
Reckoner said:
Oh yeah 50 schools will be a total cake walk.
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Not a cake walk but if Op is not doing anything this summer like he says, 50 quality secondaries is very doable if he starts early.


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Mad Jack said:
I don't think you realize how awful the whole secondary application process is. I applied to 20 and burned out after 14 secondaries, never finished the rest. Dare I say that mortal man has the stamina to do 100 secondaries properly.
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You're absolutely right, I do not. I just wanted more of an idea of what the secondaries are like and a reasonable amount of apps would be. When I said 100 I didn't think it through because I haven't gone through it yet. I'm trimming my list down to around 40, which is still a lot..but it's what i have to do
 
50 is doable, but if you haven't started working by now you're in for hell and toiling like you're in a sweatshop.
 
Mad Jack said:
I don't think you realize how awful the whole secondary application process is. I applied to 20 and burned out after 14 secondaries, never finished the rest. Dare I say that mortal man has the stamina to do 100 secondaries properly.
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nailed it so hard. secondaries suck and the amount of effort you have to put in to polish them be read for 90 seconds is astronomically high. Even with clever reuse it adds up. Picking 25-30 is far more reasonable and user-friendly than 50 or 100.

letsgoblue2015 said:
You're absolutely right, I do not. I just wanted more of an idea of what the secondaries are like and a reasonable amount of apps would be. When I said 100 I didn't think it through because I haven't gone through it yet. I'm trimming my list down to around 40, which is still a lot..but it's what i have to do
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you can prewrite them on SDN google the names of a few schools you're applying too then sdn after it and you can see a lot of the secondaries. use this to gage how many schools to apply to. Also, dont suffer through the secondary on northwestern if your stats aren't competitive or you don't eat, sleep and breathe research. Be sure to check for regional schools like marshall that only accept instate or it'll be free donations to them
 
smpbound said:
Except that bit for not being black (you are sort of racist by the way), I say go for it. 100 schools. 100 days. Secondaries are pretty similar so it won't be that bad. Don't listen to the naysayers. Your chances increase with each school you apply to.
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You just called him racist based on what?
 
letsgoblue2015 said:
I'm going to cut my list to like 50...it wasn't my idea to apply to 100, it was my bro's.. but I think it will be too much given what the non-offended people had to say in the thread
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OP, I applied to 34 schools (yes, out of desperation due to low stats). I only got 22 secondaries back, 2 of which had no essays. Get ready to spend 12-14 hour per days for the next month and a half. It's a LOT of writing and I would say their is overlap in about 1/3 of the essays. On average, 3 essays a school, so you can do the math. It becomes cripplingly difficult to write non-stop for that long.

I'm going to go ahead and agree with everyone and say: MSAR and narrow it down to a MAX of 30-35. Which state do you have residency?

...oh wait... was I supposed to berate him or something? Like, "You don't need to apply to 100 school, just pick one of these: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_medical_schools_in_the_Caribbean . That 22 MCAT shows me you'll be able to get a plastic surgery residency at Hopkins no problem." Did I do that correctly?
 
Do it. applying to med school is like catching pokemon, gotta catch em all.
I always have some kind suggestions for you in case you don't get into med school even despite all of your work.
1) Find your nearest URM
2) Ask such insightful questions like "How come he got into medical school with a 36 mcat and a 3.69 gpa? My 37/3.7 is clearly superior"
3) Make sure all SDN knows about those dratted urm that "took ur spot"
4)Cry in your bedroom about how life is so unfair.

I'm awaiting your blog, buddy.
Also 100 is kinda slacking, You better apply to 140. along with the ones in Australia and tribal school of med.
 
OP, I’ll be starting my second year in residency in a month. Being from CA with ok stats I had to apply OOS. Besides the money, the secondaries were brutal. The number of secondaries varied from none to I think one (Rush) had 5-6?? It wasn’t just cut and paste. Most of the secondaries required unique responses or if the questions were similar (not necessarily the same) they may have had different character limits so it required a lot to thought and energy to take a 750 character answer and cut and paste it, then edit to say 300 characters and yet still make it responsive to the prompt.

You really need to take a very close, close look at MSAR and whittle down your list to a more realistic list (20 – 25??). Again look carefully at mission statements, do they really take a lot of OOS, and the usuals (GPA, MCAT). Good luck
 
Ismet said:
$3500 primary. Roughly $8000 for all secondaries. Hope you're independently wealthy.
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That alone is a reason to say no. Don't apply to schools you can never see you at. And apply to schools you have a chance to. Simply, you need to learn how to make choices. You will have many more in your future.
 
After cutting out (1) IS-heavy state schools, (2) schools where your scores fall well below the median (that is, MCAT and GPA close to or below 10th percentile of accepted students), and (3) schools that you would not attend even if accepted .. I find it hard to believe that anyone could even come up with a list of more than 35-40 schools to apply to.
 
Silence in ER said:
Do it. applying to med school is like catching pokemon, gotta catch em all.
I always have some kind suggestions for you in case you don't get into med school even despite all of your work.
1) Find your nearest URM
2) Ask such insightful questions like "How come he got into medical school with a 36 mcat and a 3.69 gpa? My 37/3.7 is clearly superior"
3) Make sure all SDN knows about those dratted urm that "took ur spot"
4)Cry in your bedroom about how life is so unfair.

I'm awaiting your blog, buddy.
Also 100 is kinda slacking, You better apply to 140. along with the ones in Australia and tribal school of med.
Click to expand...


Strong anger in this one.


Trim it down to 30 including DO. Only choose schools where your MCAT/GPA is above their 10th percentile. Avoid schools with in-state preference. Do something that will boost your application in the mean time in case you fail to get accepted.
 
Yea I don't know how 100 is possible. There's only like 160 medical schools total. Half of them have in-state bias so that leaves you with 80. Subtract 30 which are reaches, 10 which have very narrow missions, and another 10 which are in places you don't want to go to and you're left with 30 schools total.

I regret applying to so many schools since I think it made me sacrifice quality when writing secondary essays and honestly, I might have even gotten more interviews if I had applied to fewer schools and filled out their applications carefully.
 
TheBossDoctor said:
Yea I don't know how 100 is possible. There's only like 160 medical schools total. Half of them have in-state bias so that leaves you with 80. Subtract 30 which are reaches, 10 which have very narrow missions, and another 10 which are in places you don't want to go to and you're left with 30 schools total.

I regret applying to so many schools since I think it made me sacrifice quality when writing secondary essays and honestly, I might have even gotten more interviews if I had applied to fewer schools and filled out their applications carefully.
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True that, but you're being a bit liberal about OOS friendly schools.... I wish there were that many OOS friendly schools >_<.
 
VitaminDD said:
OP, I applied to 34 schools (yes, out of desperation due to low stats). I only got 22 secondaries back, 2 of which had no essays. Get ready to spend 12-14 hour per days for the next month and a half. It's a LOT of writing and I would say their is overlap in about 1/3 of the essays. On average, 3 essays a school, so you can do the math. It becomes cripplingly difficult to write non-stop for that long.

I'm going to go ahead and agree with everyone and say: MSAR and narrow it down to a MAX of 30-35. Which state do you have residency?

...oh wait... was I supposed to berate him or something? Like, "You don't need to apply to 100 school, just pick one of these: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_medical_schools_in_the_Caribbean . That 22 MCAT shows me you'll be able to get a plastic surgery residency at Hopkins no problem." Did I do that correctly?
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Yeah I'm planning on doing nothing but secondaries for 2+months.
 
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Teach me your money making seacrets...

please
 
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I just had to laugh when I read the title of this thread. 😀
If only premeds really knew the amount of time and sanity you'll need to complete secondaries for even just 15-20 schools. Still wish I didn't spend all that money. :dead:
 
letsgoblue2015 said:
I'm planning on applying to around 100 medical schools. I know it's crazy but I don't care because my stats aren't the best

My question is how many different secondary essays are there and are a lot of them similar?
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Yes and no...but to be honest, applying to more than 30 is pushing it. 100 is just ridiculous, even if your stats are not the best, because then it seem like you're just trying to get in to whatever school you can. I've talked to med students who applied to as much as 25 schools, but they agree that there is a such thing as applying to too many schools.
 
ONLY 100 MD schools? Why don't you add 100 DO schools too?
 
LMBLBM said:
ONLY 100 MD schools? Why don't you add 100 DO schools too?
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There aren't 100 DO schools to begin with...

To OP: 50 is possible (MD and DO combined), 100 no. I also second the idea of a personal blog of your outcomes here lol
 
lolololol 100 schools?? have fun reading anywhere from 97-100 rejection letters OP
 
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