bottom tier schools

[junathon]

What do you guys consider to be "safety" schools? I'm doing my application right now and I need help choosing schools!!!

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[mikedc813]

I've seen a thread asking your exact question, but off the top of my head I would say Saint Louis U, Drexel, and Finch.

 

[TheRussian]

Add NYMC, Temple, and Albany

 

[mikedc813]

Good call

 

[BigRedPingpong]

State Schools minus UCs, UMich, UT-SW, UW.

 

[BaylorLion]

Minus UVA and UNC as well, I'd say.

 

[samurai_lincoln]

State Schools minus UCs, UMich, UT-SW, UW.

That is kind of an overgeneralization... most state schools are extremely difficult admissions for nonresidents, and the remote chance is not even worth the app fee. There are a few exceptions of course: Vermont and UIC (I think) come to mind, but it is pointless for nonresidents to apply to someplace like U of Wash.

 

[willthatsall]

Yeah the state school suggestion varies widely by state. UF is a tough one, also.

 

[BigRedPingpong]

Minus UVA and UNC as well, I'd say.

good call

That is kind of an overgeneralization... most state schools are extremely difficult admissions for nonresidents, and the remote chance is not even worth the app fee. There are a few exceptions of course: Vermont and UIC (I think) come to mind, but it is pointless for nonresidents to apply to someplace like U of Wash.

I posted those schools with the assumption that the applicant would be a resident of the particular state.

 

[ForensicPath]

State Schools minus UCs, UMich, UT-SW, UW.

Don't forget the SUNYs (those bastards)

 

[samurai_lincoln]

I posted those schools with the assumption that the applicant would be a resident of the particular state.

Point taken, but this adds very little to the conversation. If someone can't figure out that their own state med school(s) represent(s) their best chance for admission (sans limited examples above), that person has no business applying to med school in the first place.

Getting back onto the subject, I would also consider places like Creighton and Loyola-Chi, since there are few private schools in the midwest, and the app volume is a bit lower. If you are REALLY willing to go anywhere, North Dakota seems open to nonresidents, probably out of necessity.

 

[SurgeryRA]

The term "safety school" is relative. Someone with high numbers would definitely consider schools like Finch, Drexel, etc. to be a backup. If you have average numbers I really don't know if there is such a thing called a "safety school." I think even schools like Finch get close to 10,000 applicants so applying there is no gurantee for admission.

 

[elias514]

Only superstar applicants have "safety" schools--if you're not in this category (very competitive GPA, solid MCAT score, significant extracurricular experiences), there's no such thing as a safety school. Just apply to a wide variety of schools, and pray that the admissions deities like you this year.

 

[gschl1234]

What do you guys consider to be "safety" schools? I'm doing my application right now and I need help choosing schools!!!

A doctor once told me that the only "safety" is one where you already have an acceptance. It's a crapshoot.

 

[hypersting]

The term "safety school" is relative. Someone with high numbers would definitely consider schools like Finch, Drexel, etc. to be a backup. If you have average numbers I really don't know if there is such a thing called a "safety school." I think even schools like Finch get close to 10,000 applicants so applying there is no gurantee for admission.

To add to this ... the schools listed in this thread are common for many, many pre-meds to apply to. So the fact that they take people with lower raw stats is mitigated by how many applications they recieve. Your best bet for a safety is a private school in a non urban environment. They will get "less" applications, like 4000 instead of 8000

 

[Luck]

DO schools are somewhat safety schools. However, the ultimate in safety schools are the ones in the caribbean. Enjoy.

 

[NRAI2001]

Why do u guys want to go to safety schools? I thought u guys wanted to go to med schools?

 

[Gfunk6]

To add to this ... the schools listed in this thread are common for many, many pre-meds to apply to.

Bingo. "Lower Tier" schools like Finch have ridiculously high numbers of applicants, making it fiercely competitive. In reality your best chance of admission is your state medical school.

 

[NRAI2001]

Safety should be a top priority at every skwool.

 

[Emeri Onwunwa]

Yeah... your safety schools depend somewhat on your stats. I was surprised when I got waitlisted at one of my safety schools, so in some ways it's a crapshoot.

 

[Resident Alien]

CWRU. very safe cuz it has no windows.

 

[bearpaw]

safety is a relative term. If you have a 38 mcat and a 3.9 from yale, drexel is not a safety. Drexel is a quick rejection, as they know there is no possiblity that you will be going there.

Safety schools are the schools that have numbers slightly below yours, that traditionally take students from either the undergrad you're from or the region you're from.

That being said, for MOST applicants, schools like drexel, penn state, temple, nymc, stlouis, tulane, and med of ohio take lesser qualified kids. If you have better numbers, rest assured you will be going somewhere better. Just apply early, apply to many different schools (20+), and go to your interviews (or at least tell them you're not showing up, otherwise you're getting some nasty phone calls and emails, haha).

 

[kchan99]

I didn't know that North Dakota took nonresidents...

Karin

 

[LA:)]

Why do u guys want to go to safety schools? I thought u guys wanted to go to med schools?

that made me laugh.

almost all my "safety" schools all ignored my application. this is while schools i thought i had no shot at invited me for interviews. ridiculous. i think part of it was my late application--they were probably too distracted depositing all those superfluous $100 secondary checks to consider mine.

 

[DieselPetrolGrl]

Why do u guys want to go to safety schools? I thought u guys wanted to go to med schools?

hahahahaha

 

[JM.]

That being said, for MOST applicants, schools like drexel, penn state, temple, nymc, stlouis, tulane, and med of ohio take lesser qualified kids. If you have better numbers, rest assured you will be going somewhere better. Just apply early, apply to many different schools (20+), and go to your interviews (or at least tell them you're not showing up, otherwise you're getting some nasty phone calls and emails, haha).

Awesome post. So what makes those med schools "better", pray tell? My boyfriend goes to and Ivy League med school - wohoo! And guess what! We learn the SAME ****. Temple is renowned by residency directors for turning out outstanding clinicians, but I guess since it isn't USnews ranked everyone feels the need to put it on these stupid lists. Hell, these lists shouldn't be here in the first place, but everyone loves to marginalize.

 

[junathon]

Awesome post. So what makes those med schools "better", pray tell? My boyfriend goes to and Ivy League med school - wohoo! And guess what! We learn the SAME ****. Temple is renowned by residency directors for turning out outstanding clinicians, but I guess since it isn't USnews ranked everyone feels the need to put it on these stupid lists. Hell, these lists shouldn't be here in the first place, but everyone loves to marginalize.

I've never recalled asking any of my doctors where they went to school. Has anyone? Has anyone gone to a podiatrist?

 

[Gfunk6]

With the expansion of the Internet, patients can easily access the AMA website to learn where doctors trained both for medical school and residency. This can be done regardless of said physician's membership in the AMA.

I don't believe that a med school applicant's choice of school should be dictated entirely by "prestige," but it should certainly play some factor.

 

[BigRedPingpong]

I've never recalled asking any of my doctors where they went to school. Has anyone? Has anyone gone to a podiatrist?

Actually, when my grandmother needed knee replacement surgery, my mother did extensive research on the surgeon including where he went to medical school and residency. This of course was not the scale tipping factor, but it certainly did play a role in helping us decide which doctor to choose. Eventually we went with an orthopedic surgeon who went to UCLA.

 

[edik]

I've never recalled asking any of my doctors where they went to school. Has anyone? Has anyone gone to a podiatrist?

I had ingrown toenail surgeries done by a podiatrist. I didn't know any better at the time, but I don't regret it either. He was way better than that red-hot surgical resident at a city hospital who screwed up my first one.

 

[bigdan]

I asked.
My derm went to Harvard, although I don't know the residency.
Guess that helped him to the 9-3 M,T,R schedule that his patients work around...

dc

 

[Mike59]

Is there a such thing as a safety? From what I have seen some schools don't offer interviews to people they think are overqualified so everyone's "safeties" are different.

Good point...

If you're an average application: your safety is in the Carribbean
If you're a stellar applicant, your safety is a solid, upper-middle-tier (the ones that are say, between between 25-50 in the USnews ranking)

It is totally a crapshoot: what's considered a "safety" school by many applicants will turn away many 4.0 35+ MCAT applicants every year because they know the applicant and the school are both wasting each others time.

 

[Smoke This]

If you are REALLY willing to go anywhere, North Dakota seems open to nonresidents, probably out of necessity.

You're wrong. North Dakota rarely takes nonresidents, and isn't short of applicants.

 

[samurai_lincoln]

You're wrong. North Dakota rarely takes nonresidents, and isn't short of applicants.

They do take nonresidents, and a fair percentage at that (12 out of class of 56 in 01-02), but on further examination it looks like all INMED, WICHE, and Minnesota (reciprocity).