Check out my list please, if you've got a sec

[JJMrK]

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Most of my info is on my MDApps, including ECs.
The short of it:
4.0
33M (11,11,11)
CA resident

Looking to make a balanced list with ~5-6 safeties, ~5-6 competitive, and ~5-6 reach, plus all of the CA schools.

So far:

Safeties
SLU
VCU
Loyola
MCW
Toledo
U Illinois
NYMC or SUNY Upstate or SUNY Buffalo

Close to Home
UCLA
UCSF
Stanford
UCI
UCD
UCSD
USC
Oregon

Competitive
Georgetown
Boston U
Wake
Ohio State
Mayo
U Virginia or Case
Rochester
Dartmouth

Reach
Vanderbilt
Pitt
UPenn
Baylor
Northwestern
U Chicago
Harvard or ?

Anyone have any recommendations? I'm thinking I should add more mid-tier schools, and I need help with the reach schools. I don't really want to go over 25, but I might. Also, screened/short secondaries are a plus.

 

[stayclassy]

I think the fact that you're a CA resident gives you a better chance at some of the reach schools. I think you should try them all JJ

 

[Rzarecta]

If I may ask, why is Iowa listed as a "safety?" Not only is it a very good school, but you are OOS. I would probably not bother applying there unless you have some connection to the state. Same goes with Toledo and VCU. Add other private schools to this list (NYMC, Temple, Drexel, etc.)

You are also OOS at Ohio state, consider removing it.

Dartmouth isn't a reach, should be in your competitive pile. I think/hope you get into one of the UCs given your stats, but you are a little top-heavy at this point.

 

[JJMrK]

Thanks for the input.

- You might be right about Iowa. Their stats are lower than mine but I am OOS. They also have a screened secondary, which is really nice.
- Toledo I can't decide about, Ohio State I have mostly because of Toledo.
- I'm keeping VCU because I know someone who was accepted there (who liked it a lot) from my state, and because of UVa.
- I might add Rush to the safety list, maybe Temple. If so I'll probably remove Iowa and Toledo.

 

[sdguy2008]

hey JJ, as a fellow 4/18 mcat-er im glad to see it went well for you. in my very amature opinion i think you are golden...maybe even add a couple more top schools (yale, duke (but secondary is supposed to be a beast)). good luck man.

 

[JJMrK]

How does this look?

Safeties
SLU
VCU
Loyola
MCW
Toledo
Rush

Close to Home
UCLA
UCSF
Stanford
UCI
UCD
UCSD
USC
Oregon

Competitive
Georgetown
Boston U
Wake
Ohio State
Mayo
U Virginia
Rochester
Dartmouth

Reach
Vanderbilt
Pitt
Columbia
Baylor
Northwestern
U Chicago
Harvard

Total of 29 schools. Kind of a lot still. I might drop both Toledo and Ohio State.

Whatcha guys think?

 

[stayclassy]

I'd drop OSU and keep Toledo. Good luck though!

 

[JJMrK]

hey JJ, as a fellow 4/18 mcat-er im glad to see it went well for you. in my very amature opinion i think you are golden...maybe even add a couple more top schools (yale, duke (but secondary is supposed to be a beast)). good luck man.

Thanks, good luck to you too.

 

[honker]

Some additional data would be helpful. Your GPA is obviously impressive. Where are you going to school? If it is a UC or a highly reputable pvt school, then your list is reasonable. If you went to a CSU campus, then it will be more difficult (some will tell you it doesn't matter, but it does, especially to the eastern private schools).
I think Rush is not a good choice. The U of Illinois is known for taking OOS students, especially from Cali. So does Ohio State. If you want to go for broke, then UPenn would probably be a better choice than Columbia.
Toledo is ok, but I think that the OOS tuition is north of $55,000 now. NYMC would probably be a better, and cheaper alternative.
I wouldn't recommend the U of Va unless you have connections to the state.

 

[JJMrK]

Some additional data would be helpful. Your GPA is obviously impressive. Where are you going to school? If it is a UC or a highly reputable pvt school, then your list is reasonable. If you went to a CSU campus, then it will be more difficult (some will tell you it doesn't matter, but it does, especially to the eastern private schools).
I think Rush is not a good choice. The U of Illinois is known for taking OOS students, especially from Cali. So does Ohio State. If you want to go for broke, then UPenn would probably be a better choice than Columbia.
Toledo is ok, but I think that the OOS tuition is north of $55,000 now. NYMC would probably be a better, and cheaper alternative.
I wouldn't recommend the U of Va unless you have connections to the state.

I'm at one of the larger CSUs. Obviously a 4.0 from a UC would look better, but it is what it is.

1. You're basically saying U Illinois instead of Rush. Why?
2. Why UPenn instead of Columbia?
3. I've heard negative things about NYMC. Probably won't apply there.
4. Anything you recommend to replace UVa?

Thanks for your help.

 

[JJMrK]

Gonna bump this for some additional responses. Thanks again for the assistance.

 

[rockaction]

Eh, you might want to pick OSU over Toledo. OSU is practically a private school - half the people they accept are OOS. And it's a great school and worth applying too.

 

[JJMrK]

Eh, you might want to pick OSU over Toledo. OSU is practically a private school - half the people they accept are OOS. And it's a great school and worth applying too.

Yeah, I'm thinking I'll just keep both that this point.

 

[JJMrK]

Updated
Safeties
SLU
VCU
Loyola
MCW
Toledo
U Illinois
NYMC?

Close to Home
UCLA
UCSF
Stanford
UCI
UCD
UCSD
USC
Oregon

Competitive
Georgetown
Boston U
Wake
Ohio State
Mayo
U Virginia
Rochester
Dartmouth

Reach
Vanderbilt
Pitt
Columbia
Baylor
Northwestern
U Chicago
Harvard

.

 

[honker]

I'm at one of the larger CSUs. Obviously a 4.0 from a UC would look better, but it is what it is.

1. You're basically saying U Illinois instead of Rush. Why?
2. Why UPenn instead of Columbia?
3. I've heard negative things about NYMC. Probably won't apply there.
4. Anything you recommend to replace UVa?

Thanks for your help.

Answers:
1. Rush takes few OOS students.
2. Penn tends to be quirkier than Columbia, in a good way, in terms of admissions
3. NYMC is better than Albany, which would be your choices for NY given your stats
4. U of Maryland takes a fair number of OOS applicants. Look at them.

 

[JJMrK]

Answers:
1. Rush takes few OOS students.
2. Penn tends to be quirkier than Columbia, in a good way, in terms of admissions
3. NYMC is better than Albany, which would be your choices for NY given your stats
4. U of Maryland takes a fair number of OOS applicants. Look at them.

Just thinking out loud:

1. You're right, I've replaced Rush with U Illinois for now.
2. Good to know, thanks. UPenn has a LizzyM score one point lower than mine, while Columbia is exactly my LizzyM.
3. You're saying NYMC is a good choice for a NY safety school, but I'm not necessarily concerned with having a NY safety. I'd be just as happy in NY as in any other state. I think my other options here are the SUNYs, but I think if I only have one NY safety I'd be better off with one of the privates.
4. UVa actually takes a higher number of OOS students than U Maryland. They interview about 10% of OOSers that apply. I'm still looking around at what I can replace it with, though. Maybe Case? Same LizzyM score.

Thanks again for your help, I really appreciate it.

 

[witness23]

NYU loves high GPAs

 

[honker]

Just thinking out loud:

1. You're right, I've replaced Rush with U Illinois for now.
2. Good to know, thanks. UPenn has a LizzyM score one point lower than mine, while Columbia is exactly my LizzyM.
3. You're saying NYMC is a good choice for a NY safety school, but I'm not necessarily concerned with having a NY safety. I'd be just as happy in NY as in any other state. I think my other options here are the SUNYs, but I think if I only have one NY safety I'd be better off with one of the privates.
4. UVa actually takes a higher number of OOS students than U Maryland. They interview about 10% of OOSers that apply. I'm still looking around at what I can replace it with, though. Maybe Case? Same LizzyM score.

Thanks again for your help, I really appreciate it.

With regards to the NY schools, I would encourage you to apply to SUNY Downstate and Buffalo. The nice thing about SUNY schools is that they are liberal with OOS admissions, and you can qualify for instate tuition rates after the first year. Hell, throw an app at Upstate and Stony Brook if you want.

I recommend Maryland because they seem to be willing to take Cali applicants.

You may want to consider applying to the University of Texas system, too. Even the OOS tuition rate is reasonable. The only problem is that they don't use AMCAS, so you would have to fill out their application form. The UT schools do take Cali people, especially Galveston.

 

[JJMrK]

With regards to the NY schools, I would encourage you to apply to SUNY Downstate and Buffalo. The nice thing about SUNY schools is that they are liberal with OOS admissions, and you can qualify for instate tuition rates after the first year. Hell, throw an app at Upstate and Stony Brook if you want.

I recommend Maryland because they seem to be willing to take Cali applicants.

You may want to consider applying to the University of Texas system, too. Even the OOS tuition rate is reasonable. The only problem is that they don't use AMCAS, so you would have to fill out their application form. The UT schools do take Cali people, especially Galveston.

Thanks for the info. I feel like I have too many schools already, but I'd agree that those are some schools I could consider. I may add SUNY Upstate instead of NYMC.

I probably won't fill out the Texas app, don't really feel like I need to. I'm fairly confident with my list now.

I'll also be adding UPenn instead of Columbia, I like that substitution after doing some research. I may also add Case instead of UVa. I'm also considering dropping Harvard altogether and replacing it with something that might actually come through. Anyone have any ideas?


Updated

Safeties
SLU
VCU
Loyola
MCW
Toledo
U Illinois
NYMC or SUNY Upstate or SUNY Buffalo

Close to Home
UCLA
UCSF
Stanford
UCI
UCD
UCSD
USC
Oregon

Competitive
Georgetown
Boston U
Wake
Ohio State
Mayo
U Virginia or Case
Rochester
Dartmouth

Reach
Vanderbilt
Pitt
UPenn
Baylor
Northwestern
U Chicago
Harvard or ?

 

[JJMrK]

One last bump.

 

[longhorn09]

One last bump.

Your list looks perfectly balanced, and it's very nice if you have the time and $$ for it.
I would say go for it.

 

[JJMrK]

Alright I think I'm going to pull the trigger with this list. Thanks guys.