Feedback for Medical School List requested

[IonClaws]

I am a reapplicant.

cGPA: 3.75
BCPM GPA: 3.66

Graduate GPA (thus far): 3.91

MCAT: 32S
BS: 13
PS: 9
VR: 10
Writing: S

ECs:

Clinical volunteering in Endoscopy, Ambulatory Surgery, Cardiovascular Center, Transplants & Urology Facility, Trauma/Burn Center, soon to be Emergency Room. >300 hrs altogether.

Some shadowing of neurologists, anesthesiologists, and a urologist. ~6 hours for each physician; ~20 hours altogether (currently shadowing primary care physician now, will add more hours as this semester goes on).

Volunteer at local assisted living community, keeping the elderly company, showing them how to play video games, and playing music on the piano for them. Will be volunteering in free reading program (tutoring) for elementary children beginning in a couple of weeks.

2 months of Ecology bench research, ~10 hrs/week. Poster presentation at Undergraduate Symposium a few months later about my work. Will be starting research in Immunology with another professor in a couple of weeks; planning on presenting at Graduate Research Fair.

Graduate Teaching Assistant(ship): served as a lead GA, leading 2 labs per week and backing up 2 labs per week. This experience provided a great leadership experience (leading the class via lecturing) as well as a tutoring/mentoring experience (teaching students one-on-one).

Second job: Working at a local retail store part-time during school.

Other hobbies/interests: Have drawn since I was 2 years old. Also into playing the keyboards and the ocarina (self-taught).

Now, as for the list of medical schools:

I am planning to apply to medical schools mostly in the midwest and east (i.e. within a certain range of Michigan, my home state) that have a decent out-of-state acceptance rate. Additionally, all medical schools I am applying to (with the exception of the University of Michigan) are <1 LizzyM point above my stats (usually MCAT score) or are below my stats.

Michigan:
University of Michigan
Wayne State University
Michigan State University
Oakland University

Ohio:
University of Toledo
University of Cincinnati

Illinois:
University of Illinois
Loyola Stritch
Rosalind Franklin Medical School

Missouri:
Saint Louis University

Pennsylvania:
Penn State University
Thomas Jefferson University
Drexel University
Temple University

New York:
New York Medical College
Albert Einstein Yeshiva
Albany Medical College
Hofstra University North Shore LIJ

Rhode Island:
Brown University Alpert

Vermont:
University of Vermont

District of Columbia:
George Washington University

Wisconsin:
Medical College of Wisconsin

North Carolina:
Wake Forest University

Florida:
University of Central Florida

Iowa:
University of Iowa Carver

Nebraska:
Creighton University

Arizona:
University of Arizona

Any advice on specific medical school choices, how many interviewees are waitlisted, movement of waitlists, etc., please let me know.

Thanks!

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[laxian]

I am a reapplicant.

cGPA: 3.75
BCPM GPA: 3.66

Graduate GPA (thus far): 3.91

MCAT: 32S
BS: 13
PS: 9
VR: 10
Writing: S

ECs:

Clinical volunteering in Endoscopy, Ambulatory Surgery, Cardiovascular Center, Transplants & Urology Facility, Trauma/Burn Center, soon to be Emergency Room. >300 hrs altogether.

Some shadowing of neurologists, anesthesiologists, and a urologist. ~6 hours for each physician; ~20 hours altogether (currently shadowing primary care physician now, will add more hours as this semester goes on).

Volunteer at local assisted living community, keeping the elderly company, showing them how to play video games, and playing music on the piano for them. Will be volunteering in free reading program (tutoring) for elementary children beginning in a couple of weeks.

2 months of Ecology bench research, ~10 hrs/week. Poster presentation at Undergraduate Symposium a few months later about my work. Will be starting research in Immunology with another professor in a couple of weeks; planning on presenting at Graduate Research Fair.

Graduate Teaching Assistant(ship): served as a lead GA, leading 2 labs per week and backing up 2 labs per week. This experience provided a great leadership experience (leading the class via lecturing) as well as a tutoring/mentoring experience (teaching students one-on-one).

Second job: Working at a local retail store part-time during school.

Other hobbies/interests: Have drawn since I was 2 years old. Also into playing the keyboards and the ocarina (self-taught).

Now, as for the list of medical schools:

I am planning to apply to medical schools mostly in the midwest and east (i.e. within a certain range of Michigan, my home state) that have a decent out-of-state acceptance rate. Additionally, all medical schools I am applying to (with the exception of the University of Michigan) are <1 LizzyM point above my stats (usually MCAT score) or are below my stats.

Michigan:
University of Michigan
Wayne State University
Michigan State University
Oakland University

Ohio:
University of Toledo
University of Cincinnati

Illinois:
University of Illinois
Loyola Stritch
Rosalind Franklin Medical School

Missouri:
Saint Louis University

Pennsylvania:
Penn State University
Thomas Jefferson University
Drexel University
Temple University

New York:
New York Medical College
Albert Einstein Yeshiva
Albany Medical College
Hofstra University North Shore LIJ

Rhode Island:
Brown University Alpert

Vermont:
University of Vermont

District of Columbia:
George Washington University

Wisconsin:
Medical College of Wisconsin

North Carolina:
Wake Forest University

Florida:
University of Central Florida

Iowa:
University of Iowa Carver

Nebraska:
Creighton University

Arizona:
University of Arizona

Any advice on specific medical school choices, how many interviewees are waitlisted, movement of waitlists, etc., please let me know.

Thanks!

Why no texas? We have 9 med schools ya know...

Also why no miller school of med in Florida?

Sry if this isn't the info you were looking for, I'm jw.

 

[IonClaws]

Why no texas? We have 9 med schools ya know...

Also why no miller school of med in Florida?

Sry if this isn't the info you were looking for, I'm jw.

I like any sort of suggestions for my list. I'll look into Miller for sure.

It is my understanding that Texas has its own "medical school system" (or something like that) and it is thus difficult for out-of-state applicants to gain admission, so applying to them would not significantly increase my chances of being accepted into medical school. If this is not entirely true, please let me know.

 

[laxian]

I like any sort of suggestions for my list. I'll look into Miller for sure.

It is my understanding that Texas has its own "medical school system" (or something like that) and it is thus difficult for out-of-state applicants to gain admission, so applying to them would not significantly increase my chances of being accepted into medical school. If this is not entirely true, please let me know.

Yea its 10% at every med school and 30% at baylor can be OOS (not 100% sure about the baylor figure, but like 90% sure).

So I guess thats a good reason not to apply.

Why not Tulane or Rush?

 

[flodhi1]

OP, EVMS in Virginia and yes your judgment of Texas schools is correct.

 

[IonClaws]

Yea its 10% at every med school and 30% at baylor can be OOS (not 100% sure about the baylor figure, but like 90% sure).

So I guess thats a good reason not to apply.

Why not Tulane or Rush?

Tulane is a good idea, I think. Rush, not so much because of the very low out-of-state acceptance rate.

OP, EVMS in Virginia and yes your judgment of Texas schools is correct.

Thanks, I took a look at EVMS and it seems like it would fit into my list quite nicely.

Anyone have any other ideas?

 

[sector9]

I think you've built a pretty decent list already. You're at 27 schools so it's time to consider getting rid of a few of them.

I would take Illinois off just due to the insanely high OOS tuition.

Others to think about include Jefferson, Drexel, GWU, and Tulane (if you add it) because of the high number of applications that each one receives (10k+)

Arizona has 2 campuses now that you have to apply to separately. Are you talking about Tucson, the more established of the two? It doesn't really matter much, just wondering. I interviewed at Phoenix and they're completing a nice big medical education building downtown. It looked great on the renderings we were shown.

Since you're very low on research, you might consider dropping Einstein or any other schools with very high research %'s in the MSAR.

How long did you volunteer at the assisted living home?

 

[flodhi1]

I beg to differ concerning reducing the list. OP I think you should keep the entire list even though certain schools have high applicants they might like you for any reason. It's better to spend a couple hundred bucks or even more than be sorry.

 

[IonClaws]

I think you've built a pretty decent list already. You're at 27 schools so it's time to consider getting rid of a few of them.

I would take Illinois off just due to the insanely high OOS tuition.

Others to think about include Jefferson, Drexel, GWU, and Tulane (if you add it) because of the high number of applications that each one receives (10k+)

Arizona has 2 campuses now that you have to apply to separately. Are you talking about Tucson, the more established of the two? It doesn't really matter much, just wondering. I interviewed at Phoenix and they're completing a nice big medical education building downtown. It looked great on the renderings we were shown.

Since you're very low on research, you might consider dropping Einstein or any other schools with very high research %'s in the MSAR.

How long did you volunteer at the assisted living home?

I volunteered at the Assisted Living Home for about 4 months over the summer about 4 hours per week. I didn't do it in the Fall because a parking situation at my university prevented me from doing it in the mornings, and I needed to be at the university all day because of my job. I'm continuing now because I found a parking lot that I can go to later in the day (at about 2 hours per week).

As for Arizona, I'm planning on applying to both Tucson and Phoenix.

 

[Alejandro]

Solid list. Only recommendation I'd make is to remember that you should apply early, and remember to be complete EARLY as well. I've applied to about the same number of schools and the secondaries for all of them were quite...overwhelming. lol

 

[IonClaws]

Since you're very low on research, you might consider dropping Einstein or any other schools with very high research %'s in the MSAR.

Does Rosalind Franklin have a really high research %?

 

[Catalystik]

Does Rosalind Franklin have a really high research %?

About 83%, but it isn't known as a research-intense school.

 

[IonClaws]

About 83%, but it isn't known as a research-intense school.

Still, that's a pretty high percentage. Does the % research of the school refer to % of matriculated students who have ANY form or length of research experience? Does that imply that many of those students likely have experiences lasting 12 months (or whatever length of time) or longer?

 

[Catalystik]

Still, that's a pretty high percentage. Does the % research of the school refer to % of matriculated students who have ANY form or length of research experience? Does that imply that many of those students likely have experiences lasting 12 months (or whatever length of time) or longer?

The % refers to all those accepted to the school, and means that the applicant listed Research in some form on AMCAS, which might have been, say, from 2-3 months to 6 years. The term "Research Experience" can refer to many activities, including caring for rat colonies and cleaning glassware, all the way to personally designing and carrying through multiple studies published in high impact journals.

 

[IonClaws]

The % refers to all those accepted to the school, and means that the applicant listed Research in some form on AMCAS, which might have been, say, from 2-3 months to 6 years. The term "Research Experience" can refer to many activities, including caring for rat colonies and cleaning glassware, all the way to personally designing and carrying through multiple studies published in high impact journals.

To your knowledge, are there any other medical schools on this list that may be high research percentage from the MSAR? (Some that I think might include Medical College of Wisconsin, Wake Forest, Brown Alpert, and of course U-M.)

 

[Catalystik]

Perhaps you can get a better idea of the value a school places on a substantive research experience by looking at the Top Research Schools per US news (where UMich is #10): http://grad-schools.usnews.rankings...schools/top-medical-schools/research-rankings

You can probably find an old MSAR in your premed advising office.

 

[IonClaws]

Perhaps you can get a better idea of the value a school places on a substantive research experience by looking at the Top Research Schools per US news (where UMich is #10): http://grad-schools.usnews.rankings...schools/top-medical-schools/research-rankings

You can probably find an old MSAR in your premed advising office.

That list is useful, thank you.

I am trying to understand what would be considered "top tier" research schools. Would that include schools in the top 50? 40? 20?

 

[Catalystik]

What constitutes "Top" is in the eye of the beholder, but at least 20.

 

[laxian]

That list is useful, thank you.

I am trying to understand what would be considered "top tier" research schools. Would that include schools in the top 50? 40? 20?

And also you can buy a new online msar for 15$

 

[sector9]

I beg to differ concerning reducing the list. OP I think you should keep the entire list even though certain schools have high applicants they might like you for any reason. It's better to spend a couple hundred bucks or even more than be sorry.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree about that. I don't think anyone should need 27 schools if they pick wisely (national average is 14 BTW) and I think that the thoroughness of secondary responses would suffer. It's even more unnecessary in my mind for someone with a 3.7/32. Of course, it brings up the question: why didn't you get in the first time?

 

[IonClaws]

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree about that. I don't think anyone should need 27 schools if they pick wisely (national average is 14 BTW) and I think that the thoroughness of secondary responses would suffer. It's even more unnecessary in my mind for someone with a 3.7/32. Of course, it brings up the question: why didn't you get in the first time?

My primary was processed and sent to schools in October; I was complete at most schools by October/November. Furthermore, I applied to 8 schools, one of which was an out-of-state school with about 10-15% out-of-state students in their previous classes (I believe the % of out-of-state applicants was higher than in-state, making the OOS acceptance rate even lower).

Despite all of this, I managed to receive two interviews, which came to one waitlist and one rejection.

I am pre-writing the secondaries so I can either altogether complete them before I apply to the schools or at least reduce the number I need to do to an acceptable level.

I have taken your advice on not applying to the University of Illinois. I don't think I could afford that kind of debt as a medical resident even on an extended repayment plan.