Finalizing school list - help appreciated!

[meretalking]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Hi everyone,

I'm hoping to submit my primary application this weekend, and I want to finalize my school list.

A little about me:
-CA Resident
-Graduated from UC Berkeley
-B.A. in Molecular and Cell Biology, minor in Spanish Language
-3.82 cGPA, 3.7 sGPA
-36Q MCAT (11BS, 14PS, 11VR)
-LizzyM Score: 72

ECs:
-TA for bio lab (80 hrs)
-ICU Shadowing (30 hours)
-Research assistant in undergrad (700 hrs), + paper acknowledgement.
-Currently a full time research assistant (2000+ hours, ongoing) + coauthor in a paper
-Researched/did some translation work for a non-profit making health guides (380 hours)

Misc:
-Ran two half-marathons + 5K
-Dean's list for several semesters

As you can see, my extracurriculars are a sort of weak, which worries me when it comes to top schools. I'm really hoping to stay in CA, but all the schools here are really competitive.

With that said, here's my list as of now (edited):

Safeties:
Albany
Rush
Albert Einstein
Rosalind Franklin
UCR
UCD

Competitive (?)
UCI
USC
UCSD
Mayo
Case Western
UCLA
UCSF
Stanford
Northwestern
University of Michigan

Reaches:
Yale
Columbia
USC
Johns Hopkins

I'm looking for advice on safety schools - Does this look balanced enough? Are those actually "safeties" for me? I I want to keep my list to 20 schools max. There are a lot of schools that I haven't considered, so suggestions would be welcome!

Thanks!

 

[nabilesmail]

Dude, you have great stats BUT your safeties are NOT safeties, those are mid-tier schools and your LizzyM for them are off.

USC for example has a 34 MCAT average and 3.6ish GPA, thats a Lizzym of 70-71

You need real safeties, like drexel, alabany, NYMC, Jefferson, etc, not Mid tier schools. I suggest keeping your list and adding 1-2 more mid tier, and 5 safets

edit: crap dude, do you have clinical volunteering?

 

[hizziaips]

Let me preface my response with this: Your academics and research experience are excellent, probably good enough for just about any school. However, your lack of clinical experience is the glaring weakness in your application and will hold you back. I would rectify that ASAP if I were you.

To me, your list seems very top-heavy. Most of your "safeties" are excellent, mid-tier schools that receive lots of applications, and the rest of your list reads like a who's who of the most prestigious medical schools in the US. I suggest that you buy the MSAR (if you haven't already) and do lots of reading and research to come up with a more balanced list of schools.

 

[meretalking]

Dude, you have great stats BUT your safeties are NOT safeties, those are mid-tier schools and your Lizzym for them are off.

USC for example has a 34 MCAT average and 3.6ish GPA, thats a Lizzym of 70-71

You need real safeties, like drexel, alabany, NYMC, Jefferson, etc, not Mid tier schools. I suggest keeping your list and adding 1-2 more mid tier, and 5 safets

edit: crap dude, do you have clinical volunteering?

I don't have any clinical volunteering, unfortunately, which is my main concern.

I took my LizzyM scores off one of those spreadsheets that floats around here >.< Guess I should look these up myself.

I steered clear of "real" safeties because I was worried I would be auto-rejected for the sake of my raw numbers being considered "too" competitive. Is it worth adding a few of the lower tiers regardless?

Thanks for your help!

 

[rosaceae]

I had the same issue as you with the LizzyM scores. The spreadsheet that is floating around SDN is a bit outdated and since then a lot of the schools' stats have changed (MCAT scores going up a few points and GPA going up a few tenths of a point). You can look at the MSAR.. find a school you want to look at.. then go back to the spreadsheet and plug the GPA and MCAT medians for that school into the spreadsheet. It will change it to the current LizzyM. I agree with others though that you should look into other safeties (like the ones they suggested). I am also a CA resident and an applicant in your shoes and I have seen many many competitive and well-rounded applicants coming from CA. I have a higher GPA than you but a lower MCAT.. not as much research as you but with insane amounts of community service (clinical and non-clinical). I personally am considering all the UCs to be reaches because of the sheer competitiveness of CA applicants. Try looking into the schools that have been suggested on this thread and consider removing some of the top-tiered schools 🙂

 

[muddyduck7]

I can't really help you with the safeties. But I would consider adding Pitt. It is a really great school and your stats are pretty much in line with the averages. I will say that the "higher ranked" the institution, the more they emphasize research. You should probably get some more clinical exposure and get involved in some volunteering, as those (along with a lack of leadership activities) are your real gaps in the application.

Here is some perhaps platitudinous advice that I wish I had. Figure out what you are truly passionate about. Beyond your research and academics, what drives you? This process can be really long and brutal, so 1) make sure that you don't lose sight of that and 2) make sure it is genuinely conveyed in your application. If running is important to you, then great. But don't just mention the half marathons because you think it will make you look unique. It will not. Also, make sure that you are comfortable with attending ALL of the schools to which you apply. If you have your heart set on attending a "top tier" medical school, then don't just apply to Drexel, Albany, NYMC etc because people on some forum chide you into doing so. I definitely think the "lower tier" schools are excellent, so I am not trying to disparage you from applying. I know that when I applied to those schools, I let my ego get in the way, and it was pretty clear that I was just going through the motions during the interviews. And that is what got me ultimately rejected.

 

[Entadus]

For every UC on your list, I would bump them up 1 category (except UCI). Especially Davis (not a safety) and UCSF (definitely a reach).

Mayo is a reach. Same with Stanford. Those 2 schools are the most competitive in the country.

I would find a place to volunteer ASAP and add more lower-range and mid tier schools

 

[gyngyn]

UCR is actually a reach for you. Not for stats, for mission. Whatever score (Lizzy or otherwise) you use you also have to consider your fit.