Good number of schools to apply to?

[Cerberus]

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I think i will be applying to 20. I think thats quite a bit but the idea of having to reapply doesnt sit well with me. Also, I have FAP so it really isnt costing me too much out of pocket for primaries/secondaries. Input?

 

[felipe5]

Just be prepared to devote a lot time to filling out a mass-load of secondaries. at least you got FAP!

 

[TexasRose]

Originally posted by Cerberus
I think i will be applying to 20. I think thats quite a bit but the idea of having to reapply doesnt sit well with me. Also, I have FAP so it really isnt costing me too much out of pocket for primaries/secondaries. Input?

I think it depends on your numbers and the strength of your app. 20 is a pretty common number, I think. Just don't bother applying to schools you wouldn't actually want to attend.

I've seen lots of people apply to a large number of "safety schools" and then not get accepted to those schools. (maybe it shows in the interview that they weren't genuinely interested) It becomes a waste of time and resources to fill out those secondaries and travel to interviews. On the flip side, if the only school you get is one you don't want, then you have the dilemma of going or deferring and reapplying.

Don't forget your "reach schools," you never know! 🙂

 

[Cerberus]

Originally posted by TexasRose
I think it depends on your numbers and the strength of your app. 20 is a pretty common number, I think. Just don't bother applying to schools you wouldn't actually want to attend.

I've seen lots of people apply to a large number of "safety schools" and then not get accepted to those schools. (maybe it shows in the interview that they weren't genuinely interested) It becomes a waste of time and resources to fill out those secondaries and travel to interviews. On the flip side, if the only school you get is one you don't want, then you have the dilemma of going or deferring and reapplying.

Don't forget your "reach schools," you never know! 🙂

]

Yeah, I am only applying to schools I would attend (it was sort of hard to get to 20...). Most of the schools I am applying to are middle tier schools with only maybe 2 or 3 top ten schools (numbers really arent important to me...location, location is tr?s important!). I am still scared since my clinical experience kind of sucks (lots of good athletic EC's....) and my gpa is nothing super impressive - come on MCAT, set my people free!!!

 

[TexasRose]

Originally posted by Cerberus
]

Yeah, I am only applying to schools I would attend (it was sort of hard to get to 20...). Most of the schools I am applying to are middle tier schools with only maybe 2 or 3 top ten schools (numbers really arent important to me...location, location is tr?s important!). I am still scared since my clinical experience kind of sucks (lots of good athletic EC's....) and my gpa is nothing super impressive - come on MCAT, set my people free!!!

I have a feeling you will do well, Cerb.

I couldn't come up with 20 schools that I was willing to go to. Locations being a huge factor for me. I think I wound up applying to 10, but a good mix of the tiers.

good luck on the MCAT! 😀

 

[Cerberus]

Originally posted by TexasRose
I have a feeling you will do well, Cerb.

I couldn't come up with 20 schools that I was willing to go to. Locations being a huge factor for me. I think I wound up applying to 10, but a good mix of the tiers.

good luck on the MCAT! 😀

God help me 6 weeks!!!!

 

[TexasRose]

Originally posted by Cerberus
God help me 6 weeks!!!!

I think your sig is the perfect response to this! 😉

 

[Gleevec]

Originally posted by Cerberus
I think i will be applying to 20. I think thats quite a bit but the idea of having to reapply doesnt sit well with me. Also, I have FAP so it really isnt costing me too much out of pocket for primaries/secondaries. Input?

20 sounds good. If you care to talk over some of the schools with someone Id be more than willing to take a looksee, not that I know that much, but sometimes it helps to talk these things over, maybe save some $$$ by avoiding some schools

Gleevec

 

[jlee9531]

what state you from cerb?

but outside of california...20 is good general number to apply to so you give yourself a shot at the top/middle/safe schools.

 

[Cerberus]

Hey guys, here is my list right now (in no particular order), I am a TN resident.

1) Umich
2) UTENN
3) Temple
4) Jefferson
5) UVM
6) NYU
7) Rochester
8) NYMC
9) Cornell
10) Columbia
11) Einstein
12) Tulane
13) Northwestern
14) UIC
15) Sinai
16) Wayne State
17) Case Western
18) Emory
19) UCHSC
20) UVA

 

[exmike]

dont forget that some schools dont accept fee waivers so you may want to check that out when you budget.

 

[Cerberus]

Originally posted by exmike
dont forget that some schools dont accept fee waivers so you may want to check that out when you budget.

Yeah, I know at least Tulane does not. I am not sure about the others but will start checking when it gets closer to application time.

 

[lizzylu]

hi cerebrus,

great list, though one thing to point out. even though you said only a couple top 10 schools, don't underestimate the competitiveness of a school w/in the top 20 or 30. With that said, it looks like you've got at least 12 in your 20.

Sounds good, but if you've got great LORs, ECs and GPA (obviously not MCAT yet), then don't waste too much $ on the back-up schools.

PS. I saved $ on these by not returning my secondary in right away, and then by sept I was getting interview invites and didn't need to bother sending most of my back-ups in

Good luck w/ the MCAT!

 

[Tezzie]

I would say ditch Wayne State and UIC. Esp UIC is killer when it comes to out of state tuition. I would say replace UIC with Loyola or UChicago and Wayne State with Ohio State. We've talked about this before in the chat room and i know that location matters to you. So since i don't know what you like the most (apart from A2 that is) - i guess we will talk about it more in the chatroom 😛

 

[Cerberus]

Originally posted by Tezzie
I would say ditch Wayne State and UIC. Esp UIC is killer when it comes to out of state tuition. I would say replace UIC with Loyola or UChicago and Wayne State with Ohio State. We've talked about this before in the chat room and i know that location matters to you. So since i don't know what you like the most (apart from A2 that is) - i guess we will talk about it more in the chatroom 😛

I think I probably am going to ditch UIC due to tuition (and it seems like I heard they charge for an extra year due to the summer or somehting like that). Wayne state will probably also be taken of my list, mainly because it doesnt look like they are very friendly to out of staters🙁 As for Ohio state....well, ohio sucks in my opinion...

 

[Cerberus]

bumpity bumpity bump

 

[superdevil]

ohio sucks, eh...why i oughta.......oh wait, it does suck. carry on.

seriously, your list looks pretty good. i know you said its hard to come up with a list of 20 schools you'd actually want to go to, and i totally agree. especially being in the midwest, where if you go beyond 7-8 schools the geographical radius your app will be covering gets to be ridiculous. my list is only about 10 as of now. it will change.

by the way, get off SDN, cerb, your paranoid ass needs to work that MCAT shizzy!

 

[Gleevec]

Doesnt NYMC have some in-state quota that is quite high? Might want to check that, Im not sure.

Any reason no Vanderbilt (since youre from TN?)

I dont know much about Wayne State either, does it have some high in-state quota as well?

It seems like youre going for NYC, so it looks like youve covered most of the schools in that regard.

Other schools people seem to like are Pitt, Baylor, Vandy (whoops already mentioned that), Emory and Rochester (which you both have).

Just remember, ask yourself if you would interview at a given school given a chance. I made the mistake of applying to a couple schools I had no intention of visiting, which was quite *****ic of me (I was scared I wasnt going to get many interviews though).

Theres a thread somewhere about schools people would have applied to in retrospect, unfortunately Im having a bit of trouble finding it, but it might be worth looking at.

Gleevec

Originally posted by Cerberus
Hey guys, here is my list right now (in no particular order), I am a TN resident.

1) Umich
2) UTENN
3) Temple
4) Jefferson
5) UVM
6) NYU
7) Rochester
8) NYMC
9) Cornell
10) Columbia
11) Einstein
12) Tulane
13) Northwestern
14) UIC
15) Sinai
16) Wayne State
17) Case Western
18) Emory
19) UCHSC
20) UVA

 

[ornis4]

Originally posted by Cerberus
Hey guys, here is my list right now (in no particular order), I am a TN resident.

1) Umich
2) UTENN
3) Temple
4) Jefferson
5) UVM
6) NYU
7) Rochester
8) NYMC
9) Cornell
10) Columbia
11) Einstein
12) Tulane
13) Northwestern
14) UIC
15) Sinai
16) Wayne State
17) Case Western
18) Emory
19) UCHSC
20) UVA

My list is going to turn out fairly similar to yours...being from CT, and without the greatest GPA, I'm putting a lot of faith in the MCAT as well. I also have great EC's and LOR, although my clinical experience is lacking. We shall see...I guess we just have to ace this test!

 

[menemotxi]

Hey Cerberus,

I wouldn't worry too much about the lack of clinical stuff. I have absolutely no clinical exposure and I've done okay. Put Vanderbilt in there too dude.

 

[Andrew_Doan]

Originally posted by Cerberus
I think i will be applying to 20. I think thats quite a bit but the idea of having to reapply doesnt sit well with me. Also, I have FAP so it really isnt costing me too much out of pocket for primaries/secondaries. Input?

Cerb,

This depends on how competitive of an applicant you are. If you have a GPA > 3.5 and MCAT of 30, then 20 schools is about right. If you have a GPA > 3.8 and MCAT of > 35, then 10 schools would be fine.

If you're submitting to 20 schools, I recommend applying to 5 top-ranked schools, 10 middle-tier, and 5 lower tier.

You can always refuse to interview if all 20 schools send you invites.

 

[Buck Strong]

save yourself some money and aggrivation...i'd say 10 is good,... I think the key is to know yourself, and to be honest about where you're going to be competitive..the rest will work itself out. Good luck.

 

[Andrew_Doan]

Originally posted by Buck Strong
save yourself some money and aggrivation...i'd say 10 is good,... I think the key is to know yourself, and to be honest about where you're going to be competitive..the rest will work itself out. Good luck.

He's taking the MCAT now, so he doesn't have all the info to judge yet.