Help me narrow my list

[Begaster]

GPA ~= 3.83
MCAT = 36S (13P/12V/11B)

Lots of research. Fairly strong ECs/volunteer work/actual work.

I am OOS for all listed schools.

• Harvard
• Hopkins
• Washington Univeristy (St. Louis)
• University of Pennsylvania
• Duke
• Stanford
• Yale
• Columbia University
• Pritzker
• Vanderbilt
• UNC - Chapel Hill
• Emory
• Northwestern - Feinberg
• Case Western Reserve & CCLCM
• Mayo
• Mount Sinai
• Brown University
• Dartmouth
• New York University
• University of Minnesota
• Yeshiva
• Georgetown
• Wake Forest
• Boston University
• University of Maryland
• Indiana University
• Tufts
• Medical College of Wisconsin
• University of Connecticut
• Stony Brook
• Tulane
• University of Vermont
• Albany Medical College
• Jefferson

So what are my safeties from this list, what are my reaches, and what are right on target? I want to bring it down to about 15-20 schools, preferably Northeastern region. Probably like 8 reaches, 9 targets, 3 safeties? My first choice for a school is a toss-up between Mayo and CCLCM at Case Western.

Any help much appreciated.

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[Begaster]

...Bump?

 

[SketchLazy]

• Harvard - reach
• Hopkins - reach
• Washington Univeristy (St. Louis) - reach
• University of Pennsylvania - reach
• Duke - reach
• Stanford - reach
• Yale - reach
• Columbia University - reach
• Pritzker 69. - reach
• Vanderbilt - reach
• UNC - Chapel Hill - reach
• Emory - reach
• Northwestern - Feinberg - reach
• Case Western Reserve & CCLCM - reach
• Mayo - reach
• Mount Sinai - competitive
• Brown University - reach
• Dartmouth - reach
• New York University - competitive
• University of Minnesota - competitive
• Yeshiva - competitive
• Georgetown - competitive
• Wake Forest - very competitive
• Boston University - competitive
• University of Maryland - reach because OOS
• Indiana University - ??
• Tufts - competitive
• Medical College of Wisconsin - very competitive
• University of Connecticut - very competitive
• Stony Brook - competitive because of OOS
• Tulane - competitive because of OOS
• University of Vermont - ??
• Albany Medical College - very competitive
• Jefferson - competitive

Very Competitive - great chance of getting in
Competitive - good chance of getting in
Reach - need to spend massive amounts of time on secondaries espousing your unique virtues and how they fall in line with the virtues of the school because they already have tons of people with your numbers

 

[MCP1]

SketchLazy, Do you really think the OP is a reach at all those top schools.

I would say at the very least, he/she would be competitive.

What stats would you call competitive at the reach schools?

 

[SketchLazy]

SketchLazy, Do you really think the OP is a reach at all those top schools.

I would say at the very least, he/she would be competitive.

What stats would you call competitive at the reach schools?

This person has lots of research which would make them at least competitive at all the 'reach' schools given a 3.8/36. The problem is that all these schools have the best and the brightest to choose from for their incoming class of ~100-200 people. Most have high 30s/low 40s mcats and ~3.8 GPAs so a lot of other things come into play. This person seems like they have it all, but the hardest part is convincing these schools of that in secondaries. Most of the schools I said were reaches have extensive secondaries (except for UPenn and WashU) which you have to devote a lot of time to. This is in addition to the secondaries from all the other ones which aren't so easy either. So if this person wants only about 8 reaches, it might be better for them to start from the reaches and whittle those down to 8. Any of those top schools are extremely impressive and will probably wow anyone who comes for an interview anyway. Only having to choose to matriculate at Vanderbuilt and Yale instead of Vandy, Pritzker, Harvard and Yale won't hurt your career or your future at all.

 

[abcabc1]

I'd put Jefferson, MCW and Georgetown in the category where you have a very good chance. I don't like the term 'safety school.'

You have a reasonable chance at any private school so, if you want 17 of them from your list, here you go: Harvard-Pritzker (9), Emory, Feinberg, Case, CCLCM, Mayo, Sinai, NYU and AECOM.

 

[Begaster]

Great.

Thanks guys!


Another question for you guys:

If finances are important to me (read: minimizing debt), how should I go about picking schools those 20? Mayo and CCLCM are at my very top because they're very generous.

 

[MossPoh]

With stats like that, apply to your state schools. Apply to your one or two dream schools and then a maybe 2 or 3 places that you are really interested in. Be practical. Think where you want to live for that time. 10 schools should be more than enough for you. I have much worse stats, and am applying to 30 with a mix of DO/MD. What state are you from? I don't know much about you, but my personal choices would involve Pritzker, Duke, Vanderbilt, Einstein (Yeshiva), Emory, Stanford, Georgetown, Tulane, Jefferson, and my state schools if I only have 1 or 2. If I had more then I'd probably take Stanford off first.

That is just my personal feelings. I wish I had your gpa...damn lack of aspirations for 2 years.

 

[abcabc1]

It's difficult to minimize your future debt at this stage. You're a very good student and, if things work out, it might be possible for you to pawn schools against each other. You can tell one school that the other offered you this much, ask what they can do, etc. It's premature now. I've heard WashU and Duke don't ming throwing the $$ around.

I think you should focus on elite schools, as they do offer advantages that average schools can not match. Hopefully, you'll also get some money thrown your way!