Help me pare down my school list!

[virtuoso735]

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My stats
cGPA: 3.42, sGPA: 3.36, MCAT: 31S (10 PS, 11 V, 10 BS, S writing)
From California.

School list:
-AT Still Arizona (ATSU-KCOM)
-AT Still Kirksville (ATSU-SOMA)
-Arizona COM at Midwestern University (AZCOM)
-Chicago COM at Midwestern University (CCOM)
-Des Moines University COM (DMU)
-Kansas City University of Medicine & Biosciences (KCUMB)
-LECOM-Erie/Seton Hill
-LECOM-Bradenton
-Lincoln Memorial University (LMU)
-New York COM (NYCOM)
-Nova Southeastern University (NSU)
-Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM)
-Touro New York
-Touro California
-Touro Nevada
-University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ)
-University of New England (UNECOM)
-Western University of Health Sciences (Western Pomona)
-Western-Lebanon

Reasoning:
1) I did not include any public schools except UMDNJ.
2) Did not include any schools with extremely strong regional biases (i.e. PNWU, WCU, etc.)
3) Prefer to stay in California/West Coast region
4) Prefer metropolitan areas over rural environments

Please help me pare down my list. How many should I apply to so I can be sure to get into at least one school? I want to pare down to about 12, but not sure if that is enough. Thanks!

 

[drshark]

Anywhere from 10-15 is solid! Just pick based on where you could see yourself living, location wise. Being from Cali myself, it would be hard for me to live on the East Coast for long periods of time. You want to be somewhere with a tangible support system, friends, fam, etc. Somewhere where the weather might not be too harsh, since cali is so damn sunny lol the snow might not work out too well. You have good stats so It shouldn't be hard for you to stay in the west coast in my opinion!

 

[virtuoso735]

Shoot, I didn't realize that KCUMB and DMU require biochem, and I haven't take that class. Those two were among my top choices, too. Should I cross them off the list?

 

[angldrps]

May I ask why you didn't include more than 1 public schools?

 

[chiddler]

Aren't all D.O schools private?

 

[yellowperil]

Shoot, I didn't realize that KCUMB and DMU require biochem, and I haven't take that class. Those two were among my top choices, too. Should I cross them off the list?

You dont have to take them off, you have 2 more semesters to take them before matriculating to med school.

 

[costales]

Aren't all D.O schools private?

The DO schools in Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, New Jersey, Texas, West Virginia are state schools.

 

[Badgers326]

If you don't want rural, cross Kirksville off your list.

 

[ForeverDoc]

Our stats are almost exactly the same and I applied this past cycle. My school list was very similar to yours, but after going through the interview season, I might have some advice.

Like @Badgers326 said, if you don't prefer rural, cross Kirksville off your list. You can also cross off LMU if the rural is a non-negotiable. I actually fell in love with LMU when I visited, but eventually decided that I couldn't be that far from civilization. This was a very hard decision, however, considering how much I loved the school itself. Also going along with this theme, ATSU-SOMA (this is the Arizona campus) builds their curriculum around community-centered healthcare. After the first year you are placed in a separate community program, most of which are in very rural areas. I think there is one New York option, but the rest are in the middle of nowhere. I know that UNECOM is in Maine, and I believe it is also rural.

I don't know if you know this yet, but LECOM-Bradenton has a strictly PBL (problem-based learning) curriculum. That means that there are no traditional lectures; instead, most of the learning is done on your own, where you meet up in small groups with a faculty facilitator to discuss the material. If you prefer a traditional lecture environment where professors teach the material, you will not find it here. Also, you might want to do a search on SDN for LECOM-Erie. The students there seem to have strong opinions.

I could say a lot more, but I'm not sure exactly what you're looking for. Feel free to PM me if you need advice on other specific schools.

 

[JeetKuneDo]

Good list. We have similar stats as well. I agree with crossing out KCOM, LMU and even Western Lebanon if you do not prefer rural. I'd add Nova to the list, even though it's east coast. Also, be aware that PCOM requires a dean's LOR.

 

[Iliketoytles]

DMU

There, it's done. 😎