Help narrowing down application list...

[JTrojan]

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I'm having the hardest time narrowing down my list of schools to apply to. I'm in SoCal (go to USC) and have a 3.66 and MCAT scores 11BS 12PS 10V P. I'm going to apply to all the CA schools, and I really can't apply to more than 15-16 schools because the dumb application process is way too pricey...so far, these are my choices that I need to narrow down to like 7-8:
Albany, Jefferson, Loyola, Einstein, Dartmouth, Rochester, NYU, Vandy, Northwestern, Cornell, Mt. Sinai, Case...
I'm having such a hard time because all the schools sound so much alike from their web sites and the book of schools that I have. Does anyone have any views on these schools that could help me decide? I know this is a lot to ask, but this is really the only thing holding me up from clicking send on the application... 😕

 

[Alexander99]

I'm having the hardest time narrowing down my list of schools to apply to. I'm in SoCal (go to USC) and have a 3.66 and MCAT scores 11BS 12PS 10V P. I'm going to apply to all the CA schools, and I really can't apply to more than 15-16 schools because the dumb application process is way too pricey...so far, these are my choices that I need to narrow down to like 7-8:
Albany, Jefferson, Loyola, Einstein, Dartmouth, Rochester, NYU, Vandy, Northwestern, Cornell, Mt. Sinai, Case...

Here's my advice to you: a 3.66 and 33 are some pretty good numbers. Basically, only apply to the schools you'd be happy attending and don't apply to any "backup" schools. Here's the reason why. Acceptances can be somewhat random and there's a chance that you won't get into any of your favored schools and only get accepted at your "backup." How would you feel if you had to attend that school since it's the only one you got into?

I think it's better to only apply to schools where you'd be enthuiastic about attending and not getting in at all if luck is against you (there's always next year.) If that ends up being the case (which is unlikely), you can then choose to add some backups since waiting 2 years sucks. Just my take on things.

 

[mmz6]

I need to narrow down to like 7-8:
Albany, Jefferson, Loyola, Einstein, Dartmouth, Rochester, NYU, Vandy, Northwestern, Cornell, Mt. Sinai, Case...

if it were me, i would keep these schools in, and try to elimante some of the others.

albany (safety),
northwestern (screen pre-secondary, so u only pay if there is a chance u get in),
cornell (reach, excellent school/curriculum),
rochester (close at your numbers, and its an awesome school)
1 of nyu, sinai or einstein (id pick sinai just cuz i liked it more- close to your numbers and its in NYC- all similar stats, similar location, so 1 is fine, unless u love nyc, in which case apply to all).

 

[pekq]

It looks like your choices are based on a desire to be in big cities. Just based on that, I'd recommend you remove Vandy, Rochester, Albany and Dartmouth and replace them with BU, Tuft, Georgetown, Drexel, NYMC, UPenn, or Columbia.

 

[JTrojan]

Here's my advice to you: a 3.66 and 33 are some pretty good numbers. Basically, only apply to the schools you'd be happy attending and don't apply to any "backup" schools. Here's the reason why. Acceptances can be somewhat random and there's a chance that you won't get into any of your favored schools and only get accepted at your "backup." How would you feel if you had to attend that school since it's the only one you got into?

I think it's better to only apply to schools where you'd be enthuiastic about attending and not getting in at all if luck is against you (there's always next year.) If that ends up being the case (which is unlikely), you can then choose to add some backups since waiting 2 years sucks. Just my take on things.

That really helps. I know I've heard that lots of times, but this is the first time I've really listened. When it really comes down to it, even though I've never been to the east coast, I really don't see myself liking it--I'm not really much of a big-crowded-dirty-hailing taxis-city person. But just in case I'm wrong, I think I'm still going to apply to 3 over there (einstein, sinai, cornell OR sinai, rochester, cornell???). I'll still be crossing my fingers for CA or IL (have family there) though.

 

[JTrojan]

rochester (close at your numbers, and its an awesome school)

Why do you think rochester is awesome? If I was choosing to apply to Einstein v Rochester, you'd say Rochester?

ps. I don't know what I'd do without this board 🙂

 

[willthatsall]

Does your financial situation dictate that you can't apply to any more than 7-8 of those schools? Just thinking that maybe you could apply to more of them at least up to the secondary and then depending on how many interviews you get you could decide what to do at that point. If money is that big of an issue, perhaps you should look into the cost of the secondary at each school if you don't have any other preference for one over the other, so that you could either save some money or use the extra money to apply to another school.

 

[size_tens]

If you really want to go to IL why not apply to UIC or Rush?

 

[mmz6]

Why do you think rochester is awesome? If I was choosing to apply to Einstein v Rochester, you'd say Rochester?

ps. I don't know what I'd do without this board 🙂

most definitely- I actually applied to both, was lucky to be accepted to both, and had picked Rochester, even forgoing a scholarship from Einstein.

The reasoning- tru, einstein is in nyc, a definite plus. However, I didn't feel the students were at all that happy/pretended to be happy. It wasnt a bad school, but I just didnt feel a good vibe. Plus the area around it isnt that great. Curriculum is so-so.

rochester.... the one bad thing i can think of is that its in rochester. But, even that isnt too bad. The city is pretty nice. What's so good about it? PRetty much everything else. The student body is awesome- laid back, friendly, diverse. And everyone I talked to was truly happy to be there. I had the chance to have dinner with 15 of them (it was my hosts' friends birthday), so I had the chance to talk to them a lot.
Anyway, besides that, the Double Helix Curriculum is really cool (read up on it), as well as the early, meaningful, clinical exposure.

PM me if you want more info. For me, the choice was very easy between those two schools.

 

[whournameiz]

do admissions people care about how many schools you apply to? i.e. if u apply to like 30 will they read too much into that?

 

[mmz6]

do admissions people care about how many schools you apply to? i.e. if u apply to like 30 will they read too much into that?

nope
(why do posts have to be at least 10 characters long?)

 

[angstrom55]

I liked Einstein a lot. Wasn't right in Manhattan but not in boonyland either. Only about a 40 minute busride away from manhattan.

Jefferson was okay...right in downtown philly. from what i remembered, the research labs looked old (interviewed as md/phd).

Drexel itself was cool, but seriously did not like the area it was in!

It is sorta hard to gauge how the schools are based on just their websites. With your numbers, i doubt you'd have a hard time getting at least an interview, if not an acceptance to Drexel, Jefferson, or Einstein.