How did you use MSAR effectively?

[pinacol]

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I just purchased MSAR online, and I was wondering if anyone had advice on how to use it effectively. I marked all of the schools where my scores are above their 10th percentile range in GPA and MCAT, but that still leaves me with over 100 schools to look at. What could I do to narrow down my search more effectively/what did you do to find a concise list of schools that you were competitive at?

Thanks!

 

[TheSummit]

out of state stats. You don't want schools that interview/matriculate very few out of state students.

mission/values. Some schools look for very specific criteria in their applicants. For example, Loma Linda, UC riverside, Howard, etc.

 

[cactus8910]

I was able to eliminate a lot of schools based on the location, just based on my own preferences.
While >10th percentile is a good requirement, you should be aiming to apply mainly to schools for which you're close to the median, so you can eliminate many of the schools where your stats are >90th percentile or close to the 10th percentile, leaving a few reaches and a few "safeties" (keep in mind that many schools won't interview candidates they don't think will come to their school, so being >90th percentile isn't a guarantee that you'll get in).

 

[miamiheatfan]

Other than the obvious (10-90% GPA/MCAT), look at the "Accepted Information" tab. See the ratio of OOS applicants to OOS interviews given. Also pay attention to what schools are willing to interview. If the school's MCAT average is a 28, it is most likely too good to be true and the school probably sticks with in-state students only (ex. Mississippi, New Mexico, etc).

 

[Goro]

Pay careful attention to the Acceptance Information page. This tells you that if you live in, say, Iowa, it's a bad idea to apply to U WA, or U ND.

Read the mission statements as well.

Look at the medians. If you MCAT score is 4 points below the median, and right at the 10th %ile, it's best to skip that school. Aim for schools whose median numbers are closest to your own.

I just purchased MSAR online, and I was wondering if anyone had advice on how to use it effectively. I marked all of the schools where my scores are above their 10th percentile range in GPA and MCAT, but that still leaves me with over 100 schools to look at. What could I do to narrow down my search more effectively/what did you do to find a concise list of schools that you were competitive at?

Thanks!

 

[breakintheroof]

I just purchased MSAR online, and I was wondering if anyone had advice on how to use it effectively. I marked all of the schools where my scores are above their 10th percentile range in GPA and MCAT, but that still leaves me with over 100 schools to look at. What could I do to narrow down my search more effectively/what did you do to find a concise list of schools that you were competitive at?

This is the correct first step. You will also be able to strike out quite a number of schools by following the suggestions in this thread.

Next, you'll want to think about what you are looking for in a school. Sometimes this is obvious, like location. For more nuanced concepts, like which schools have pass/fail preclinical curricula, or good financial aid, or a mission to produce strong researchers, you may want to start poking around SDN's school-specific threads.

Those threads, however, can be difficult to wade through. An effort is therefore underway by the class of students who are currently applying to distill the most valuable information in these threads for your class and beyond. Here is document we are working on. (For those who came to this thread to give advice, I highly encourage you to contribute!)

 

[jb94mg]

This is the correct first step. You will also be able to strike out quite a number of schools by following the suggestions in this thread.

Next, you'll want to think about what you are looking for in a school. Sometimes this is obvious, like location. For more nuanced concepts, like which schools have pass/fail preclinical curricula, or good financial aid, or a mission to produce strong researchers, you may want to start poking around SDN's school-specific threads.

Those threads, however, can be difficult to wade through. An effort is therefore underway by the class of students who are currently applying to distill the most valuable information in these threads for your class and beyond. Here is document we are working on. (For those who came to this thread to give advice, I highly encourage you to contribute!)

Hopefully this document is going to be stickied once it's complete.

 

[breakintheroof]

Hopefully this document is going to be stickied once it's complete.

I had not thought of that personally, but if it takes off, I agree.

At least part of the proposed distribution plan is that when next year's school-specific threads are created, the relevant section for each school could be pasted into each thread.

 

[WhiteMaleSyndrome]

I just bought MSAR as well, but was disappointed to not find anything about how they view multiple MCAT attempts (e.g., averaged out, most recent, etc.). Am I missing something? Or will I have to just contact individual schools?

 

[M12B]

I used the "favorite" tool where you can star your favorite schools. I started with all of them starred (I know a pain in the butt, but go with it).

• I eliminated the outrageous reach schools based on stats by un-starring them to take them off my list (You can use the filter to show your favorite schools only).
• Next I eliminated based on schools I knew I didn't want to go to (schools with missions that don't suit me, schools in locations I absolutely wouldn't live for 4 years, and schools not in continental US where some criteria for me specifically).
• Next I eliminated state schools based on OOS acceptance rates being too low.
• From there I had a decent sized list of "favorites" that still needed to be heavily trimmed, so I thoroughly researched all of the remaining schools and made a HUGE spreadsheet to compare/contrast all of the things that were important to me regarding curriculum, tuition, stats, neighborhood, facilities, EC programs, research, etc, you name it and it was on my spreadsheet haha.
• From there I slowly eliminated schools until I had a final "favorite" list of 20 to which I applied.
• Since applying, I have been un-starring schools that have rejected me, so every time I visit MSAR, when I filter by favorites, I only see those schools at which I'm still in the running.

It was a long and tedious process, but it worked out very well for me, and if I must re-apply next year, I'll do the exact same thing. I liked that I could easily keep tabs on the schools I was still considering applying to, I just hit the "favorites" button and the MSAR removed the rest from the list for me.

 

[justadream]

Does the MSAR tell you how many LORs each school wants (or the max #)?

 

[gyngyn]

Does the MSAR tell you how many LORs each school wants (or the max #)?

yes.

 

[gyngyn]

I just bought MSAR as well, but was disappointed to not find anything about how they view multiple MCAT attempts (e.g., averaged out, most recent, etc.). Am I missing something? Or will I have to just contact individual schools?

Most schools cannot really tell you because each evaluator has a personal viewpoint that varies from committee to committee depending on the group dynamic. The party line is to average scores. Schools tend to tell applicants that they use the most recent or best score even though there is no way to enforce this.

 

[velodork]

What do you guys think is a safe threshold to be considered OOS Friendly or not in terms of % matriculated?

 

[miamiheatfan]

What do you guys think is a safe threshold to be considered OOS Friendly or not in terms of % matriculated?

I think it depends on the school. Some schools may interview 600 OOS people but have less than 100 matriculate. Most likely the majority of the OOS interviewees will be waitlisted, but interview=chance of acceptance. If you see close to 50/50 IS/OOS matriculation then the school is really friendly post interview as well. I'd go by interviews given more than matriculation personally.

 

[deleted436726]

I know some people have expressed misgivings in the past about Open MSRA, but I found its LizzyM feature very useful, something the official MSAR doesn't have. I pretty much restricted my applications to only those schools where I was either Very Competitive, Competitive, or a Low Reach at.

 

[medic86]

I know some people have expressed misgivings in the past about Open MSRA, but I found its LizzyM feature very useful, something the official MSAR doesn't have. I pretty much restricted my applications to only those schools where I was either Very Competitive, Competitive, or a Low Reach at.

Blehhhhhhhh...

With what I expect my MCAT score to be, I'll have very few schools where I'm Very Competitive, Competitive, or Low Reach. D:

 

[Goro]

I tend to recommend a school if they accept >15% OOS. Keep in mind that state schools do favor the home team, and so for them, you need to be > average if you're from OOS.

What do you guys think is a safe threshold to be considered OOS Friendly or not in terms of % matriculated?

 

[velodork]

I tend to recommend a school if they accept >15% OOS. Keep in mind that state schools do favor the home team, and so for them, you need to be > average if you're from OOS.

Thanks @Goro!

 

[Igvgi]

Like everyone said above. But I did it more analytical.
1. I made an excel chart of the % of OOS checked the selection factors to make sure it wasn't high because they took surrounding states. I eliminated any school that took less than 20% OOS unless I knew a friend with similar stats and ECs who got an interview.
2. I eliminated most schools that had more than 10,000 applicants (GW, CMS, Drexel, jefferson, Temple) unless I liked the location and mission. Reason: I didn't want to be the 250th student with average stats who travelled and did research. I wanted to be able to stand out more in a smaller pool (2 exceptions)
3. I tried to chose schools that had a high interview percentage. (Exceptions with my three reach schools).

There are no safety schools. Unless maybe if you have a 3.7+ AND 34+. Don't apply to a lot of reach schools. Waste of money and time. If you do. Do their secondaries last. I made this mistake the first time I applied thinking my state schools were my safeties and I could apply to just top tier schools.

First time I applied: 1 interview/18 schools.
Second time: 7 interviews/26 schools (still no IS interviews)