How do you pick what school to apply to?

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Is there a common method on how to decide what school I should be applying to?
Is it a manual process, i.e. going to each schools website to see if I am competitive?

What was your methodology?

 

[maybedeadcat]

Buy the MSAR

 

[thatwouldbeanarchy]

Start with MSAR. Look for schools that are a good fit for your stats (GPA/MCAT). It's okay to apply to some "reach" schools but you don't want to hurt your chances by having a top-heavy school list. You can find a lot of information on MSAR about the schools themselves. But I did spend a fair bit of time looking at school websites, too. As you're doing your research, think about things that are important to you (location, mission, cost of attendance, dual degree programs, curriculum structure, etc).

SDN can be a good resource, too, if you want feedback once you have a tentative school list.

 

[bate16]

Make sure you only apply to schools that you would want to go to. All of us here have seen people get into like their middle to bottom choice and then think about reapplying. Do not apply to a school if you are honestly not willing to go to it. In addition, I agree with the above posts. Look for schools where you think you have a good chance of getting in and then a couple reaches. Even if you do not buy MSAR, just simply researching the schools can tell you a ton about them.