How many allopathic schools should I apply to, to guarantee myself an acceptance? I am too average.

[emptinessofdark]

3.55 GPA
3.51 sGPA
Major: public health
1 year hospital volunteer. 120+ hours
1 year free clinic for homeless and uninsured volunteer (greeting people) 3 hrs a week.=120+ hours
2 years Tutor at the tutoring center @College. 10 hrs a week paid. 600+ hours
110 hrs shadowing doctors.
1 trimester chemistry research 4 hours a week. =50 hours.
1 summer: travel abroad for fun. no volunteering
bilingual. white, non urm. not spanish.

How many allo med schools need I apply to in order to guarantee myself an acceptance, or at least come close?

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[emptinessofdark]

ok i have no idea why "college" was tagged. wtf. i meant at college, and just abbreviated with @

 

[DrCharlemagne]

MCAT? Pubs or posters from the research? Quality of your LORs?

Regional preferences? State of residence?

 

[emptinessofdark]

I only did research for a little bit! No posters or pubs of course. It was only for like 3-4 months, twice a week. No MCAT yet. Hopefully it will be good. Don't care where I go to medical school, but I only have one allpathic med school in my state, so I will need to apply to lots of OOS med schools.

 

[DrCharlemagne]

Without an MCAT, it's hard to say. Also, even with a 40+, there are no guarantees of admittance anywhere. Consensus here seems to hang between 10-15 schools, but if you just want to go to medical school consider DO.

 

[emptinessofdark]

Without an MCAT, it's hard to say. Also, even with a 40+, there are no guarantees of admittance anywhere. Consensus here seems to hang between 10-15 schools, but if you just want to go to medical school consider DO.

Ehh. I'd prefer MD since I want to go into a competitive specialty (road). I guess I'll apply to a couple of close DO schools. Really would prefer MD though.

only 15 schools? Seems kinda little. I thought it would be more like 30+ schools, but just looking to get a better estimate.

 

[V5RED]

Without an MCAT, it's hard to say. Also, even with a 40+, there are no guarantees of admittance anywhere. Consensus here seems to hang between 10-15 schools, but if you just want to go to medical school consider DO.

I would raise that number of schools to something more like 15-25. 10 seems like very few schools even for an above average applicant.

 

[DrCharlemagne]

Ehh. I'd prefer MD since I want to go into a competitive specialty (road). I guess I'll apply to a couple of close DO schools. Really would prefer MD though.

only 15 schools? Seems kinda little. I thought it would be more like 30+ schools, but just looking to get a better estimate.

If you have yet to take an MCAT, you're still contending with a large unknown in your planning. My GPA was slightly higher than yours, I did okay on the MCAT, but I applied strategically and networked like hell and managed to get 2 II and one acceptance out of ~12 applications. Bear in mind that 30 secondaries is not a cheap prospect, nor is writing 30 convincing essays an easy task.

 

[emptinessofdark]

If you have yet to take an MCAT, you're still contending with a large unknown in your planning. My GPA was slightly higher than yours, I did okay on the MCAT, but I applied strategically and networked like hell and managed to get 2 II and one acceptance out of ~12 applications. Bear in mind that 30 secondaries is not a cheap prospect, nor is writing 30 convincing essays an easy task.

What do you mean "networked"? How do you "network" your way into medical school?

 

[V5RED]

If you have yet to take an MCAT, you're still contending with a large unknown in your planning. My GPA was slightly higher than yours, I did okay on the MCAT, but I applied strategically and networked like hell and managed to get 2 II and one acceptance out of ~12 applications. Bear in mind that 30 secondaries is not a cheap prospect, nor is writing 30 convincing essays an easy task.

I am not trying to be a dick, but your application was nothing like his. You had a 3.79 with a 33 MCAT and you had plenty of meaningful ECs including somewhat strong research. I would not suggest that OP can follow your application method with success.

 

[StBernardsRule]

There's just no way to know this without an MCAT. My guess is you are slightly below the average accepted white applicant in terms of GPA and EC activities.

Assuming no state school and a balanced MCAT, I'd guess the following after readings this forums for a while and having seen many friends go through this process:

Sub 30 MCAT: You more likely than not won't be accepted into a MD school.
MCAT 31-33: You'll likely be accepted somewhere if you apply early and broadly to many (20-25 or so) schools. Might be a pretty stressful process (as it is for many people) where you only get accepted off 1 waitlist and you should focus almost exclusively on the easiest schools to get into to maximize your chances of getting accepted.
MCAT 34+: You may get multiple acceptances and can aim a bit higher. You should still apply to many schools, you just now have a better shot and can throw in some mid-tiers as well.

Best of luck!

 

[DrCharlemagne]

What do you mean "networked"? How do you "network" your way into medical school?

I mean, I work here, I volunteer here, I got great LORs from staff and students here, and I made this school my bread and butter for two years.

I am not trying to be a dick, but your application was nothing like his. You had a 3.79 with a 33 MCAT and you had plenty of meaningful ECs including somewhat strong research. I would not suggest that OP can follow your application method with success.

Fair enough, but I still think you can carefully target your applications and have a reasonable chance of success with <20 schools. I also had to re-apply to get in, so there's that caveat as well.

 

[Goro]

It's not a random process. Nothing is guaranted, especially sinc eyou don't have an MCAT score.

If you bomb your interviews, you're not getting accepted. The ECs seem weak too. Most people here seem to apply to 15-25 schools.

The avg acceptee at an MD school has a GPA of 3.6 and MCAT of 32. For DO, it's ~3.5 and ~27.

The likelihood of success is by targeting schools whose median scores are closest to your own. So, low tier = high likelihood. Ivy League = very low likelihood.

3.55 GPA
3.51 sGPA
Major: public health
1 year hospital volunteer. 120+ hours
1 year free clinic for homeless and uninsured volunteer (greeting people) 3 hrs a week.=120+ hours
2 years Tutor at the tutoring center @College. 10 hrs a week paid. 600+ hours
110 hrs shadowing doctors.
1 trimester chemistry research 4 hours a week. =50 hours.
1 summer: travel abroad for fun. no volunteering
bilingual. white, non urm. not spanish.

How many allo med schools need I apply to in order to guarantee myself an acceptance, or at least come close?