how many med schools do you apply ?

[radnguyen]

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I plan to apply 3 schools in Virginia and 2 schools in Texas. Do you think I should apply for more schools to increase my chance ? I heard average is about 10 schools.

I lived in Texas for 10 years and all my degrees were in Texas. I got a job and moved to Virginia. I has recently lived and worked and paid tax in Virginia for 2 years. Which states is my residency ?

Thank you and good luck for everyone who'll take MCAT this year.

 

[sgemmell]

I plan to apply 3 schools in Virginia and 2 schools in Texas. Do you think I should apply for more schools to increase my chance ? I heard average is about 10 schools.

I lived in Texas for 10 years and all my degrees were in Texas. I got a job and moved to Virginia. I has recently lived and worked and paid tax in Virginia for 2 years. Which states is my residency ?

Thank you and good luck for everyone who'll take MCAT this year.

I applied to 7 schools, was invited for interviews at 6 of them, interviewed at 5, and was accepted at 5 (but that was a few years ago, as I'm a 3rd year now). As far as will applying to more increase your chances, it could. The advise given to everyone that was pre-med when I was in undergrad -- apply to as many schools as you can afford, but limit those applications to schools that you would actually attend, if accepted. Think about both the school itself and things outside of the school, but that will affect you.

As far as which state is considered your residency, since you have lived, worked and paid taxes (I assume your parents don't claim you on their taxes) in Virginia for 2 years, Virginia would be considered your state of residency.

 

[radnguyen]

I applied to 7 schools, was invited for interviews at 6 of them, interviewed at 5, and was accepted at 5 (but that was a few years ago, as I'm a 3rd year now). As far as will applying to more increase your chances, it could. The advise given to everyone that was pre-med when I was in undergrad -- apply to as many schools as you can afford, but limit those applications to schools that you would actually attend, if accepted. Think about both the school itself and things outside of the school, but that will affect you.

As far as which state is considered your residency, since you have lived, worked and paid taxes (I assume your parents don't claim you on their taxes) in Virginia for 2 years, Virginia would be considered your state of residency.

Wow, it is very impressive. Can you say a bit more in term of your GPA and MCAT during the time you were applying to med schools ? I bet it must be very good.
Oh no, I has lived on my own since I am 19 (worked 2 jobs to support living during UG). I am 31 now. I am a full-time engineer with MS in nuclear. My ugpa is 3.2 and grad gpa is 3.8. I took premed course in chem and biology recently. They are about 3.5 or 3.6. If I am accepted this year, I would start to practice medicine when I am 40s. Just start a new professional career in 40s age. It is quite late. Again, thanks.

 

[Weewee]

Add some privates and schools that do not have is/oos bias. I think the best advice is to apply to as many schools as is feasible....and as early as possible. Obviously with financial/time restraints you have to decide how many you can handle. If you do have Texas residency, I would suggest applying to as many as possible if not all of them. Good luck!

 

[sgemmell]

Wow, it is very impressive. Can you say a bit more in term of your GPA and MCAT during the time you were applying to med schools ? I bet it must be very good.
Oh no, I has lived on my own since I am 19 (worked 2 jobs to support living during UG). I am 31 now. I am a full-time engineer with MS in nuclear. My ugpa is 3.2 and grad gpa is 3.8. I took premed course in chem and biology recently. They are about 3.5 or 3.6. If I am accepted this year, I would start to practice medicine when I am 40s. Just start a new professional career in 40s age. It is quite late. Again, thanks.

I'm a non-trad as well and will be about 40 when I finish residency 🙂 I started undergrad about the same time my divorce was being finalized.

I finished undergrad w/ a 3.96 GPA (stupid organic chem 1 dropped me from a 4.0). My MCAT was a 33. I also did a lot of shadowing, volunteer work and research and some other ECs.

 

[ChE04]

With your GPA, you really should apply to as many as possible; you are an extreme underdog for MD schools, so you should consider applying DO as well. On top of that you need to be smart about where you apply. Texas schools, by law, can only matriculate a maximum of 10% of their student body from out of state (you are no longer a Texas resident), and so the applicant pool is much more competitive. Texas schools are long shots for you at this point. Also, it's pretty obvious that English is not your first language, so make sure you have several people proof read anything you write on your application (ie, essays, extracurricular activity descriptions), for syntax and grammar, as well as content.

 

[radnguyen]

I'm a non-trad as well and will be about 40 when I finish residency 🙂 I started undergrad about the same time my divorce was being finalized.

I finished undergrad w/ a 3.96 GPA (stupid organic chem 1 dropped me from a 4.0). My MCAT was a 33. I also did a lot of shadowing, volunteer work and research and some other ECs.

This year, I was almost on the edge of divorce myself. My spouse is totally against my medical plan. I have no supporter for this long run. I only try my luck this year. If I cannot get in, then I stick with engineering field. At this point, I have none volunteer work, but I have 4 years research experiences in thermal-fluid and 2 years experiences in nuclear reactor design. I don't know if medical school considers these kinds of experiences.

 

[radnguyen]

With your GPA, you really should apply to as many as possible; you are an extreme underdog for MD schools, so you should consider applying DO as well. On top of that you need to be smart about where you apply. Texas schools, by law, can only matriculate a maximum of 10% of their student body from out of state (you are no longer a Texas resident), and so the applicant pool is much more competitive. Texas schools are long shots for you at this point. Also, it's pretty obvious that English is not your first language, so make sure you have several people proof read anything you write on your application (ie, essays, extracurricular activity descriptions), for syntax and grammar, as well as content.

Thanks a lot for showing me good points. My goal is trying to kill MCAT to compensate my low uGPA. Going to medical school is not a must for me. I do my best, and if I cannot get in, then there is nothing for me to regret.

 

[Birdnals]

With your GPA, you really should apply to as many as possible; you are an extreme underdog for MD schools, so you should consider applying DO as well. On top of that you need to be smart about where you apply. Texas schools, by law, can only matriculate a maximum of 10% of their student body from out of state (you are no longer a Texas resident), and so the applicant pool is much more competitive. Texas schools are long shots for you at this point. Also, it's pretty obvious that English is not your first language, so make sure you have several people proof read anything you write on your application (ie, essays, extracurricular activity descriptions), for syntax and grammar, as well as content.

Extreme underdog? Other circumstances might make this true but I would hardly think his GPA makes him an extreme underdog. A 3.8 for his masters in nuclear engineering? 3.5/3.6 for his prereqs? I can almost guarantee you that the admissions folks care more about his acing the grad level engineering courses than they do about his grade from the Western European humanities class he took freshman year. Maybe a little disadvantaged but hardly an extreme underdog.

OP my advice for you is simple: rock the MCAT. The other posters are right though and you will probably need to work on your English. Take classes for that or do whatever you need because I'd say that's probably going to be your biggest hurdle right now, not just for personal statements and such but also for the verbal section of the MCAT and more importantly for when you are actually a physician and must communicate regularly with your patients and/or health care teams. Best of luck in endeavors!

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[ChE04]

Extreme underdog? Other circumstances might make this true but I would hardly think his GPA makes him an extreme underdog. A 3.8 for his masters in nuclear engineering? 3.5/3.6 for his prereqs? I can almost guarantee you that the admissions folks care more about his acing the grad level engineering courses than they do about his grade from the Western European humanities class he took freshman year. Maybe a little disadvantaged but hardly an extreme underdog.

I respectfully disagree. His cumulative GPA (3.2) is well below the 10th percentile for US MD schools. Grad GPA is great, but masters GPAs are tricky and not easily comparable across applicants. On top of that, after the great grad-level work, his post-bacc pre-req work is back down to 3.5/3.6, which is just average and doesn't really make up for the 3.2 undergrad (and makes me wonder about the grad-GPA even more re: grade inflation). I do agree that the MCAT is going to be a big factor, but the OP also needs to concentrate on getting straight A's in any future coursework.

 

[Pons Asinorum]

This year, I was almost on the edge of divorce myself. My spouse is totally against my medical plan. I have no supporter for this long run.

This will be a much bigger threat to your long-term success than how many schools to which you apply. Regarding the school list itself, unless you are going to knock the socks off the MCAT (35+), that school list is risky. Medical school admissions is a game of probabilities, unfortunately.

 

[radnguyen]

I respectfully disagree. His cumulative GPA (3.2) is well below the 10th percentile for US MD schools. Grad GPA is great, but masters GPAs are tricky and not easily comparable across applicants. On top of that, after the great grad-level work, his post-bacc pre-req work is back down to 3.5/3.6, which is just average and doesn't really make up for the 3.2 undergrad (and makes me wonder about the grad-GPA even more re: grade inflation). I do agree that the MCAT is going to be a big factor, but the OP also needs to concentrate on getting straight A's in any future coursework.

3.2 undergrad is because I earned straight Cs and some Ds for a series of courses in governments, history, sociology, art and English + a big "F" on internal communication course. Gladly, my high engineering GPA compensated some of it. I applied for grad engineering schools, and I was accepted to many top 5 engineering school with decent stipend. I bet engineering committees only looks at my major grade + GRE quantitative ( 790/800 for math and 280/800 for verbal ( 1% lowest score for verbal) ). 2 years grad GPA for master with 3.8, and 1 year PhD for 3.78 ( total about 60 credits grad course work ). I myself don't think my grad GPA is inflate because my engineering program is ranked second (only after MIT) and it is a public school. But I am convinced that medical school doesn't care much.
Actually it is not a post-bac. I take biology and chem while I am working fulltime 40-50 hr/wk.

 

[radnguyen]

This will be a much bigger threat to your long-term success than how many schools to which you apply. Regarding the school list itself, unless you are going to knock the socks off the MCAT (35+), that school list is risky. Medical school admissions is a game of probabilities, unfortunately.

I own a house + my spouse has a job here. So I prefer going to med schools nearby. Trying my best to nail the MCAT.

 

[dsoz]

Check out my MDapps link under my avatar. I applied to 8 MD and 12 DO schools. I had 5 interviews (my state school and a private school that is 90 minutes away, two Florida schools, and one in Arizona). I had three acceptances and three wait lists that I declined. I had a bunch more interviews lined up, but canceled them as soon as I had my second acceptance (#2 choice school), and canceled everything else after my third acceptance (#1 choice). The timeline can be seen for each school.

I agree with the above poster. Without a dedicated support system, this will be a rough road to travel. Your spouse either needs to be accepting, or at least willing to work with you. If there are any bad feelings about this, it will blow up in your face at the worst possible time.

Good luck. This is a great resource to ask questions.

dsoz

 

[ChE04]

3.2 undergrad is because I earned straight Cs and some Ds for a series of courses in governments, history, sociology, art and English + a big "F" on internal communication course. Gladly, my high engineering GPA compensated some of it. I applied for grad engineering schools, and I was accepted to many top 5 engineering school with decent stipend. I bet engineering committees only looks at my major grade + GRE quantitative ( 790/800 for math and 280/800 for verbal ( 1% lowest score for verbal) ). 2 years grad GPA for master with 3.8, and 1 year PhD for 3.78 ( total about 60 credits grad course work ). I myself don't think my grad GPA is inflate because my engineering program is ranked second (only after MIT) and it is a public school. But I am convinced that medical school doesn't care much.
Actually it is not a post-bac. I take biology and chem while I am working fulltime 40-50 hr/wk.

Yes, medical schools will look at a whole lot more than your proficiency in engineering. I want to re-emphasize about English here. The verbal section of the MCAT is a huge part of the test, and so it is very important that you do reasonably well on it even if you score 15s in the other sections. I'd encourage you to start reading well written articles (NYT, WSJ...) or books. This section can be a major hurdle even for native English speakers.

If you say your grad GPA wasn't inflated, then I'm not going to argue with that, but the question remains in the eyes of admissions committees: why are his post-bacc grades in freshman-level courses (I'm assuming they were the intro series here) mediocre if he can pull a 3.8 in graduate level engineering classes? It's something you may have to address moving forward.

FYI, post-bacc work is any undergraduate level coursework that you take after you have already received your bachelors degree (ie, it is post-baccalaureate).

Best of luck.

 

[radnguyen]

Check out my MDapps link under my avatar. I applied to 8 MD and 12 DO schools. I had 5 interviews (my state school and a private school that is 90 minutes away, two Florida schools, and one in Arizona). I had three acceptances and three wait lists that I declined. I had a bunch more interviews lined up, but canceled them as soon as I had my second acceptance (#2 choice school), and canceled everything else after my third acceptance (#1 choice). The timeline can be seen for each school.

I agree with the above poster. Without a dedicated support system, this will be a rough road to travel. Your spouse either needs to be accepting, or at least willing to work with you. If there are any bad feelings about this, it will blow up in your face at the worst possible time.

Good luck. This is a great resource to ask questions.

dsoz

I agree this forum is wonderful with nicest and brightest future doctors. I really admire your commitment to become a doctor at your age. You must have a very strong will and goal. Many young people in my church (majority is from rich owned business family) want to go to medical school mostly because of their parent's will or money. If I were a admission committee, I would accept a student based on his will of being a good doctor, his accomplishments in life and generosity to help the society rather than GPA and MCAT. Unfortunately, I have a very unsupported wife. She is nonstop talking with some drama everytime she sees me open a MCAT book. Thanks.

 

[radnguyen]

Yes, medical schools will look at a whole lot more than your proficiency in engineering. I want to re-emphasize about English here. The verbal section of the MCAT is a huge part of the test, and so it is very important that you do reasonably well on it even if you score 15s in the other sections. I'd encourage you to start reading well written articles (NYT, WSJ...) or books. This section can be a major hurdle even for native English speakers.

If you say your grad GPA wasn't inflated, then I'm not going to argue with that, but the question remains in the eyes of admissions committees: why are his post-bacc grades in freshman-level courses (I'm assuming they were the intro series here) mediocre if he can pull a 3.8 in graduate level engineering classes? It's something you may have to address moving forward.

FYI, post-bacc work is any undergraduate level coursework that you take after you have already received your bachelors degree (ie, it is post-baccalaureate).

Best of luck.

Believe or not, I absolutely agree with you on the the eyes of admissions committees. I made straight A/A- in chem, org chem and physics while I had 2 Cs in biology I/II and W in genetics. I am very bad at biological science ( I can not remember definition and terminology in the exam ). I published 2 technical papers in a science journal. But the writing center corrected many of my English before I submitted these papers. Yes, my English is very bad and I know it and try to improve it for years. Many thanks for your advices. I really appreciate them.

 

[NuttyEngDude]

Good luck, Radnguyen 😉

 

[Quizlet04]

Believe or not, I absolutely agree with you on the the eyes of admissions committees. I made straight A/A- in chem, org chem and physics while I had 2 Cs in biology I/II and W in genetics. I am very bad at biological science ( I can not remember definition and terminology in the exam ). I published 2 technical papers in a science journal. But the writing center corrected many of my English before I submitted these papers. Yes, my English is very bad and I know it and try to improve it for years. Many thanks for your advices. I really appreciate them.

Verbal is as much about knowing the test as it is about the actual language itself. Keep plugging away at it.

The recommendation for people with mediocre GPAs is to apply broadly and aim within your grasp. You're in good shape, probably, for a DO. MD will be a struggle, but a good MCAT can help.