how many schools? cali res

[confusedchild]

Given my GPA and my MCAT (check out MDApps) how many schools sound like a sane number? The list you see in my MDApps are just schools I'm thinking about; there is no way I'm going to apply to that many. Financially speaking, I've been saving some money for the app process and I'll also be working as an engineering intern at a biotech company over summer, so financially, I think I'm good. I want to get in my first time around but also don't want to overkill myself with secondaries and spend and excessive amount of money that I don't need to. So what sounds like a sane number? And what should my breakdown be in terms of the number of "reach" schools, "match" schools, and "safety" schools (even tho there really isn't such a thing as safety anymore)?

Thanks in advance and any feedback is greatly appreciated!

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[Van Chowder]

well bro, you very well me wasting your money! With the bit of research I have done, and hearing about the process from friends of mine/research, with a >3.9 and >30 mcat, I couldn't imagine much of any school being a reach school, I bet you could apply all top twenty and you would get in somewhere.

 

[AdemTD]

how many schools sound like a sane number?

no more than 10 depending on where you apply. But I think you'll get into quite a few top schools.

 

[drizzt3117]

no more than 10 depending on where you apply. But I think you'll get into quite a few top schools.

This is a CA resident, so they're going to want to apply to a lot more schools, but I don't think you need to apply to as many lower tier schools, personally. I think you'll be competitive in the top tier with 3.93/33 but I think you'll want to apply somewhat broadly to some of the mid tier as well. I think you'll have a very good shot at UCSD/UCD/UCI though.

I would apply to the 7-8 CA schools (depending if you want to go to LLU) and then pick about 10 mid tier schools in areas of the country that you like, and 5-8 reach schools. I think about 25-28 schools is a realistic list.

If you wanted to be in major cities, a list like this might work (7 CA, 10 mid, 10 ~top tier):

7 CA
8 Northwestern
9 U Chicago
10 Case Western (+ CCLCM)
11 NYU
12 Columbia
13 Pittsburgh
14 Penn
15 Jefferson
16 AECOM
17 Cornell
18 HMS
19 BU
20 Tufts
21 GT
22 GW
23 Mt. Sinai
24 Loyola
25 Vanderbilt
26 Baylor
27 Yale
28 Hopkins

 

[Anatidae]

IMO, 33 these days is competitive, but not otherworldly enough to be a shoe-in at top 20's. However, the rest of your application is solid. 15-25 is probably a good number, but what'll be important is what you're planning on doing and where you want to be. If location is irrelevant, then the list above is a very solid one (and very similar to mine).

However, knowing Californians and our very fickle nature, it's hard to head east with a CA acceptance in hand so it might be financially advantageous to apply to a minimal number of schools that are "safety" that you would definitely be interested in attending. For example, while I love the Midwest, I've heard a lot of grousing about the weather and the cities from other applicants and slowly, but surely, places like Case, WashU, UMich, and Pitt start to look a little less attractive (and places like AECOM, BU, and Tufts look absolutely abysmal ).

Also, don't forget about Duke, and unless you have ties to Texas, I wouldn't bother with the TMDAS.