How to narrow down my list??

[applesaucey]

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Hi guys! I've started to narrow down my school list but I'm having trouble getting it down to a reasonable number. I've eliminated schools in regions I don't want to be in (eliminated pretty much just the mid west minus Chicago) and schools that heavily favor in-state students. I want to try to get down to 20-ish schools but I'm unsure of which factors on which I should base my decision. Basically I'm just looking for suggestions on which factors I should be researching.

Also having trouble deciding which if the NY schools I want to apply to. There are so many of them, some of which aren't the greatest, and I don't want to spend more money than necessary applying to my state schools that I'd prefer not to go to. Any suggestions are welcome!!

For reference my stats are as follows:
-3.95 GPA at a state school, 518 MCAT
-3 years of research with 2 publications (pretty good journals but not first author) + summer internship at a well-known research hospital
-Probably about 100 hours of non-clinical volunteering and 50 of clinical
-Very involved in a few student organizations but no leadership positions
-Studied abroad, can kinda speak Spanish

Thanks!

 

[gyngyn]

Apply to all your state public schools and a sufficient number of OOS schools that match your stats and mission and take at least 20-25% OOS.
I advise you to apply to all your state publics as insurance against becoming a re-applicant. With your stats that would be particularly problematic.

 

[LizzyM]

Based on stats alone, you can apply to any schools in your home state and any schools that are friendly to OOS students. Narrowing it down by geography is a good move although you should keep in mind that sometimes being from an area far away is a plus in the name of diversity.

You might also want to consider if you have a strong opinion one way or another about mandatory thesis, pass-fail in the first 2 years, early clinical exposure, cost of living, living style (is campus housing an option? is campus housing the only viable option due to cost of housing in the area? is off -campus the only option? do you need a car or is the cost of a car prohibitive given parking, etc?). Also look at the Cleary reports for each school to get a feel for crime on and near campus, if that is important to you.

 

[applesaucey]

Apply to all your state public schools and a sufficient number of OOS schools that match your stats and mission and take at least 20-25% OOS.
I advise you to apply to all your state publics as insurance against becoming a re-applicant. With your stats that would be particularly problematic.

What do you mean by this (bolded) ?

 

[gyngyn]

What do you mean by this (bolded) ?

The pool of re-applicants with very good stats differs from the other re-applicants in ways that are difficult to remediate.

 

[LizzyM]

What do you mean by this (bolded) ?

It means that you should get in somewhere on the first try. If you don't, in your second cycle, schools will wonder why the heck someone with your record didn't get admitted the first time around. Was it hubris? was it poor interviewing which could include a sense of entitlement, being condescending to interviewers ("I'm well above the average for this school; I should be interviewing you.")

Do it right. Do it once.

 

[Goro]

Let's see your list so far.

It may help if you rank it by something like ":must-have", "OK", and "meh".

But I'll start and say every MD school in NY. NYMC should be at the bottom.

But get more clinical experience or you'll be rejected across the board. You need to show Adcoms that you know what you're getting into and that you really want to be around sick people.

Hi guys! I've started to narrow down my school list but I'm having trouble getting it down to a reasonable number. I've eliminated schools in regions I don't want to be in (eliminated pretty much just the mid west minus Chicago) and schools that heavily favor in-state students. I want to try to get down to 20-ish schools but I'm unsure of which factors on which I should base my decision. Basically I'm just looking for suggestions on which factors I should be researching.

Also having trouble deciding which if the NY schools I want to apply to. There are so many of them, some of which aren't the greatest, and I don't want to spend more money than necessary applying to my state schools that I'd prefer not to go to. Any suggestions are welcome!!

For reference my stats are as follows:
-3.95 GPA at a state school, 518 MCAT
-3 years of research with 2 publications (pretty good journals but not first author) + summer internship at a well-known research hospital
-Probably about 100 hours of non-clinical volunteering and 50 of clinical
-Very involved in a few student organizations but no leadership positions
-Studied abroad, can kinda speak Spanish

Thanks!

 

[applesaucey]

Let's see your list so far.

It may help if you rank it by something like ":must-have", "OK", and "meh".

But I'll start and say every MD school in NY. NYMC should be at the bottom.

But get more clinical experience or you'll be rejected across the board. You need to show Adcoms that you know what you're getting into and that you really want to be around sick people.

My list is pretty extensive at the moment since I've done minimal research thus far, so any suggestions/criticisms are welcome!

-all NY public schools
-Most NY private schools: Albert Einstein, Columbia, Hofstra, Icahn, NYU, Cornell, considering Rochester but not crazy about location
-Interested in a few CA schools (unsure if it's worth it given that my chances probably aren't great): USC, Stanford, UCLA, UCSF
-I go to school in South Carolina, so I'm looking at MUSC
-Others: Baylor, BU, Case Western, U Chicago, Duke, Emory, Dartmouth, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Loyola, Mayo, Northwestern, Ohio State, OHSU, Brown, Tufts, Cincinnati, Michigan, Penn State, Pittsburg, Thomas Jefferson, UPenn, Vermont, Wake Forest, Yale

 

[Goro]

OK, how about:


All SUNYs
Albert Einstein, Columbia, Hofstra, Icahn, NYU, Cornell,
USC OR UCLA
Stanford OR UCSF
MUSC
USCM
USC-G
Baylor (only if you like hot and humid....but then again, you're in SC right now!)
BU (keep in mind that it's easier to get into Harvard than BU, statistically. Everybody wants to go to Boston)
Case Western,
U Chicago,
Duke,
Emory,
Dartmouth,
Harvard,
Johns Hopkins,
Mayo,
Northwestern,
Ohio State,
Cincinnati,
Michigan (and/or U VA)
Pittsburg,
Thomas Jefferson,
UPenn,
Vermont,
U Miami
Yale
WashU

 

[LizzyM]

OK, how about:


All SUNYs
Albert Einstein, Columbia, Hofstra, Icahn, NYU, Cornell,
USC OR UCLA
Stanford OR UCSF
MUSC
USCM
USC-G
Baylor (only if you like hot and humid....but then again, you're in SC right now!)
BU (keep in mind that it's easier to get into Harvard than BU, statistically. Everybody wants to go to Boston)
Case Western,
U Chicago,
Duke,
Emory,
Dartmouth,
Harvard,
Johns Hopkins,
Mayo,
Northwestern,
Ohio State,
Cincinnati,
Michigan (and/or U VA)
Pittsburg,
Thomas Jefferson,
UPenn,
Vermont,
U Miami
Yale
WashU

For OP's sanity, I'd cut that list by half. Which schools are cut should depend on the factors I outlined in post #3 depending on OP's preferences.

 

[applesaucey]

For OP's sanity, I'd cut that list by half. Which schools are cut should depend on the factors I outlined in post #3 depending on OP's preferences.

I do agree that it was still a little long so I've made a few changes based on the factors you mentioned, however I still find myself hesitant to remove too many with fear of not applying broadly enough, especially with so many of the schools being highly competitive. Is there an approximate number you would recommend that I aim for?

 

[LizzyM]

I don't believe you need more than 15. Apply to 20 but be prepared to spend a great deal of time and money on interviews between September and November as schools rush to interview you before you get your first offer and decide to hang up your suit jacket and give your credit card a rest. I've also heard that preparing more than 20 secondaries can be burdensome.

You have near perfect stats meaning that you can apply anywhere. The schools where you are far above average compared to the students who usually matriculate there know that if it comes down to a choice between that school (let's say Vermont) and Hopkins, you are likely to choose Hopkins. So the school like Vermont takes a pass on asking you to an interview knowing that it will be a waste of resources because you are likely to have "better" offers.

I'd go with 5 safeties (most likely your SUNYs) and 15 top 20 schools (the 4 in Manhattan if you like that lifestyle or put your emphasis on smaller cities). You may get 5 interviews and 3 offers or you may quit after 12 interviews and hold 8 offers by this time next year. It is hard to predict but you shouldn't sell yourself short (if you apply only to schools that are lower on most lists you run the risk of just one or two offers and the feeling that you could have done better and think about declining and trying again. (never a good idea!)