Ideas for "safety" schools

[mc4435]

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I'm only applying to 10 schools, which I realize is a relatively small number. Also I'm not submitting a secondary to Georgetown (and maybe not Creighton either), which brings me down to 8 or 9. I'm hoping some of you school experts can take a look at my MDApps profile (below) and let me know of 1 or 2 schools you think would be good "safety" schools.

I'd appreciate any advice ! 🙂

 

[postbacker]

Is your logic that you are most likely to get admitted to Colorado? How do you stack up stats-wise in-state?

There really is no such thing as a safety in medical schools, at least not in the way that term is used in college admissions. I don't ascribe to the "crap shoot" theory either. But I do think that it is possible to apply to too few schools, and I think you are in danger of that...unless you have a really rock solid feeling about your chances at your state school.

In other words - if you were for example a Louisiana resident, applying to your 2 in-state publics with those stats, I would say that you have plenty of schools on your list. Colorado seems to be a bit of an unknown on SDN - don't see too many in-staters from there on this forum talking about it...

 

[shotdiscus]

Why spend $60 to apply to Georgetown and Creighton if you aren't going to submit secondaries?

 

[mc4435]

I would not say that I am a shoe-in for Colorado. They are well known for being very difficult and even somewhat random. I know I'm not being very smart by only applying to 10, that's why I'm looking for more. I just don't know where! 🙁

 

[mc4435]

Why spend $60 to apply to Georgetown and Creighton if you aren't going to submit secondaries?

Good question - I didn't do enough looking into the schools beforehand, and now I realize I would not seriously consider attending those schools. Then again who am I to be picky?

 

[reine1jb]

I thought that the university of miami was very hard to get into as an OOS applicant I guess I could be wrong though...

 

[psipsina]

Find some private schools with average matriculated stats that are lower than yours, I don't have a current MSAR but thats your best bet. Do know however that these are probably everyone's "safeties" which means they receive an larger number of applications and therefore aren't really safe. But thats as close as you're going to get other than your state school/s.

 

[AppleseedCast]

I', withdrawing from Georgetown as well. Is there any particularly procedure for doing so? I don't want to just stop communicating with them in case i decide to apply there next year if I don't get in this time around.

 

[Dr. Josh]

Where is the OP's MDapplicants profile? "see below"...where? I'm clearly missing something.

edit: nm. I guess it only shows up if you're logged on?? is this a new feature?

edit again: OP, your stats and ECs are awesome; you shouldn't worry; you'll get in somewhere!

 

[enigma85]

hmmm....if University of Colorado is your top choice and you don't want to bother with the Cornells and Dukes of the world...


I guess you could a few more to increase your chances like Southern Cal, Northwestern, NYU, Mt. Sinai, Emory, Pittsburgh, Vanderbilt

 

[maestro1625]

I thought that the university of miami was very hard to get into as an OOS applicant I guess I could be wrong though...

Miami is rather reasonable... kind of a "pseudo-public" for florida residents.

 

[proclivity]

I'm only applying to 10 schools, which I realize is a relatively small number. Also I'm not submitting a secondary to Georgetown (and maybe not Creighton either), which brings me down to 8 or 9. I'm hoping some of you school experts can take a look at my MDApps profile (below) and let me know of 1 or 2 schools you think would be good "safety" schools.

I'd appreciate any advice ! 🙂

This ought to help you find some safeties..... List of medical schools and average admittance GPAs/MCAT

 

[mc4435]

I', withdrawing from Georgetown as well. Is there any particularly procedure for doing so? I don't want to just stop communicating with them in case i decide to apply there next year if I don't get in this time around.

In the application instructions towards the bottom there is a little paragraph about withdrawing your application. They want you to send an email to them (they give the address in that paragraph).

 

[mc4435]

Thanks for the help everyone!!! 🙂

 

[spospo]

so what is it about gtown and creighton that make you not want to do the secondary? i interviewed at both and could let you know if those, in fact, are good reasons.

 

[alwaysaangel]

Another thing to consider beyond just your numbers is your interviewing abilities. How are you at interviewing? Generally people are either really good at it or really bad at it. So take that into account while deciding how many schools to apply to. A LOT of premeds are horrible at interviewing and they could get 10/10 interviews and get rejected or waitlisted at everyone. Which would suck.

 

[AppleseedCast]

so what is it about gtown and creighton that make you not want to do the secondary? i interviewed at both and could let you know if those, in fact, are good reasons.

too many applicants for relatively small number of spots. secondary too expensive and i don't know that I would pick it over my state schools.

 

[Husky85]

Unless you have very compelling reasons for not completing Georgetown and Creighton, I would suggest applying to them.

Others you could consider are SLU, MCW, University of Toledo, USC, NYMC, Mt. Sinai, NYU...let me know if you want more, cuz I can keep going...

...I agree with a previous poster that there is no such thing as a safety school in med school apps, but the safety is numbers. There's no need to apply to too many schools (I'd set an upper limit at like 16-18), but to be safe you should complete at least 10-12 applications.

 

[AppleseedCast]

the other thing is that I would have 24 schools total. So in the end I decided that I have a decent shot at my state schools and I would definitely choose those over schools like GWU g-town and drexel.

 

[notdeadyet]

Do know however that these are probably everyone's "safeties" which means they receive an larger number of applications and therefore aren't really safe.

Agree with this. I think it's much wiser to apply to schools within your stats that you're passionate about than follow the herd with safety choices.

psipsina's right: the traditional safeties, in spite of sometimes having lower averages, can be brutal due to volume. Lots of unranked schools are getting over 10,000 apps a year, which can hurt the applicant. I got an interview from UCSF, but nothing from Drexel.

 

[artaxerxes]

would RosFranklin be a good safety? Are state schools generally considered safeties? cause I thought Umass is quite competitive.

 

[notdeadyet]

would RosFranklin be a good safety? Are state schools generally considered safeties? cause I thought Umass is quite competitive.

A lot of folks use RFU as a safety. State schools are usually good safeties, but there are a lot of exceptions to the rule. It doesn't work well for the west coast. I'd imagine that UMass could be competitive too...

 

[streetlight]

This ought to help you find some safeties..... List of medical schools and average admittance GPAs/MCAT

Are these anywhere close to correct? At least GPA-wise?

 

[Phoenix.]

would RosFranklin be a good safety? Are state schools generally considered safeties? cause I thought Umass is quite competitive.

RF seems to be very fond of Californians....

 

[artaxerxes]

Are these anywhere close to correct? At least GPA-wise?

they see too low GPA wise, and MCATs are just wrong compared to the MSAR info.

According to the MSAR, there are approximately 600 applicants to Umass last year, for 100 spots, is that considered competitive? percentage wise its actually pretty high, but still....

 

[AnthonyNY]

I interviewed with a guy from Colorado at NYMC.

This is conjecture, as I don't know the real numbers, but from the people I met at interview, it seemed to me like they were very OOS friendly. Given your stats, it might be a good school to throw in there.

NYMC was also a really easy secondary - no essays. Spending 10 minutes on their secondary is a nice little bonus, considering you're applying there as a "safetly" school.

 

[lord_jeebus]

RF seems to be very fond of Californians....

Or perhaps Californians are very fond of RF?