MD Is it stupid to apply to only 5 med schools? (See details)

[WoollyOtter]

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I know there are similar threads, but my specific circumstances are unique. Advice from med school admissions officers is highly sought, thank you.

Background on Me:

I graduated from college several years ago and have been working in the biomedical field, with a salary over $80k. My job definitely qualifies as "continued involvement in the biomedical field", so it is okay that some of my prereq courses were taken over 5 years ago.

My undergrad GPA: 3.9 overall / 3.9 science. My college is always in the US News top 10 for the US.

My MCAT: Unknown, I tested on December 6th, 2014. AAMC practice scores were 30+.

Leadership, clubs, etc.: Very good, both during undergrad and since graduation.

Research: A moderate amount of biology lab research, no publications (sad).

Shadowing: None yet, working on it.

Patient contact: Almost none, working on it.

My Possibly Stupid Plan:

Apply to just 5 med schools (MD programs) for entry in fall 2016. All are private or in-state (for me). The median MCAT scores for these 5 schools are 33, 33, 34, 34, and 36. The median GPAs are pretty bad for the safety schools, 3.6 overall / 3.6 science.

If I get in anywhere in 2016, then I need to matriculate. That is absolutely obvious, refusing an offer of admission is the kiss of death for my MD career.

If I get in nowhere in 2016, then I will either:

Plan A: Spend the next year boosting my physician shadowing and patient contact (clinical experience), writing a better personal statement, possibly getting better letters of recommendation. In the next cycle (entering fall of 2017), I would apply to like 20 med schools.

Plan B: Decide that med school is not for me (this is unlikely). Focus on my current career, I am enjoying myself and making plenty of money.

My Reasons for Just 5 Schools:

Summary: If I apply to 20 schools for 2016, there is a large risk that I will get into a bad school and be forced to go. I know, I know, I can imagine a far worse fate, but hear me out. If I apply to just 5 schools, then I will be really excited to go to any of them. If I apply to just 5 schools and get in nowhere, then I will apply to 20 schools in 2017 and if I get in somewhere, I will know that I am going to the best possible school for me.

1. If I apply to 20 schools in 2016, and I get into the worst one, then I really need to go. That would be sad. If I apply to just 5 schools and get in nowhere, then in 2017 when I apply to 20 schools, I am likely to get into a relatively better school because I will have a better application.

2. Applying to the same school twice (i.e. 2016 and then again in 2017) is bad.

3. For the 2016 cycle, I am not 100% prepared. I do not yet have any shadowing or patient contact, although I do have a few months and this is my top priority. I am figuring I will apply to 5 schools just to see if I can get in. If I cannot, then I will have a much more solid application for the 2017 cycle, and I will broadcast my application to 20 schools instead of just 5.

4. An extra year will probably not hurt me, I have already been out of college for several years, and my job is highly relevant to medicine. An extra year will likely help because I will be getting clinical experience.

Is My Plan Stupid?

5. During the 2017 cycle, will schools know that I applied to just 5 schools during the 2016 cycle? Will they see that and think, "Hmm, WoollyOtter must not really want to be a doctor. People who want to be doctors apply to 20 schools."

6. If schools will know, how will they know? Who will tell them?

7. I will have an old-style MCAT score, and some schools prefer the MCAT2015 for the 2017 cycle. That will hurt me a little bit. (Although I can retest, I don't want to. Let's wait and see my score.)

8. Is my plan stupid for some other reason?

My Prehealth Advisor is absolutely convinced that my plan for 5 schools is stupid, but I really don't understand the reasoning. It sounds like schools in the 2017 cycle will not know what I did during the 2016 cycle (assuming I got no acceptances in 2016, and assuming I am applying to different schools). My Prehealth Advisor cannot articulate why just 5 schools is a bad idea.

Why Not Wait Another Year?

I am asking myself that question.

Best reason to wait: My application will be stronger, at least with respect to shadowing and patient contact.

Best reason NOT to wait: I have not taken the MCAT2015, I took the old MCAT.

More reasons NOT to wait: I am really looking forward to med school. I might get in during the 2016 cycle, so waiting may prove unnecessary. Waiting another year may marginally hurt my chances, because I am getting older.

Thanks.

 

[Mad Jack]

I know there are similar threads, but my specific circumstances are unique. Advice from med school admissions officers are highly sought, thank you.

Background on Me:

I graduated college several years ago and have been working in the biomedical field, with a salary over $80k. My job definitely qualifies as "continued involvement in the biomedical field", so it is okay that some of my prereq courses were taken over 5 years ago.

My undergrad GPA: 3.9 overall / 3.9 science.

My MCAT: Unknown, I tested on December 6th, 2014. AAMC practice scores were 30+.

Leadership, clubs, etc.: Very good, both during undergrad and since graduation.

Research: A moderate amount of biology lab research, no publications (sad).

Shadowing: None yet, working on it.

Patient contact: Almost none, working on it.

My Possibly Stupid Plan:

Apply to just 5 med schools (MD programs) for entry in fall 2016. All are private or in-state (for me). The median MCAT scores for these 5 schools are 33, 33, 34, 34, and 36. The median GPAs are pretty bad for the safety schools, 3.6 overall / 3.6 science.

If I get in anywhere in 2016, then I need to matriculate. That is absolutely obvious, refusing an offer of admission is the kiss of death for my MD career.

If I get in nowhere in 2016, then I will either:

Plan A: Spend the next year boosting my physician shadowing and patient contact (clinical experience), writing a better personal statement, possibly getting better letters of recommendation. In the next cycle (entering fall of 2017), I would apply to like 20 med schools.

Plan B: Decide that med school is not for me (this is unlikely). Focus on my current career, I am enjoying myself and making plenty of money.

My Reasons for Just 5 Schools:

1. Applying to the same school twice (i.e. 2016 and then again in 2017) is bad.

2. For the 2016 cycle, I am not 100% prepared. I do not yet have any shadowing or patient contact, although I do have a few months and this is my top priority. I am figuring I will apply to 5 schools just to see if I can get in. If I cannot, then I will have a much more solid application for the 2017 cycle, and I will broadcast my application to 20 schools instead of just 5.

3. If I apply to 20 schools in 2016, and I get into the worst one, then I really need to go. That would be sad. If I apply to just 5 schools and get in nowhere, then in 2017 when I apply to 20 schools, I am likely to get into a relatively better school because I will have a better application.

4. An extra year will probably not hurt me, I have already been out of college for several years, and my job is highly relevant to medicine. An extra year will likely help because I will be getting clinical experience.

Is My Plan Stupid?

5. During the 2017 cycle, will schools know that I applied to just 5 schools during the 2016 cycle? Will they see that and think, "Hmm, WoollyOtter must not really want to be a doctor. People who want to be doctors apply to 20 schools."

6. If schools will know, how will they know? Who will tell them?

7. Is my plan stupid for some other reason?

My Prehealth Advisor is absolutely convinced that my plan for 5 schools is stupid, but I really don't understand the reasoning. It sounds like schools in the 2017 cycle will not know what I did during the 2016 cycle (assuming I got no acceptances in 2016, and assuming I am applying to different schools). My Prehealth Advisor cannot articulate why just 5 schools is a bad idea.

Thanks.

They will have no idea how many schools you previously applied to, nor will they know that you are a reapplicant at other schools. Your plan seems fine enough I guess.

 

[quicheduty]

Why not just apply all at once for fall 2017 matriculation when you're a stronger applicant?

 

[Mr. Vandemar]

If I were you, I would spend the next year improving my application and apply for the 2017 cycle. Why waste the time and resources applying now if your application is weak and you're otherwise enjoying yourself? You can continue to enjoy yourself for an additional year while shadowing and doing whatever else, and apply with a much stronger application.

Conceivably, if you re-apply for 2017, you could be asked what you were up to in 2016. I suppose you could simply omit that you had applied to medical school.

 

[butternutsquash]

I don't think your plan is "stupid". I'd say take a year off to relax, work on your clinical experiences, and apply for Fall 2017. That way you won't have to worry about being a re-applicant and you'll save a ton of money on application fees.

Med schools will not know how many places you applied to. But they will ask for details on how you improved your application the second time around

 

[Law2Doc]

They will have no idea how many schools you previously applied to, nor will they know that you are a reapplicant at other schools. Your plan seems fine enough I guess.

Um no. Bad plan. Poorly thought out.
The common application and probably some secondaries ask if you ever applied to med school before so everyone will know he is a re applicant, just not where. So you create a burden of having to show substantial improvement from the prior cycle to get considered when you maybe didn't have to. At least this was the case when I was an applicant. You do not want to do this.
Get all your ducks in a row and apply once. One shot, one kill. People who try to game the system this way always hose themselves.

 

[Australopithekus]

You don't know your MCAT score, but you're picking out high-tier schools already? That's dumb.
Get your score, then select your schools. I'd recommend 10-15. Apply when your application is ready. Don't apply to any school you wouldn't want to attend.

Also, no patient contact hours? You're not ready until you fix this.

 

[Mad Jack]

Um no. Bad plan. Poorly thought out.
The common application and probably some secondaries ask if you ever applied to med school before so everyone will know he is a re applicant, just not where. So you create a burden of having to show substantial improvement from the prior cycle to get considered when you maybe didn't have to. At least this was the case when I was an applicant. You do not want to do this.
Get all your ducks in a row and apply once. One shot, one kill. People who try to game the system this way always hose themselves.

https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/amcas/faqs/301606/amiareapplicanttoallschools.html

Only schools to which he has applied in the past will see him as a reapplicant on AMCAS. Secondaries are another story though. Only one of my secondaries asked whether I had applied before and to where, the majority simply asked if I had previously applied to that specific school before, but I'd look carefully into the secondaries of his top choices if he wants to make sure he isn't limiting his options.

 

[EliottReid]

For me, wait another year and apply to more than 5 schools.

I don't think you can classify any school as a safety school because you cannot assume you will get into any of the MD schools because you have a 3.9 GPA or an awesome profile.
Also, how do you know you like the 5 schools you chose and how did you end up classifying the rest of 100+ as worst?

Anyway, do your research really well and do not just go and choose some schools and reject others without reading about them. If you did read the profiles of all the schools that can accept you and you found only 5, apply to just 5 because you don't want to go to a school you will hate. All the schools you should apply to are the ones you should be excited to go to and trust me you can find more than just 5 (way more).

Good luck.

 

[Conflagration]

I don't know if I could justify applying to only a few schools for kicks. Hell, if I'm trying to get in, I'm not committing to doing it more than once.

You're already committing to two cycles. I have skimpy hours too, and I'm using my spring semester to rack them up, and I'm testing in April.

Why don't you just pick schools that you like? Surely, you like more than 5, right? If it's money, that's one thing...

I guess I'm just confused.

 

[DokterMom]

Don't make a half-a$$ed effort. Improve your personal statement now. Start shadowing now. (You only need 40-50 hours or so) Stretch your current job to incorporate some patient contact and/or volunteer in a nursing home or supported residence for people with disabilities to get more now. Again, if you've already got good activities and leadership, you just need enough to show that you know what being a doctor would be like.

You can get all that done by this May if you really try. Then aim for 15-25 schools this year where the 'lowest' of them is not one you would be sorry to attend. (And don't over-invest mentally in the school's prestige.)

But putting in less than your 100% best this year, knowingly aiming high, and applying to too few schools IS a waste of time and lowers your bank balance, your morale, and your odds of success next time.

 

[rodmichael82]

OP to answer your question, yes it's stupid to apply to only 5 medical schools and it's even dumber to think about that even before getting your MCAT score.

I would apply to at least 15 schools if you score > 30 but < 35 and at least 10 schools if you score > 35. There's really no magic formula but that's what I would do. Obviously the more schools you apply to the merrier.

As previously mentioned by Law2Doc if you don't get in this year then you'll have the burden of improving your application even more. Don't be sloppy when it comes to applying to medical school. You need to apply all out.

 

[2010houston]

IF you get the MCAT score you want/ a score that is substantially higher than the averages of the scores you're applying to, I think you should go for it. And you're right about not applying to schools you wouldn't go to! It sounds like you have a good application otherwise 🙂 good luck to you.

 

[FalconSlice]

I must say that I know someone who only did apply to 5 or 6 schools in/around one city, and got into her top choices. However, the caveat was that she had extremely fantastic MCAT and GPA (along with two years of working in a lab and a couple of publications). And her reasons to staying in the city were a lot more viable and significant than yours: her fiance was going to med school in that city, so she wanted to stay.

Your stance is nowhere near as compelling, so go ahead and take the advice of the fantastic people on this thread.

 

[rodmichael82]

I must say that I know someone who only did apply to 5 or 6 schools in/around one city, and got into her top choices. However, the caveat was that she had extremely fantastic MCAT and GPA (along with two years of working in a lab and a couple of publications). And her reasons to staying in the city were a lot more viable and significant than yours: her fiance was going to med school in that city, so she wanted to stay.

Your stance is nowhere near as compelling, so go ahead and take the advice of the fantastic people on this thread.

Everything seems to be fantastic to you my fantastic friend.

 

[deleted480308]

Yes it's stupid.

6 months is plenty of time to get enougj shadowing and apply to 15-20 schools

You don't get to look down your nose at med schools before you even have an mcat

 

[FalconSlice]

Everything seems to be fantastic to you my fantastic friend.

I'm detoxing from "brilliant" and "brilliance"

 

[mehc012]

I'm assuming that when you reference 2016, you mean applying for the Class of 2016 (aka submitting your app June 2015), etc.
If you mean otherwise, you're going to run into some serious MCAT viability issues.
Just keep the table below in mind, and make sure you are clear on their definition of the '2016 application cycle' vs your own!
https://www.aamc.org/students/download/398586/data/mcatexampolicy.pdf

 

[IncognitoGuy]

Wait a year, get everything lined up and apply when your application is strong.

If you're worried about your age, the average matriculant age when I was accepted (I'm a M2 currently) was something like a 24 - meaning plenty of people were on the opposite end of the spectrum, having taken time off. I can also anecdotally vouch for that as many of my classmates seemed to have taken time off prior to med school and are older (some have kids, many are married, etc.). Age should not affect your application adversely.

Your having taken the old MCAT should NOT adversely affect your application. Schools barely have experience interpreting and understanding the new test - whereas they have decades of experience analyzing the old test. Do well and your application will be fine on that front.

Also, having no shadowing or patient contact = how do you know you want to be a doctor, or what it's like to be a doctor? Applying with an application like that is almost certainly a kiss of death on its own. Schools like to see that somebody they're potentially going to invest 4 years of intense education on isn't going to drop out due to a sudden change of interest, or for that person to complain that medicine was nothing like they expected.

 

[Narmerguy]

Moving to WAMC.

 

[WingedOx]

State?

 

[REL]

Not a good plan for most MD programs. Take at least one year off to build a convincing application.

Biggest flaw: Why medicine? You have no consistent experience in medical volunteerism and shadowing. This a fairly critical part of the process. If you have not demonstrated the desire consistently over many months, not a spur-of-the-moment "dang I'd like to be a doctor" check-box experience -- without demonstrated experience this will be their reaction. A little medical experience might be expected if you had strong research background with pubications and were applying to research intensive programs. Nonetheless you cannot answer this question adequately enough to compete with other applicants in this very important aspect of the application.

More to consider:
- Most programs also want to see a consistent demonstration of humanism. This is most often manifested in non-medical community service volunteering. Doing something for others as an intrinsic value of who you are -- consistently helping others in need.

- Teamwork/Leadership ethic: Over the last several years most programs use this, the consistent demonstration of medical motivation and consistent demonstration of humanism, as very high level factors in admissions decisions. Evaluate your application and see where you feel that you stand.

Academics: Over 5 years? Many programs publish that you need to do more academics if you havent done anything in (5) years. Consider a one-year MS in a basic science area. Even if they do not have a 5 year statement, many programs will accept those with more recent academics because it is more of a sure thing and less of a question/risk.

MCAT: You are awaiting a score from the current exam format. You probably do need a 33+ just to be "average" to the five programs you are looking at. Of course your application may be "average" in the metrics. Think about how many "average" or higher applications that they receive.....most of them will likely have better demonstrated "motivations."

Reapplication: As noted, those schools that you previously applied to will be indicated by AMCAS that you are a previous app to their program. A large number of other programs do ask this question on their secondary application, as well as were you interviewed, were you wait-listed, and what have you done to improve your application this time around. In general there is nothing wrong with being a reapplicant if you answer the "how have you improved your application" adequately. Note that only about one-half of the applicants will obtain a seat each year.

Application to medical school is very competitive and you cannot afford for an admissions committee to have questions about any area of your application. You must do your very best just to complete. Slightly more than 10% of the applicants with metrics of 3.8+ GPA and 40+ MCAT do not receive an acceptance.

Digest all of the information that has been presented to you in these responses and do what you think is right. I wish you well.

 

[Promethean]

The application process is an enormous pain in the rear. Doing it once for kicks may seem really dumb to some folks, but I can see why you would do it. As you say, you might get lucky. If your MCAT is above 34, I'd say give it a whirl. Get that clinical experience/shadowing in ASAP, though. 33 and under, wait a year. Or whatever. Set some limit like that and use it as a coin flip.

Your 2014 MCAT scores will still be good for the 2017 cycle, I would expect. Unless you have heard specifically otherwise, most schools seem to accept scores that are less than 3 years old.

Don't fret about being one year older and thus less competitive. One year really isn't going to make that much of a difference.

 

[mehc012]

The application process is an enormous pain in the rear. Doing it once for kicks may seem really dumb to some folks, but I can see why you would do it. As you say, you might get lucky. If your MCAT is above 34, I'd say give it a whirl. Get that clinical experience/shadowing in ASAP, though. 33 and under, wait a year. Or whatever. Set some limit like that and use it as a coin flip.

Your 2014 MCAT scores will still be good for the 2017 cycle, I would expect. Unless you have heard specifically otherwise, most schools seem to accept scores that are less than 3 years old.

Don't fret about being one year older and thus less competitive. One year really isn't going to make that much of a difference.

It depends...if you mean applying June 2017 for the class matriculating in 2018, then no. At that point a large number of schools will have switched to new-MCAT-only policies.
https://www.aamc.org/students/download/398586/data/mcatexampolicy.pdf
If you mean applying in June 2016 for the class matriculating in 2017, then only a handful of doors are closed to you.

 

[Promethean]

I was using 2017 cycle in the sense that the OP used it, to refer for applying in 2016 for 2017 start. Thank you for clarifying though. I was too lazy to go get the link.