Last minute school additions

[HL8208]

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[tea guzzling traveler]

Maybe try Pittsburgh? It has a big research focus, it might be willing to look your way.

 

[Banco]

If you have a solid foundation of low/mid tiers, add whatever top tiers you really want.

 

[sunflower18]

You sound like you could be a good fit for UCLA DGSOM!

 

[Hospitalized]

Just curious, how do you have 60 hours of scribing?

 

[HL8208]

Thanks for the input guys

@Hospitalized I was able to get some scribing experience out of the clinical volunteering position

 

[md-2020]

@HL8208 IMO chances at Top 20s are not great, so only apply if you're okay with donating money.

Your research will not be enough to carry you at the research powerhouses. They'd want to see pubs, big conferences, and presentations.

 

[WedgeDawg]

Pitt is an option, apply to all the top UCs, maybe Duke.

 

[Lawpy]

@HL8208 IMO chances at Top 20s are not great, so only apply if you're okay with donating money.

Your research will not be enough to carry you at the research powerhouses. They'd want to see pubs, big conferences, and presentations.

If that were the case, it would be nearly impossible for anyone to get into Top 20 aside from guys coming from Top 20 UG who did research in a very lucrative and productive lab. Besides OP has a pending publication.

I think OP's stats are a bit low for Top 20 (72.5 LizzyM). But as an LGBT applicant with good activities and significant research that he can explain, he should be good for some Top 20s, but not necessarily those of HMS/Yale type. Rather he'll be good for schools like Pitt, Duke, UCLA and Columbia.

 

[md-2020]

If that were the case, it would be nearly impossible for anyone to get into Top 20 aside from guys coming from Top 20 UG who did research in a very lucrative and productive lab. Besides OP has a pending publication.

I think OP's stats are a bit low for Top 20 (72.5 LizzyM). But as an LGBT applicant with good activities and significant research that he can explain, he should be good for some Top 20s, but not necessarily those of HMS/Yale type. Rather he'll be good for schools like Pitt, Duke, UCLA and Columbia.

Not sure about the LGBT effect but as a ORM, CA, straight applicant, 72.5 LizzyM w/ average-->above average ECs can get you rejected quite easily at Top 20s.

Many applicants have much higher stats+more significant research, in addition to not being ORMs. While I agree that the OP has a theoretical shot, it is very very limited. The amount of 3.8/34 Asians from CA is substantial, and the vast majority of them will not end up at T-20s.

 

[Lawpy]

Not sure about the LGBT effect but as a ORM, CA, straight applicant, 72.5 LizzyM w/ average-->above average ECs can get you rejected quite easily at Top 20s.

Many applicants have much higher stats+more significant research, in addition to not being ORMs. While I agree that the OP has a theoretical shot, it is very very limited. The amount of 3.8/34 Asians from CA is substantial, and the vast majority of them will not end up at T-20s.

The LGBT is a significant factor, although i'm not sure whether it helps as much as being a URM (both groups seem widely underrepresented in medicine). But i agree being a CA applicant can hurt for Top 20 schools, especially those with having borderline stats.

I'm saying that while significant, productive research will obviously help for any medical school (not just for research powerhouses), not having publications or elite conference presentations isn't a drawback since it really depends on factors outside of the applicants' control.

 

[HL8208]

Thanks for your honest input guys!

Looks like I'll be adding the top UC's, Columbia, Pitt, and Duke. Am I out of the running for places like Cornell, Feinberg, Icahn, NYU, and UofMI? I understand it's an incredibly steep uphill battle for me, but I'm okay donating. Not sure what difference (if any) it makes, but my undergrad institution is very prestigious.

 

[md-2020]

Thanks for your honest input guys!

Looks like I'll be adding the top UC's, Columbia, Pitt, and Duke. Am I out of the running for places like Cornell, Feinberg, Icahn, NYU, and UofMI? I understand it's an incredibly steep uphill battle for me, but I'm okay donating. Not sure what difference (if any) it makes, but my undergrad institution is very prestigious.

If you're going to apply to Columbia+Duke+UCSF/UCLA/UCSD you might as well add all of the rest in. Just don't expect much.

As is beaten to death on this forum, undergrad prestige matters, but you mentioned in your OP that you go to a UC, and I'm not sure any UCs (yes, even UCB) will carry enough "brand weight" on that end to make a significant difference.

 

[WedgeDawg]

The LGBT is a significant factor, although i'm not sure whether it helps as much as being a URM (both groups seem widely underrepresented in medicine). But i agree being a CA applicant can hurt for Top 20 schools, especially those with having borderline stats.

I'm saying that while significant, productive research will obviously help for any medical school (not just for research powerhouses), not having publications or elite conference presentations isn't a drawback since it really depends on factors outside of the applicants' control.

I think that LGBT means much more when you have a lot of involvement in the community. OP's profile doesn't indicate that (though they may have just left it out). Just being LGBT probably won't confer much advantage on its own.

 

[HL8208]

@WedgeDawg no community involvement. Considering how recently this unfolded, I haven't had time to find anything meaningful that could fit within my schedule. It did give me fodder for my challenge/diversity statements, though. I suppose it'll probably be on the less helpful side.

 

[WedgeDawg]

@WedgeDawg no community involvement. Considering how recently this unfolded, I haven't had time to find anything meaningful that could fit within my schedule. It did give me fodder for my challenge/diversity statements, though. I suppose it'll probably be on the less helpful side.

Okay, then I don't think it will be a huge benefit to your app other than, as you said, something to talk about in certain essays and in interviews. In any case, it's certainly not any sort of magic ticket to a top 20.

 

[GrapesofRath]

@HL8208 IMO chances at Top 20s are not great, so only apply if you're okay with donating money.

Your research will not be enough to carry you at the research powerhouses. They'd want to see pubs, big conferences, and presentations.

Yeah I don't agree with this. Most medical students at top 20 schools didn't have pubs in undergrad; that's simply just a fact. Hell even at MD/PhD programs at top schools in many instances more than half the class wasn't published in undergrad.

We can talk about the ORM/CA thing we want all day and yeah it's a factor but I wouldn't use the phrase chances are "very very limited" and seeming to suggest it might not even be worth the application. A 3.85/34 with good research experience should send a couple applications to top 20 schools if they have a serious commitment to research they want to extend after undergrad. The 34 is within 2-3 points of the MCAT median at the vast majority of top schools.

Will they get in? The odds say no; but that's the case for almost anyone. Being from CA doesn't make them less qualified; it makes it harder to get in perhaps but the qualifications are still there and there are certainly a number of people at top 20 schools with good research who couldn't get past a 34 on the MCAT. So give it a go OP. I wouldn't really recommend say WASHU, but Pitt, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Mt Sinai type schools could be in play.

 

[MrChance2]

Did I miss something? I didn't know LGBT was a thing for applying. I could see involvement in underserved LGBT communities being a plus but are we filtering medical students by who the prefer to have sex with? Is there any data showing that this is a good idea?

 

[aegistitan]

Schools with no secondaries/minimal secondaries would be a good choice, little time investment:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/what-schools-have-no-secondary-essays.1116289/

 

[GrapesofRath]

Schools with no secondaries/minimal secondaries would be a good choice, little time investment:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/what-schools-have-no-secondary-essays.1116289/

Not sure I would agree for top 20 schools where the OP's MCAT is on the lower end of things. You would want a school with more secondaries and where secondaries are weighted more to try to stand out from the competition rather than rely on the below average MCAT and being just another face in the line of ORM CA applicants.

 

[Banco]

Northwestern recruits LGBT applicants I believe, so definitely throw an application their way.

 

[HL8208]

Thanks everyone!