LizzyM score

[AMCASTuesdays]

Does anyone have any experience using the LizzyM score / can anyone speak on how indicative it is of your compatibility for a school?

It looks pretty legit, but the list I got was different from the one I've compiled just from my own digging. I'm wondering if I should scrap that in favor of the the LM list instead. My MCAT score was a 516 so before, I was mainly looking at schools with a median either at or one-two points above mine, and then looking to see if they matched w my GPA.

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[deleted987519]

This resource accounts for (or attempts to at least) EC's too: WedgeDawg's Applicant Rating System (Updated Jan 2017)

 

[deleted969405]

How good is the prospective doctor one? Has anyone tried it?

 

[Goro]

Does anyone have any experience using the LizzyM score / can anyone speak on how indicative it is of your compatibility for a school?

It looks pretty legit, but the list I got was different from the one I've compiled just from my own digging. I'm wondering if I should scrap that in favor of the the LM list instead. My MCAT score was a 516 so before, I was mainly looking at schools with a median either at or one-two points above mine, and then looking to see if they matched w my GPA.

By rule of thumb, you're fine for Cornell/Columbia class schools, ditto Einstein/Keck class, but skip Harvard/Stanford and WashU/NYU schools

 

[theKingLT]

Just use wedgedawg's system. It will give you a breakdown of how many schools to include from each class of competitiveness. Then make smaller adjustments based on your personal interests

 

[AnMDtoB]

Just briefly went through this one, and it generally seems good, but it looks like at least a few schools definitely don't have accurately listed MCAT/GPA scores (according to the school's website and MSAR) - for example New York Med. is has a average MCAT that is 10 points too high... Take it with a grain of salt, just like all the other advice you get during this process

 

[907914]

This resource accounts for (or attempts to at least) EC's too: WedgeDawg's Applicant Rating System (Updated Jan 2017)

I second the WedgeDawg system. However, it should be used as a quick guideline and not fully trusted. It starts falling apart if you are Low GPA/High MCAT or Low cGPA/High sGPA (or the reverse) or if you are a Non-Trad with many novel ECs, or if you are a Post-Bacc/SMP, etc.

For instance, I used WedgeDawg to construct my initial school list (in conjunction with location(s)) and then made a WAMC and @Goro and about 5 others were basically like "WTF are you doing with your life? Aim higher." And only about 9 of my WedgeDawg schools are on my list. However, it was still a good and reliable starting point.

 

[AMCASTuesdays]

Thank you everyone for all the help! I think I'm going to use the WedgeDawg system and Lizzy M to restart my list, then i'll do some more digging after that to narrow stuff down.

 

[Gilakend]

By rule of thumb, you're fine for Cornell/Columbia class schools, ditto Einstein/Keck class, but skip Harvard/Stanford and WashU/NYU schools

I just applied and 100% concur with this advice.

 

[AMCASTuesdays]

Back with a secondary question:

I don't want to share too much info about my specifics as an applicant, but the WedgeDawg system put me at an S class.

I have a list of 22 schools right now and am looking to narrow down from here. Am hoping to get some level-headed advice on what I've got so far. Do I have too many reaches, and are my targets manageable enough?

Dream programs/ Hail-marys
-NYU
-U chicago
-UPENN
-Harvard
-Stanford

Reaches
-Cornell
-Columbia

Target
- BU
- San diego
-Albert einstein
-UW
-Umass
-Tufts
-Hofstra


Undershoots
-Maryland
-Rutgers
-Penn state
-UCONN
-UCF
-VCU
-Howard
-Temple

 

[AMCASTuesdays]

@Goro appears to be faculty - your advice to the above question ^ (if you have time) would be really helpful also

 

[907914]

Back with a secondary question:

I don't want to share too much info about my specifics as an applicant, but the WedgeDawg system put me at an S class.

I have a list of 22 schools right now and am looking to narrow down from here. Am hoping to get some level-headed advice on what I've got so far. Do I have too many reaches, and are my targets manageable enough?

Dream programs/ Hail-marys
-NYU
-U chicago
-UPENN
-Harvard
-Stanford

Reaches
-Cornell
-Columbia

Target
- BU
- San diego
-Albert einstein
-UW
-Umass
-Tufts
-Hofstra


Undershoots
-Maryland
-Rutgers
-Penn state
-UCONN
-UCF
-VCU
-Howard
-Temple

Is that UW Wisconsin or Washington? If it is Washington, take it off your list unless you are a Washington state resident.

 

[deleted972488]

He already told you earlier in this thread to skip the first five on your list. I would also skip the "undershoots." Applying too low can be as bad as applying too high. Add more "target" and "reach" category schools.

 

[907914]

He already told you earlier in this thread to skip the first five on your list. I would also skip the "undershoots." Applying too low can be as bad as applying too high. Add more "target" and "reach" category schools.

That is the trickyness with the Wedgedawg system - you can be S class ranging from a 515 to a 528 depending on the rest of your APP. But the rest of an app is very rarely going to be strong enough for a 515 to be T10 competitive

 

[AMCASTuesdays]

That is the trickyness with the Wedgedawg system - you can be S class ranging from a 515 to a 528 depending on the rest of your APP. But the rest of an app is very rarely going to be strong enough for a 515 to be T10 competitive

yeah UW was washington.

Seriously, I'm having trouble finding good "targets" - the information ive gotten has been pretty consistent as far as which schools are undershoots, but not so much with anything higher (besides the obvious reaches).

 

[deleted972488]

Add Case Western, Dartmouth, Duke, Emory, Sinai, Vermont, USF, Miami, Pittsburgh.

 

[Goro]

Cornell
Sinai
BU
U VA
Duke
Baylor
Case
UCSF
UCSD
U MI
Albert Einstein
Hofstra
Ohio State
Pitt
U Cincy
USF Morsani
Dartmouth
Rochester
USC/Keck
Western MI
Emory
Jefferson
Miami
SLU
Tufts
U IA
U VM
Your state school




Are you aware that Howard is a very mission-specific school?

 

[AMCASTuesdays]

Cornell
Sinai
BU
U VA
Duke
Baylor
Case
UCSF
UCSD
U MI
Albert Einstein
Hofstra
Ohio State
Pitt
U Cincy
USF Morsani
Dartmouth
Rochester
USC/Keck
Western MI
Emory
Jefferson
Miami
SLU
Tufts
U IA
U VM
Your state school




Are you aware that Howard is a very mission-specific school?

Thank you very much!

And yes I am aware. Haha again I don't want to give away too much abt myself but I fit in with their mission

 

[907914]

yeah UW was washington.

Seriously, I'm having trouble finding good "targets" - the information ive gotten has been pretty consistent as far as which schools are undershoots, but not so much with anything higher (besides the obvious reaches).

Take UW off unless you are a WWAMI resident or MD/PhD applicant. If you don't know what WWAMI is, then you probably aren't a WWAMI resident lol


My rules of thumb (Using MSAR matriculant percentiles):
Far Undershoot -Either GPA and MCAT>90th% and the other one is >75% OR you are more than 3 MCAT points higher than their 90%
Undershoot -both GPA/MCAT >75% OR one is >90% and the other is >50%
Target - Both GPA/MCAT are 25% -75% OR one is >75% and the other is >25% OR one is >90% and the other is >10%
Reach - Either GPA/MCAT <25% unless another previously mentioned condition applies
Far Reach - Either GPA/MCAT are <10% unless the other is >90%, then it is just a reach.


For a school list of 20 schools, I did the following:
No Far undershoots
2 Undershoots because of location
14 targets
3 reaches
1 Far reach (Damn UPenn and their high stats...)

 

[duckdoc20]

Thank you very much!

And yes I am aware. Haha again I don't want to give away too much abt myself but I fit in with their mission

You may want to say if your URM because I am almost positive if you are that would change where Goro tells you to apply. As in he would add Harvard, UPENN, etc... but what do I know

 

[Goro]

Thank you very much!

And yes I am aware. Haha again I don't want to give away too much abt myself but I fit in with their mission

If you are African American, add IU, U WV and the other HBCs, including UCLA/Drew.

 

[AMCASTuesdays]

You may want to say if your URM because I am almost positive if you are that would change where Goro tells you to apply. As in he would add Harvard, UPENN, etc... but what do I know

Yup I'm URM

 

[Goro]

Yup I'm URM

If you're African-American, the you can aim higher. You need to tell us stuff like this so we don't waste our time.

Add:
NYU

Vanderbilt

WashU

Yale

JHU

U Chicago

U Penn

Northwestern

Columbia

Harvard

Stanford

Mayo

 

[AMCASTuesdays]

If you're African-American, the you can aim higher. You need to tell us stuff like this so we don't waste our time.

Add:
NYU

Vanderbilt

WashU

Yale

JHU

U Chicago

U Penn

Northwestern

Columbia

Harvard

Stanford

Mayo

Ok, sorry thanks!

 

[AMCASTuesdays]

Take UW off unless you are a WWAMI resident or MD/PhD applicant. If you don't know what WWAMI is, then you probably aren't a WWAMI resident lol


My rules of thumb:
Far Undershoot -Either GPA and MCAT>90th% and the other one is >75% OR you are more than 3 MCAT points higher than their 90%
Undershoot -both GPA/MCAT >75% OR one is >90% and the other is >50%
Target - Both GPA/MCAT are 25% -75% OR one is >75% and the other is >25% OR one is >90% and the other is >10%
Reach - Either GPA/MCAT <25% unless another previously mentioned condition applies
Far Reach - Either GPA/MCAT are <10% unless the other is >90%, then it is just a reach.

lol I know what WWAMI is, but actually just bc I'm not a WWAMI resident

For your criteria for targets and reach do you mean your score and GPA in comparison to matriculants, or are you talking the top 25% of the MCAT distribution?

 

[907914]

lol I know what WWAMI is, but actually just bc I'm not a WWAMI resident

For your criteria for targets and reach do you mean your score and GPA in comparison to matriculants, or are you talking the top 25% of the MCAT distribution?

I used the matriculant numbers on MSAR. Let me update the original post to clarify for anyone else reading. And note, I am still an applicant so I cannot say if this strategy actually works - but the final school list produced with it received the SDN ADCOM stamp of approval lol

 

[theKingLT]

Yup I'm URM

No one can give you a perfect school list without knowing more about EC's and GPAs, but in general a URM with a 516 and no red flags is competitive anywhere

 

[sweatytshirt]

How good is the prospective doctor one? Has anyone tried it?

Just put my stats in, and I got interviews at a lot of the schools it labeled as far reaches, reaches, and targets. I'm probably an outlier though. Plus it can't account for applicants' essays/personal stories, so take it with a grain of salt. Seems like a decent place to start if you're trying to make a preliminary school list though.

 

[blurb_123]

Take UW off unless you are a WWAMI resident or MD/PhD applicant. If you don't know what WWAMI is, then you probably aren't a WWAMI resident lol


My rules of thumb (Using MSAR matriculant percentiles):
Far Undershoot -Either GPA and MCAT>90th% and the other one is >75% OR you are more than 3 MCAT points higher than their 90%
Undershoot -both GPA/MCAT >75% OR one is >90% and the other is >50%
Target - Both GPA/MCAT are 25% -75% OR one is >75% and the other is >25% OR one is >90% and the other is >10%
Reach - Either GPA/MCAT <25% unless another previously mentioned condition applies
Far Reach - Either GPA/MCAT are <10% unless the other is >90%, then it is just a reach.


For a school list of 20 schools, I did the following:
No Far undershoots
2 Undershoots because of location
14 targets
3 reaches
1 Far reach (Damn UPenn and their high stats...)

Mild (but slightly related) tangent:

Your list is an interesting way to look at it. My gpa is high, but my MCAT is just above the 25% for a fair amount of good schools. I still kinda consider them reaches.

On the other hand, you're unbalanced in the opposite way. Something tells me your combo will yield more success, which means your "rule of thumb" list should cater toward MCAT. Like having a high MCAT and low GPA is likely to be more successful than an MCAT slightly below 25% and a GPA at 90%, especially for the top schools. Unless there's more historical precedent that I haven't delved into yet.

 

[710118]

By rule of thumb, you're fine for Cornell/Columbia class schools, ditto Einstein/Keck class, but skip Harvard/Stanford and WashU/NYU schools

Isn't WashU/NYU in the same class as Cornell/Columbia?

 

[deleted972488]

Isn't WashU/NYU in the same class as Cornell/Columbia?

Yes, but some schools of similar caliber are more forgiving stats-wise (and likely focus on other factors). For example, compare the GPA/MCAT distributions of Columbia/Duke vs. NYU/WashU.

 

[907914]

Mild (but slightly related) tangent:

Your list is an interesting way to look at it. My gpa is high, but my MCAT is just above the 25% for a fair amount of good schools. I still kinda consider them reaches.

On the other hand, you're unbalanced in the opposite way. Something tells me your combo will yield more success, which means your "rule of thumb" list should cater toward MCAT. Like having a high MCAT and low GPA is likely to be more successful than an MCAT slightly below 25% and a GPA at 90%, especially for the top schools. Unless there's more historical precedent that I haven't delved into yet.

Yah, I suppose that would make sense. And it is rightly so that a high MCAT would be more determinative than a high GPA. Theoretically, every single applicant could have a 4.0, but only 2% will ever be 520+

Edit: And only 12% will ever be 512 for that matter. This is not to say that a high GPA is not something to be proud of, but the MCAT and GPA measure two different things.