Lower Tiers Schools

[Sherille]

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Just wondering if any of you peeps have any advice for me as to which schools out there are lower tier.

Are there any of you out there that have low GPA's and unfortunately had to focus their application on the lower tier school. If so, your advice is welcome !!! 🙂

 

[ecm2]

I would say that, technically, there are no lower tier schools. Its not like law schools. There are the top schools(maybe about 10), but besides that, they are all on the same level. Rankings are a bunch of bull*^&%.
Some of the "lower tier" schools that I applied to I didn't even get an interview. However, I got interviewed and accepted at some schools that are "higher up."
The only trend I saw with this whole process was the region thing. Apply to all of the schools in your state and concentrate on the surrounding states as well.
Hope this helps.

 

[none]

I don't subscribe to this every school is equally competitive stuff. It's just not true. Yeah, some schools whose GPA and MCAT match yours won't grant you an interview, but there ARE schools that are less competitive and attract less competitive applicants. Furthermore, telling people that every school is just totally equal...isn't helpful.

Some of the less competitive schools include: Finch, NYMC, Albany and George Washington.

 

[ecm2]

Ok, maybe saying that they were "equal" isn't putting it right. I guess I just don't want anyone getting the wrong impression when they hear that a school is a "lower tier" or "less competetive" school. I personally didn't get interviews at NYMC and Albany, but I did get interviews at, for example, BU and Georgetown. And I saw this happen A LOT. It was amazing to see people get interviews and acceptances at the best schools in the country, just to find out that they didn't even get interviewed at some of the schools on many of these "lower tier" lists. Does it mean that someone with lower stats won't get an interview? Absolutely not. Schools with lower stats just mean that you have a better shot at these places.
Basically, like you will see time and time again on this website, the whole thing is a CRAPSHOOT. There is no rhyme and reason to this process. If you have lower or average stats, don't apply to the top schools. Apply to schools that will give you a better chance, but don't always expect anything based on the stats. I saw too many people get unpleasantly surprised when they didn't even get interviews at places that they had thought they would because the schools had the "lower tier" or "less competetive" label. Thats pretty much it. (and refer back to my comments on the regional stuff)

 

[superdood68]

hehe, i told my mom that the admin flips a coin...
she didn't believe me.
so who knows

 

[ecm2]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by superdood68:
•hehe, i told my mom that the admin flips a coin...
she didn't believe me.
so who knows•••••<img border="0" alt="[Laughy]" title="" src="graemlins/laughy.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[Laughy]" title="" src="graemlins/laughy.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[Laughy]" title="" src="graemlins/laughy.gif" />
hahahahahhahaha!!! thats funny. the sad thing is that it definitely seems like that sometimes.

 

[Sherille]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by ecm2:
•I would say that, technically, there are no lower tier schools. Its not like law schools. There are the top schools(maybe about 10), but besides that, they are all on the same level. Rankings are a bunch of bull*^&%.
Some of the "lower tier" schools that I applied to I didn't even get an interview. However, I got interviewed and accepted at some schools that are "higher up."
The only trend I saw with this whole process was the region thing. Apply to all of the schools in your state and concentrate on the surrounding states as well.
Hope this helps.•••••Is this advice from experience ? What was the percentage of you getting interview in-state instead of farther away. I think it might be different here in CA since a lot of people want to go to school here. I've been told that our chances out of state may be better.

 

[none]

Oh your chances of being forced out of state are MUCH better than getting into one of the paltry number of schools here. Take a look at where the people at Finch and NYMC are from...it's more often than not, CA. When people talk about how it's often easier to get into your state school...they're talking about the other 49 states specifically. The good news is that residency positions in the state aren't nearly as difficult to get regardless of where you went to med school. 4 of the 13 internal medicine residencies in Fresno went unfilled last year.

 

[ecm2]

Yeah, this is from experience. I go to school in PA and it really seemed as if all my friends from the area got interviews at PA schools and those not from the area did not. This also applied to the out of state schools and those who were from those areas...
As for CA, I can't speak from experience on this one (of course)... sorry about that!
Something that was helpful was the statistics that told you what percent of APPLICANTS were out of state and what percent of ACCEPTEES were out of state. that should tell approximately what the in-state bias is.
I hope this helps! 🙂

 

[vyc]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by none:
•Some of the less competitive schools include: Finch, NYMC, Albany and George Washington.•••••i don't believe that med school admissions is as random as coin-flipping, nor do i think it's a "crapshoot" as many people say.

yes sometimes it doesn't make sense and a TON of perfectly qualified people get rejected but that's a function of the highly competitive nature of med school admissions, in general. we're competing with some of the brightest, most driven students in the country.

i'd also like to add to the list above:
MCP Hahnemann and Jefferson