I'm applying in the 2015 cycle and as the summer approaches so does my application process. I'm having a difficult time choosing the schools that I should apply to. I got the MSAR and I'm kind of lost on what figures I should be looking at and use as a resource to deciding if it's a school I should apply to.
To student who already applied and have been through the process:
Is falling between the MCAT and GPA range be the only indicator if it is a logical school to apply to?
Being an African-American male, is it important to also look at the demographics of Blacks in the school?
What other factors on the MSAR should I also weigh into my choice of school lists?
Here's a list of how I did it, just my experience:
Know how your fit statistically, ignoring all other parts of your applications for a bit, you should know if you're a typical accepted applicant or not. This should be done with the free AAMC page, it should take just several minutes to search through their statistics. for this.
Then, since it's early, make a list of 20 schools. Make your list in the order of importance
to you: location, money, research opportunities (if you care). In general, you shouldn't rank your decisions on someone else's list, but admittedly knowing if you're application is a long short or a good chance is important. So, once you've done your homework on some schools and figured out what's important try making a list. During this time, try to convince yourself why you want to go there, it'll make writing secondaries easier when you're asked for the 100th time why X school is the best school in the galaxy.
You should not check the MSAR to count how many black people there are, I'll save you time, unless it's a traditionally black school there's going to be likely under 10-7 black people per class — this shouldn't surprise you, black people make up a very small amount of the applicant pool. And, as you already know, black is a nebulous term that includes a lot of ethnicities and cultures so it's not likely all of those black people will be best buddies. So, no, I don't think it would say much to check that number. Instead, what you should focus on is if they accept a high percent of out of state students if you're applying out — it is imperative that you know.
The most important thing was already mentioned, apply early. Even if you do not have a completed list, you can still submit the primary application on time and easily add schools later with a click of a button; there's no need to torture yourself to form a list all at once, just work on it little by little. If you're planning to apply early, then you'll have plenty of time for this. So, to sum it up, come up with a list of what matters to you and find schools that fit that after making sure how "valuable" you are to them at face value. Though, making a list is really important I really hope you've already started getting your LORs and working on your personal statement.
Good luck!
