More Match/Safety Schools....Adjusting the School List

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schizosquirrel

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Hey all, so I didn't get much luck in responses from my last thread. Check out my MDApplicants profile. I'm a PA resident and live in Philadelphia, so I'm obviously applying to all of the Pennsylvania schools.

I have a long list that is top heavy for my stats/scores, but I think I have respectable ECs, excellent research experience, and a few stellar LORs so I've decided to just give them all a shot. Can't hurt trying? Ideal location is important for me, which is probably staying in the NE U.S. to be near my family or moving to California (where a lot of extended family and friends live). Some of my advisers have recommended Chicago schools, but I'm not so sure about living in the Mid-West and unsure if I should apply to additionally ultra-competitive schools if I'm not really confident I'd go there over lesser schools closer to the coast.


---> Reach/Dream Schools
Columbia
Cornell Weill (Top Choice)
Emory
Georgetown
Harvard
Mt. Sinai
NYU
Stanford University (Top Choice)
UC-SF
University of Pennsylvania (Top Choice)
Yale
Brown? (not sure if I should add)

---> Upper Match Schools
Boston University
Albert Einstein of Yeshiva University (yay jews!)
George Washington University
Jefferson Medical College (Top Choice)
Penn State University
Tufts University
USC-Kent (should this be a reach?)

---> Lower Match
Temple University
Drexel University

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Your application on paper seems excellent imo. You have a decent GPA with upward trend, solid mcat, and some very interesting/excellent ECs and research:thumbup:. If you want to apply to all those top schools hey why not. You may not have the GPA or MCAT averages at them, but you are only just below them and i feel the rest of your application is solid enough to warrant consideration. But I would add some more safety/middle schools just in case they dont work out. You are not a reach at USC by any means.

You seem to want to stay on the east or west coast so why not add some NY schools? Maybe ohio schools or NC? though im not sure if ohio is too "midwest" for you but its close to PA so i dont know?

suny upstate, suny downstate, suny buffalo, wake forest, univ cinncinati, univ of toldeo, orgeon health and science, ohio state. I think any of these may warrant some thought. Ohio state maybe another uppper/midtier but still you stats seem right on par for them.

Also i forgot what about virginia schools like VCU, and EVMS or maybe even western virginia if you have some sort of state ties there. I can think of more schools but i was just trying to stay on the coasts and states near PA. Let me know what you think!
 
I'll look into the OH and Virginia schools. I'm mainly looking for liberal, big city locations. I'm gay, and I think having a strong LGBQT community outside of my medical school is really important to me...which I think can be hard in many locations that are in smaller towns and/or the suburbs. Also look for strong research/interdisciplinary opportunities because I'm interested in academic medicine, but that usually coincides with urban schools as well. Are there any other Cali schools that accept out of staters that might be worth applying to? I'm not looking for just top schools, and to be honest, location and academic opportunities are far, far more important to me than prestige.

Thanks!
 
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haha your list of schools look almost just like mine. I would suggest putting a little more safeties from what I've heard the competition is like though. Since we are both from the east coast UCSF is a huge reach for both of us, so unless it's a top choice of yours, it'd be a waste of money I think.
 
Thinking about adding SUNY-Stonybrook, just because they do research and it isn't too far from an urban area. Any other suggestions? Maybe i'm just too picky.
 
if you are looking for LGBT, why not NYU and Sinai, esp NYU and you should remember that you are also applying to georgetown

stonybrook is far from the city in my opinion (although it will be liberal), downstate is closer.
 
My bad, I don't know why I overlooked. How about the chicago schools?
 
Yeah, I was thinking about the Chicago schools. Most of them seem like reaches though (U. Chicago, Northwestern), so I wasn't sure if it was worth adding them if I was a little unsure of whether or not I'd want to move there. To be honest, I've never been to Chicago so I can't really judge it well other than the fact that I am not a HUGE winter person and love my summers ;)
 
if you want a liberal GLBT friendly area, maybe consider OSU. I'm an undergrad at OSU and columbus is a great area with a very prominent gay scene. This is, of course, assuming you'd be willing to come to the midwest.
 
It's USC "Keck" ;)

Nice list... probably similar to what mine will be!
 
Hey all, so I didn't get much luck in responses from my last thread. Check out my MDApplicants profile. I'm a PA resident and live in Philadelphia, so I'm obviously applying to all of the Pennsylvania schools.

I have a long list that is top heavy for my stats/scores, but I think I have respectable ECs, excellent research experience, and a few stellar LORs so I've decided to just give them all a shot. Can't hurt trying? Ideal location is important for me, which is probably staying in the NE U.S. to be near my family or moving to California (where a lot of extended family and friends live). Some of my advisers have recommended Chicago schools, but I'm not so sure about living in the Mid-West and unsure if I should apply to additionally ultra-competitive schools if I'm not really confident I'd go there over lesser schools closer to the coast.


---> Reach/Dream Schools
Columbia
Cornell Weill (Top Choice)
Emory
Georgetown
Harvard
Mt. Sinai
NYU
Stanford University (Top Choice)
UC-SF
University of Pennsylvania (Top Choice)
Yale
Brown? (not sure if I should add)

---> Upper Match Schools
Boston University
Albert Einstein of Yeshiva University (yay jews!)
George Washington University
Jefferson Medical College (Top Choice)
Penn State University
Tufts University
USC-Kent (should this be a reach?)

---> Lower Match
Temple University
Drexel University

I think that it looks good as long as you apply at a reasonable and don't have any red flags that you aren't telling us about. Why is Georgetown a reach? Also, a lot of the "dream" schools you put down on your list, you're actually reasonably competitive to.
 
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