My list - opinions appreciated

[munnabhai]

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Hey guys and gals,

Can those of you with a bit of time to spare take a look at my prospective list of schools to apply to and give me your honest opinions.

(Note: this is by no means a "bragging post." To those who are offended (for reasons I cannot imagine/comprehend, I apologize in advance.))

-Overall GPA: 3.8ish
-Science GPA: slightly above my overall GPA
-36 > MCAT > 33 (R on writing for what its worth)
-varied coursework
-TX resident
-have a pretty friendly relation with LOR writers
-weak on the EC (have quite a bit of shadowing & volunteering but I am worried because I do not have any significant officer positions in any clubs and haven't done anything extraordinary (like volunteering in Africa or New Orleans))
-Have a decent amount of research experience (no pubs) and want to leave my options open for a career in academic medicine
-Finally, I am an overrepresented minority.

Planning on applying to:
Pretty much all the Texas schools (BCM, UTSW, houston, utmb, tech, a&m, san antonio)
JHU
U Chicago - (Do they favor instate applicants?)
Northwestern
U Pitt - (Do they favor instate applicants?)
Vandy
Case Western
Columbia - (Want to apply to one NY school; would Cornell be a better choice?)
Dartmouth
Brown

Some questions I had in addition to those listed above:
-Is this list too top-heavy? If so, which schools should I add?
-I know that JHU is infinite reach for me. Should I replace this with another infinite reach (like hms, yale, penn, wustl)?
-Any other comments.

Thanks in advance to everyone for your opinions and comments. 😍

-m'bhai

 

[souslepont]

UChicago doesn't favor instate applicants, but I have no idea about UPitt.

You should keep Columbia - I read somewhere recently (was it wikipedia? no idea) that Cornell has the lowest acceptance rate of any school.

It's a little top heavy...your MCAT and GPA are in range, of course, but if your EC's really are as weak as you say, then it could be an issue, since you're going to competing against people with equally impressive test scores and GPA's (and you have no pubs). Some more mid-range schools that come to mind are Tufts, NYU, Georgetown and Wake Forest...maybe you should look into those.

I think you should keep Hopkins if you love it, but if you wanna go somewhere *slightly* less cutthroat, maybe you should add one of the other infinite reaches. Wash U is obsessed with numbers, so your lack of EC's might not be so much of an issue there. It's up to you.

You are applying to Baylor, right?

 

[leftmid]

Hey guys and gals,
U Chicago - (Do they favor instate applicants?)
Northwestern
U Pitt - (Do they favor instate applicants?)

Should I replace this with another infinite reach (like hms, yale, penn, wustl)?
😍

-m'bhai

Keep both U Pitt and U Chicago.
Add any or all of them hms, yale, penn amd wustl, if afforadble. It is cheap for the luxury of choices and more room to move around. You will also have plenty of hand-on experiences to advise someone afterwards. People always say that it's once in a life time when they decide to spend big $ or even burn them, right?

 

[shantster]

Pitt has a slight instate preference, but not much. Check the MSAR for numbers.

 

[munnabhai]

Thanks for the feedback people.

It's a little top heavy...your MCAT and GPA are in range, of course, but if your EC's really are as weak as you say, then it could be an issue, since you're going to competing against people with equally impressive test scores and GPA's (and you have no pubs). Some more mid-range schools that come to mind are Tufts, NYU, Georgetown and Wake Forest...maybe you should look into those.

I think you should keep Hopkins if you love it, but if you wanna go somewhere *slightly* less cutthroat, maybe you should add one of the other infinite reaches. Wash U is obsessed with numbers, so your lack of EC's might not be so much of an issue there. It's up to you.

You are applying to Baylor, right?

Yes, I will be applying to Baylor! Thanks for the reality check though; I was getting carried away in my dreams.
I was not too sure about applying to WashU because I don't have exceptional numbers. As far as the lack of EC goes, I wish I had gotten my act together earlier. I have volunteered, shadowed, and am doing an honors thesis research but nothing in there is extraordinary. Any suggestion as to which schools I should cut out of my list (I won't cut out any TX schools and I really like the two chicago and one NY schools) so that I can add some mid tier schools? I am not too familiar with the mid tiers.

Keep both U Pitt and U Chicago.
Add any or all of them hms, yale, penn amd wustl, if afforadble. It is cheap for the luxury of choices and more room to move around. You will also have plenty of hand-on experiences to advise someone afterwards. People always say that it's once in a life time when they decide to spend big $ or even burn them, right?

Well I guess that what I am asking is that while all the schools are very very difficult to get into, will one of them be more forgiving to my application than the others?

Thanks again!

 

[TheRealMD]

Seiously though, take out A&M and Tech. If you won't do it, then they will for you (after taking your money). I know that it's only $10 more after the first Texas school, but your MCAT and GPA make too almost too competitive for those schools. They'll actually assume that you'll go elsewhere and you probably will. Unless you can specifically say why you would want to go there, you have a good shot at other Texas schools as well. I'm not calling them "safety" schools, but if you don't screw up your interviews, you're chances are pretty good.

One thing, stay away from UTSW. I don't want you to take my spot.

 

[munnabhai]

Seiously though, take out A&M and Tech. If you won't do it, then they will for you (after taking your money). I know that it's only $10 more after the first Texas school, but your MCAT and GPA make too almost too competitive for those schools. They'll actually assume that you'll go elsewhere and you probably will. Unless you can specifically say why you would want to go there, you have a good shot at other Texas schools as well. I'm not calling them "safety" schools, but if you don't screw up your interviews, you're chances are pretty good.

One thing, stay away from UTSW. I don't want you to take my spot.

My parents are insisting that I apply to EVERY allo school in Texas :/

Also, I think I can think up a good excuse for applying to Tech. Thanks for the suggestion though.

I saw you mdapp profile. Really impressive. Are you, by any chance, a TAMS alum? Just curious lol.

Anyways, there is no way that I can take your spot at UTSW. Dang daunting application process has crushed my hopes.

 

[ryandote]

Hey guys and gals,

Can those of you with a bit of time to spare take a look at my prospective list of schools to apply to and give me your honest opinions.

...

Some questions I had in addition to those listed above:
-Is this list too top-heavy? If so, which schools should I add?
-I know that JHU is infinite reach for me. Should I replace this with another infinite reach (like hms, yale, penn, wustl)?
-Any other comments.

Thanks in advance to everyone for your opinions and comments. 😍

-m'bhai

If it wasn't for all those Texas schools, your list would be top heavy. You sincerely have an awesome GPA/MCAT, but there are no garuntees, and you admit you don't stick out for much more than your GPA/MCAT. I don't know much at all about Texas, so if you feel safe with that list, good for you. Just realize that you don't much to count on outside of Texas.

I would be willing to bet that 1-2 of those schools comes through, but with applications soaring, who knows?

Good luck.

 

[TheRealMD]

My parents are insisting that I apply to EVERY allo school in Texas :/

Also, I think I can think up a good excuse for applying to Tech. Thanks for the suggestion though.

I saw you mdapp profile. Really impressive. Are you, by any chance, a TAMS alum? Just curious lol.

Anyways, there is no way that I can take your spot at UTSW. Dang daunting application process has crushed my hopes.

TAMS class of 06.

And insist back that those $20 can buy you lunch or something. Actually, more like $95 after secondary fees. You shouldn't be thinking of excuses but REASONS! Adcoms have like a 6th sense or something when trying to detect sincerity. 😀

Lol, what makes you think that you can't get into UTSW?

 

[Abilene85]

your MCAT and GPA make too almost too competitive for those schools. They'll actually assume that you'll go elsewhere and you probably will.

That is extremely dangerous advice. Even admission to the "safety" schools is extremely competitive.

Plus, you never know what kind of financial package a safety school will offer one of their top applicants. Think scholarships.

 

[TheRealMD]

That is extremely dangerous advice. Even admission to the "safety" schools is extremely competitive.

Plus, you never know what kind of financial package a safety school will offer one of their top applicants. Think scholarships.

True, but in reference to Texas where admissions is pretty much sheltered from the rest of the country, a person higher than a 33 and a 3.8 is MUCH more likely to want to attend say... UTSW & Baylor than Tech or A&M.

Anyway, I think the more important advice that I gave was that you need to identify a reason you want to go to each school. If you can't do that, don't apply. No adcom in their right mind would want to admit a student who sees their school as a "safety" even if they have high stats versus a student with lower stats but loves their school. This is why interviews will be tricky if you don't address that issue.

Oh well, it's just $95. Though I wonder, why OOS? Few people in Texas bother going outside unless they really want to. Tired of Texas?

 

[munnabhai]

True, but in reference to Texas where admissions is pretty much sheltered from the rest of the country, a person higher than a 33 and a 3.8 is MUCH more likely to want to attend say... UTSW & Baylor than Tech or A&M.

Anyway, I think the more important advice that I gave was that you need to identify a reason you want to go to each school. If you can't do that, don't apply. No adcom in their right mind would want to admit a student who sees their school as a "safety" even if they have high stats versus a student with lower stats but loves their school. This is why interviews will be tricky if you don't address that issue.

Oh well, it's just $95. Though I wonder, why OOS? Few people in Texas bother going outside unless they really want to. Tired of Texas?

Not tired of Texas. The only reason my OOS school list is so top heavy is that there is no point for me to apply to mid-tier oos schools because I would much rather go for the other texas schools since they are so much cheaper. I mean, the only way I am going to spend 40k/year is if I have no other options or if it will offer me significantly more opportunities. Man this process is unfun.

 

[EM_Rebuilder]

Not tired of Texas. The only reason my OOS school list is so top heavy is that there is no point for me to apply to mid-tier oos schools because I would much rather go for the other texas schools since they are so much cheaper. I mean, the only way I am going to spend 40k/year is if I have no other options or if it will offer me significantly more oppertunities. Man this process is unfun.

I dunno what you want to do, but Texas Tech puts people in Optho, Ortho, Derm, Rads, Gas, Rad Onc, etc every year... and my full bill for four years was 37K...

 

[munnabhai]

I dunno what you want to do, but Texas Tech puts people in Optho, Ortho, Derm, Rads, Gas, Rad Onc, etc every year... and my full bill for four years was 37K...

Yea.. I was just saying that for me, ut-houston is a better choice than say tufts or NYU because the price difference is so huge. As I said, the only way I would go OOS is if I didnt get in anywhere else, or if the OOS school is very reputable (at least in my mind). Thus most of the schools on my list are upper-tier/hard to get into.

Anyways, anyone have any specific schools they may wanna suggest?

 

[TheRealMD]

Yea.. I was just saying that for me, ut-houston is a better choice than say tufts or NYU because the price difference is so huge. As I said, the only way I would go OOS is if I didnt get in anywhere else, or if the OOS school is very reputable (at least in my mind). Thus most of the schools on my list are upper-tier/hard to get into.

Anyways, anyone have any specific schools they may wanna suggest?

You see, this is why most Texas residents don't bother applying OOS. If they have a decent chance inside their home-state, the only reason TO apply OOS is for top-tier schools.

In my mind, a Texas resident would really need to find a school better than Baylor (I say that and not UTSW because of perceived rankings) to actually go to med school outside of Texas. Actually, you'd need to find a med school not only better than Baylor but MUCH cheaper too to want to go outside of Texas. And honestly, the few people that are in that kind of position don't need to worry about getting into A medical school, but flying around the east and west cost for interviews at top-tier schools.

 

[munnabhai]

You see, this is why most Texas residents don't bother applying OOS. If they have a decent chance inside their home-state, the only reason TO apply OOS is for top-tier schools.

In my mind, a Texas resident would really need to find a school better than Baylor (I say that and not UTSW because of perceived rankings) to actually go to med school outside of Texas. Actually, you'd need to find a med school not only better than Baylor but MUCH cheaper too to want to go outside of Texas. And honestly, the few people that are in that kind of position don't need to worry about getting into A medical school, but flying around the east and west cost for interviews at top-tier schools.

I dunno.. some people would be willing to pay a premium to go to hms, penn, hopkins, and maybe even columbia (I'm not saying that I am one of those people.) To any BCM/UTSW adcoms reading this: I <3 U 😍😍😍

 

[leftmid]

Well I guess that what I am asking is that while all the schools are very very difficult to get into, will one of them be more forgiving to my application than the others?

I bet that none of them is fogiving at all. Just spell a word wrong and you are out. Sorry for the exaggeration, but those schools seem having tough time finding a decisive tie breaker. They don't accept everyone with absolute parity, I guess (as usual.)

There is no sure bet safety for you at the bottom of the US ranking list. I've found a post by someone (4/40) who was rejected by every school in his home state (VA.) Finally, he chose to go to Duke on a scholarship.

 

[TheRealMD]

I dunno.. some people would be willing to pay a premium to go to hms, penn, hopkins, and maybe even columbia (I'm not saying that I am one of those people.) To any BCM/UTSW adcoms reading this: I <3 U 😍😍😍

Lol, I'm not willing to sell my soul for $240,000 after 4 years. 😀