need backup schools--how to pick?

[Dulcina]

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I'm applying next cycle, so I'm not in a rush or anything, but I was looking through MSAR trying to pick backup schools, and I feel completely lost.

here's my tentative list so far (i will probably end up cutting a lot of these out after research, they are just schools i'm considering at the moment)
-UCSF
-UCSD
-UCLA
-USC
-UCD
-UCI
-Harvard
-JH
-Upenn
-WashU in SL
-UWash
-Stanford
-Duke
-Yale
-Colombia
-Cornell
-U of Chicago
-Brown
-Oregon Health and Science

I know most of these are "reach" schools, so I'm trying to pick some more reasonable schools, but am not sure how. I think I have every med school in CA/OR/WA on the list (bc i want to stay on the west coast), but they're all hard to get into, so I need backups!

Any advice is appreciated, thanks =)

 

[154465]

I'm applying next cycle, so I'm not in a rush or anything, but I was looking through MSAR trying to pick backup schools, and I feel completely lost.

here's my tentative list so far (i will probably end up cutting a lot of these out after research, they are just schools i'm considering at the moment)
-UCSF
-UCSD
-UCLA
-USC
-UCD
-UCI
-Harvard
-JH
-Upenn
-WashU in SL
-UWash
-Stanford
-Duke
-Yale
-Colombia
-Cornell
-U of Chicago
-Brown
-Oregon Health and Science

I know most of these are "reach" schools, so I'm trying to pick some more reasonable schools, but am not sure how. I think I have every med school in CA/OR/WA on the list (bc i want to stay on the west coast), but they're all hard to get into, so I need backups!

Any advice is appreciated, thanks =)

With your stats there is no "reach" school. But then again I guess there are no "backup" schools either in this process. You have an excellent shot anywhere in the country. Leave the neurotic worrying to people with my stats 🙂

Good luck.

 

[artaxerxes]

I'm applying next cycle, so I'm not in a rush or anything, but I was looking through MSAR trying to pick backup schools, and I feel completely lost.

here's my tentative list so far (i will probably end up cutting a lot of these out after research, they are just schools i'm considering at the moment)
-UCSF
-UCSD
-UCLA
-USC
-UCD
-UCI
-Harvard
-JH
-Upenn
-WashU in SL
-UWash
-Stanford
-Duke
-Yale
-Colombia
-Cornell
-U of Chicago
-Brown
-Oregon Health and Science

I know most of these are "reach" schools, so I'm trying to pick some more reasonable schools, but am not sure how. I think I have every med school in CA/OR/WA on the list (bc i want to stay on the west coast), but they're all hard to get into, so I need backups!

Any advice is appreciated, thanks =)

I think a few of the schools you listed have residency requirements, U Wash and maybe Oregon. I'd add casewestern and NWU to your list if you don't mind the midwest. Maybe add Mayo cause they are cheap. And then you have the usual list of mid tier schools like tufts, BU, Georgetown, Wake, and safety types like Drexel, Temple, etc. but not sure if you'll be satisfied going there.

 

[Dulcina]

ahh, tufts, georgetown, and BU are common mid-tier schools?

I know that I have a shot at all the schools on my list, but I can also imagine not getting into a single one, so I'd like to add a few i'm more confident about =p

 

[enigma85]

You would get an automatic interview at Pittsburgh and Michigan, so I would apply to them also. USC would be a better backup than UWash or Oregon, since those are state schools. You could probably save yourself some money by researching the schools more. Would you like Yale's system and the winters in New Haven? Are you interested in the 1 year of research at UPenn and Duke? Would you thrive in the competitive environment at JHU?

With you numbers, you could afford to limit your list to 15-18 schools and be set.

 

[jae9970]

or you can save a whole lot of money by picking your first choice and applying early decision 🙂

 

[gotmeds?]

I'm applying next cycle, so I'm not in a rush or anything, but I was looking through MSAR trying to pick backup schools, and I feel completely lost.

here's my tentative list so far (i will probably end up cutting a lot of these out after research, they are just schools i'm considering at the moment)
-UCSF
-UCSD
-UCLA
-USC
-UCD
-UCI
-Harvard
-JH
-Upenn
-WashU in SL
-UWash
-Stanford
-Duke
-Yale
-Colombia
-Cornell
-U of Chicago
-Brown
-Oregon Health and Science

I know most of these are "reach" schools, so I'm trying to pick some more reasonable schools, but am not sure how. I think I have every med school in CA/OR/WA on the list (bc i want to stay on the west coast), but they're all hard to get into, so I need backups!

Any advice is appreciated, thanks =)

If you can spend the time before your application beefing up your ECs and clinical experience, you should have a good chance at any of those schools. My only cautionary tale is that I knew someone with similar stats to yours (40+ MCAT, close to 4.0 GPA) who didn't have as much luck in the application process as you would expect. Her only real volunteer experience consisted of something that was tacked on in the last 6 months before her application. I'm guessing the adcomms saw right through that (although she still got into medical school). Anyway, you still have time to work on that part of your application and then you should have your pick of schools.

As far as "backups" for you, I'd stay away from schools that have average stats that are significantly lower than yours. I also had pretty good numbers when I applied (not as good as yours) and ended up getting rejected by my "backups" but getting accepted by some of my reach schools. Of the three schools I applied to that had the lowest average numbers, two rejected me without an interview and the other waitlisted me post-interview (I withdrew). Good schools for you might be Tufts, BU, and Mount Sinai. Those are all awesome schools in great cities and I wouldn't really call any of them backup schools, but they are slightly less competitive than some (but not all) of the schools on your list). Of course, they are on the east coast, so if that's a deal breaker for you, they might not be the best choices.

 

[ZagDoc]

For clarification, OHSU is a "state school" by very ambiguous standards these days. They generally accept 30-40% out of state, which is DEFINITELY not typical of a "state school".

 

[Dulcina]

yeah, east coast is not a deal breaker for me, but it would take a better school to drag me out there again.

i'm definitely going to be working on my ECs this whole year. I hope a year looks better than the 6 months that your friend had.... although I don't understand why 6 months isnt enough, seems like enough time to get significant experience.

I guess I'm just scared that I'll get "unlucky" (since this whole process is so unpredictable), and get rejected from all of these schools with high avg stats, so I'll definitely look into the schools that you mentioned =)

thanks for all the help! 😛

 

[drizzt3117]

Don't apply to U Wash unless you have a significant interest in underserved populations. I know ppl with 4.0 and 40+ MCAT that were rejected simply for being OOS w/o such interest.

 

[gotmeds?]

i'm definitely going to be working on my ECs this whole year. I hope a year looks better than the 6 months that your friend had.... although I don't understand why 6 months isnt enough, seems like enough time to get significant experience.

I think that's the whole point. They don't want you to get "significant experience." They want you to actually care about the things you devote your extra time to. There's a big difference between being passionate about something and just doing it to puff up your CV. Luckily, your numbers buy you a lot of leeway.

 

[Dulcina]

I think that's the whole point. They don't want you to get "significant experience." They want you to actually care about the things you devote your extra time to. There's a big difference between being passionate about something and just doing it to puff up your CV. Luckily, your numbers buy you a lot of leeway.

yeah, i'm pretty torn about the whole "doing stuff for your resume" vs "doing stuff you love". I didn't mean to sound like i was doing a checklist of stuff when i said "significant experience", i only meant that you have to be in a medical setting for awhile before adcomms will think that you really know what the environment was like.

if I could do it my way, Id become an EMT, but that won't make enough money for me, so I'm going to do research (which I am genuinely interested in), and get my clinical experience volunteering.

 

[ChubbyChaser]

St. Louis, emory, Wake forest???

But with your stats shoot I wouldnt worry about it

 

[ChubbyChaser]

Actually DUlcina, Im applying the Same year as you, So apply only to top 20 schools, and leave the Mid tier spots open for average students like me..


please??😀

 

[Dulcina]

Actually DUlcina, Im applying the Same year as you, So apply only to top 20 schools, and leave the Mid tier spots open for average students like me..


please??😀

lol i think with my ECs, im pretty average.
i guess this is the price i pay (not having a gazillion yrs of ECs) for discovering that i want to go to medschool late =/

 

[-Goose-]

ahh, tufts, georgetown, and BU are common mid-tier schools?

I know that I have a shot at all the schools on my list, but I can also imagine not getting into a single one, so I'd like to add a few i'm more confident about =p

I would add a couple of the the following mid tier schools:

Tufts
BU
SLU
Wake Forest
Georgetown/GW

You're going to be fine.

 

[futuredrcrawfor]

You would get an automatic interview at Pittsburgh and Michigan, so I would apply to them also. .

How do you get an automatic interview? Is it based on scores, residency???