Need Good Safety Schools

[njcaldwell]

Hey guys, I need about 5 good safty schools to apply to. Im a CA resident.

MCAT = 10- VR 14- PS 12- BS Writing = 0
GPA = 3.79

Right now I have no good secondaries

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[njcaldwell]

Bump, cmon please!!!!

 

[Pkboi24]

Hey guys, I need about 5 good safty schools to apply to. Im a CA resident.

MCAT = 10- VR 14- PS 12- BS Writing = 0
GPA = 3.79

Right now I have no good secondaries

There are no such things as safety schools. My numbers are well above the average for some schools in Texas that I have yet to hear a peep from *cough* UT-San Antonio.

Here's something you probably wanted/expected to hear: your numbers are spectacular. Apply wherever you want to go. If for any reason you don't get in, it won't be because of your numbers.

Hope you don't get flamed for this...

 

[defrunner]

Somehow I think the lack of responses is more telling than the expected and good old flame war.

 

[etf]

There are no such things as safety schools. My numbers are well above the average for some schools in Texas that I have yet to hear a peep from *cough* UT-San Antonio.

Here's something you probably wanted/expected to hear: your numbers are spectacular. Apply wherever you want to go. If for any reason you don't get in, it won't be because of your numbers.

Hope you don't get flamed for this...

no one is guaranteed anything in this game. this site is full of people who (at least claim) they have 4.0s and dropped 40+ on the mcat and didn't get in anywhere...plus, you're from CA, so you've got no state school to "fall back on."

 

[tacrum43]

Hey guys, I need about 5 good safty schools to apply to. Im a CA resident.

MCAT = 10- VR 14- PS 12- BS Writing = 0
GPA = 3.79

Right now I have no good secondaries

Some "safety" schools will reject applicants who have high numbers like yours because they know there's very little chance you'll come there. If you have decent clinical experiences and/or research, you should likely have no problem getting into a UC.

But as for backups for you, you might try: VCU, NYMC, Penn State, Albany and Rosalind Franklin. I think Boston University might also be a good option for you, but it's not really a "backup". You could also try OHSU and Colorado if you want to stay in the West.

 

[Tori's dad]

Some "safety" schools will reject applicants who have high numbers like yours because they know there's very little chance you'll come there.

You must be joking...those stats are TOO GOOD for some med schools? I have not been a member of an admissions committee, but that sounds preposterous. I mean, if the applicant is well rounded and has good scores why wouldn't they accept him/her?

On the other hand, if you are a semi-robotic gunner who would crush everyone in the path to med school and lived and breathed prereq and MCAT courses, then maybe you don't have that good a chance at any school. But then you could argue that such a person is not well qualified for med school.

At any rate the quote above confuses the hell out of me.

 

[DrBowtie]

You must be joking...those stats are TOO GOOD for some med schools? I have not been a member of an admissions committee, but that sounds preposterous. I mean, if the applicant is well rounded and has good scores why wouldn't they accept him/her?

On the other hand, if you are a semi-robotic gunner who would crush everyone in the path to med school and lived and breathed prereq and MCAT courses, then maybe you don't have that good a chance at any school. But then you could argue that such a person is not well qualified for med school.

At any rate the quote above confuses the hell out of me.

Yields are key. Why invite a person from half way across the country, take up an interview spot when they know that they wouldn't come there even if accepted?

 

[Robizzle]

You must be joking...those stats are TOO GOOD for some med schools? I have not been a member of an admissions committee, but that sounds preposterous. I mean, if the applicant is well rounded and has good scores why wouldn't they accept him/her?

On the other hand, if you are a semi-robotic gunner who would crush everyone in the path to med school and lived and breathed prereq and MCAT courses, then maybe you don't have that good a chance at any school. But then you could argue that such a person is not well qualified for med school.

At any rate the quote above confuses the hell out of me.

admission committees of lower tier schools sometimes think that since your numbers are so good, you are only applying to their school as a "backup plan" and don't actually have any genuine interest in their school.

need an example? read the thread title

ofcourse nearly everyone does this in order to increase their chances.. nothing wrong with it. but don't think adcoms won't think about it! they'll probably invite the applicant to an interview, but i bet they will see right through an applicant who pretends to like the school. i stand by the fact that if a person with really high numbers really does want to go to a lower tier school, then he or she can get in.

 

[ADeadLois]

I propose an across the board SDN terminology change. Instead of "safety" schools, we should change them to "moderately competitive" schools.

 

[Tori's dad]

Yields are key. Why invite a person from half way across the country, take up an interview spot when they know that they wouldn't come there even if accepted?

I see your point, however, it seems that since med schools do not pay for the interviewee to fly there, then the only thing they have to loose is the interview slot. It seems a small price to pay for getting someone who would do well academically.

I must reemphasize that I know nothing about adcoms. Just thoughts here.

 

[ADeadLois]

I see your point, however, it seems that since med schools do not pay for the interviewee to fly there, then the only thing they have to loose is the interview slot. It seems a small price to pay for getting someone who would do well academically.

I must reemphasize that I know nothing about adcoms. Just thoughts here.

Yes, but if an interviewee has through-the-roof stats, then there's a less likely chance that the person will matriculate. Interview slots are actually very valuable for medical schools as well as they are applicants. Basically, you've got a potential $40K+ a year there.

 

[Law2Doc]

I see your point, however, it seems that since med schools do not pay for the interviewee to fly there, then the only thing they have to loose is the interview slot. It seems a small price to pay for getting someone who would do well academically.

I must reemphasize that I know nothing about adcoms. Just thoughts here.

Med schools have as many as 10,000 applicants and most of the interviewers are busy clinicians. Schools can't just afford to bring everyone in, and so they screen out people with low scores and sometimes those with scores that suggest they are unlikely to be applying seriously. It simply isn't practical to use up a clinicians or deans time talking to someone who won't likely come -- you only get to see a small portion of the applicant pool, so you don't waste it. The goal of many schools is to fill their class while making minimal use of the waitlist -- they would love to have everybody locked in well before the summer (it doesn't usually work out, but that is the goal). Thus nearly every stellar applicant will learn they have been rejected by a so-called safety at some point. The folks who get into Harvard and Hopkins don't have 100% acceptances across the board, and you can almost guarantee that there was at least one surprise school that was not interested in giving them a look-see, notwithstanding the school's less compettive ranking.