Need help cutting down school list!

[rickyricardo]

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I have a 39R (13-12-14), 3.95 GPA (both cum. and sci), from a top 20 undergrad. LORs should be all good, 2 years research with 1 small 2nd author pub, some leadership (led two big undergrad organizations plus some more minor roles), 250 hours shadowing, 250 hours volunteering.

Here is my school list, with my single state school removed for anonymity's sake (although it is an unranked school with average stats). I have 25 right now but I want to cut down to 16. Any suggestions? Any input is welcome.

Super-Reach/Dream
Harvard
Hopkins
Stanford
UCSF
University of Penn.
Wash U
Yale

Reach/Great-but-less-of-a-dream
Baylor
Brown
Chicago
Columbia
Cornell

Matches and schools I feel ok about
[State School]
BU
Duke
Emory
Mayo
Michigan
Mt Sinai
Northwestern
NYU
Pitt
Tufts
UCSD
Vanderbilt

 

[NickNaylor]

Just curious... how are Mayo and UCSD a match?

With those stats you probably have a decent shot anywhere you apply. Are all of these schools you would genuinely attend if accepted? I'm guessing some aren't; eliminate those. Start getting picky. I'm guessing you chose this list based only on what "sounded good," if that makes sense. Now you need to pick which schools you can actually see yourself at, plus a couple of safeties.

That would be my strategy anyway.

You might, for example, keep all of your reach/dream schools. I'm guessing you'd be willing to attend any of these if accepted. From that list, add a few more you feel good about. Since you're looking to apply to 16 schools, this would give you three for wiggle room. If that doesn't feel good, redistribute your schools until you arrive at a comfortable ratio of "dream" vs. "reach" vs. "feels good" schools.

 

[SunDevilDoc]

I would probably not apply to UCSD, being that they only take around 20 OOS, and the school isn't that great (I visited it recently, kinda looks 80's ish)
Also, UCSF is pretty light on OOSers

 

[rickyricardo]

The third list is Match and schools that I don't LOVE but would definitely go to rather than taking a year off. Mayo is a great school but the location isn't awesome, and UCSD is a great school and great location but I'm OOS so I put it down there.

Thanks for the advice though. I guess the tough part for me is that I could see myself almost anywhere, because I really just want to study medicine and become a doctor, and would go to any of the places I listed.

 

[shemarty]

My credentials are similar to yours (cept I had no pub). Maybe your application will play out similarly to mine (visit my MDApps).

With those numbers, if you go to a top undergrad, you might qualify for the auto-interview invite from Michigan (and hopefully an October 15th acceptance). In which case, eliminate all the schools you wouldn't attend over Michigan.

In the end, you'll probably have multiple acceptances (assuming you apply pretty early and you interview reasonably well). Don't over-apply, it just ends up being a waste of time and money.

You don't need *that* many safeties. In fact, some safeties can tell that they're your safety and they might not even interview you. I've heard of this kinda thing happening at UCI, for Californians.

Spend some time visiting these schools' websites and eliminate the ones that don't feel right to you. Metropolitan city vs suburb vs rural? East coast vs west coast vs midwest vs south? Required research - yay or nay?

I didn't realize till after my interviews that some schools were not right for me. I could've saved myself some time by doing the research beforehand.

In the end you can only attend one school, and theres no point in being accepted to a whole bunch if you can find the one that's a great match for you.

 

[searun]

Well, Ricky, assuming that you do not drool when you interview, or part your hair down the middle like Alfalfa Al, or have your fly open and cause women to gasp, you have a good shot at getting in somewhere. I would not consider Duke a safety school, but other than that, figure out what you like and apply to about 15 schools. You should get in somewhere. And then the real fun begins.

 

[searun]

Apparently Lucy was very hot, but very crazy, off camera.

 

[ksmi117]

Moving to the What Are My Chances? forum.

 

[rickyricardo]

Bump