Non trad school selection help

[canjosh]

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Hi everyone! I'm in need of some help for my OOS school selections. Here are my stats:

cGPA: 3.75
sGPA: 3.71
MCAT: 34P; PS 11, VR 12, BS 11
29y/o white male, married with 2 kids, 2 dogs, and a mortgage. Have worked full-time throughout college.
TX resident

I've been a paramedic for 10 years, most of that time spent working in hospitals, with a couple of years spent at the fire department. LORs should be excellent. Obviously, I'm applying to all the Texas schools. I hope to stay here, but I'm open to applying OOS to broaden my application.

I'm asking this here because the 'What are my Chances?' forum just has too much traffic to get much help.

I was thinking I'd apply to these schools:
Wake Forest
South Alabama
U of Alabama
Mayo/Emory/Vanderbilt--was thinking of applying to one of these as a reach...not sure though

Don't want to live in New Orleans, so no Tulane for me. I feel like I don't have enough in the way of 'safeties'. Any help here? Thanks!👍

 

[Law2Doc]

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I'm asking this here because the 'What are my Chances?' forum just has too much traffic to get much help....

The whole point of moving this kind of post to the what are my chances thread is because that kind of inquiry is not really a topic of interest to readers at large (it's not about where you get the better traffic).

 

[canjosh]

Yes, but I was hoping to get an opinion from others who've come from a nontraditional background...like me. I didn't arbitrarily pick another forum to post in, I picked this one because of the type of people that presumably peruse it. If you end up closing or moving this thread, that's fine.

 

[efex101]

Apply wherever you want, to be honest, ALL schools are looking for well qualified applicants which you are. Pick by location, where would you and your family be happy moving to and living for 4 years, then look at stats (are you a good candidate for that school), and go from there.

 

[QofQuimica]

Unless you are a former AL resident or otherwise have strong ties to the state, USA will *not* be a safety school for you. With your academic record being reasonably competitive, you'd probably have better odds at any of the other schools you listed. If you want to apply in FL, consider adding Miami to your list. Best of luck. 🙂

 

[Excelsius]

Hi everyone! I'm in need of some help for my OOS school selections. Here are my stats:

cGPA: 3.7
sGPA: 3.5--strong upward trend-got an F in Algebra back in 2002
MCAT: 34P; PS 11, VR 12, BS 11
29y/o white male, married with 2 kids, 2 dogs, and a mortgage. Have worked full-time throughout college.
TX resident

I've been a paramedic for 10 years, most of that time spent working in hospitals, with a couple of years spent at the fire department. LORs should be excellent. Obviously, I'm applying to all the Texas schools. I hope to stay here, but I'm open to applying OOS to broaden my application.

I'm asking this here because the 'What are my Chances?' forum just has too much traffic to get much help.

I was thinking I'd apply to these schools:
Wake Forest
South Alabama
U of Alabama
Mayo/Emory/Vanderbilt--was thinking of applying to one of these as a reach...not sure though

Don't want to live in New Orleans, so no Tulane for me. I feel like I don't have enough in the way of 'safeties'. Any help here? Thanks!👍

You have good stats and can apply pretty much everywhere. I don't think 29 is old enough to get a lot of age discrimination, if any. There are students getting in in their 30s, 40s, or even older.

In terms of a safety, no US school can truly be a safety, unless you include DOs. However, what you could do is use MSAR and see which schools have scores at your level or lower and apply to them. That's the best thing you can do short of "safety."

 

[Excelsius]

I also just noticed that you have been an SDN member for five years now. If you have been reasonably active in reading message boards, you probably know as much as anyone.

 

[NTF]

If you don't have any geographical restrictions, I'd add Jefferson, GW, Drexel, Toledo, Cincinnati, Case Western, WSU, and possibly Georgetown.

 

[canjosh]

Unless you are a former AL resident or otherwise have strong ties to the state, USA will *not* be a safety school for you. With your academic record being reasonably competitive, you'd probably have better odds at any of the other schools you listed. If you want to apply in FL, consider adding Miami to your list. Best of luck. 🙂

Thanks for the heads up. I had planned on applying to USA based on the statement on their website regarding out of state applicants needing a 30 MCAT and 3.6 cGPA. I just looked at the MSAR and saw how few OOS students they actually accepted last year. So, I'll probably take both AL schools off my list.

That will have me applying to the 8 schools in Texas, plus Wake Forest and Vandy. ? Mayo as a wild reach. In reality, I'd have a hard time leaving Texas if I have an acceptance anywhere here. I do feel a little uncomfortable applying to relatively few schools though.

 

[QofQuimica]

Thanks for the heads up. I had planned on applying to USA based on the statement on their website regarding out of state applicants needing a 30 MCAT and 3.6 cGPA. I just looked at the MSAR and saw how few OOS students they actually accepted last year. So, I'll probably take both AL schools off my list.

AL protects its seats for state residents and OOS applicants w/ ties to AL or from adjoining states. UAB takes about 10% OOS residents. I got accepted there when I applied as a FL resident. However, I am a former resident of AL and was applying from an adjoining state, so I don't know how your app from TX would go over if you have no ties to AL.

What happened to Emory on your list?

 

[student1799]

Thanks for the heads up. I had planned on applying to USA based on the statement on their website regarding out of state applicants needing a 30 MCAT and 3.6 cGPA. I just looked at the MSAR and saw how few OOS students they actually accepted last year. So, I'll probably take both AL schools off my list.

It's probably true that the AL schools aren't a great bet for OOS students, but the MSAR isn't the best way to figure that out, because it only tells you the number of students that MATRICULATED, rather than the number of admission offers the school made. When I first started this process, I had no idea that med schools over-admitted to any meaningful degree, but now that I've seen actual statistics [from USNews, which I'll get to in a minute], I've learned that the "yield" for all but the most elite schools is about 40%. This means that the school will accept about 100 people to fill 40 spaces, because most of them won't actually end up attending. Yields are this low, even at prestigious schools, because many students are accepted at multiple places, but can obviously attend only one. Yields for OOS applicants at state schools can be even lower than that, because many students balk at the higher OOS tuition or prefer to attend med school near their homes. So these schools may accept many more OOS students than the MSAR numbers would imply.

For example, in '07 SUNY Upstate made 54% of its admission offers (214 out of 395) to OOS students, but the school's final enrollment was only 27% OOS (43/160), because very few of the OOS acceptees chose to matriculate. But using the matriculation number in the MSAR significantly understates an OOS applicant's probability of being accepted at the school.

Online access to the USNews online med school rankings (which is the only way to get the admissions information) costs $14.95. This info comes from the schools themselves, and some decline to provide it, but I'd say it's available for a large majority of med schools. I wouldn't pay any attention to the rankings themselves, because I think they're bogus, but the admissions stats are worth their weight in gold.

I do feel a little uncomfortable applying to relatively few schools though.

You should. Apply broadly, because med school admissions is a highly unpredictable process, and you always want to have a "Plan B" (and a Plan C, and maybe even a Plan D ...). Of course Texas is your best option, and it looks like you have an excellent shot there with your stats, but you need to have others just in case. No med school will take it personally if you are accepted and decline the offer--it happens to them all the time. (Most schools have around a 40% yield, remember?)

The average AMCAS applicant applies to about 15 schools, and that would probably be a reasonable number for you as well. Don't apply anywhere that you'd NEVER consider attending, but there are lots of fine med schools outside TX that you would probably find congenial.

 

[NTF]

amazingly well put, student1799

 

[canjosh]

amazingly well put, student1799

Ditto. Thanks for the input.👍

 

[canjosh]

What happened to Emory on your list?

Sorry, inadvertently left it off my post. Still on my actual list.

 

[teacherman]

I can't imagine you not getting in somewhere in TX. I'm in a comparable situation...leaving a career after ten years, 1 son, 1 dog, (1 wife!) and you have better stats than me.

Best of luck to you!