Nuances of particular schools

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It seems that many schools seem to have one or two things they really like a student to have, be, or do

For example: Dartmouth seems to love non-trads, Riverside in CA, loves the inland empire, etc.

Myself and other members on here have expressed interest in trying to find a particular database that list all the small nuances a school likes from their applicants. So far I have scoured the internet with not much luck

If anyone knows of a database that contains info like this I would love to know!! If you yourself happen to know any tidbits feel free to post!
 
lmn said:
Dartmouth being open to non-trads imo is nothing like having to be from the IE to have a chance at UCR. That's like saying loma linda just "likes" 7th day adventists
Click to expand...

I'm completely aware of this...I'm just looking for specific things schools like students to have (experiences), be (such as a member of the inland empire) or do (such as EMT, etc)...like my original post said.

Just little pieces of extra info people would like to have when considering applying to places
 
Mayo Medical School places a huge emphasis on service and the personal statement, more than the average medical school. They love someone with a good story.
 
Creighton and St Louis are both Jesuit and service oriented, right? I think there might be some other Jesuit medical schools as well.
I think they're into faith and healing?
 
You may find these "anecdotes" but the likelihood that they will serve you in the application cycle is small. You should apply to schools that you're interested in attending. Trying to seek out these "secrets" is, IMO, a waste of time and effort that will net you very little.
 
NickNaylor said:
You may find these "anecdotes" but the likelihood that they will serve you in the application cycle is small. You should apply to schools that you're interested in attending. Trying to seek out these "secrets" is, IMO, a waste of time and effort that will net you very little.
Click to expand...

+1

While trends like these absolutely can be spotted and are valid for many other types of admission such as dental school and law school and some PhD peograms unfortunately theres no cookie cutter list for med schools. What I can say is there are things you should know that can let you know you probably shouldn't apply to a school

Residency is obviously the biggest one. Looking on schools websites can provide a bit more nuance on this . One example is southern Illinois being an Illinois alone means little you have to be from south and central Illinois. You'll see on here ADCOMS tell people don't apply to schools for various reasons ie brown favors their own or Jesuit schools really value service or school x unofficially screens out those who don't have certain numbers. Your best bet for this is to simply look around and if in doubt just directly ask. That link above is good but there's no great way to find info like this and it is relevant for telling people where not to apply
 
Creighton is huuuuge on NON-medical volunteering. they are a jesuit school, but I was told from many students/faculty that having or lacking a jesuit background won't help or hurt your chances, so long as you "fit" with the overall ideals.
 
I would love to know how one stands out at high-application volume schools, such as GWU, Georgetown, BU, Tufts, and Jefferson.
 
rachel993 said:
Creighton is huuuuge on NON-medical volunteering. they are a jesuit school, but I was told from many students/faculty that having or lacking a jesuit background won't help or hurt your chances, so long as you "fit" with the overall ideals.
Click to expand...

What happens if one started their clinical volunteering in a nursing home like 5 years ago (in HS)? Would that still be viewed in the same light? Would it still be seen the same it is "community service" none the less.
 
Australopithekus said:
This document, coordinated by the wonderful @hellanutella and contributed to by numerous others, may be helpful: https://docs.google.com/document/d/11tMaUuBmlTKo9HZYIw1EZJuyWQ5ugIl-ZaPzHlyv-G4/edit?pli=1

Other preferences may be gleaned from schools' admission stats and mission statements.
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This is a great resource. However, it's going to be hard to flush out the specific idiosyncrasies of each school unless you work as an adcom there. Therefore, this time is probably best spent bolstering your application.
 
UNMedGa said:
This is a great resource. However, it's going to be hard to flush out the specific idiosyncrasies of each school unless you work as an adcom there. Therefore, this time is probably best spent bolstering your application.
Click to expand...
You can get a very good idea of what some schools are looking for from their secondary questions. Example: OUWB has one primary question: What have you done to serve your community? That should give you a pretty good idea about what type of applicant they're interested in.
 
Agreed - one of my main criteria for selecting schools I want to apply to is what kinds of things their secondaries ask about. I think they have to be a good indicator of what adcoms are interested in.
 
UNMedGa said:
This is a great resource. However, it's going to be hard to flush out the specific idiosyncrasies of each school unless you work as an adcom there. Therefore, this time is probably best spent bolstering your application.
Click to expand...

Very true. I think it's safe to say – aside from a select number of schools with strongly defined regional missions (ex: UCR), religious affiliations (ex: Loma Linda), or specialized programs (ex: CCLCM, Columbia Bassett, any of the UC PRIMEs) – that anything along the lines of "this school really emphasizes X" is going to be mostly speculation. Even schools that have an unofficial reputation for being big on service work will want some skilled researchers in the mix... and vice versa.

Back in another thread @breakintheroof played an interesting game called "guess that mission statement." Short of a select few schools, it was nearly impossible to tell what mission statement matched each school.

What is far more important when is looking at is (listed in no specific order):
1) Does this school have any strong regional biases? If you look at MDapps there are tons of folks who don't meet U of Washington's out-of-region application requirements and are shocked when they get straight-up rejected.
2) Are my stats/experiences/etc. on par with previously accepted students? Buy the MSAR or check in to the "what are my chances" forum. srsly, just buy the MSAR.
3) If you took your MCAT a few years ago, which schools will still accept it?
4) If you are an international student, which schools will consider your application? Note that your answer may be different depending on MD or MD-PhD.
5) If you come from a relatively unknown school, what institutions have previous applicants had success at (and what were their applications like)? See if you can obtain a list from your pre-heath office.
6) Do any of these schools have any pre-req requirements that you are unwilling to fulfil? Ex: my school requires biochem, so if you are to matriculate you must have it. If you don't ever want to set foot back on an undergrad campus again and want to take off on a 6+ month long backpacking trip, this may be a problem.
7) Curriculum, location, cost, class size, etc. Ask yourself "If accepted, would I attend this school?" If the answer is "no," do not apply.

The secondary questions may be a good indicator... or they may not. I didn't apply to Penn because they had a prompt about global health experience (I didn't have any), but toooons of folks without such experiences were accepted anyways. It really is hard to say.
 
Some might say regional preferences is hardly some nuanced information about school's preference. I always point out this chart.
https://www.aamc.org/download/321442/data/factstable1.pdf

Compare the percent of applications from out of state to the percent of matriculation from out of state. It truly is amazing. Tens of thousands of applications and application fees go to waste every single year because people don't give sufficient attention to these things. Between this and poor list of schools people choose it really is amazing how much time people spend on applications and pre-med activities only to throw things away by applying to wrong schools.

Here are some examples
86% of Alabama's applicants are out of state. 92% of its matriculants are in state. South Alabama and Arkansas have very similar numbers.
UC Davis and UC Riverside are 100% in state matriculants. Doesn't stop 25% of applications to come from out of state. Talk about a waste(unless there is some nuance I'm missing here like Oregon applications being considered out of state but if they go there being considered in state----rather unlikely though)
98% of Florida State matriculants are in state. More than half of applications come from out of state. GRU MC Georgia follows the same path.
Kansas is almost 90% in state matriculants despite being over 80% out of state applications. Same can be said of Louisville
LSU schools on average are 60% out of state applications and 94% in state matriculants. Another huge contrast that shows there are tons of people who apply who have no business applying.
Central Michigan 93% in state matriculants over 60% out of state applications.
Rutgers takes less than 1% out of state matriculants. Yet over half the applications are out of state. SUNY Upstate and New Mexico follow similar trends to less extremes.

Seriously, this can't be said enough; take the time to look up these residency numbers. It is just amazing with all the advising there is out there and all the people who spend so much time on their application how much money goes down the toilet with applications to schools people have no business sending.
 
GrapesofRath said:
Some might say regional preferences is hardly some nuanced information about school's preference. I always point out this chart.
https://www.aamc.org/download/321442/data/factstable1.pdf

Compare the percent of applications from out of state to the percent of matriculation from out of state. It truly is amazing. Tens of thousands of applications and application fees go to waste every single year because people don't give sufficient attention to these things. Between this and poor list of schools people choose it really is amazing how much time people spend on applications and pre-med activities only to throw things away by applying to wrong schools.

Here are some examples
86% of Alabama's applicants are out of state. 92% of its matriculants are in state. South Alabama and Arkansas have very similar numbers.
UC Davis and UC Riverside are 100% in state matriculants. Doesn't stop 25% of applications to come from out of state. Talk about a waste(unless there is some nuance I'm missing here like Oregon applications being considered out of state but if they go there being considered in state----rather unlikely though)
98% of Florida State matriculants are in state. More than half of applications come from out of state. GRU MC Georgia follows the same path.
Kansas is almost 90% in state matriculants despite being over 80% out of state applications. Same can be said of Louisville
LSU schools on average are 60% out of state applications and 94% in state matriculants. Another huge contrast that shows there are tons of people who apply who have no business applying.
Central Michigan 93% in state matriculants over 60% out of state applications.
Rutgers takes less than 1% out of state matriculants. Yet over half the applications are out of state. SUNY Upstate and New Mexico follow similar trends to less extremes.

Seriously, this can't be said enough; take the time to look up these residency numbers. It is just amazing with all the advising there is out there and all the people who spend so much time on their application how much money goes down the toilet with applications to schools people have no business sending.
Click to expand...

I could never understand why people apply OOS to OOS unfriendly state schools.
 
hellanutella said:
Back in another thread @breakintheroof played an interesting game called "guess that mission statement." Short of a select few schools, it was nearly impossible to tell what mission statement matched each school.
Click to expand...
Yes. Most schools look for "fit." But most schools are mostly the same. I suspect that "fit" is far more individual and idiosyncratic than it is supposed to be.

Here is an interesting article about the pitfalls of selecting applicants on "fit" in the working world:
It has shifted from systematic analysis of who will thrive in a given workplace to snap judgments by managers about who they’d rather hang out with. In the process, fit has become a catchall used to justify hiring people who are similar to decision makers and rejecting people who are not.
Click to expand...
And the author gets into an interesting (somewhat off-topic) subject:
Perhaps most important, it is easy to mistake rapport for skill. Just as they erroneously believe that they can accurately tell when someone is lying, people tend to be overly confident in their ability to spot talent. Unstructured interviews, which are the most popular hiring tools for American managers and the primary way they judge fit, are notoriously poor predictors of job performance.
Click to expand...
 
The regional/in-state bias is huge in this game. A year or so ago I investigated U. Of Washington because I enjoy the northwest. I found that almost half of matriculants were out of state! But then I found out about WWAMI. I feel pretty lucky to have discovered that before actually applying, but obviously, plenty of premeds don't ever get that memo.

As to the original discussion, I think the previously linked guide is a useful resource, and is about all an applicant likely needs when it comes to learning about individual schools. I also agree that something can be learned from the essay questions each school asks on their secondary. However, it's difficult to say whether school X or Y likes research/service/foreign experience/etc. in particular. I do think that besides the very specific mission-based schools, finding your niche in research/service/etc. and becoming great at what you like will contribute enough to diverse classes at enough medical schools to warrant a few acceptances, provided you have the scores to back it up.
 
breakintheroof said:
Yes. Most schools look for "fit." But most schools are mostly the same. I suspect that "fit" is far more individual and idiosyncratic than it is supposed to be.
Click to expand...

This is an interesting thought. With so many qualified candidates at a lot of top schools, I suppose many "deciding" factors blend together, leaving personality compatibility as one of the few remaining ways to differentiate. This is why we say it's really a crapshoot when you're applying to medical school, particularly to the upper tiers.
 
At least from the research I did, and from my experiences with the two interviews, at Cornell they like people that 1) have an interested in research (cuz Tri-Institute is a research powerhouse and they hope you will be the type of person to take advantage of it and do wonders in research, if possible) and 2) have an interest in working with diverse populations (cuz NYC=most diverse patient population on earth)
 
It's pretty hard to find information on med school's OOS preferences, though. Some sort of unofficial database would be nice...
 
This perfectly illustrates how ignorant most applicants are. More evidence for my notion that of all app %'s, you should double the chances if you remove the terminally clueless.

To make yourself stand out, do something with your ECs that's NOT cookie cutter. Volunteer at a hospice or nursing home; work with Habitat for Humanity...just get off campus and out of your comfort zone!


86% of Alabama's applicants are out of state. 92% of its matriculants are in state. South Alabama and Arkansas have very similar numbers.
UC Davis and UC Riverside are 100% in state matriculants. Doesn't stop 25% of applications to come from out of state. Talk about a waste(unless there is some nuance I'm missing here like Oregon applications being considered out of state but if they go there being considered in state----rather unlikely though)
98% of Florida State matriculants are in state. More than half of applications come from out of state. GRU MC Georgia follows the same path.
Kansas is almost 90% in state matriculants despite being over 80% out of state applications. Same can be said of Louisville
LSU schools on average are 60% out of state applications and 94% in state matriculants. Another huge contrast that shows there are tons of people who apply who have no business applying.

Mods, please sticky this!!
Seriously, this can't be said enough; take the time to look up these residency numbers. It is just amazing with all the advising there is out there and all the people who spend so much time on their application how much money goes down the toilet with applications to schools people have no business sending.
 
GrapesofRath said:
Some might say regional preferences is hardly some nuanced information about school's preference. I always point out this chart.
https://www.aamc.org/download/321442/data/factstable1.pdf

Compare the percent of applications from out of state to the percent of matriculation from out of state. It truly is amazing. Tens of thousands of applications and application fees go to waste every single year because people don't give sufficient attention to these things. Between this and poor list of schools people choose it really is amazing how much time people spend on applications and pre-med activities only to throw things away by applying to wrong schools.

Here are some examples
86% of Alabama's applicants are out of state. 92% of its matriculants are in state. South Alabama and Arkansas have very similar numbers.
UC Davis and UC Riverside are 100% in state matriculants. Doesn't stop 25% of applications to come from out of state. Talk about a waste(unless there is some nuance I'm missing here like Oregon applications being considered out of state but if they go there being considered in state----rather unlikely though)
98% of Florida State matriculants are in state. More than half of applications come from out of state. GRU MC Georgia follows the same path.
Kansas is almost 90% in state matriculants despite being over 80% out of state applications. Same can be said of Louisville
LSU schools on average are 60% out of state applications and 94% in state matriculants. Another huge contrast that shows there are tons of people who apply who have no business applying.
Central Michigan 93% in state matriculants over 60% out of state applications.
Rutgers takes less than 1% out of state matriculants. Yet over half the applications are out of state. SUNY Upstate and New Mexico follow similar trends to less extremes.

Seriously, this can't be said enough; take the time to look up these residency numbers. It is just amazing with all the advising there is out there and all the people who spend so much time on their application how much money goes down the toilet with applications to schools people have no business sending.
Click to expand...

Absolutely. That section of the MSAR is easily worth the $32, with all the potential to be saved on secondaries.
 
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