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Only applying to top 15? School list
- Thread starter parsimony1428
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Where is your state of residence? Any shadowing hours?
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You've got good stats obviously (definitely in top school range), but I would say the ECs are pretty normal (unless your research has resulted in multiple first author publications in non-undergrad journals or something). The leadership is average at best - being a leader in a few undergrad organizations is I feel like the norm, if not under it, especially for top schools. I obviously don't know your narrative, but you didn't include anything from an EC standpoint that makes it stand out in particular, but at this point only you can gauge that.I don't mean this harshly, just trying to put into perspective how, based on this admittedly limited snapshot, how you might be viewed. So could you get into a top 15 based on stats and research alone? Absolutely. Would I be surprised if you didnt (from what you've presented)? Not really.
Moral of this is I would apply a bit more broadly. I have a friend who applied with a similar mindset this cycle (basically only top 15 schools). Had same GPA, 99th percentile MCAT, had a narrative that was just so interesting and showed how well rounded she was (I won't share it here just because it's not mine to share), and had ECs that were truly stellar (and I'm curmudgeonly when it comes to ECs and don't throw "stellar" around often when it comes to them, but she had multiple publications in multiple fields from both of her majors that actually overlapped beautifully from a narrative standpoint, had work experience with a couple well-known health nonprofits, etc) - and she got a handful of interview invites and a bunch of waitlists. Med school admissions doesn't always make sense and while on any given year I'd say she could get into all the top schools, on any given year she clearly could have trouble. For that reason, and using that as a cautionary tale, I'd at least put a state school on there and look into a few schools in the slightly lower ranking range.
Lastly I'd just encourage you to look at schools based on more than ranking. If you like certain types of research, certain curricular styles, etc, look a bit more into which schools have the qualities you like. If you like, for example, small group learning, pick a couple "less competitive" (it's all relative, even the school ranked 40 in the rankings is competitive) places that have that and consider applying. Ranking does matter for Med school, no doubt, but it is far from the only important thing and this isn't law school - you don't need to go to a subjectively ranked top 15 institutionto get the best jobs afterwards.
Moral of this is I would apply a bit more broadly. I have a friend who applied with a similar mindset this cycle (basically only top 15 schools). Had same GPA, 99th percentile MCAT, had a narrative that was just so interesting and showed how well rounded she was (I won't share it here just because it's not mine to share), and had ECs that were truly stellar (and I'm curmudgeonly when it comes to ECs and don't throw "stellar" around often when it comes to them, but she had multiple publications in multiple fields from both of her majors that actually overlapped beautifully from a narrative standpoint, had work experience with a couple well-known health nonprofits, etc) - and she got a handful of interview invites and a bunch of waitlists. Med school admissions doesn't always make sense and while on any given year I'd say she could get into all the top schools, on any given year she clearly could have trouble. For that reason, and using that as a cautionary tale, I'd at least put a state school on there and look into a few schools in the slightly lower ranking range.
Lastly I'd just encourage you to look at schools based on more than ranking. If you like certain types of research, certain curricular styles, etc, look a bit more into which schools have the qualities you like. If you like, for example, small group learning, pick a couple "less competitive" (it's all relative, even the school ranked 40 in the rankings is competitive) places that have that and consider applying. Ranking does matter for Med school, no doubt, but it is far from the only important thing and this isn't law school - you don't need to go to a subjectively ranked top 15 institutionto get the best jobs afterwards.
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Have you considered applying DO?
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I kid. You've got a great app. But applying to only top 15 schools is an easy way to get burned. I would at least include your state schools. Depending where you are it could save you a lot of money, and with your stats you may be able to land a nice scholarship.
We have a couple kids in my class that turned down big name places for a nearly free education at our state (ish) school. They're all pretty happy being the biggest fish in a smaller pond, so to speak.
Not saying you should do one or the other, but it way be a good idea to keep that option open.
Edit: also your EC's are great, but those schools are taking some of the best of the best. Out of all the places you listed, they only have ~1800 spots, total. A lot of the people going to these schools have stelar ECs, like military/peace corps service, 1st author pubs in high impact journals, founding charities, or just crazy life stories. You're a top candidate, but don't get tunnel vision.
We have a couple kids in my class that turned down big name places for a nearly free education at our state (ish) school. They're all pretty happy being the biggest fish in a smaller pond, so to speak.
Not saying you should do one or the other, but it way be a good idea to keep that option open.
Edit: also your EC's are great, but those schools are taking some of the best of the best. Out of all the places you listed, they only have ~1800 spots, total. A lot of the people going to these schools have stelar ECs, like military/peace corps service, 1st author pubs in high impact journals, founding charities, or just crazy life stories. You're a top candidate, but don't get tunnel vision.
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1) Race?
2) State of residency? (WA?)
3) What's been produced from the 2000 hours of research?
4) Alma mater?
I absolutely think you will get multiple top interviews. However many of these places only accept like 1/4 or 1/3 of interviewed students. Depending on answers to the above questions I think this is either a little dangerously top-heavy, or extremely dangerously top-heavy.
2) State of residency? (WA?)
3) What's been produced from the 2000 hours of research?
4) Alma mater?
I absolutely think you will get multiple top interviews. However many of these places only accept like 1/4 or 1/3 of interviewed students. Depending on answers to the above questions I think this is either a little dangerously top-heavy, or extremely dangerously top-heavy.
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