Picking some so-called safety schools

[Cal_Irish04]

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I know there is no such thing as a safety school in MSTP admissions; however, I am looking into schools that have quality programs that may not be as competitive as some of the top programs and may yield a greater chance of success. I have made a preliminary list of programs (shown below) to which I plan to apply to and frankly it scares me, so any input would be greatly appreciated.


West - UCSF, UCLA/Caltech, UCSD, UCI, Stanford
Midwest - UChicago, WUStL, Wisc.-Madison
East - Harvard, Penn, Yale, Mt. Sinai, Georgetown
South - Vandy

Thanks in advance!

 

[Habari]

sup cal_irish

that list actually looks a lot more balanced than what mine was when i applied ... so thats a start. it is important to only apply to places that you could see yourself going to, and you'd be happy at. but this doesn't mean that non-top 20 programs won't fit the bill.

here are some schools i've heard decent things about in the regions you mentioned, that might be more accessible than those you listed, others can add to the list.

i've also thrown in some schools that are not quite as competitive as the ucsf/harvard's but you hsould also consider

west: u colorado (have great people there, beautiful from what i've heard)
midwest: casewru
east: einstein (solid mstp program), columbia (if you show genuine interest in attending, they will do their best to see if you fit w/program), cornell (very competitive, but i'd consider it), nyu (one of the original mstp's)
south: baylor (seems to compete with ucsd/ucla w/applicants, just to give an idea of competitiveness),utsouthwestern (great faculty)

i'm not familiar with all the programs out there - so other people can tack on some more.

 

[gonflable]

I think that's a good list. If you are not picking those for specific research programs, though, I think you should seriously consider Baylor (as Jot said), Duke and Pitt. Pitt is a bit less competitive, but seems to have a strong, up-and-coming MSTP. I will be going to Duke, so obviously I like it. Check out the curriculum there-- it is different. Baylor is an excellent school for most research you could pick.

That's all I know

 

[Cal_Irish04]

Well, after a little bit of research, I've decided to add UT-Southwestern to my list for a grand total of 15 schools.

Also, does any one have an opinion of Indiana or Loyola (Chicago)? Apparently my university is a feeder for these schools, sending about 20 a year, and so these are some schools I'm looking into as well.

Lastly, what do you guys know about the influence of networking in the MSTP admissions process? For example, I had a professor tell me that he had some schools in mind that I should apply to, because he knew some professors there with influence. Last year, we had this work for one applicant who got into MD at Ohio State, but not PhD. With a few phone calls, he was into the MD/PhD.

Thanks

 

[Neuronix]

Hey Cal Irish, I PMed you awhile back about this, and I think I could give you advice better if I knew some more information I asked you for in the PM.

Anyways, to answer your other question, who your PI knows should only help you if they are adcoms. Even then, it will probably only help if they know you personally.

I think with your list of schools, U of Indiana or Loyola would be way below you. My school feeds Jefferson a number of students per year in a program, but I didn't consider them because they are not a MSTP. Ohio State as well is not a MSTP, and I think if you really have a shot at the schools in your first post you should stick with schools of that caliber.