MD please help with my med school list

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tachycardia7

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About me: I started out at a community college and then transferred into my local state university. I'm a NY resident. My extracurriculars include psych and neuroscience research. I have one 2nd author publication, but it is a literature review. I've been an EMT for 4 years and I have a lot of hours of hospital volunteering. I also have around 400 hours volunteering with a non-profit and I'm president of a club on campus.
GPA: 3.9
MCAT: 518, with a breakdown of 127/131/131/129
Schools I want to apply to:

Mayo
Hopkins
Stanford
Yale
UPenn
Harvard
Columbia
University of Chicago
NYU
Cornell
Mount Sinai
Einstein
Case Western
BU
Tufts

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Is there a reason why you are not including any of your state programs? Making a list that is only schools with 34+ MCAT medians, 80% schools with 36+ MCAT medians and none of your state schools is not something I would particularly recommend.
 
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Is there a reason why you are not including any of your state programs?

Well, I don't have any debt at all. I went with the most affordable option for undergrad, but for med school, I really want to go to a top school if I can get into one. None of my state med schools (the SUNYs) are highly ranked. The doctors I've gotten to know well have all told me that if I want to do academic medicine I should go to a higher ranked school. I guess I should add the SUNY schools to be safe though.
 
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Well, I don't have any debt at all. I went with the most affordable option for undergrad, but for med school, I really want to go to a top school if I can get into one. None of my state med schools (the SUNYs) are highly ranked. The doctors I've gotten to know well have all told me that if I want to do academic medicine I should go to a higher ranked school. I guess I should add the SUNY schools to be safe though.

There are too many people with 3.8+/36+ stats for the seats available at top 20 schools. Those who dont get into a top 20 school need a Plan B. That's where the need to apply to non top 20 ranked and state programs comes in.
 
There are too many people with 3.8+/36+ stats for the seats available at top 20 schools. Those who dont get into a top 20 school need a Plan B. That's where the need to apply to non top 20 ranked and state programs comes in.

Okay thanks. Hopefully it will work out for me, but to be safe I understand why I should apply to other schools. Other than adding my state schools are there any others you think I should apply to?
 
Okay thanks. Hopefully it will work out for me, but to be safe I understand why I should apply to other schools. Other than adding my state schools are there any others you think I should apply to?

Get MSAR. Schools that take at least 20% OOS with a median MCAT in the 33-35 range are some I would look at specifically. If you apply to your state programs, there isnt a need for as many of these.
 
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Not applying to your state schools and other "safety" schools would be a huge mistake. Cast a wide net, in this process, nothing is guaranteed, don't screw yourself with blind confidence.
 
Nothing wrong with aiming high, as you're golden.

Here's my list for you:

Harvard
Wash U
Yale
Stanford
U Chicago
U Penn
U VA
U MI
U Colorado
U VM
U WI
Ohio State
Jefferson
U IA
UCSF
UCLA, UCSD, UCI, UCR (IF you’re from the Inland Empire)
U Cincy
Miami
Albert Einstein
Tulane
Loyola
Emory
BU
USC/Keck
Baylor
JHU
Mayo
Pitt
Northwestern
NYU
Vanderbilt
Columbia
Sinai
Cornell
Duke
Case
Hofstra
Your state school(s)



About me: I started out at a community college and then transferred into my local state university. I'm a NY resident. My extracurriculars include psych and neuroscience research. I have one 2nd author publication, but it is a literature review. I've been an EMT for 4 years and I have a lot of hours of hospital volunteering. I also have around 400 hours volunteering with a non-profit and I'm president of a club on campus.
GPA: 3.9
MCAT: 518, with a breakdown of 127/131/131/129
Schools I want to apply to:

Mayo
Hopkins
Stanford
Yale
UPenn
Harvard
Columbia
University of Chicago
NYU
Cornell
Mount Sinai
Einstein
Case Western
BU
Tufts
 
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