Process of figuring out what schools to apply to

Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
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Asides from G.P.A and MCAT when deciding what schools one should I apply to, what else should one consider? Thus, far What I am also considering are safety meaning safe location, grading system of school ideally want unranked p/f school, and close location. What all should I consider when figuring out what schools to apply to? Plan to take MCAT and apply for Fall 2019 admission or Fall 2020 admission ideally want to get MCAT taken asap so I can apply for Fall 2019. Also after I take MCAT was going to do a WAMC thread to get suggestions as well based on my stats.
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This is a sellers market. Your concern should be getting in a school that takes you, It shouldn't be about getting into a school that fills your every need.

Here are top considerations:
-MCAT/GPA (for obvious reasons)
-Research (almost vital for top schools)
-State (approximately 25-30% of medical schools out there only seriously consider students in their own state)

If you get more than one acceptance, that's when you can afford to be picky about things like tuition and location (if location is a severe problem, Early Decision is an option).

If tuition is a severe problem, and you've research all your options, then it's better to hold off on med school.

In very rare cases does someone have the luxury of turning down offers solely because they want to have a P/F system
 
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LoveBeingHuman:) said:
This is a sellers market. Your concern should be getting in a school that takes you, It shouldn't be about getting into a school that fills your every need.

Here are top considerations:
-MCAT/GPA (for obvious reasons)
-Research (almost vital for top schools)
-State (approximately 25-30% of medical schools out there only seriously consider students in their own state)

If you get more than one acceptance, that's when you can afford to be picky about things like tuition and location (if location is a severe problem, Early Decision is an option).

If tuition is a severe problem, and you've research all your options, then it's better to hold off on med school.

In very rare cases does someone have the luxury of turning down offers solely because they want to have a P/F system
Click to expand...

So applying to schools that match my stats meaning GPA, MCAT, and extracurriculars vs applying to schools that I want to go to. I would most likely get interviews if I follow the strategy of applying to schools that match my stats
 
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Fuarky said:
So applying to schools that match my stats meaning GPA, MCAT, and extracurriculars vs applying to schools that I want to go to. I would most likely get interviews if I follow the strategy of applying to schools that match my stats
Click to expand...

It’s a combination of “where can I possibly get in?” And, “how much additional cash can I spend on schools that I like but might be a reach for me?” Skip schools you would be loathe to attend and locations you can’t stand.


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I made the process much easier for myself by starting with "which schools do I definitely NOT want to apply to?" I basically went through and eliminated schools with extremely low OOS acceptance rates, undesirable locations (personally speaking), or mission statements and visions that just didn't really sound like a good fit for me. Then after I got my MCAT back, I went back through and eliminated schools that definitely didn't seem to fit my profile. That made the options much more viable to go through more thoroughly, so I wasn't spending tons of time researching schools that didn't make much sense, and had a more manageable list to decide on and compare schools against each other for how I might fit.
 
Fuarky said:
Asides from G.P.A and MCAT when deciding what schools one should I apply to, what else should one consider? Thus, far What I am also considering are safety meaning safe location, grading system of school ideally want unranked p/f school, and close location. What all should I consider when figuring out what schools to apply to? Plan to take MCAT and apply for Fall 2019 admission or Fall 2020 admission ideally want to get MCAT taken asap so I can apply for Fall 2019. Also after I take MCAT was going to do a WAMC thread to get suggestions as well based on my stats.
Click to expand...
Curriculum
Any classes require attendance?
Research opportunities
Cost of living
Location of housing, both distance, expense and safety
Quality of rotations
How happy the students are with the school ( browse the school-specific threads)
Tuition
 
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greatplainsmed said:
I made the process much easier for myself by starting with "which schools do I definitely NOT want to apply to?" I basically went through and eliminated schools with extremely low OOS acceptance rates, undesirable locations (personally speaking), or mission statements and visions that just didn't really sound like a good fit for me. Then after I got my MCAT back, I went back through and eliminated schools that definitely didn't seem to fit my profile. That made the options much more viable to go through more thoroughly, so I wasn't spending tons of time researching schools that didn't make much sense, and had a more manageable list to decide on and compare schools against each other for how I might fit.
Click to expand...
I see my approach has been focusing on schools that I would love to attend rather than schools that I do not want to attend, but definelty a strategy to consider
 
It's really simple. Consider a Venn Diagram of all the schools you could possibly be accepted to, and all the schools you'd want to attend. Apply to 15-20 schools in the overlapping region.
 
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Consider each school's mission. Some schools have very specific missions that make it incredibly difficult for applicants to get in who don't fit that mission. Also consider in/out of state status. For a program whose mission is primarily to serve in-state students like University of Washington, it could be a waste of your money to apply if you're out of state. Some of the UCs are better with out-of-state (UCSF and UCLA) but the scales are still tipped towards in-state applicants. I think Texas is the same way. So if you have below-average stats from out of state, it's not worth your money to apply to schools with strong in-state preferences unless you have something else that's super super compelling.
 
Fuarky said:
This gives OOS stats on OOS applicants accepted to each school, so what percentage of OOS acceptances should I consider tough for OOS students to get in those medical schools?
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Check out this thread: schools and their out of state acceptances

In short, the OOS data from the AAMC can be misleading for a variety of reasons. The only way to know is to check out the school website and to talk to people.
 
Step 1. Take MCAT
Step 2. Finalize application and figuring out what version of yourself you'll be presenting to medical school adcoms
Step 3. WARS
Step 4. WAMC thread with preliminary school list
Step 4.5. Figure out which schools on your list you wouldn't go to even if it meant re-applying and remove those. Figure out which schools aren't on your list that you really want to see if you can try to go to. The number of either of these schools should be very small (0-3).
Step 5. Finalize school list and apply

Remember, the first step is getting in, and then, if you're lucky enough to have multiple acceptances, you can then figure out which school fits your needs the best
 
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WedgeDawg said:
Step 2. Finalize application and figuring out what version of yourself you'll be presenting to medical school adcoms
Step 3. WARS
Click to expand...

What do you mean by what version of yourself you'll presenting to medical school adcoms? Also what does WARS mean?
 
gyngyn said:
The MSAR is has the most accurate data on IS vs OOS applicants, interviews and matriculants.
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I meant that the data can be misleading. For example, Washington's WWAMI program results in a significant "OOS" number but you get considered only if you're from those states. If you're not from those states, it's super hard to get in even if the "OOS" number that MSAR has is high.
 
aldol16 said:
I meant that the data can be misleading. For example, Washington's WWAMI program results in a significant "OOS" number but you get considered only if you're from those states. If you're not from those states, it's super hard to get in even if the "OOS" number that MSAR has is high.
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You are correct regarding U of WA. If one did not know that WWAMI states had contracts for seats, one might apply there as OOS from a non-WWAMI state with little chance of an interview.
 
Basically figure out what schools accept OOS students more and than research the class profiles of accepted students for medical schools and see which one aligns with my G.P.A and MCAT score with no consideration of grading system or how close the school is to me
 
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