rank these schools

[MAK81]

I'm applying for admissions in the fall of 2005. I have a 3.4 and 30 out of a top 10 liberal arts college where I was a varsity athlete and president of an multicultural organization.

I cannot decide which schools to apply to. Below is my unedited list of potential schools. Please let me know your experiences in applying to these schools, or if you go to one of these schools, please tell me what you think of it so far. Thanks in advance:

Keck-USC
George Washington
Georgetown
Howard
Finch
Loyola-Chicago
Tulane
Maryland (my state of residence)
Boston U
Tufts
Creighton
UMDNJ-NJ med
Albany
Albert Einstein
Mt. Sinai
NY med college
NYU
Rochester
Wake Forest
Case Western
Ohio State U
Drexel
Jefferson
Temple
UPitt
UVM
Easter VA
VCU
Med Col of Wisconsin

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[exmike]

with those numbers you should apply to all of them.

 

[LaurieB]

with those numbers you should apply to all of them.

I agree. You should cast the net wide. If you want to pare your list down, read about the schools and locations and eliminate places that you would not want to go to if they were the only place you got accepted to.

 

[ventulus18]

i dont know receptive UMDNJ is to out of staters

 

[exmike]

i dont know receptive UMDNJ is to out of staters

UMDNJ-NJMS accepts quite a few.

 

[Mr. Rosewater]

i'd ditch e. va. i don't think they like outta staters. i'd also lose creighten (location), Howard, Albany (location), and one of temple or drexel. i'd also add a few reach schools like JHU, yale, harvard (especially if you are a URM, even if you're not the athlete thing is pretty cool).

 

[exmike]

i'd ditch e. va. i don't think they like outta staters. i'd also lose creighten (location), Howard, Albany (location), and one of temple or drexel. i'd also add a few reach schools like JHU, yale, harvard (especially if you are a URM, even if you're not the athlete thing is pretty cool).

evms take a buncha outta staters too. id apply there.

 

[Mr. Rosewater]

evms take a buncha outta staters too. id apply there.

ahh. you learn something new every day.

 

[liynus]

if you can, apply to some reach. stanford, harvard, top 20 institutions. imho, don't sell yourself short. you never know where you can wind up, and it's easier to pay 50K for a great school vs. a good school.

 

[angstrom55]

The Drexel med school itself is state of the art and awesome. The immediate area around it I did not like at all.

Albert Einstein is nice....outside of Manhattan.

 

[Jet915]

If you want to make sure you get into medical school, I wouldnt cross Creighton off the list. Personally, I don't think Omaha is a bad place to live. It's not a metropolis, but people are surprised how big it is. 800,000 people live in Omaha and there are enough things to do to entertain yourself when you have time. I've lived in OC and San Diego my whole life and find that people in Omaha tend to be nicer and there is definitely less traffic. Yes, there are 4 seasons in Omaha but if you are from the east coast, you have that anyways. If you want to leave Omaha for the weekend, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Chicago and Denver are a days drive away. So, unless you are a total big city person, I wouldn't cross it off your list. The people I've hosted all are really surprised when they see what Omaha has to offer. Plus, Creighton accepts a ton of out of state residents.

Jetson

 

[Brickhouse]

don't apply to GW, it's like not even ranked.



guess I should get rid of the "class of 2008" in my signature if that line is gonna work in the future....

 

[MAK81]

Thanks everyone for your advice. Do you all think it would be a waste of $$$ for me to apply to all of those schools? And to the people who are telling me I can apply to Stanford, Harvard, JHU...are you serious? With a 3.4/30 my premed advisor has pretty much convinced me that I won't make it...but then again my undergrad institution brags a 95% acceptance rate into med schools b/c it hand selects its applicants and refuses to process applications for student who they don't think will make it.

Any more honest advice/thoughts?

 

[liynus]

well maybe not harvard or jhu. but definitely put 2+ top 20 schools there with big names that you like. You never know if you'll get in, don't be suprised if they accept a 30/3.4 with a really cool application over a lot of other number ******. After being through the process, I know if you apply early, you have a small shot at great name schools. However, I wouldn't put more than 2 or 3 on your app. In general your school is right, but as one who has finished the process, the randomness of selection will boggle the mind, and do ever live to regret at least trying for one!

 

[BaylorLion]

Or Columbia, WashU, Yale, Duke, Baylor, Penn or Vanderbilt. Those schools tend to engage in the greatest amount of number-whoring. And forget about UW if you're not a WWAMI resident.

But you should look at UChicago, which prides itself on its being the intellectual medical school and not number-whoring. Stanford may also be a good bet in that vein - they're very, very selective though. You have Case on there, so take a look at the Cleveland Clinic program. If you're Californian or have a great story, UCLA, UCSD and UCSF should be on your list. No thoughts on UMich pro or con, but in the absence of a con, why not apply?

Maybe add UVA (or Mayo Clinic if you like small classes).

 

[MNgrrl]

Honestly, I wouldn't keep adding to the list unless you take something off for ones that you add. Your original list has 29 schools on it. I have exactly the same numbers as you, also from a top 10 liberal arts school. I applied to 16 schools, got 5 interviews, and acceptances at 2, and waitlisted at 2. My point is that 29 schools is very expensive, and unless you are a CA resident, you don't need any more to minimize variation due to chance/luck/etc. My suggestion would be that if you want to add a couple of very good schools, you need to have a very good personal statement and good experiences, because your numbers alone aren't competitive enough for places like Harvard, JHU, etc. If you want to apply to some, I'm not telling you not to, but I would suggest going through your original list and eliminating some that you wouldn't want to go to based on location etc. first, then decide if you want to go for one or two very competitive schools.

My two cents...

 

[leavesam]

Thanks everyone for your advice. Do you all think it would be a waste of $$$ for me to apply to all of those schools? And to the people who are telling me I can apply to Stanford, Harvard, JHU...are you serious? With a 3.4/30 my premed advisor has pretty much convinced me that I won't make it...but then again my undergrad institution brags a 95% acceptance rate into med schools b/c it hand selects its applicants and refuses to process applications for student who they don't think will make it.

Any more honest advice/thoughts?

Really? So you're saying people who are not "hand selected" will not receive any
help from the school? That sounds pretty harsh. Anyway, I do think you should aply to a few "top ten" schools; but don't apply to all of them because it will take a lot of time and money to complete all those applications

 

[Jason110]

Thanks everyone for your advice. Do you all think it would be a waste of $$$ for me to apply to all of those schools? And to the people who are telling me I can apply to Stanford, Harvard, JHU...are you serious? With a 3.4/30 my premed advisor has pretty much convinced me that I won't make it...but then again my undergrad institution brags a 95% acceptance rate into med schools b/c it hand selects its applicants and refuses to process applications for student who they don't think will make it.

Any more honest advice/thoughts?

Policies like these contradict my educational philosophy. I think a school should support a pre-med regardless of his/her GPA and MCAT score. With that being said, I do think that schools should make it apparent that students with sub-par averages will probably not be accepted. I don't think that they should choose who they would like to support. Just my opinion.

At my school (a large Top 10 Research Institution), almost 45% of the incoming freshman class describe themselves as "pre-med." Only about 10-15% of the class, however, will apply to medical school. My school supports any applicant who wishes to apply to medical school and still gloats about its 90+% acceptance rate. Many students who were pre-med, I believe, were likely discouraged by poor grades in classes or found other interests (I still think the former is true of most of the ex-pre-meds at my school, though they would admit the latter). I don't have a problem if classes 'weed out' the weak or the unstudious. I just take issue at a committee deciding who is eligible to apply and who is not.

Those were my two cents. Do you have any experiences at your schools? What are your opinions?

Jason

 

[MAK81]

After my freshman year I went to see my premed advisor b/c I got a C+ in Orgo 1 and wanted her advice on whether to retake or take a higher level chem class...she told me to consider other career options. When I insisted on med school, she told me I could only get into DO programs. That is how competitive it is to get support from my undergrad college.

 

[skypilot]

It's a good list. I would drop USC, Howard, BU, Creighton, Wake, Rochester, UMNJ, NYU, and Wisconsin if I were you. Add Jeff.

I'm applying for admissions in the fall of 2005. I have a 3.4 and 30 out of a top 10 liberal arts college where I was a varsity athlete and president of an multicultural organization.

I cannot decide which schools to apply to. Below is my unedited list of potential schools. Please let me know your experiences in applying to these schools, or if you go to one of these schools, please tell me what you think of it so far. Thanks in advance:

Keck-USC
George Washington
Georgetown
Howard
Finch
Loyola-Chicago
Tulane
Maryland (my state of residence)
Boston U
Tufts
Creighton
UMDNJ-NJ med
Albany
Albert Einstein
Mt. Sinai
NY med college
NYU
Rochester
Wake Forest
Case Western
Ohio State U
Drexel
Jefferson
Temple
UPitt
UVM
Easter VA
VCU
Med Col of Wisconsin

 

[twinklz]

At my school (a large Top 10 Research Institution), almost 45% of the incoming freshman class describe themselves as "pre-med." Only about 10-15% of the class, however, will apply to medical school. My school supports any applicant who wishes to apply to medical school and still gloats about its 90+% acceptance rate. Many students who were pre-med, I believe, were likely discouraged by poor grades in classes or found other interests (I still think the former is true of most of the ex-pre-meds at my school, though they would admit the latter). I don't have a problem if classes 'weed out' the weak or the unstudious. I just take issue at a committee deciding who is eligible to apply and who is not.

At my school (another top liberal arts) the entering numbers were about the same. However, before you could get a recommendation from the pre med committee you had to fill out an application that made AMCAS look short including your PS and at least 4 recs from various profs. You then had to go through the whole interview process with three different folks. Finally you met with the pre med advisor to see if you "made it" and could get a rec from them. However, after that interview, the med school ones seemed downright relaxing :-D The only good thing I can say about the system is that it made things a tad easier since you already had your PS and letters of rec.

 

[Crysma]

It's a good list. I would drop USC, Howard, BU, Creighton, Wake, Rochester, UMNJ, NYU, and Wisconsin if I were you. Add Jeff.

i don't think you should drop NYU or UMDNJ-NJmed. Your numbers are competitive for those two, plus you seem to be quite well-rounded with leadership qualities under your belt.. my $.02

 

[skiz knot]

don't apply to GW, it's like not even ranked.



guess I should get rid of the "class of 2008" in my signature if that line is gonna work in the future....

About half of all schools do not participate in US News' survey (for a variety of reasons). Therefore, a school that is not ranked does not equal a bad school. Conversely, a school that IS ranked, but ranked near the bottom of the list, could really be one of the "worst" schools in the country.

Rankings are BS. Don't go to a school because of its rank. Go to a school were you will be happy and will perform to the best of your abilities.

 

[Brickhouse]

well maybe not harvard or jhu.....

au contrare mon frere (whatever)....

I interviewed at JHU and those were my stats more or less....needless to say they promptly rejected my lackey a$$ but NEVER SAY NEVER and dare to dream the impossible dream!

 

[UseUrHeadFred]

Rankings are BS. Don't go to a school because of its rank. Go to a school were you will be happy and will perform to the best of your abilities.

Hook, line and sinker.

 

[skiz knot]

If your premed advisor/committee is not supportive of you applying to medical school so they can keep their all-mighty acceptance rate up, why do you have to use them?

I would have all lor's sent by the writers directly to the schools I was applying to. I know it is a little more work on your end, but it might be better than getting a less than stellar committee rec letter.

Some schools' application will ask why you did not choose to utilize the schools pre med committe letter writing service, but you could just explain that they were less than supportive of your application, and this is your true calling... blah blah blah...

 

[skiz knot]

Hook, line and sinker.

What the hell is this in reference to?

 

[VCMM414]

If your premed advisor/committee is not supportive of you applying to medical school so they can keep their all-mighty acceptance rate up, why do you have to use them?

I would have all lor's sent by the writers directly to the schools I was applying to. I know it is a little more work on your end, but it might be better than getting a less than stellar committee rec letter.

Some schools' application will ask why you did not choose to utilize the schools pre med committe letter writing service, but you could just explain that they were less than supportive of your application, and this is your true calling... blah blah blah...

Ok it's been awhile since I went through the process, BUT I believe every(?) med school REQUIRES its applicants to submit a letter of evaluation from his or her premed advisor/committee in addition to letters from individual professors/bosses/etc. I don't think you can just sidestep the committee.

 

[jlee9531]

keep your list. i would definitely NOT take out any schools like some people have suggested due to location. your goal should be to get into a medical school. beggars cant be choosers initially. now if you happen to be fortunate and gain multiple acceptances, then more power to you...but until that situation arises...you should apply to all of those schools and perhaps even add some of the schools that people have suggested.

Your numbers are such that they do not stand out and so you need a well-rounded competitive application to have a school give you a chance at an interview. my numbers were a 3.4 31 and i felt the rest of my application kept me competitive.
i applied to 43 schools and was fortunate enough to get 5 interview invites. Surprisingly, some of my successes came from schools I felt I had no chance at (out of state status). So you never know if the school you do take off your list might have been a school that would have been receptive to you.

29-33 schools should be a good number for you to apply. not sure about your chance at your state school, but yeah...

 

[Brickhouse]

Ok it's been awhile since I went through the process, BUT I believe every(?) med school REQUIRES its applicants to submit a letter of evaluation from his or her premed advisor/committee in addition to letters from individual professors/bosses/etc. I don't think you can just sidestep the committee.

Not if you didn't do your pre-medical coursework at your 4 year undergrad institution. (i.e. weren't planning on applying to med school in college)

 

[jlee9531]

not every medical school requires premed committee letters.
there are a large number of schools that do not have a premed committee.
my school didnt have one, and thats perfectly fine.
med schools know which schools do and dont have one...

 

[VCMM414]

not every medical school requires premed committee letters.
there are a large number of schools that do not have a premed committee.
my school didnt have one, and thats perfectly fine.
med schools know which schools do and dont have one...

Actually my ugrad did not have a committee either, but what ended up happening was my premed advisor's letter + LORs from faculty/boss/etc. basically acted as the committee "package."

 

[VCMM414]

Not if you didn't do your pre-medical coursework at your 4 year undergrad institution. (i.e. weren't planning on applying to med school in college)

So in this case do people just apply independently, or do post-doc programs also offer services from pre-med advisor/committee?

 

[skiz knot]

Ok it's been awhile since I went through the process, BUT I believe every(?) med school REQUIRES its applicants to submit a letter of evaluation from his or her premed advisor/committee in addition to letters from individual professors/bosses/etc. I don't think you can just sidestep the committee.

I distinctly remember certain schools that ask you to explain why you chose not to utilize your pre med committee. I don't see how a school could "Force" you to do that, especially since they must have procedures for applicants that don't attend schools with committees and non-trad applicants.

I guess the best advice would be to contact individual schools to explain your situation. I'm sure they would be sympathetic.

 

[rebeclette]

Do you go to haverford or swarthmore by any chance?

 

[Brickhouse]

So in this case do people just apply independently, or do post-doc programs also offer services from pre-med advisor/committee?

Perhaps a post-bac program would have a committee, but I took all my classes "a la carte" at a CC - so in my case, I had to use only letters from my EC advisors/bosses and my professors (two from the CC, one from my undergrad).

 

[Mumpu]

Hey now, nothing wrong with Swarthmore.

FWIW, I graduated with 3.5 and 36, interviewed at Case Oct. 26 and knew I was in 3 days later (but I had four years of research and two years as firefighter/EMT to back up my so-so GPA).