Reach schools?

[teenyfish]

I'm fine tuning my list for the upcoming cycle, and just wanted to hear everyone's thoughts on their reach schools. I'm applying to 20 schools (maybe bumping that up to 22), and have about 6 reach schools on my list. I'd like to think they're realistic, my stats are all above their 25%ile and I either fit into their mission or there is something about their program I like/can speak to.

How did you guys pick your reach schools? How many did you apply to, and how did it work out?

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[Goro]

I'm fine tuning my list for the upcoming cycle, and just wanted to hear everyone's thoughts on their reach schools. I'm applying to 20 schools (maybe bumping that up to 22), and have about 6 reach schools on my list. I'd like to think they're realistic, my stats are all above their 25%ile and I either fit into their mission or there is something about their program I like/can speak to.

How did you guys pick your reach schools? How many did you apply to, and how did it work out?

I don't believe in reach schools. You're either competitive or not.

If you're in the 25-90th %ile for a Top School, you're in striking distance. But the higher the class of the school, the closer to median you should be. As an example, if your MCAT is 514, Cornell might be doable, but I'd advise against U Penn or NYU. But if you have a 511, SLU is on target, and even Mayo and Pitt are doable. In essence, the higher up the pole you wan to climb, the more slipperier it gets.

SDNers are advised to look that their stats and target schools realistically, because the schools don't need donations. You're better off taking your SO out to dinner.

 

[Professional Student]

I don't believe in reach schools. You're either competitive or not.

If you're in the 25-90th %ile for a Top School, you're in striking distance. But the higher the class of the school, the closer to median you should be. As an example, if your MCAT is 514, Cornell might be doable, but I'd advise against U Penn or NYU. But if you have a 511, SLU is on target, and even Mayo and Pitt are doable. In essence, the higher up the pole you wan to climb, the more slipperier it gets.

SDNers are advised to look that their stats and target schools realistically, because the schools don't need donations. You're better off taking your SO out to dinner.

I would have saved a lot of money this last year if I had taken the bolded to heart. The only thing I would add is that you have to be competitive with EC's as well. I was not competitive for a lot of schools where my stats were at or above the median, simply because my EC's were only average due to taking no gap years.

 

[altblue]

Fellow fine-tuner here

I'm from a good state and have my bases covered with out of state match schools, so I've decided to apply to 5-6 realistic reach schools. They aren't necessarily likely to admit me by any means, but I think an interview at one or two is definitely possible.

 

[calivianya]

I would have saved a lot of money this last year if I had taken the bolded to heart. The only thing I would add is that you have to be competitive with EC's as well. I was not competitive for a lot of schools where my stats were at or above the median, simply because my EC's were only average due to taking no gap years.

Seconding this. There's not many places where my MCAT isn't at least 25th percentile; my overall score was 75th-90th percentile for matriculants for a lot of the schools that I applied to and I still got rejected, most of them pre-interview.

Knowing what I know now, my list was apparently very heavy on reach schools because I made my list based on stats alone. I have no MD acceptances, so obviously it didn't work out for me.

The only way stats should determine your list is if you have a ton of research, clinical exposure, shadowing, and community service hours. If your app is unbalanced in any way, that needs to be your primary determinant of what's a reach for you... and if your app is super deficient in more than one of those major areas, you might as well apply DO only regardless of MCAT/GPA or plan on rectifying that with an additional gap year.

 

[teenyfish]

Thanks guys! I'm mostly worried about my GPA/MCAT, though I don't think they are terrible by any means. I feel like my stats would hold me back more than my ECs, and I'm hoping that my ECs will get my foot into some places that my GPA/MCAT wouldn't so I'm trying to find schools that I fit the mission or have experiences that they might be interested in. From what I'm hearing, it sounds like it's tough to find a sweet spot.

 

[ciestar]

Yes, stats are super important and more often than not, if you’re wayyy below their 10th percentiles for any stat, you likely have no business applying there, but if you’re a good fit for that school other than your stats, you might be pleasantly surprised.

I received a couple interviews when I applied to schools SDN so kindly said I was making donations to.

Yes, be realistic, but, you never know. Definitely fill your application with target schools for the best chance of a good outcome.

 

[Mrd7889]

I only applied to one "reach" school and got an interview there; really wish I would've applied to more

 

[RNthenDoc]

After seeing my peers get a lot of great “reach” II’s, I think it is perfectly reasonable to to reach a bit.

 

[deleted446889]

TFW when you have a 3.1 sGPA and any MD school is a reach...