Recommended Schools to apply to?

[PremedBoy]

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Hey guys,

This is the best forum ever... Ive never read so many posts that can ease or raise the tension of applyin to med schools. Hehe

Anyway, I'm applying to a bunch of med schools now and given my numbers below I was hoping some of you could list some schools that you would consider me to be a strong candidate in. Given my GPA, I'm definitely not Harvard-bound, but really all I want is to go to a respectable institution (right now I have my heart set on NYU.. do you think I have a fair shot?). Where do you think I should apply? I'm looking for a school preferrably in an urban setting (Boston, NY, DC, Philly, SF, LA). Any advice or recommendations would be great! Thanks y'all!

GPA: 3.2 bioengineering uc berkeley
MCAT: 35R (13 PS, 12 BS, 10 VR)
ECs: Research (1 co-authored pub), volunteer work, premed clubs


Thanks a lot everybody and a big Congratulations to all class of 2008 matriculants!

 

[dartty]

my advice to you (because i'm basically in the same boat) is to apply to a range of schools.. if you can apply to a lot if you can afford to do so and have time to plug through secondaries.. but then again, also apply to schools that you want to go to and hopefully some of these schools are ones that may be easier to get into (such as NYMC, Drexel, Temple, state school of your home) and don't be afraid to apply to reaches because you never know.. and a lot of the top tier schools like to have a class with variety.. not just your average >3.5 gpa >35 mcat

hope this helps.. and i hope that interviews and acceptances will be free flowing for the both of us

 

[gold&black2005]

Apply to a whole bunch of private schools and schools that like out of state people...my advice:

Temple
NYMC
Drexel
Jefferson (maybe)
NYMC
VCU/MCV
GW
Finch (rosalind Franklin)
Wake Forest
Gtown (they loooove high mcats)
U-Vermont
Albany Med
all the SUNYs

Best of luck to you! Your MCAT score is awesome...you'll just have to explain the GPA 🙁 but otherwise you'll be straight 🙂

 

[tofurious]

Apply broadly outside of California. The top Cali schools (UCSF, UCLA, Stanford) get too many applications that have better numbers and they won't have time to actually read your application in depth (or get to it for that matter). Consider some of the Chicago schools as well - it is a big city.

 

[skypilot]

With an MCAT like that and a decent engineering GPA you shouldn't have a problem. Don't forget Pitt, Tulane, SLU, and of course all the California schools including Loma Linda and USC.

I think it was also good advice to consider Philly or Chicago and apply to all the schools in the city you would prefer. But get ready for some huge airfare bills when you get interviews everywhere you apply! 🙂