safety schools

[randallB]

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Hi all,

Any recommendations as to the number and actual suggestions for safety schools? I definitely appreciate the fact that one can have a perfect application and still be out cold when it comes to the top schools and don't want to have a rude awakening.

Also, does anyone have any insight as to how MD/PhD application programs work in terms of dropping down to the MD applicant pool if one is denied from the orignal track? I've heard that it varies from school to school...some place you automatically into the MD pool, others give you the boot.

Ah, and one last thing...what are the chances of a non-CA resident getting into UCSF in any respect? My bet is next-to-impossible...

Thanks and good luck to all!

 

[mikedc813]

There's no such thing as a safety school because no school gives you a great chance to get in, unless you are the perfect candidate with perfect scores and an unbeatable personality. Just apply to a broad range of schools and remember nothing is EVER guaranteed when it comes to med school admissions.

 

[ZOT! ZOT!]

We can't give you advice without numbers that would allow us to gauge your competitiveness at certain schools.

 

[randallB]

34R (11PS, 11VR, 12BS)
3.74 cumGPA (~3.7 sci)
3 pubs (1 first author, 2 abstracts)
working at NIH for a year+

 

[SpiritiualDuck]

why can't you guys ever do searches? Every thread these days has been covered many times before.

 

[bigdan]

34R (11PS, 11VR, 12BS)
3.74 cumGPA (~3.7 sci)
3 pubs (1 first author, 2 abstracts)
working at NIH for a year+

Wow. You might consider anything as a safety school with numbers like that. Let's hope you're not an anti-social biobot. Do well on your interviews. Let us know where you get in.


dc

 

[agp4]

The problem with calling some schools your "safety" is that there's nothing guaranteeing that you will get in. I'd say that no matter how hard you try on your interview, your esteem for a school will come through the way you talk. I think that adcoms have been doing this long enough to tell how serious you are about their school.

That, and I've heard that some schools will reject you if they know that your stats and scores are high enough to get you into a more competitive college. I don't know if that's true but I've got friends that were rejected at their rinky-dink state school and accepted to places like Duke and UChicago. In all, the process is kinda like a crapshoot. With your stats you're sure to get in somewhere great, so I wouldn't worry (yeah, I know telling that to a pre-med is like telling a tree to stop being green ). Good luck to you!

 

[randallB]

Thanks all...love the tree-green comment...it's definitely true. I was concerned about applying to only top places and being rudely reminded that the application process has a certain degree of randomness to it. Personally, I'd really like to go do Duke, as I've decided that to eliminate some of the randomness about applying, I'll base my decision solely on the school mascot. A Blue Devil is pretty hard to beat...right?

I suppose another concern was of the "anti-social biobot"...fortunately, I don't believe that's the case, but I've seen people with "perfect" numbers get rejected from the top schools, so even though I know I'm not guilty of that crime, it's still daunting to see very qualified candidates rejected. Do any schools offer their interviews in bars? I would feel much more comfortable there...

Best of luck to everyone in the process!

 

[agp4]

GO DEVILS!!! You'll be hard-pressed to find a better place than Duke (I just graduated from Duke undergrad and already miss it terribly). What I suggested to my friends that are applying this year is to keep an open mind. I think very few people really figure out where they want to be until they visit. If you have the time and money, I'd recommend looking at great schools in different parts of the country. In my case, I applied to the Mayo Clinic on the insistence of an old roommate and ended up loving it. Your stats are certainly good enough to get you into plenty of programs around the country. I hope that helps and good luck to you!