School list? -- 3.77 c&sGPA; 33 MCAT; cali

[oh but wait]

- currently 3.77 cum, science gpa something similar; one more semester left (can raise to 3.8 if i get straight A's spring '13, my last semester at cal)
- 33S (12/10/11, P V B)
- UC Berkeley, biology major; california resident

- social science research internship funded by NIH summer '10 (10 weeks long)
- research assistant in a lab on campus about 2 years, no pubs
- possible publication in undergrad journal spring '13
- a few year long small leadership roles in a few clubs (writing related, scholarship club, etc; do not feel very substantial, leadership is possibly what I'm lacking)
- participation in PHE for 3 years (volunteer teacher around local high schools)
- suitcase clinic caseworker for 2 years, will continue as long as i can; serves local homeless population
- hospital volunteer 600-700 hrs by the time of application
- quality of recommendation letters.... unknown....
- summer camp counselor for disadvantaged children (weeklong summer camp, did it twice; will do it again this summer, probably)
- admitted to UCB on 4 year scholarship (not full ride or anything drastic though)
- will start shadowing this week, actually. probably have a few weeks of shadowing the ER by time of application

School list
- All UC schools... long shot at UCSF, i know, but I will apply anyway
- Case Western
- USC
- BU
- Dartmouth
- Albert Einstein
- Columbia
- Georgetown
- Tufts
- Brown
- Northwestern (possibly)
- University of Maryland
- NYU
- University of Washington
- Texas schools (heard they give out scholarships from time to time)
- University of Miami

Safeties:
- Medical College of Georgia
- George Washington
- Albany Medical College
- New York Medical College
- SUNY at Buffalo
- SUNY upstate

Any advice for how I can polish my application and for where to apply greatly appreciated!

Any schools really like Cal grads?

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[mcloaf]

Without really serious demonstrated commitment to under served communities, as an out of region applicant you'll be pretty much throwing away the UWashington application fees for nothing,

 

[aspiring20]

- currently 3.77 cum, science gpa something similar; one more semester left (can raise to 3.8 if i get straight A's)
- 33 (12/10/11, P V B)
- UC Berkeley, biology major; california resident

- social science research internship funded by NIH summer '10 (10 weeks long)
- research assistant in a lab on campus about 2 years, no pubs
- possible publication in undergrad journal spring '13
- a few year long small leadership roles in a few clubs (writing related, scholarship club, etc; do not feel very substantial, leadership is possibly what I'm lacking)
- participation in PHE for 3 years (volunteer teacher around local high schools)
- suitcase clinic caseworker for 2 years, will continue as long as i can
- hospital volunteer 600-700 hrs by the time of application
- quality of recommendation letters.... unknown....
- summer camp counselor for disadvantaged children

School list
- All UC schools... long shot at UCSF, i know, but I will apply anyway
- Case Western
- USC
- BU
- Dartmouth
- Albert Einstein
- Columbia
- Georgetown
- Tufts
- Brown
- Northwestern (possibly)
- University of Maryland
- NYU
- University of Washington
- Texas schools (heard they give out scholarships from time to time)
- University of Miami

Safeties:
- Medical College of Georgia
- George Washington
- Albany Medical College
- New York Medical College
- SUNY at Buffalo
- SUNY upstate

Any advice for how I can polish my application and for where to apply greatly appreciated!

Any schools really like Cal grads?

how friendly are those oos public schools to applicants from out of state?

you have good numbers and excellent ECs, so even though the list seems a bit top heavy, i am still confident that you'll make it.

 

[aspiring20]

Without really serious demonstrated commitment to under served communities, as an out of region applicant you'll be pretty much throwing away the UWashington application fees for nothing,

the OP was a volunteer hs teacher for over three years, shouldn't that be a significant community service EC?

 

[yellowfish]

I would not apply to UW, Texas schools, or Medical College of Georgia unless you have strong ties to those states, it's not worth the money or the effort for the number of out of state students they accept. You'd be better of applying to reach schools that you'd probably have a similar chance of gaining admissions to. Other than that, your school list looks fine. I might actually add some more mid-upper tier schools such as Wake Forest, Vanderbilt, Duke, Cornell, Mount Sinai, Mayo, etc.

I would agree that your ECs are good but likely most lacking in the "leadership" department. I am quite sure that you will get in somewhere on your list though. Try to get strong and unique letters of recommendation. Good luck!!

 

[mcloaf]

the OP was a volunteer hs teacher for over three years, shouldn't that be a significant community service EC?

Maybe, maybe not. I'm not familiar with PHE and OP didn't give hours.

I was just letting him know that UW is notoriously OOS unfriendly. That being said, if he/she identifies with their mission and is really enthusiastic about the school then it couldn't hurt to apply as the application fees aren't steep compared to some of the private schools.

 

[aspiring20]

I would not apply to UW, Texas schools, or Medical College of Georgia unless you have strong ties to those states, it's not worth the money or the effort for the number of out of state students they accept. You'd be better of applying to reach schools that you'd probably have a similar chance of gaining admissions to. Other than that, your school list looks fine. I might actually add some more mid-upper tier schools such as Wake Forest, Vanderbilt, Duke, Cornell, Mount Sinai, Mayo, etc.

I would agree that your ECs are good but likely most lacking in the "leadership" department. I am quite sure that you will get in somewhere on your list though. Try to get strong and unique letters of recommendation. Good luck!!

i would say that wake forest is solidly mid tier, and i wouldn't say that Duke is mid-upper tier. according to rankings, Duke med is well in the top 10. Cornell is also really high ranked.

i think upper-mid tier schools include University of Pittsburgh, UNC Chapel Hill, UCLA/UCSD, and the like.

 

[aspiring20]

Maybe, maybe not. I'm not familiar with PHE and OP didn't give hours.

I was just letting him know that UW is notoriously OOS unfriendly. That being said, if he/she identifies with their mission and is really enthusiastic about the school then it couldn't hurt to apply as the application fees aren't steep compared to some of the private schools.

yeah, definitely agree

 

[yellowfish]

i would say that wake forest is solidly mid tier, and i wouldn't say that Duke is mid-upper tier. according to rankings, Duke med is well in the top 10. Cornell is also really high ranked.

i think upper-mid tier schools include University of Pittsburgh, UNC Chapel Hill, UCLA/UCSD, and the like.

Arguing tiers with me? Haha. When I said mid-upper tier, I meant "mid" and "upper" as separate, or together as a range, if that makes you happy.

 

[oh but wait]

PHE = Peer Health Exchange. Not many hours associated with that one, you're quite right.

Alright, will definitely cut out UW & Medical College of Georgia. Will add Mount Sinai, Vanderbilt

Wake Forest -- are they california grads friendly? Not a fan of north carolina...
Duke & Mayo -- too slim of a chance of getting in. probably not going to add. thanks though
Cornell -- visited the school for undergrad. did not. like. location. sorry. i'll think about it. also my stats aren't super competitive here


Still wanting to apply to texas schools.... hm.... more input in this area? Just heard a few cali kids getting ridiculous scholarships to UT and stuff. Made tuition super cheap.

 

[aspiring20]

Arguing tiers with me? Haha. When I said mid-upper tier, I meant "mid" and "upper" as separate, or together as a range, if that makes you happy.

haha, thanks for clarifying. my bad for misinterpreting your post. but i think we can agree that any description of duke med shouldn't contain the word "mid"

 

[yellowfish]

PHE = Peer Health Exchange. Not many hours associated with that one, you're quite right.

Alright, will definitely cut out UW & Medical College of Georgia. Will add Mount Sinai, Vanderbilt

Wake Forest -- are they california grads friendly? Not a fan of north carolina...
Duke & Mayo -- too slim of a chance of getting in. probably not going to add. thanks though
Cornell -- visited the school for undergrad. did not. like. location. sorry. i'll think about it. also my stats aren't super competitive here


Still wanting to apply to texas schools.... hm.... more input in this area? Just heard a few cali kids getting ridiculous scholarships to UT and stuff. Made tuition super cheap.

Fair enough about Duke/Wake/Mayo. I do not know if they treat Cali students any different than other OOSers, I would guess not.

I would think that the Cali students who got scholarships to UTs were some of the top students, or perhaps your sample size is too small to be meaningful. Or I could be wrong, but I think those are more likely explanations than that UTs like Cali students especially out of all OOSers.

Just FYI, Cornell's medical campus is in Manhattan, not Ithaca.

 

[aspiring20]

PHE = Peer Health Exchange. Not many hours associated with that one, you're quite right.

Alright, will definitely cut out UW & Medical College of Georgia. Will add Mount Sinai, Vanderbilt

Wake Forest -- are they california grads friendly? Not a fan of north carolina...
Duke & Mayo -- too slim of a chance of getting in. probably not going to add. thanks though
Cornell -- visited the school for undergrad. did not. like. location. sorry. i'll think about it. also my stats aren't super competitive here


Still wanting to apply to texas schools.... hm.... more input in this area? Just heard a few cali kids getting ridiculous scholarships to UT and stuff. Made tuition super cheap.

wake forest is a private school, and i am not aware of any heavy preference for in-state applicants. if a school takes oos students, i am sure they won't "discriminate" against CA residents

 

[yellowfish]

haha, thanks for clarifying. my bad for misinterpreting your post. but i think we can agree that any description of duke med shouldn't contain the word "mid"

Hahaha no worries, and agreed it's a fantastic institution

 

[oh but wait]

Just to clarify, what I meant by preference, just that... I heard USC & Case Western really like UCB kids.

Mainly posted here to get insight into which random SOMs have preferences for UCB grads.

Will put Wake Forest/Cornell/Mayo in maybe pile.

Thanks guys for your input, keep them coming! Also, Kdizzle, your mdapp is insane. Are you human>?

 

[penguinism]

i would say that wake forest is solidly mid tier, and i wouldn't say that Duke is mid-upper tier. according to rankings, Duke med is well in the top 10. Cornell is also really high ranked.

i think upper-mid tier schools include University of Pittsburgh, UNC Chapel Hill, UCLA/UCSD, and the like.

I'm really confused as to why you are calling these schools "upper-mid tier" when all but UNC are solidly ranked within the top 20. You do know that Cornell is ranked below UCLA and Pitt, right?

Ranking really don't matter that much in the long run (unless you're interested in academics), but the schools that you listed are still likely reach schools for the OP.

OP, I would drop the some of the state schools (UWash, MCG, possibly UMaryland) and consider omitting the Texas schools as well. Yes, the tuition might be cheaper, but I believe that they only take 10% OOS and the application process is separate (= more $$ applying). Do you have a compelling reason to want to be in Texas or any ties to the state?

ECs look good.
I've heard that the SUNYs tend to like Cali applicants, but then again everywhere I interviewed seemed to have a good proportion of Cali applicants.
Also keep in mind that places like GW, BU, and NYMC get a large number of applications each year and cannot be considered "safeties" when you look at the applied vs. accepted ratio.

I'm tired, so excuse the choppiness of this post.

 

[yellowfish]

Just to clarify, what I meant by preference, just that... I heard USC & Case Western really like UCB kids.

Mainly posted here to get insight into which random SOMs have preferences for UCB grads.

Will put Wake Forest/Cornell/Mayo in maybe pile.

Thanks guys for your input, keep them coming! Also, Kdizzle, your mdapp is insane. Are you human>?

I see, perhaps you can visit your pre-health advising office (or whatever it is that UCB has) and ask if they have a document with the number of applicants from your school to various med schools with the number matriculated. I think I saw such a document floating around from UC Irvine IIRC.

A few more to consider: UVA, VCU, Emory

Haha, and I assure you I am 100% anthropomorphic

 

[anguisette]

I see, perhaps you can visit your pre-health advising office (or whatever it is that UCB has) and ask if they have a document with the number of applicants from your school to various med schools with the number matriculated. I think I saw such a document floating around from UC Irvine IIRC.

A few more to consider: UVA, VCU, Emory

Haha, and I assure you I am 100% anthropomorphic

Agree with this. Usually the school's pre-health office has those statistics so that's your best bet for institution specific acceptance rates.

I don't think your list is as broad as it can be. I agree with everyone else and suggest removing UWash, MCG, and UMaryland. Brown also accepts a low number of OOS students. For your money's worth, I'd consider removing GW, GT, and BU just because of the volume of applicants they get.

I suggest adding the other SUNYs too like Downstate and Stony Brook. Also UVM, OSU, Emory, Baylor, MCW, Temple, Jefferson, VCU, and University of Arizona (Tucson and Phoenix).

 

[aspiring20]

Agree with this. Usually the school's pre-health office has those statistics so that's your best bet for institution specific acceptance rates.

I don't think your list is as broad as it can be. I agree with everyone else and suggest removing UWash, MCG, and UMaryland. Brown also accepts a low number of OOS students. For your money's worth, I'd consider removing GW, GT, and BU just because of the volume of applicants they get.

I suggest adding the other SUNYs too like Downstate and Stony Brook. Also UVM, OSU, Emory, Baylor, MCW, Temple, Jefferson, VCU, and University of Arizona (Tucson and Phoenix).

are the SUNYs OOS friendly?

 

[anguisette]

are the SUNYs OOS friendly?

They're as friendly as state schools can be. Downstate is a bit friendlier than the rest. It has a higher OOS interview % than a lot of private schools.

 

[aspiring20]

They're as friendly as state schools can be. Downstate is a bit friendlier than the rest. It has a higher OOS interview % than a lot of private schools.

really? nice!

sign me up...

 

[anguisette]

really? nice!

sign me up...

Sorry let me clarify. They're probably some of the OOS friendliest state schools, but most state schools aren't very OOS friendly. There are only so many private schools though so if you're going to apply public, SUNYs aren't a bad bunch.

 

[Ichiban88]

I would hesitate to apply to Texas schools besides Baylor. It will be a huge disadvantage to non-Texans unless you have ties there. Yea like KDizzle said, Cornell med school is separate from undergrad geographically. Its like 200 miles away and the med school is in a really nice area in New York. Also think about adding chicago and michigan. I regretted not applying to those schools.

 

[oh but wait]

It's not so much that I'm just looking into OOS public schools, I'm just looking to get into as many schools as I can. I want to be able to have choices. I would prefer to stay in california, if not, then East Coast. Not a fan of the midwest :/

Will look into my school's career center this week actually.

I feel inadequate for Cornell/Michigan/Chicago/Northwestern/Emory. But we'll see

 

[SOMBound13]

- currently 3.77 cum, science gpa something similar; one more semester left (can raise to 3.8 if i get straight A's spring '13, my last semester at cal)
- 33S (12/10/11, P V B)
- UC Berkeley, biology major; california resident

- social science research internship funded by NIH summer '10 (10 weeks long)
- research assistant in a lab on campus about 2 years, no pubs
- possible publication in undergrad journal spring '13
- a few year long small leadership roles in a few clubs (writing related, scholarship club, etc; do not feel very substantial, leadership is possibly what I'm lacking)
- participation in PHE for 3 years (volunteer teacher around local high schools)
- suitcase clinic caseworker for 2 years, will continue as long as i can; serves local homeless population
- hospital volunteer 600-700 hrs by the time of application
- quality of recommendation letters.... unknown....
- summer camp counselor for disadvantaged children (weeklong summer camp, did it twice; will do it again this summer, probably)
- admitted to UCB on 4 year scholarship (not full ride or anything drastic though)
- will start shadowing this week, actually. probably have a few weeks of shadowing the ER by time of application

School list
- All UC schools... long shot at UCSF, i know, but I will apply anyway
- Case Western
- USC
- BU
- Dartmouth
- Albert Einstein
- Columbia
- Georgetown
- Tufts
- Brown
- Northwestern (possibly)
- University of Maryland
- NYU
- University of Washington
- Texas schools (heard they give out scholarships from time to time)
- University of Miami

Safeties:
- Medical College of Georgia
- George Washington
- Albany Medical College
- New York Medical College
- SUNY at Buffalo
- SUNY upstate

Any advice for how I can polish my application and for where to apply greatly appreciated!

Any schools really like Cal grads?

I think your OOS public list is risky. The OOS publics that take OOS students tend to make exceptions for students with "ties", very high stats, and MD/XXX.

You need to look at acceptance rates of OOS students but take into acct some states that accept residents from other states that do not have their own SOMs.


I think a largely Calif and NE list is risky (and the OOS Texas schools risky, too). Even Baylor (a private) gives prefernce to Texas schools. You'll be competing against too many from your state with higher stats. I find it hard to believe that Cal students got big merit from UT unless they're MD/PhD or have super stats.

the NE SOMS seem to get a ridiculous number of apps from MCAT 34+ students. Unless you're a desirable URM, your chances would seem to be low. If you're a white or asian male, I'd say your chances are lowisn for NE SOMs.

you should add

Wisconsin Medical College
SLU
Tulane
Creighton

 

[Goobs]

It's not so much that I'm just looking into OOS public schools, I'm just looking to get into as many schools as I can. I want to be able to have choices. I would prefer to stay in california, if not, then East Coast. Not a fan of the midwest :/

Will look into my school's career center this week actually.

I feel inadequate for Cornell/Michigan/Chicago/Northwestern/Emory. But we'll see

I'm from CA also and we've got identical stats, and I feel like we had the same criteria for choosing schools (Cali or NE along the coast). I've been keeping a spreadsheet of the schools I've applied to along with the criteria I used to determine my list (of ~25) PM me if you want to take a peek.

 

[MedPR]

you should add

Wisconsin Medical College
SLU
Tulane
Creighton

Agree, but something tells me the OP is trying to avoid the midwest.

 

[gyngyn]

Everybody loves Cal grads! Unfortunately, I only count 6 schools where you have a decent chance for an interview. 7 if you count Riverside. Add SUNY's, VCU, Jeff, Drexel, Albany and TCMC. Deletions are up to you.

 

[BigBear123]

I'm a Cal grad. A couple schools that seem to like us are Case Western (esp if you are into research) and MCW.

I can also tell you which schools I applied to that I should NOT have: Jefferson, Penn State, BU, and Rochester. Your list looks pretty good, but I would recommend you to not apply to U of Washington (I can almost guarantee you will get a pre-secondary rejection) and Medical College of Georgia. I'd probably avoid most TX schools too since they usually have a strong in-state preference.

Good luck and go bears! PM me if you want any more advice.

 

[SOMBound13]

Agree, but something tells me the OP is trying to avoid the midwest.

I agree, and I think it's a mistake that many Calif students and NE students make when their MCAT score isn't 35+, they have GPA problems, or they don't have some hook.

I'm originally from Calif and still have many relatives there. I'm pretty familiar with the SOM app process that goes on there. It's hyper competitive with only about 50% of applicants getting accepted to one US MD school.

If you're a Calif (or NE) applicant and you have good-but-not-top stats and don't have a hook (URM, etc), then you need to think outside the box. The goal is to become a doctor. If that means going to med school in fly-over country for 4 years, then do it.

 

[tarheel1408]

I'm going to add a tidbit about Wake Forest: of their ~120 seat class, usually around 50 are NC residents. Why this is remains up for debate.

 

[oh but wait]

Well what is the weakest part of my application? I'm willing to work on it. Is it my MCAT?

Should I retake MCAT? I was told by almost everyone to not retake, so I decided not to at the beginning of winter break.

But this is pretty depressing/sobering. Would much rather spend the next several months miserable/working hard than to spend the August 2013 ~ March 2014 stressed out. Staying in California or going to the east coast is very important to me. You guys did pick up on that.

 

[anguisette]

Well what is the weakest part of my application? I'm willing to work on it. Is it my MCAT?

Should I retake MCAT? I was told by almost everyone to not retake, so I decided not to at the beginning of winter break.

But this is pretty depressing/sobering. Would much rather spend the next several months miserable/working hard than to spend the August 2013 ~ March 2014 stressed out. Staying in California or going to the east coast is very important to me. You guys did pick up on that.

Don't retake. Just add the philly schools, the rest of the SUNYs, UVM, and the virginia schools if California and east coast is that important to you. You'll just be applying to the schools with the most applicants. BTW, case western, northwestern, uwashington, texas schools, and MCG wouldn't fit your location criteria.

 

[oh but wait]

BTW, case western, northwestern, uwashington, texas schools, and MCG wouldn't fit your location criteria.

Thanks, I know. Lol. But I like case western & texas.

Anyway; thanks for the input everyone! I think I have a better picture of the kind of schools I will apply to now. The acceptance numbers are so dauntingly low for every single medical school

 

[mcloaf]

The acceptance numbers are so dauntingly low for every single medical school

That's why you apply to a lot of them.

 

[SOMBound13]

Thanks, I know. Lol. But I like case western & texas.

Anyway; thanks for the input everyone! I think I have a better picture of the kind of schools I will apply to now. The acceptance numbers are so dauntingly low for every single medical school

That's why you apply to a lot of them.

It's not enough to just apply to a lot of them. A good strategy is important. Some wrongly think that if they apply to XX schools then they're pretty much assured of at least one acceptance. That's not really true if the mix isn't right.

Apps take a LOT of time, and while many think it's no big deal to apply to 20 schools, I found it to be impossible because of other committments. A carefully culled list will more likely get you satisfying results.

 

[mcloaf]

It's not enough to just apply to a lot of them. A good strategy is important. Some wrongly think that if they apply to XX schools then they're pretty much assured of at least one acceptance. That's not really true if the mix isn't right.

Apps take a LOT of time, and while many think it's no big deal to apply to 20 schools, I found it to be impossible because of other committments. A carefully culled list will more likely get you satisfying results.

I never implied that one should just pick a large number of random schools to which to apply. Research about schools and applying to more is the best way to maximize the chances of an acceptance.

 

[skais595]

the OP was a volunteer hs teacher for over three years, shouldn't that be a significant community service EC?

Maybe, maybe not. I'm not familiar with PHE and OP didn't give hours.

I was just letting him know that UW is notoriously OOS unfriendly. That being said, if he/she identifies with their mission and is really enthusiastic about the school then it couldn't hurt to apply as the application fees aren't steep compared to some of the private schools.

yeah, definitely agree

I have a 34 mcat, lower GPAs, also CA resident, and also volunteered for 3 years with PHE.... Got tossed at U Washington very very quickly! For what it's worth...

I also applied to Texas and had one interview there. If you are trying to save money (in the long run) and live in warmth, you might as well try. Also no one even seems to think of schools in Florida, but maybe worth considering if you're avoiding snow!