MD School list Critique

[Thenewguy02]

Its time for me to meet with my premed committee and submit a list of schools. Here is my tentative list and stats. Any suggestions would be great. I'm looking at rural medicine, but also joining the military.

State University
cGPA: 3.99
sGPA: 4.0
MCAT 523

Volunteering:
100 hrs at an outpatient wound clinic in underserved area.
2 years of 3.5 hrs/week volunteering with disabled children helping with physical activity.
80 hrs at a local BGC
I'll also be graduating and taking a year in the AmeriCorps (most likely).

Work:
Supplemental Instruction Leader for a Physics course (1 term- designed my own activities and lead six different groups for one hour a week, total of 12 hours a week working).
Learning Assistant for a Biology Course (1 term - basically running in class activities).
Farm Work - As long as I can remember really. Normally 70-100 hours a week in the summers.
College Ambassador - Leadership position helping with undergraduate recruitment, interfacing with alumni and prospective students. Really varies what I do, as do the hours. Anywhere from a low of 3 hours in a week, to spending all week out of state for this job.

Research:
Cancer Biology, 2 years, approximately 20 hours/week this last year, however it was only approximately 10 before that. I probably wont be listed as an author in any publications by the time I graduate because my work is based off another's thesis work that hasn't been published (will be soon), so the work I'm doing has to wait until that happens to be published.

Shadowing:
45 hrs ER Doc
10 hrs Pediatrician in underserved area

Current School List:
OHSU

Stanford

University of North Dakota

University of Colorado

University of Kansas

University of Michigan – Ann Arbor

University of Washington

University of Wisconsin

Vanderbilt – M.D./M/Ed.

Albert Einstein

Icahn School of Medicine

Washington University in St. Louis

UC Davis

UC SF

UC SD

UCLA

UC Irvine

Columbia University – Columbia-Basset rural program

Dartmouth – Giesel Rural Health Scholars

Mayo




Any that I should take off or add? Any good safety schools? I'm not from California but I would like to stay on the West Coast (not opposed to leaving here though). I would like to have a shorter list though, I'm pretty much out of money at this point and I don't want to take on undue debt while in AmeriCorps.

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[gyngyn]

UC Davis has only taken one (technically) OOS student in recent history.
If you are not WWAMI delete U of WA.
If you are not a resident of ND (or NA), delete ND.

 

[GrapesofRath]

Its time for me to meet with my premed committee and submit a list of schools. Here is my tentative list and stats. Any suggestions would be great. I'm looking at rural medicine, but also joining the military.

Any that I should take off or add? Any good safety schools? I'm not from California but I would like to stay on the West Coast (not opposed to leaving here though). I would like to have a shorter list though, I'm pretty much out of money at this point and I don't want to take on undue debt while in AmeriCorps.

As for joining the military are you considering USUHS? How are those plans going to tie into your medical career plans?

Here's one way to cut back on your list while also focusing on the west coast.

Your state program(s)

Several CA schools: In particular I would look first at UCLA, Stanford, UCSD, and UCSF. If your goal is to stay on the west coast absolutely include USC Keck.

All the schools gyngyn told you to remove you should cut. OHSU isnt a terrible choice but they tend to somewhat favor the "quirky" type applicants with their OOS spots. Not sure what to make of your odds there.

For the spots on your list U of Michigan, Dartmouth, Columbia, Mt Sinai, WashU, Einstein, Vanderbilt and Michigan are fine(you can include Mayo but its a really small school and low yield for anybody. Again if you are trying to cut back on schools that's a good option). A couple more to consider, of the non top 20 variety could be Emory, Ohio State, Rochester, Miami, Case Western and Saint Louis. If the goal is to cut back on the list I might consider substituting a couple of those top 20 options with the types of schools I just listed to at least provide a couple non top 20 type options on your list.

 

[WedgeDawg]

What state are you from

 

[Thenewguy02]

UC Davis has only taken one (technically) OOS student in recent history.
If you are not WAMI delete U of WA.
If you are not a resident of ND (or NA), delete ND.

I will delete ND, thanks for the heads up. I'm an Oregon resident with ties to Washington, I'll definitely be fighting an uphill battle with UW, is it possible to get accepted? I'm really attracted to their rural program.

As for joining the military are you considering USUHS? How are those plans going to tie into your medical career plans?

Here's one way to cut back on your list while also focusing on the west coast.

Your state program(s)

Several CA schools: In particular I would look first at UCLA, Stanford, UCSD, and UCSF. If your goal is to stay on the west coast absolutely include USC Keck.

All the schools gyngyn told you to remove you should cut. OHSU isnt a terrible choice but they tend to somewhat favor the "quirky" type applicants with their OOS spots. Not sure what to make of your odds there.

For the spots on your list U of Michigan, Dartmouth, Columbia, Mt Sinai, WashU, Einstein, Vanderbilt and Michigan are fine(you can include Mayo but its a really small school and low yield for anybody. Again if you are trying to cut back on schools that's a good option). A couple more to consider, of the non top 20 variety could be Emory, Ohio State, Rochester, Miami, Case Western and Saint Louis. If the goal is to cut back on the list I might consider substituting a couple of those top 20 options with the types of schools I just listed to at least provide a couple non top 20 type options on your list.

My father/grandfather both served, I was going to much earlier, but I went to college instead. I don't think I can make the commitment to serve the obligation USUHS has at this point, whereas if I change my mind about HPSP, I can do 4 years of GMO tours ( USUHS would likely lead to me doing a residency, queue 16 years minimum in the military). I do plan to serve in a rural community, but this is something I plan to do after the military. I believe being prior service will only help me in these communities.

My state is Oregon, so OHSU is pretty much it, outside of the new DO school.

I really like the USC Keck, definitely adding it to my list. I don't know how I wasn't aware of it before.

Any schools outside of the ones listed (I'll cut them out) you would recommend cutting? I do think my school list is idealist and top heavy. I'd much rather go to a non top 20 school than take a second gap year, so adding these schools is a very good idea.

What state are you from

I'm from Oregon.

 

[GrapesofRath]

My state is Oregon, so OHSU is pretty much it, outside of the new DO school.

I really like the USC Keck, definitely adding it to my list. I don't know how I wasn't aware of it before.

Any schools outside of the ones listed (I'll cut them out) you would recommend cutting? I do think my school list is idealist and top heavy. I'd much rather go to a non top 20 school than take a second gap year, so adding these schools is a very good idea.

U of Washington basically takes applicants from the WWAMI region only. gyngyn says they make an exception for URMs but I have no idea if theyll make an exception for an Oregon resident even with ties and these kind of stats. That's a question better left for gyngyn.

With these type of stats your list has to be top heavy. Applying too low to schools that typically dont interview people with stats this high wont do you any good. It depends on how many schools you want to apply to really in determing which ones to cut off. You said you wanted to cut your list from 22. IF you keep it at 15, I would do OHSU, the 4-5 CA schools I listed, about a half dozen top 20 reaches and then 3 or so of those medium tier types(Emory, Einstein etc). If you want to keep your list at 22 the remaining 7 schools you could add mostly top 20 reaches with perhaps 2-3 more of those medium tier types I listed.

 

[WedgeDawg]

Here's my recommended list:

Definitely:
Columbia-Bassett
UCLA
Stanford
UCSF
Dartmouth
OHSU
USC-Keck
Rochester
Michigan
Vanderbilt
WashU

Consider:

Reaches (pick 3-6 of these):
Harvard
Hopkins
Yale
Cornell
NYU
Sinai
Mayo

Targets (pick 2-4 of these):
Einstein
Hofstra
SLU
Case Western
Emory

I wouldn't recommend UCSD as they accept 25% of OOS applicants who interview (meaning you first have to get the secondary and then get invited to interview, then you have a 25% chance of getting in). However, if you want to add another CA school, it's going to have to be this one.