School List for LizzyM ~80

[midnighttofu]

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Hello, long time lurker here!

I was wondering what is a good list of schools to apply to with a LizzyM ~80. I am an ORM from California and I would not say I have the most amazing ECs, which I feel are a bit cookie-cutter. I have leadership experience, a few years of research (no pubs), and a significant amount of hospital volunteering (but no shadowing). My advisors are telling me to apply more top-heavy, but I have a feeling I won't get too much love from the top schools. Ideally I would like to stay on the coasts (as do many people), and not in the south. I am also targeting NY heavily because that is where I wouldn't mind ending up, but I haven't looked into other schools in the New England area. Ultimately, I don't want to limit myself and I know the entire process is a crapshoot!

Here is my current list:
Boston U
Columbia
Cornell
Albert Einstein
Baylor
Harvard
JHU
Mt. Sinai
Duke
NYU
Northwestern
Stanford
UCI, UCD, UCLA, UCSD, UCSF, UCR
UChicago
UPenn
USC
Yale
Tufts
Brown
Hofstra
Albany Medical College
NY Medical College
OHSU
Rochester

How does my list look? Are there any other mid-tier schools you all think I should add? Thanks for the help!

Also - I know not having shadowing seems like something that will kill an app from what SDN tells me, but I have talked to physicians and seen how they go about their days in my hours at the hospital. Is it not enough if I can adequately articulate that I am aware of what being a physician entails? Do I really have to follow some physician around for 10 hours and list it as one of my 15 experiences?

 

[NavyDoc23]

I wouldn't be too worried about your cookie cutter ECs. What's going to jump off the page to every admissions committee is your Lizzy M of 80. I think your list is fine. Heck, I'd save some money and not apply to that many.

 

[Mad Jack]

I wouldn't be too worried about your cookie cutter ECs. What's going to jump off the page to every admissions committee is your Lizzy M of 80. I think your list is fine. Heck, I'd save some money and not apply to that many.

Don't make the mistake of applying to too few schools. Above a certain point, MCAT and GPA are "good enough" and ECs and interview skills become critical. I don't want OP to end up like our recent 4.0/40 who got multiple interviews and zero acceptances because she didn't apply broadly enough.

I think your list is pretty good, if a bit top heavy. I would strongly encourage you to add some more mid-tier schools as safeties, as your ECs or interviewing skills might not be top-tier. Also, if you're not from California, the UCs might be a waste of money- apply, but don't expect much from them.

A lack of clinical experience and shadowing will absolutely hurt your app. At some schools, it will hurt it a lot, at others, not as much. If you've got clinical experience aside from the shadowing you'll be in better shape, but if not, you're seriously compromising your competitiveness at some schools. Just go shadow, and if you don't have clinical experience, get some if you can.

 

[breakintheroof]

Nice work on your top-notch grades and scores, @midnighttofu. I don't feel confident evaluating your ECs, especially from your short description, but let's take your word for it that they are good but not stellar. In that case, you should indeed make sure you apply broadly. I think you should be able to do so without applying to every school under the sun.

Regarding how to broaden your application, I...

Strongly recommend dropping: OHSU (low OOS acceptance rate), UCR (unless you can show that you want to serve the Inland Empire)
Recommend dropping: BU and Tufts (get zillions of applications and don't necessarily target high LizzyM applicants, worth including only if you are OK paying a lot for a shot at being in Boston), Brown (has far fewer available seats than it appears due to special programs, and is not known for taking high-stat traditional applicants anyway)
Recommend keeping: Einstein, Rochester, USC, Hofstra
Recommend taking a look at if you want more: Case, Emory, UVA
Would seek another opinion on: Albany, NYMC (I don't know how many high-stat Californians go there as I'm not familiar with their processes at all)

I think that Sinai, NYU, Cornell, and Northwestern would be great to aim at. And of course keep the California schools and whichever super selective ones you want. I might also suggest you apply to WashU, a great school with happy students that loves high-stat applicants and probably interviews more of them than anyone else.

 

[Doug Underhill]

Brown admits one traditional applicant a year. One. The rest are all Brown undergrads and non-trads with liberal arts backgrounds.

 

[midnighttofu]

I really appreciate the feedback from you all! I will probably end up shadowing before I submit my primary application, but it feels very box-checky to me (just the nature of the game we're playing I guess).

@breakintheroof this really helps - thanks for taking the time to write it up so concisely like that! I have connections to the Inland Empire and can definitely see myself in the area so I've kept UCR on my radar. I also should have mentioned I am taking a gap year (I feel like this is becoming more and more traditional) and currently attend a LAC, but I admit I haven't looked too much into Brown's matriculating demographics.

How do Jefferson/Temple/Rush sound? I would like to add more mid-tier schools, but I have limited interview time this upcoming year, and it may be hard flying out too much from CA.

 

[breakintheroof]

I really appreciate the feedback from you all! I will probably end up shadowing before I submit my primary application, but it feels very box-checky to me (just the nature of the game we're playing I guess).

@breakintheroof this really helps - thanks for taking the time to write it up so concisely like that! I have connections to the Inland Empire and can definitely see myself in the area so I've kept UCR on my radar. I also should have mentioned I am taking a gap year (I feel like this is becoming more and more traditional) and currently attend a LAC, but I admit I haven't looked too much into Brown's matriculating demographics.

How do Jefferson/Temple/Rush sound? I would like to add more mid-tier schools, but I have limited interview time this upcoming year, and it may be hard flying out too much from CA.

All good questions.

I'm not sure about Temple, Jefferson, and Rush. If no one can chime in, I'd check out the school-specific threads and/or MDApps to see if you can find examples of applicants like yourself getting traction there.

As a LAC alum and a gap year taker, perhaps you could try Brown. I'm not sure where Doug gets his "one per year" stat, but the odds aren't great in any case--it's up to you. I'll also re-up the recommendation to keep Rochester given that you'll be a LAC alum, as many such students end up there.

Edited to add: You are very smart to think about managing your time (and money) for this process. It ain't easy to do if you end up getting lots of offers! Once you've completed your school list, I would advise being proactive about applying early, scheduling your favorite interviews before your least favorite/farthest away, and not being afraid to try to move dates around if multiple trips would be a hardship. Having too many offers is far better than none, but there are pitfalls to applying to excess.

 

[CaliforniaDreamer]

This is great, I feel like you and I have very similar profiles. My friend who has a similar profile as well (but with lower LizzyM score) got interviews to at least two of the schools on that list and now attends a different one.

 

[midnighttofu]

Thanks for all the feedback, keeping my fingers crossed for having interviews to worry about!

 

[Goro]

Nothing wrong with aiming high...but do start shadowing because you need to know what a doctor's day is like.

Delete UCR if you're not from the Inland Empire. Delete Brown because they favor their own UGs.

Suggest considering Emory, Pitt, the NYC area SUNYs, U Miami, Tulane, and Loyola.

I think you can do better than Albany and NYMC. Swap them out for U AZ, U VM, U NV (maybe) U MI or U VA.


Boston U
Columbia
Cornell
Albert Einstein
Baylor
Harvard
JHU
Mt. Sinai
Duke
NYU
Northwestern
Stanford
UCI, UCD, UCLA, UCSD, UCSF, UCR
UChicago
UPenn
USC
Yale
Tufts
Brown
Hofstra
Albany Medical College
NY Medical College
OHSU
Rochester

How does my list look? Are there any other mid-tier schools you all think I should add? Thanks for the help!

Also - I know not having shadowing seems like something that will kill an app from what SDN tells me, but I have talked to physicians and seen how they go about their days in my hours at the hospital. Is it not enough if I can adequately articulate that I am aware of what being a physician entails? Do I really have to follow some physician around for 10 hours and list it as one of my 15 experiences?[/QUOTE]

 

[midnighttofu]

Thanks Goro, will keep your recommendations in mind!