MD School List Input

[peartree42]

Hello, I am a reapplicant looking for advice on where people think I should apply for this next cycle (i.e. where I might be a good fit and have a better chance of getting an acceptance). I would like to stay on East Coast/Midwest area. Last cycle I interviewed at Mount Sinai, Temple, Medical College of Wisconsin, and UW-Madison. I was waitlisted at MCW, Temple, and UW.

GPA: 3.9
MCAT: 523
Research: A couple of years undergraduate research. Published as 3rd author on a paper. Gap year this past year doing basic science research and have a 5th author publication. Will probably have a couple of more publications out later this year to provide updates on.
Patient care/volunteer: Worked 150 hours over the past year and a half at a free walk-in clinic. Have mentored an undergraduate student in my lab and am looking to do some remote tutoring work soon.
Leadership: I held a couple of leadership positions in engineers without borders, most notably as a project manager.
Shadowing: ~45 hours across a number of specialties and looking to do a few more in the coming months.
Upcoming year: Looking for a patient-care oriented position like a phlebotomist or potentially another research job.

I am looking to apply to ~20-23 schools and the following are currently on my list. Will try to narrow down some of the reach schools and wondering if I should add or get rid of any in particular:
1. Albert Einstein
2. Boston University
3. Case Western
4. Drexel
5. Duke
6. Mount Sinai
7. Temple
8. MCW
9. Northwestern
10. NYU
11. Michigan
12. Penn
13. Harvard
14. University of Virginia
15. University of Wisconsin
16. Vanderbilt
17. Cornell
18. Tufts
19. Thomas Jefferson
20. UChicago
21. Ohio State
22. Brown
23. Pitt

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[Mr.Smile12]

I hope one of your WL comes through. Why didn't you apply to Carle Illinois in your last cycle?

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

Way too top heavy for a reapplicant. Need to include mid and lower tiers too,

You need to apply to 35-40 schools if you don’t want to be a 3x reapplicant

 

[peartree42]

Way too top heavy for a reapplicant. Need to include mid and lower tiers too,

You need to apply to 35-40 schools if you don’t want to be a 3x reapplicant

A number of these are mid tier schools. I aimed towards research heavy schools because I have a lot of research experience and lower tier schools tend to not be very research-oriented, which is something I definitely want. In terms of applying to 35-40 schools, don't think that is true at all and am not going to drop $5k on applications. I got 4 interviews this past year with only applying to 16, so I am ramping up a bit but not going for that many. Like I said, I am looking to drop some of the reach schools and add ones that would be a good fit. I am looking for helpful feedback for school choice not negativity.

 

[peartree42]

I hope one of your WL comes through. Why didn't you apply to Carle Illinois in your last cycle?

Thanks! I tried to avoid public schools this past cycle. I only applied to my in-state public school, but am throwing in a couple this year. I want to work in an urban area so I was targeting larger cities. Do you think there is good reason to apply to Carle?

 

[JoyFairy]

A number of these are mid tier schools. I aimed towards research heavy schools because I have a lot of research experience and lower tier schools tend to not be very research-oriented, which is something I definitely want. In terms of applying to 35-40 schools, don't think that is true at all and am not going to drop $5k on applications. I got 4 interviews this past year with only applying to 16, so I am ramping up a bit but not going for that many. Like I said, I am looking to drop some of the reach schools and add ones that would be a good fit. I am looking for helpful feedback for school choice not negativity.

Hopefully one of the WL comes through, and you won't even need this thread!

While @voxveritatisetlucis can be a bit blunt, he's definitely right about applying to a wider swath of schools as a re-applicant. Reapplicant bias is real, so you'll be expected to be a noticeably stronger applicant this time than last year. As a low-income applicant, I understand not wanting to spend a lot on applications, but multiple unsuccessful cycles costs add up and every year as a premed is one less year of attending salary. This is all to say, it might be worth investing in your future, if that's feasible.

If you really have a cap on application spending, I'd recommend fewer reach schools. Basically half the schools on your list are big research names. With all due respect, your research (as it stands now) is good, but when you apply to research powerhouses you compete with applicants who are first and second author publications, multiple abstracts, presentations, etc. If the new publications are accepted before this cycle begins, that will help you; but don't count on them otherwise.

Similarly, you have some clinical experience, but once again, you're competing with applicants who have multiple years of consistent clinical experience, leadership, and or community service. Note, for community service, mentoring someone in your lab and tutoring probably don't count. Also, if you accrued these clinical hours over the past year, it probably looked to the adcoms like you spontaneously decided to pursue medicine. Based on what you've provided here, I see someone who is very intelligent and interested in research, not someone interested in the practice of medicine.

If there's a reason your clinical/service engagement is low (i.e. having to work another job, familial obligations, illness, etc.), that's one thing and you should definitely explain on your app. If the reason is "I preferred research", why not pursue the PhD?

 

[peartree42]

Hopefully one of the WL comes through, and you won't even need this thread!

While @voxveritatisetlucis can be a bit blunt, he's definitely right about applying to a wider swath of schools as a re-applicant. Reapplicant bias is real, so you'll be expected to be a noticeably stronger applicant this time than last year. As a low-income applicant, I understand not wanting to spend a lot on applications, but multiple unsuccessful cycles costs add up and every year as a premed is one less year of attending salary. This is all to say, it might be worth investing in your future, if that's feasible.

If you really have a cap on application spending, I'd recommend fewer reach schools. Basically half the schools on your list are big research names. With all due respect, your research (as it stands now) is good, but when you apply to research powerhouses you compete with applicants who are first and second author publications, multiple abstracts, presentations, etc. If the new publications are accepted before this cycle begins, that will help you; but don't count on them otherwise.

Similarly, you have some clinical experience, but once again, you're competing with applicants who have multiple years of consistent clinical experience, leadership, and or community service. Note, for community service, mentoring someone in your lab and tutoring probably don't count. Also, if you accrued these clinical hours over the past year, it probably looked to the adcoms like you spontaneously decided to pursue medicine. Based on what you've provided here, I see someone who is very intelligent and interested in research, not someone interested in the practice of medicine.

If there's a reason your clinical/service engagement is low (i.e. having to work another job, familial obligations, illness, etc.), that's one thing and you should definitely explain on your app. If the reason is "I preferred research", why not pursue the PhD?

Thanks! I agree that knocking off a few of the big name schools is a good idea, and I am planning on that. Do you have recommendations for any additional schools? Last cycle I applied to Georgetown and GW as well. My only hesitance with schools like these is they receive SO many applicants, and they seem to not put as much emphasis on GPA/MCAT. With a higher GPA/MCAT, I thought it might be advantageous to apply to places where that is sought out, as opposed to schools that receive 15,000 applications and are looking for a multitude of different things.

 

[chilly_md]

There is still time for waitlist movement. Hopefully you hear back from a school with good news. I assume your state of residence is WI? What was your school list last cycle?

 

[peartree42]

There is still time for waitlist movement. Hopefully you hear back from a school with good news. I assume your state of residence is WI? What was your school list last cycle?

Thanks! Yes, I am still dearly hoping a waitlist works out. And yes I am from WI. Last year my list was:
UW-Madison
MCW
Georgetown
George Washington
Thomas Jefferson
Penn
Temple
Drexel
Albert Einstein
Columbia
Mt Sinai
NYU
Yale
Tufts
Boston University
Harvard

 

[JoyFairy]

Thanks! I agree that knocking off a few of the big name schools is a good idea, and I am planning on that. Do you have recommendations for any additional schools? Last cycle I applied to Georgetown and GW as well. My only hesitance with schools like these is they receive SO many applicants, and they seem to not put as much emphasis on GPA/MCAT. With a higher GPA/MCAT, I thought it might be advantageous to apply to places where that is sought out, as opposed to schools that receive 15,000 applications and are looking for a multitude of different things.

I had a very different application, so I'm not the best person to ask for specific school recommendations. Maybe @Goro or @Faha can help you identify some stat-focused schools (i.e. Hofstra, maaaaaybe WashU).

But yes, I agree that BU, GT, GW, and Tufts were probably donations. They get a lot of applications from folks with way more clinical hours.

 

[chilly_md]

I would practice your interview skills (including MMI if that format was used). Did a lot of your 150 hours of clinical experience occur after you submitted your app? Having more of it completed instead of projected should help. Would recommend updating your personal statement and secondaries with the new insights you had from it.

Apply to:
UW-Madison
MCW
Mount Sinai
Thomas Jefferson
Temple
Albert Einstein
UVA
Pittsburgh
Ohio State
Cincinnati
Hofstra
USF
Miami
Western Michigan
Rochester
Vanderbilt
WUSTL
SLU
Carle (if you were an engineering major)
Iowa
IU (maybe, since you are in the region and no secondary fee unless granted an II)
Vermont
Mayo
Dartmouth
Stony Brook

These are 25 schools in the Midwest or East, with 2 being maybes depending on how you feel and your major. You could apply DO, but that includes separate fees. I would suggest PCOM, DMU, and KCU.

 

[peartree42]

Thanks! Yes, I only had ~60 clinical volunteering hours last cycle and have done almost 90 in the past year. I was definitely planning on updating personal statement and secondary's. Why Mayo and WUSTL as opposed to some of the ones I had on my previous list? Do they like midwest applicants?

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

They like high stat applicants

 

[chilly_md]

^^ What vox said. Mayo is also a research heavy school and in a very cold area, so perhaps your background could help there.

 

[Faha]

It was your low clinical volunteering hours and lack of non clinical volunteering that limited your number of interviews this past cycle.
You could add these schools to your application:
Washington University (in St. Louis-almost a guaranteed interview with your stats)
Mayo
Western Michigan
USF Morsani
Miami
Cincinnati
Hofstra
Rochester
Iowa

 

[peartree42]

Thanks all I appreciate the feedback.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Thanks! I tried to avoid public schools this past cycle. I only applied to my in-state public school, but am throwing in a couple this year. I want to work in an urban area so I was targeting larger cities. Do you think there is good reason to apply to Carle?

Your application had Engineers without Borders, so I wasn't sure if you had looked at Carle's focus on engineering in medicine and whether that would be of interest or if you had more engineering-related experiences.

 

[peartree42]

Your application had Engineers without Borders, so I wasn't sure if you had looked at Carle's focus on engineering in medicine and whether that would be of interest or if you had more engineering-related experiences.

I didn't know about that. Thanks for telling me! I am an engineering major so I will check it out.

 

[peartree42]

Following up on this thread. I forgot to include in the initial post - I have 30 hours volunteering with Habitat for Humanity and will be continuing with that this next year.

But, a question, would it be better to list work with Engineers Without Borders as volunteer work? Currently I have it as leadership from holding leadership positions in the organization. But listed as volunteer work that could add a few hundred hours as service. I also have a year of college athletics, which is listed as athletics, but is somewhat of a leadership role in itself if I chose to do this.

Maybe I am overthinking and what I list an activity as does not make a real difference?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Following up on this thread. I forgot to include in the initial post - I have 30 hours volunteering with Habitat for Humanity and will be continuing with that this next year.

But, a question, would it be better to list work with Engineers Without Borders as volunteer work? Currently I have it as leadership from holding leadership positions in the organization. But listed as volunteer work that could add a few hundred hours as service. I also have a year of college athletics, which is listed as athletics, but is somewhat of a leadership role in itself if I chose to do this.

Maybe I am overthinking and what I list an activity as does not make a real difference?

Itemize your EWB hours. That could help.

 

[peartree42]

Itemize your EWB hours. That could help.

By itemize, do you mean to list some as leadership and some as volunteering?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

By itemize, do you mean to list some as leadership and some as volunteering?

Yes, with number of hours.