School List/Suggestions

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BBender716

BBender716

Med school drop out!
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Hey guys, I saw some other "school suggestions" threads and I really value SDNers' opinions and insight. I've linked my MDapps profile with the schools I am applying to.

As for what I'm looking for, I'm trying to stay in the midwest if at all possible. There are some glaring ones outside of the midwest but those are the schools that if I managed to get into them somehow and fail to get into the top-tier midwest schools then I would attend. Also, a notable exception is SIU. I just didn't feel it was a good fit and I'm trying to follow the methodology of "If you don't think you'd be happy there, do not apply."

I know my list may be a little top-heavy. If anyone knows any good midwest schools that accept a good amount of OOS and are less competitive to balance out my selection of schools, it would be much appreciated. This is, of course, in addition to any other suggestions at all! Thanks!
 
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Our stuff looks really similar BBizzle, and it looks like we're applying to a lot of the same schools. I think you need at least a few more safeties. Maybe add 2 and go with an even 20.

One thing that I'd suggest is maybe removing MSU, as their OOS tuition and cost of attendance is through the roof.

As far as mid-west safeties: Toledo?
 
Just looked up MSU tuition on MSAR and that school is definitely gone now, lol As for Toledo, they accept 2.5% of OOS and over 10% in state. Is that still a good safety?
 
BBender716 said:
Just looked up MSU tuition on MSAR and that school is definitely gone now, lol As for Toledo, they accept 2.5% of OOS and over 10% in state. Is that still a good safety?
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Looking at the acceptance rate vs number of applicants isnt the best way to look at schools or if they are OOS friendly. Those numbers can be skewed by number of applicaitons and dont say a whole lot about if the are OOS friendly. IMO its better to just look at how many OOS make up the total class. Toledo has about 24% of the total class make up as OOS. This is very good for an OOS school, especially one that is public. They also interview just as many OOS as then do in state another good sign.
 
Ooo! Thanks for the OOS tip! I've added Toledo and Indiana. They seem to have good portion of their school OOS.
 
BBender716 said:
Just out of curiosity why cut out UWisconsin and UIowa? I heard they are particularly kind to OOS compared to other state schools.
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i think they are the exact opposite let me check my MSAR
 
Iowa isn't bad but 20% of their OOS are MSTP (great program)

Wisconsin over 30% of their OOS are MSTP. I would not apply there. MCW is friendly though
 
witness23 said:
Iowa isn't bad but 20% of their OOS are MSTP (great program)

Wisconsin over 30% of their OOS are MSTP. I would not apply there. MCW is friendly though
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Man I have to use the MSAR better! lol I'm looking at it right now and I don't see MSTP breakdown, only MD/PhD. And for wisconsin I only see 8 out of 44 matriculants as MD/PhD, which isn't necessarily MSTP, right? That leaves 36 OOS compared to 119 in-state, which isn't terrible.

As for Iowa, using the same methodology, that leaves 42 OOS compared to 98 in-state. There's no way of you knowing it, but Iowa has been kind to our school in the past so I've heard so I think I'll stick with that one.

Have not heard much about UWisc though... so I definitely need to figure out every little thing I could squeeze out of MSAR. Definitely sticking with MCW!! Thanks a bunch!
 
Iowa is some OOS friendly, if you truly want to go there and have a good reason then by all means i would keep it. As for UWisc, Im personally applying there but there are better schools to apply to that you have not added. Id replace Uwisc with some other school.
 
Anything you could suggest as "better places"?? Just trying to find as large of a range of med schools as possible within the midwest... thanks again!
 
BBender716 said:
Just out of curiosity why cut out UWisconsin and UIowa? I heard they are particularly kind to OOS compared to other state schools.
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Elijah05 said:
Iowa is some OOS friendly, if you truly want to go there and have a good reason then by all means i would keep it. As for UWisc, Im personally applying there but there are better schools to apply to that you have not added. Id replace Uwisc with some other school.
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I applied to both schools last cycle. I'm originally from the midwest too (Michigan) and I added Iowa and Wisconsin in late August (a month after I sent out my primary) on a whim. When all was said and done, I got interviews and acceptances at these two schools, and I'm really glad I added them because at this point in my life I am hankering for the big ten campus lifestyle (needed a change from 6 years in the east coast urban jungle), and I felt like these 2 schools were great fits for personal reasons which I won't get into.

So, if you're just applying to these two schools because they're in the midwest, well nothing wrong with that. The secondary fees are relatively cheap compared to most other schools. If you have specific reasons for applying to these schools, like fit or family or something like that, go ahead and apply and be sure to find some way to communicate that.

Wisconsin's tough on OOS applicants (I think they interview like 3% of OOS applicants?) but if you get an interview as OOS, you have a very good chance of eventually being accepted.

Iowa's a better bet - they take a pretty decent chunk of people from OOS in their class, and interview a decent amount of OOS applicants. I think you have a good bet at getting an interview from Iowa, and who knows about UW.. it's certainly possible.

I say keep them both.
 
penn state pitt ohio state (ky UofL Indy are pushing their OOS friendliness)
 
RoadRunner17 said:
I agree with this. If you're interested you can apply to CCLCM (College Program at Case). Wouldn't apply to Michigan State as OOS though
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I think those are very solid schools as well. Pitt/OSU are a little more competitive (esp. Pitt) than I would like safeties to be, but I think I'm going to add Pitt because it's just a great school that I was considering anyways (nothing against the buckeyes!).

As for CCLCM, I'm not a huge research guy. I know Case Western, Mayo, and some of the others on my list are somewhat research heavy, but I do not want to necessarily be specifically trained for research as detailed in the CCLCM description in MSAR. If I have the wrong impression then I'd definitely be willing to reconsider!

I updated my list per everyone's suggestions. Thank you everyone! If you have any further ideas for schools or even if the list looks balanced, that'd be awesome. You guys know a ton!

Side-note: If you know any upper-tier schools that are particularly favorable to non-science majors and/or unique business experience, those sorts of things, I would really like to know that as well if that's even possible to know! Thanks again!
 
I think your list looks balanced now, but to me it seems like you've got a number of safeties, and then a number of reach schools. If you aren't sick of adding to your list, maybe add some in the middle. I definitely think you could leave it as is though and have some success.
 
JimmerJammerMrK said:
I think your list looks balanced now, but to me it seems like you've got a number of safeties, and then a number of reach schools. If you aren't sick of adding to your list, maybe add some in the middle. I definitely think you could leave it as is though and have some success.
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Hey JJ, what kind of middle of the road schools do you mean? Do you have an example that would be around the midwest? Thanks again and we should keep in touch regarding interviews and stuff.
 
BBender716 said:
As for CCLCM, I'm not a huge research guy. I know Case Western, Mayo, and some of the others on my list are somewhat research heavy, but I do not want to necessarily be specifically trained for research as detailed in the CCLCM description in MSAR. If I have the wrong impression then I'd definitely be willing to reconsider!
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No, you have the right impression. Research is a major focus of this program. You would have to do two summer research rotations plus one year of research with a Masters-level thesis and defense. So if you know that you aren't a huge research guy, you definitely shouldn't apply to CCLCM. Your app looks pretty well balanced, and I think a lot of schools will be interested in a non-science major because it adds diversity. Good luck with your apps.
 
CCLCMer said:
No, you have the right impression. Research is a major focus of this program. You would have to do two summer research rotations plus one year of research with a Masters-level thesis and defense. So if you know that you aren't a huge research guy, you definitely shouldn't apply to CCLCM. Your app looks pretty well balanced, and I think a lot of schools will be interested in a non-science major because it adds diversity. Good luck with your apps.
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Thank you very much for the confirmation!
 
You are an excellent applicant, but maybe you can add a couple more safeties like NYMC to make sure that you are on the safe side.
 
BBender716 said:
Hey JJ, what kind of middle of the road schools do you mean? Do you have an example that would be around the midwest? Thanks again and we should keep in touch regarding interviews and stuff.
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Ohio State and U Michigan come to mind. Other than those, you might have to go outside the midwest. USC, Wake, Rochester, Einstein, Boston U, Oregon, etc might be worth applying to (I'm not saying all of them, maybe 1 or 2). It's up to you though, I think you'll be fine as you are.

EDIT: Yeah, we have really similar stats, it will be interesting to compare what happens in the end.
 
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