Thoughts on only applying to local schools?

[MAtoMRStoMD]

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Hi all! I’m so glad I found this forum. So much useful information! A little background on me-

I have been working full time as an MA for about 8 years, while going to school part time for my undergrad degree. For a long time I had PA school as my ultimate goal, but with the help of the posts on this forum I decided to go (aka try) for the med school route. I will be about 31 when I’m ready to start applying. I’m getting married in 3 months and all our family is here (Philly). I have seen on here and heard from all the physicians I work with that many relocate for med school and/or residency, so my question is this:

Is it unreasonable to only apply to schools in my hometown of Philadelphia? Geographically speaking, I’m very lucky to live in such close proximity to several excellent schools, but I’ve seen on various threads that people apply to 20-30 schools and I’m only looking at about 7 (only MD programs). Is this normal? Do I need to have a heart to heart with myself about being willing to move? We have so much support here, and my (soon to be) husband loves his job and will be supporting us through the process.

I dont have many “stats” to give you to aid in your advice, but currently I have a 3.8 gpa, 8 years of healthcare experience, a wonderful mentor and an uncommon area of interest (addiction medicine), so I’m
hoping this puts me in the right track to being a candidate for the programs in my area. What say you, SDN?

 

[Ad2b]

MCAT score?
Hours volunteering?
Pre-reqs GPA?
Strong LORs from science professors who can attest to your ability to be a medical student and thrive? (Mentor is nice for LOR speaking to patient care, etc.)

Without those, it's hard to say but what you've been told about 10 - 20 schools NOT all in your region is correct. Many apply to 25 or 30 but most of those are people reinventing themselves (like me).

My stats?

• 2.196 ugrad GPA circa 1986 (dead child in the mix but I don't mention him anywhere, just own my @#$)
• 10,000 hours volunteering
• 150 hours shadowing physicians
• field research in the Galapagos Islands, unpublished
• 15 years international executive leadership for public companies
• 3.95 or something current GPA through pre-reqs at top 50 land-granting university
• MCAT score = pooped on it (it was postponed twice due to transformer outage to the weekend Hurricane Irma hit, to the Tues after my contract was canceled due to Irma damages)

Can you apply with your stats to only your in-area schools? Sure, there's no one that can tell you definitively that you won't get into one of them; the issue is that if you do NOT get in first cycle you are a re-applicant to every one of those schools the following year. Being a re-applicant doesn't necessarily hinder you completely but it's generally seen as better to be a first time app.

 

[DSM_302.0]

Completing all the pre-reqs, volunteering, shadowing, taking the MCAT (SUCH a beast of a test), getting lots of letters of recommendation, writing lots of poignant essays, etc is a *ton* of work that will take lots of sacrifice and so much time. To me it wouldn't seem worth it to go through all that and only apply to a few schools. That said, maybe your understanding of 'unreasonable' is different than most of ours.

 

[MAtoMRStoMD]

I expected some tough criticism and I appreciate it. I have some follow up questions:

1) Don't schools favor in-state applicants? If this is true, doesn't it make sense to apply in state then?
2) Can schools see where else I have applied/will they ask where else I have applied?

I will reassess the idea of moving. I think it is difficult for strangers to fully assess our individual situation having such little information, but I still value the feedback and will take it into consideration. FWIW, I absolutely think medicine is for me, but i'm not willing to destroy my family in the process. If everyone is not on board, then it's not meant to be. Thanks everyone!

 

[DSM_302.0]

1. Yes, but only the public schools, because they receive state taxpayer funds and are held to certain quotas for students in state. And there are still thousands of applicants for ~150 spots. Even if you're in-state, the odds are definitely not in your favor. I just looked up the 5 schools in Philly, none is a public school, so students from all over the country are fighting for those spots. Here's a taste from US News and World Report:

• Drexel. 13,831 applied. 707 accepted.
• Temple: 10,883 applied, 437 accepted.
• UPenn: 5,390 applied, 235 accepted (and this school has one of the highest average GPAs and MCATs and research involvement in the nation)

More data available in MSAR.

2. Nope, they won't know, and they shouldn't ask.

 

[Goro]

Hi all! I’m so glad I found this forum. So much useful information! A little background on me-

I have been working full time as an MA for about 8 years, while going to school part time for my undergrad degree. For a long time I had PA school as my ultimate goal, but with the help of the posts on this forum I decided to go (aka try) for the med school route. I will be about 31 when I’m ready to start applying. I’m getting married in 3 months and all our family is here (Philly). I have seen on here and heard from all the physicians I work with that many relocate for med school and/or residency, so my question is this:

Is it unreasonable to only apply to schools in my hometown of Philadelphia? Geographically speaking, I’m very lucky to live in such close proximity to several excellent schools, but I’ve seen on various threads that people apply to 20-30 schools and I’m only looking at about 7 (only MD programs). Is this normal? Do I need to have a heart to heart with myself about being willing to move? We have so much support here, and my (soon to be) husband loves his job and will be supporting us through the process.

I dont have many “stats” to give you to aid in your advice, but currently I have a 3.8 gpa, 8 years of healthcare experience, a wonderful mentor and an uncommon area of interest (addiction medicine), so I’m
hoping this puts me in the right track to being a candidate for the programs in my area. What say you, SDN?

Suppose you get rejected from all these schools???

Applying only to a few local schools is foolish. IT also says to me that you Don't want to be a doctor badly enough. I'm not saying you have to give up a limb, but you do have to make sacrifices.

 

[Meridian32]

It's not unreasonable to apply only to Philadelphia-area med schools, so long as you understand that this will significantly hinder your chances of getting into med school and are OK with it. I had med school classmates who applied to only one school (ours) and got in - albeit I went to a public med school with a ~15% acceptance rate for in-state applicants, while the Philly area med schools are substantially more selective as outlined above. You should also know that it's common to move for residency, and while matching into residency in the same city as your med school is usually not a problem in less competitive specialties such as family or internal medicine, it's much harder in competitive specialties such as anything surgery-related. The better you do on MCAT, prereqs, etc., the better your chances. Good luck!

 

[Ad2b]

but i'm not willing to destroy my family in the process

This tells me your husband is not on board, though he says he is. To me, and many others, not having that support through the most difficult time of your life will lead to disaster.

A friend of mine, a non-trad, went to school 200 miles or so away from her husband/kids after being accepted. It sucked. She chronicled it here and there about the difficulty of being so far from everyone.

But what she also posted is about her husband supporting her with surprise visits when he there were no tests, cards, letters, flowers, funny IG notes, etc. etc. etc. That support, while not exponentially expensive $$ wise meant more than anything to her.

She's now MSxx (post 1st year; hiding her identity because.)... she gave up everything to do this, her husband AND kids supported her no matter the consequences to their family in the short term.

If this is your path, you will likely have to do the choose to do the same or all will get stretched too thin and all will fail... life, school, etc.

 

[MAtoMRStoMD]

Whew- it stings to hear that I must not want this bad enough, because it's all I want. Thank you the person above that mentioned the possibility of this turning into me being a second round applicant. That was a very helpful thought I hadn't considered. I will apply broadly when the times comes, including out of state. I haven't read up on if having "connections" is worth much when applying, so maybe I am under an impression that I should get out from under. I have several in this area so I thought maybe it would improve my chances and I wouldn't have to apply out of state. This was a good reality check- glad I posted. Thank you to all who replied, and I am happy to hear continue to hear from others!

 

[Blanky]

All bets on PCOM?!?!?

 

[MAtoMRStoMD]

All bets on PCOM?!?!?

Nope. Would prefer an MD program. I can't really pinpoint schools until I am further along in the process (have taken the MCAT, etc). Penn evidently looks at high school performance so I can kiss that goodbye. Does anyone have comments on having connections within med schools? Is that even a thing?

 

[IMGASMD]

Nope. Would prefer an MD program. I can't really pinpoint schools until I am further along in the process (have taken the MCAT, etc). Penn evidently looks at high school performance so I can kiss that goodbye. Does anyone have comments on having connections within med schools? Is that even a thing?

Depends on your connection. It’s so competitive, unless your connection is so high up, it probably won’t mean much.

 

[Blanky]

I would say even with a high MCAT you are risking. But you wont have any idea until later. Drexel sends II to like 1.6% of applicants

 

[MAtoMRStoMD]

I would say even with a high MCAT you are risking. But you wont have any idea until later. Drexel sends II to like 1.6% of applicants

Blanky, I apologize- can you help me understand what you mean about Drexel sending "II"? This might be lingo i'm not familiar with. Thank you!! I also heard that Drexel accepts many students but not many accept the acceptance. Do you know anything about that?

 

[IMGASMD]

Blanky, I apologize- can you help me understand what you mean about Drexel sending "II"? This might be lingo i'm not familiar with. Thank you!! I also heard that Drexel accepts many students but not many accept the acceptance. Do you know anything about that?

Secondaries? Is my best guess

 

[676188]

Blanky, I apologize- can you help me understand what you mean about Drexel sending "II"? This might be lingo i'm not familiar with. Thank you!! I also heard that Drexel accepts many students but not many accept the acceptance. Do you know anything about that?

II = interview invite

 

[676188]

I expected some tough criticism and I appreciate it. I have some follow up questions:

1) Don't schools favor in-state applicants? If this is true, doesn't it make sense to apply in state then?
2) Can schools see where else I have applied/will they ask where else I have applied?

I will reassess the idea of moving. I think it is difficult for strangers to fully assess our individual situation having such little information, but I still value the feedback and will take it into consideration. FWIW, I absolutely think medicine is for me, but i'm not willing to destroy my family in the process. If everyone is not on board, then it's not meant to be. Thanks everyone!

Do you have children? In what way will having to move for medical school possibly destroy your family?

 

[Blanky]

Drexel Apps: 1198, II 338, Matriculated 74 IS 28% get II and 21% Matriculated... OOS was 7.6% for II
Temple Apps: 1243, II 278, Matriculated 92 IS 22% get II and 33% Matriculated... OOS was 5.4% for II

Sorry my previous post was from memory and OOS

 

[MAtoMRStoMD]

Do you have children? In what way will having to move for medical school possibly destroy your family?

Hi! Thank you for clarification regarding II. I don't have children. I just know my soon to be husband really well and didn't think he'd do well with the transition, and in his line of work it's best to stay long-term with one county instead of moving around. With that being said, I did have a discussion with him about moving for school since people on this thread suggested I widen my horizon and he was surprisingly fine with it. The direct quote was: "I'm happy to do anything that will help you reach your dream." So that is much less of a worry than I previously thought. A year or so ago when I initially brought up the idea, he panicked and said it's off the table. I think he is coming around to the idea (brownie points if it's somewhere with decent weather lol).

 

[676188]

Hi! Thank you for clarification regarding II. I don't have children. I just know my soon to be husband really well and didn't think he'd do well with the transition, and in his line of work it's best to stay long-term with one county instead of moving around. With that being said, I did have a discussion with him about moving for school since people on this thread suggested I widen my horizon and he was surprisingly fine with it. The direct quote was: "I'm happy to do anything that will help you reach your dream." So that is much less of a worry than I previously thought. A year or so ago when I initially brought up the idea, he panicked and said it's off the table. I think he is coming around to the idea (brownie points if it's somewhere with decent weather lol).

My husband went about it in a similar way. At first he was totally supportive, assuming I was only applying to the one local medical school. Once he realized the odds of applying and getting into only one school, he quickly said apply where ever I felt comfortable...now, he's a country boy in the truest sense of the word, so I'm weeding out schools in major metropolitan areas and building a list of rural/suburban schools, or ones where I know we can find a place out of the city to live, for his sanity. Give and take.

 

[Blanky]

Hi! Thank you for clarification regarding II. I don't have children. I just know my soon to be husband really well and didn't think he'd do well with the transition, and in his line of work it's best to stay long-term with one county instead of moving around. With that being said, I did have a discussion with him about moving for school since people on this thread suggested I widen my horizon and he was surprisingly fine with it. The direct quote was: "I'm happy to do anything that will help you reach your dream." So that is much less of a worry than I previously thought. A year or so ago when I initially brought up the idea, he panicked and said it's off the table. I think he is coming around to the idea (brownie points if it's somewhere with decent weather lol).

Nice to see supportive family! My wife has been more than supportive of my dream!

 

[MAtoMRStoMD]

My husband went about it in a similar way. At first he was totally supportive, assuming I was only applying to the one local medical school. Once he realized the odds of applying and getting into only one school, he quickly said apply where ever I felt comfortable...now, he's a country boy in the truest sense of the word, so I'm weeding out schools in major metropolitan areas and building a list of rural/suburban schools, or ones where I know we can find a place out of the city to live, for his sanity. Give and take.

I love this story. Thank you for sharing. I agree, it is give and take. I care so deeply for him that I can't imagine causing him strife even for my dreams. I want us to be on the same page always. I'm glad to hear it's worked out for others. Thanks again! 🙂

 

[RNthenDoc]

If you are a super stellar candidate, I don’t think that’s a terrible plan. You have to make sure you are a shoo-in, though.

Then, if you have reapply a second year try hard for PCOM.

Crazier things have been done.

 

[MAtoMRStoMD]

If you are a super stellar candidate, I don’t think that’s a terrible plan. You have to make sure you are a shoo-in, though.

Then, if you have reapply a second year try hard for PCOM.

Crazier things have been done.

Hi! Thank you. Because i'm so early on in the process, I have some time to ensure that I am a great candidate for one of my local schools. I've even started listening to MCAT review podcasts pretty much any second I can just to familiarize myself with the types of info that will be on it. I'm also beefing up my extracurriculars. I just signed up to be a reading coach for undeserved neighborhoods in Philadelphia and I have a few opportunities to volunteer with City Year (similar to AmeriCorp) this fall. I want to find some good medical volunteering as well, so i'll start fishing around area hospitals that may let me shadow!

Also, about PCOM- I don't want to apply to any DO programs. One of the women I work with is a DO and she is unable to take the addiction med board because of this. It could be because she is family practice and they only allow psychiatry DOs to take it- i'm not sure. I have to get more info on this but I don't want to run into that road block.

 

[Goro]

Nope. Would prefer an MD program. I can't really pinpoint schools until I am further along in the process (have taken the MCAT, etc). Penn evidently looks at high school performance so I can kiss that goodbye. Does anyone have comments on having connections within med schools? Is that even a thing?

Pending your MCAT score, beggars can't be choosy.

Drexel Apps: 1198, II 338, Matriculated 74 IS 28% get II and 21% Matriculated... OOS was 7.6% for II
Temple Apps: 1243, II 278, Matriculated 92 IS 22% get II and 33% Matriculated... OOS was 5.4% for II

Those IS vs OOS stats can be misleading...PA is one of those states (like CA, NY TX and IL) where there is a very large pool of competitive candidates who want to say close to home!

 

[Blanky]

Pending your MCAT score, beggars can't be choosy.


Those IS vs OOS stats can be misleading...PA is one of those states (like CA, NY TX and IL) where there is a very large pool of competitive candidates who want to say close to home!

You feel like the odds are worse than I estimated?

 

[MAtoMRStoMD]

When you get a reply from @Goro and you fan girl in your office hahaha Thanks for your comment! I don't want to be choosy... just a personal preference, that's all. I've seen people get banned for the MD/DO conversation so I don't want this to turn into that.

 

[Blanky]

DO/MD debate is understandable when it’s not about trash talking or pissing contests. If you want to travel to another country and practice it should be considered. If you want a competitive specialty then you should also consider waiting and boosting your application.

 

[MAtoMRStoMD]

I'm super afraid to tread on DO/MD territory. I was looking for a good thread that has a non-pissing contest conversation but could not find one. The last one I read said "if you talk about MD vs DO you're probably a troll." Eyeroll. I do understand that one is not better than the other in terms of the end goal- both are physicians. But where i'm confused is why, in the community, an MD is more prestigious? I shall do some homework on this.

Also, @Blanky no need to wait to boost app... I am still pre-med so I have lots of time. I will continue to ace my classes (God-willing) and follow some of the excellent advice i've gotten on SDN.

 

[RNthenDoc]

The prestige has little to do with the initials and more to do with the school you attend. I’m attending a great allopathic school, but it pales to Ivy in prestige.

Long before you even need to have an opinion about MD vs. DO you should be making yourself a stellar candidate. It’s really moot until then, and things could have changed by then anyway.

 

[MAtoMRStoMD]

@RNthenDoc as stated above, I am still very early on in the process and am ensuring that I will be a great candidate for med school in general. However, I do feel it's important to think of all steps ahead, which means knowing the limitations for board certification, etc. I don't think it's unreasonable to be thinking of those things now.

 

[futuremdforme]

I applied to fewer schools than that and got 2 acceptances. Moving to different schools was a worse option for me and wasn't acceptable at that point. I'm well into my training now and have no regrets. My family was more important to me than being a doctor, and still is. Thankfully I can have both.

 

[MAtoMRStoMD]

I applied to fewer schools than that and got 2 acceptances. Moving to different schools was a worse option for me and wasn't acceptable at that point. I'm well into my training now and have no regrets. My family was more important to me than being a doctor, and still is. Thankfully I can have both.

Hey! Thank you for this. I appreciate our like-mindedness. I want nothing more than to be a doctor, but as I mentioned waaaay up top I don't want it at the cost of family relationships. So happy for you that you have both!! Congrats on two acceptances and going strong in your training!!

 

[IMGASMD]

@RNthenDoc as stated above, I am still very early on in the process and am ensuring that I will be a great candidate for med school in general. However, I do feel it's important to think of all steps ahead, which means knowing the limitations for board certification, etc. I don't think it's unreasonable to be thinking of those things now.

I hear what everyone is trying to say is that it is a long road, it certainly isn’t too early to think about everything ahead; also focus one thing at a time.

It is a very competitive road, most people in med school are more than qualified and capable of many things. I am by no means went to a top 20/30/50 medical school, but I had classmates from Harvard, Yale, MIT, Stanford and Berkeley as classmates. Most wanted to be the absolute best, but at some point realize, you can only do what you can do. A lot of things are out of your control, sometimes you just need to roll with it.

Your next few steps are, get everything ready for application, take MACT, evaluate where you are. If you have a stellar score, you can write your own ticket. If you don’t, you maybe have to evaluate what you want to do next.

People often accuse us of not seeing the forest from the tree, but you also don’t want to count on your chickens before they hatch either. It’s a balance act, such as life.

Good luck

 

[24GaugeEJ]

Love the previous post. Don’t count your chickens before they hatch. Focus on the task at hand.

I remember getting off a horrible night shift during which my partner and I were dispatched on no fewer than 17 runs. I head down to campus, struggle through into the late morning/early afternoon, and finally reach my last class of the day: general chemistry lab. I was sitting next to this 18-year-old kid who kept yammering on with his friends about which specialty he was going into. He declared loudly, on many occasions, that he would become a cardiothoracic surgeon. All semester he received C after C on his lab reports. He didn’t make it through the first semester of organic chemistry.

Admittedly, there’s a little bit of schadenfreude here, but there is a moral to the story: see @IMGASMD ’s post above.

 

[MAtoMRStoMD]

Love the previous post. Don’t count your chickens before they hatch. Focus on the task at hand.

I remember getting off a horrible night shift during which my partner and I were dispatched on no fewer than 17 runs. I head down to campus, struggle through into the late morning/early afternoon, and finally reach my last class of the day: general chemistry lab. I was sitting next to this 18-year-old kid who kept yammering on with his friends about which specialty he was going into. He declared loudly, on many occasions, that he would become a cardiothoracic surgeon. All semester he received C after C on his lab reports. He didn’t make it through the first semester of organic chemistry.

Admittedly, there’s a little bit of schadenfreude here, but there is a moral to the story: see @IMGASMD ’s post above.

Totally understand. Typically I would not think quite as far ahead as the person who wanted to be a surgeon (especially cardiothoracic). I have worked in addiction psych for the last 8 years alongside my mentor. So I know it is well within my capability. Being a surgeon would be awesome, but I know I couldn't cut it (pun intended lol). With that being said, I'm sure every cardiothoracic surgeon was once an MS1 that confidently declared what they intended to specialize in 😉 I always try my best to encourage folks to pursue their dreams, but you're right- sometimes its just not a possibility and we all have to be ok with that.

 

[ADSigMel]

I made a really similar post a little over two years ago, and got pretty much the same advice you’re getting. So, I applied to 10 schools instead of 1, had a successful cycle, and am going to my local school anyway. Sometimes I wish I had only applied locally (or at least applied early decision) so I wouldn’t be have had to decide between the local school and a couple of others that I actually liked better. But hindsight is 20/20, and it was much better to pick from 5 acceptances than to apply to only 1 school and risk not having any acceptances at all.

 

[Ad2b]

Does anyone have comments on having connections within med schools? Is that even a thing?

Family name on inside of medical facility/school/etc. museum in Rochester; my aunt was the nurse for the named surgeon the hospital/clinic is named after; family donated metric @#$ ton of stuff... it's not going to help me

Cousin sits on adcom of an MD school... great for advice and whatnot, not helping to get me in with that @#$ MCAT score

Sitting US House of Reps know me well, I campaigned for them; they sit on various boards; not helping me

I was director of finance for a top 25 academic health facility which included vet, pharm, nursing, public health, dental AND medical schools; not helping me (didn't ask, either - point to come)

Currently, my firm is connected to the highest levels of the US government with the physicians who work for the firm doing some amazing things outside the US and inside. No, I can't tell you what they do or what I do; you're not cleared. 🙂

Basically, I *should* have all the best connections:

1. family name inside fairly prestigious medical center and it's med school
2. family on adcom for allopathic school
3. Congressional leaders know me
4. I handled the $$$ for the medical school and their teaching faculty
5. my current firm

I never asked any of them to pull strings to help me - at any point in my life - and find it almost repulsive to ask. *I* would rather get rejected all on my own records than get rejected AFTER asking someone to help.

Egg on my face, meh.

Egg on someone else's face? ugh ugh

Egg on their's and mine? 🤢

 

[MAtoMRStoMD]

Family name on inside of medical facility/school/etc. museum in Rochester; my aunt was the nurse for the named surgeon the hospital/clinic is named after; family donated metric @#$ ton of stuff... it's not going to help me

Cousin sits on adcom of an MD school... great for advice and whatnot, not helping to get me in with that @#$ MCAT score

Sitting US House of Reps know me well, I campaigned for them; they sit on various boards; not helping me

I was director of finance for a top 25 academic health facility which included vet, pharm, nursing, public health, dental AND medical schools; not helping me (didn't ask, either - point to come)

Currently, my firm is connected to the highest levels of the US government with the physicians who work for the firm doing some amazing things outside the US and inside. No, I can't tell you what they do or what I do; you're not cleared. 🙂

Basically, I *should* have all the best connections:

1. family name inside fairly prestigious medical center and it's med school
2. family on adcom for allopathic school
3. Congressional leaders know me
4. I handled the $$$ for the medical school and their teaching faculty
5. my current firm

I never asked any of them to pull strings to help me - at any point in my life - and find it almost repulsive to ask. *I* would rather get rejected all on my own records than get rejected AFTER asking someone to help.

Egg on my face, meh.

Egg on someone else's face? ugh ugh

Egg on their's and mine? 🤢

Not asking for "favors". My story of how I came to the med school decision heavily involves two major people from my dream school. So my question was more geared towards whether or not that will have an impact on my application/possible interview. I would never ask someone to pull strings for me, especially not in an effort to slide into something I don't deserve. Was thinking more along the lines of a LoR and wondering if having their names at the bottom would be worth anything.

Also, i'm confused. Are you saying you've gotten into medical school or no?

 

[workaholic181]

Hi all! I’m so glad I found this forum. So much useful information! A little background on me-

I have been working full time as an MA for about 8 years, while going to school part time for my undergrad degree. For a long time I had PA school as my ultimate goal, but with the help of the posts on this forum I decided to go (aka try) for the med school route. I will be about 31 when I’m ready to start applying. I’m getting married in 3 months and all our family is here (Philly). I have seen on here and heard from all the physicians I work with that many relocate for med school and/or residency, so my question is this:

Is it unreasonable to only apply to schools in my hometown of Philadelphia? Geographically speaking, I’m very lucky to live in such close proximity to several excellent schools, but I’ve seen on various threads that people apply to 20-30 schools and I’m only looking at about 7 (only MD programs). Is this normal? Do I need to have a heart to heart with myself about being willing to move? We have so much support here, and my (soon to be) husband loves his job and will be supporting us through the process.

I dont have many “stats” to give you to aid in your advice, but currently I have a 3.8 gpa, 8 years of healthcare experience, a wonderful mentor and an uncommon area of interest (addiction medicine), so I’m
hoping this puts me in the right track to being a candidate for the programs in my area. What say you, SDN?

I'm biased because I love my hometown (philly also) and staying here was a top priority for me. People apply to local programs only all the time.

On the one hand you have PCOM, Temple, Drexel, Penn, Cooper, Rowan, Jefferson, all within a 15 mile radius pretty much. I interviewed at a couple of these places and will be attending one, so I can say with confidence that being from and working in healthcare in this area is a big plus to their admissions offices. Came up several times during my interviews.

On the other hand these schools get saturated with apps because with the exception of Penn they're not long shots for most applicants and philadelphia is an attractive place to live. I think Drexel and Temple are both top 10 most applied to school in the country. PCOM gets a ton too. In totality, I dont think it is illogical to want to stay local with family and roots here, but if you do opt to do this, I'd mentally prepare yourself for the possibility of not getting in somewhere this year. I'd also apply to the other PA schools (PSU and geissinger, Pitt if you're so inclined) at the very least.

Good luck OP and congrats on getting here.

 

[Greekfire]

.. . FWIW, I absolutely think medicine is for me, but i'm not willing to destroy my family in the process. If everyone is not on board, then it's not meant to be. Thanks everyone!

Totally agree.

 

[lekarsz_90]

Drexel Apps: 1198, II 338, Matriculated 74 IS 28% get II and 21% Matriculated... OOS was 7.6% for II
Temple Apps: 1243, II 278, Matriculated 92 IS 22% get II and 33% Matriculated... OOS was 5.4% for II

Sorry my previous post was from memory and OOS

Drexel Medical School Admissions Requirements & Statistics

 

[Blanky]

That's all off MSAR, so take that for what you will.