Top-tier schools that look at "whole applicant"

[Blondnuttyboy]

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Hey all-

Are there any top-tier schools that are more concerned about overall app than others? I want to add a couple out of reaches..

 

[Meatwad]

I've heard Yale is somewhat "non-trad friendly," which I assume means they are more interested in the overall person, not strictly a 3.9/36.

Conversely, I can't say I've ever heard this about Harvard or JHU.

 

[mindquick]

I've heard Yale is somewhat "non-trad friendly," which I assume means they are more interested in the overall person, not strictly a 3.9/36.

Conversely, I can't say I've ever heard this about Harvard or JHU.

JHU says that they are "interested in the overall person" that's why they want you to take a bunch of humanities courses.

 

[Meatwad]

JHU says that they are "interested in the overall person" that's why they want you to take a bunch of humanities courses.

Yeah, of course they say that; doesn't mean they will over look some past sins on your app (low freshman GPA or something like that). OP didn't specify why he feels concerned about the whole picture thing.

 

[SigurRos]

university of chicago

 

[LEdaddy]

Cornell, or so I've heard anecdotally. Brown as well, though I don't know if they qualify as top tier or not.

 

[artaxerxes]

aren't all of them concerned with the whole applicant?
in addition to the 3.8/35 average?

 

[LEdaddy]

aren't all of them concerned with the whole applicant?
in addition to the 3.8/35 average?

I took the OP's question to mean which of the top tier schools won't reject everyone who doesn't have numbers below a 3.8/35.

 

[blargh]

stanfooooooooooord

 

[diosa428]

Duke.

 

[brainfry]

Mayo.... I am led to believe.... I hope....

 

[xcgirl]

Mayo.... I am led to believe.... I hope....

yeah seriously. there is no logical way I should have an interview at mayo with my stats.

vanderbilt too, if that qualifies as top tier?

 

[Bartelby]

WashU. They definitely seem unconcerned with numbers.

 

[pittnative]

Hey all-

Are there any top-tier schools that are more concerned about overall app than others? I want to add a couple out of reaches..

Columbia... It had to be my essay

 

[inaminute]

I've heard that Princeton University College of Medicine is interested in the "whole wad," so to speak.

 

[ADeadLois]

Hey all-

Are there any top-tier schools that are more concerned about overall app than others? I want to add a couple out of reaches..

Pretty much every medical school claims to look beyond the numbers. The bottom-line is that no matter how "progressive" a school claims to be, GPA and MCAT will always be the most important factors for admissions. There are many anecdotal cases of people getting interviews and acceptances at places where their numbers are far below the school's averages, often due to very strong peripheral components of the application. However, this doesn't seem to occur common enough at any particular school for their to be any significant trend, as people with better number always seem to have a statistically higher chance of an acceptance.

My advice would be to pick 2-3 "reaches" that you would like to attend, and hope for the best. There are many examples of people rolling the dice and being successful.

 

[Blondnuttyboy]

ok lets clarify - I'm a 3.5 overall with a BCPM of 3.45ish...mcat is 32S...my EC's are all unique...work with medically underserved in rural areas in four different countries, 3 yrs research, clinical blah, blah

I want to apply to some more schools other than the safety 328130982 app pool schools like GW and NYMC.

 

[Hephzibah]

I have heard that this is true of JHU. I actually read somewhere that they prefer non-science majors. My stats are very similar to yours as are my extracurriculars, plus I am a Philosophy major. I applied to JHU partly because of this impression that I had about their admissions. My Greek prof. also told me that Northwestern values having studied an ancient language.... I don't know if that helps at all. 🙂

 

[ADeadLois]

I have heard that this is true of JHU. I actually read somewhere that they prefer non-science majors. My stats are very similar to yours as are my extracurriculars, plus I am a Philosophy major. I applied to JHU partly because of this impression that I had about their admissions. My Greek prof. also told me that Northwestern values having studied an ancient language.... I don't know if that helps at all. 🙂

While I'm not saying these aren't true, keep in mind that these third party "somebody told me" items are typically anecdotal cases that someone along the telephone chain extrapolated a few cases into being true for the entire school.

 

[Hephzibah]

While I'm not saying these aren't true, keep in mind that these third party "somebody told me" items are typically anecdotal cases that someone along the telephone chain extrapolated a few cases into being true for the entire school.

Very true. However, my prof's brother in law is on a committee at the med school, so I took what she said to be fairly reliable.

 

[Meatwad]

I've heard that Princeton University College of Medicine is interested in the "whole wad," so to speak.

This is true; and boy, do I have a wad, baby.

 

[inaminute]

This is true; and boy, do I have a wad, baby.

I hope you expounded on that in your PS.

 

[Zippership]

Hey all-

Are there any top-tier schools that are more concerned about overall app than others? I want to add a couple out of reaches..

Oh, I think they're all concerned with the whole application, some just focus on some things over others. From my personal experience, I found Harvard, Penn, Yale, UCSF, and Cornell to focus a lot on interviews, recommendations, and extracurriculars more so than grades and numbers if that's what you mean by "overall app." I think everyone will have their own read on this one though. Apply where you think you'd be happy.