*UNOFFICIAL LIST* Schools with a Reasonable Chance of Acceptance for Worried Students

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JohnHolmes

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OK,

Here is my list so far. I am going to "tier" these into three categories:

MUST APPLY

SHOULD APPLY

STRONGLY CONSIDER

for those in the 2005 application cycle who are worried about the entire process ... you know what I mean.

I am doing this to try to help out as many people as I can, since I got great advice from this place as I went through the process. Please feel free to make suggestions to this list, and give me some advice on which school should go into which category (ie, Im already gonna put Finch into MUST APPLY)

1. UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School (avg GPA 3.47; MCAT 9.9; some preference to NJ residents)

2. George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences; Washington, DC (avg GPA 3.52; MCAT 9.6; small preference to DC residents)

3. Georgetown University School of Medicine; Washington, DC (GPA 3.63; MCAT 10.2; small preference to DC residents)

4. *Howard University College of Medicine*; Washington DC (please note, that Howard has a specific mission in mind, so I put an asterick by this one, think whether this mission matches your profile before applying) (GPA unknown; MCAT 7.9; preference to underserved populations)

5. University of Miami School of Medicine; Miami, FL (GPA 3.66; MCAT 9.3; preference to FL residents)

6. Finch University of Health Sciences/Chicago Medical School; North Chicago, IL (GPA 3.43; MCAT unlisted; no noticeable preference to IL residents)

7. Loyola University Chicago Stitch School of Medicine; Maywood, IL (GPA 3.61; MCAT unlisted; some preference to IL residents)

8. University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine (UIC); Chicago, IL (unlisted, but assume it is < 3.5 GPA; preference to IL residents)

9. *Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences F Edward Hebert School of Medicine; Bethesda, MD (3.43 GPA; MCAT 9.5)

10. Boston University School of Medicine; Boston, MA (GPA 3.50; MCAT 9.6; no preference give)

11. Wayne State University School of Medicine; Detroit, MI (GPA 3.55; MCAT 9.4; preference to MI residents)

12. University of Minnesota Medical School--Minneapolis, MN (They interview 1/3 of out of state applicants, which is good; GPA 3.67; MCAT 30.5; in state preference)

13. Saint Louis University School of Medicine; St Louis, MO (GPA 3.60; MCAT 30; Jesuit sponsored; no noticeable preference for in state applicants)

14. Albany Medical College; Albany, NY (GPA 3.4; MCAT unlisted [29 or less, I?d guess]; no true preference to NY residents)

15. New York Medical College; Valhalla, NY (GPA 3.5; MCAT 30; no preference for NY residents)

16. Medical College of Ohio; Toledo, OH (GPA 3.50; MCAT 9.7; preference to OH residents)

17. University of Cincinnati College of Medicine; Cincinnati, OH (GPA 3.61; MCAT 10.0; slight preference to residents of OH)

18. Drexel University College of Medicine (MCP); Philadelphia, PA (GPA 3.44; MCAT > 75 percentile [whatever that supposedly is ~29]; slight preference to PA residents)

19. Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University; Philadelphia, PA (GPA 3.50; MCAT 10.2; preference to LEGACIES and PA residents)

20. Temple University School of Medicine; Philadelphia, PA (GPA 3.48; MCAT 29 composite; preference to PA residents)

21. Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine; Hershey, PA (GPA 3.62; MCAT 10.0; some preference to PA residents)

22. *Meharry Medical College School of Medicine*; Nashville, TN (once again, read the remarks for Howard, as it applies to Meharry too) (GPA unlisted (<3.3) MCAT 8.0; prefence to residents of TN and TN river valley region (GA too))

23. University of Vermont College of Medicine; Burlington, VT (GPA 3.50; MCAT 9.5; some preference to VT residents)

24. Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine; Richmond, VA (my home) [Known as MCV] (3.49 avg GPA; 9.6 avg MCAT per section; some preference to VA residents)

25. Medical College of Wisconsin; Milwaukee, WI (GPA 3.70; MCAT 9.9; some/moderate preference to WI residents)

26. Creighton University School of Medicine; Omaha, NE (3.62 avg GPA; MCAT unlisted; no real preference for NE residents)

27. Michigan State University College of Human Medicine; East Lansing, MI (unlisted; preference to MI resients)

Feel free to make suggestions of things to add or strike from this list. This is a work in progress.

CCW

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Before anyone points out the obvious:

Everyone should apply to ALL their state schools, both MD and DO. If you don't want to apply to DO schools or don't buy into the philosophy, then you can drop that, where you apply is totally up to you. I just wanted to make it clear.

Also, this is not a SAFETY LIST. These are not safe schools. If you are looking for safety schools, I didn't gear this list towards you, and while you may find it helpful, this list isn't intended for this group.

CCW
 
Coops - This is an admirable effort and I feel compelled to add info that I have. I'll put my info in dark blue.

Originally posted by Cooper_Wriston
OK,

Here is my list so far. I am going to "tier" these into three categories:

MUST APPLY

SHOULD APPLY

STRONGLY CONSIDER

for those in the 2005 application cycle who are worried about the entire process ... you know what I mean.

I am doing this to try to help out as many people as I can, since I got great advice from this place as I went through the process. Please feel free to make suggestions to this list, and give me some advice on which school should go into which category (ie, Im already gonna put Finch into MUST APPLY)

1. UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School (avg GPA 3.47; MCAT 9.9; some preference to NJ residents)

2. George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences; Washington, DC (avg GPA 3.52; MCAT 9.6; small preference to DC residents)

3. Georgetown University School of Medicine; Washington, DC (GPA 3.63; MCAT 10.2; small preference to DC residents)

4. *Howard University College of Medicine*; Washington DC (please note, that Howard has a specific mission in mind, so I put an asterick by this one, think whether this mission matches your profile before applying) (GPA unknown; MCAT 7.9; preference to underserved populations)

5. University of Miami School of Medicine; Miami, FL (GPA 3.66; MCAT 9.3; preference to FL residents)

6. Finch University of Health Sciences/Chicago Medical School; North Chicago, IL (GPA 3.43; MCAT unlisted; no noticeable preference to IL residents)

7. Loyola University Chicago Stitch School of Medicine; Maywood, IL (GPA 3.61; MCAT 29.3; some preference to IL residents)

8. University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine (UIC); Chicago, IL (GPA 3.48, MCAT 28.7; preference to IL residents)

9. *Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences F Edward Hebert School of Medicine; Bethesda, MD (3.43 GPA; MCAT 9.5)

10. Boston University School of Medicine; Boston, MA (GPA 3.50; MCAT 9.6; no preference give)

11. Wayne State University School of Medicine; Detroit, MI (GPA 3.55; MCAT 9.4; preference to MI residents)

12. University of Minnesota Medical School--Minneapolis, MN (They interview 1/3 of out of state applicants, which is good; GPA 3.67; MCAT 30.5; in state preference)

13. Saint Louis University School of Medicine; St Louis, MO (GPA 3.60; MCAT 30; Jesuit sponsored; no noticeable preference for in state applicants)

14. Albany Medical College; Albany, NY (GPA 3.4; MCAT unlisted [29 or less, I?d guess]; no true preference to NY residents)

15. New York Medical College; Valhalla, NY (GPA 3.5; MCAT 30; no preference for NY residents)

16. Medical College of Ohio; Toledo, OH (GPA 3.50; MCAT 9.7; preference to OH residents)

17. University of Cincinnati College of Medicine; Cincinnati, OH (GPA 3.61; MCAT 10.0; slight preference to residents of OH)

18. Drexel University College of Medicine (MCP); Philadelphia, PA (GPA 3.44; MCAT > 75 percentile [whatever that supposedly is ~29]; slight preference to PA residents)

19. Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University; Philadelphia, PA (GPA 3.50; MCAT 10.2; preference to LEGACIES and PA residents)

20. Temple University School of Medicine; Philadelphia, PA (GPA 3.48; MCAT 29 composite; preference to PA residents)

21. Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine; Hershey, PA (GPA 3.62; MCAT 10.0; some preference to PA residents)

22. *Meharry Medical College School of Medicine*; Nashville, TN (once again, read the remarks for Howard, as it applies to Meharry too) (GPA unlisted (<3.3) MCAT 8.0; prefence to residents of TN and TN river valley region (GA too))

23. University of Vermont College of Medicine; Burlington, VT (GPA 3.50; MCAT 9.5; some preference to VT residents)

24. Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine; Richmond, VA (my home) [Known as MCV] (3.49 avg GPA; 9.6 avg MCAT per section; some preference to VA residents)

25. Medical College of Wisconsin; Milwaukee, WI (GPA 3.70; MCAT 9.9; some/moderate preference to WI residents)

26. Creighton University School of Medicine; Omaha, NE (3.62 avg GPA; MCAT unlisted; no real preference for NE residents)

27. Michigan State University College of Human Medicine; East Lansing, MI (unlisted; preference to MI resients)


28. Rush Medical College; Chicago, IL (GPA unlisted, MCAT 28.1; preference to IL residents)


Feel free to make suggestions of things to add or strike from this list. This is a work in progress.

CCW
 
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My only objection is Boston University. Most of the spots in their entering class are reserved for their BS/MD program and etc... Therefore, they end up getting around 10,000 applications for very few available slots. AND, they charge $100 for their secondary!:mad:
 
Originally posted by MD08
My only objection is Boston University. Most of the spots in their entering class are reserved for their BS/MD program and etc... Therefore, they end up getting around 10,000 applications for very few available slots. AND, they charge $100 for their secondary!:mad:

LaurieB, thanks for the help.

Anyone wanna help me start tiering these schools into which has the BEST shot (Finch would be top tier, for example).

I am strongly considering taking BU off, as MD08 said ... at best they will go into the bottom tier.

CCW
 
i think it would be impossible to tier these schools.

i have a gpa lower than all of these schools and i have either gotten a rejection or still waiting to get a rejection without an interview at the schools listed above.

i know that its just me, but a lot of these schools are seen as safety/backup type schools by students who are worried about gaining acceptances and for that reason alone the people that apply to these schools are many.

bu with 10k, gw with 9k, etc...

thats thousands and thousands of applicants...many of which are relatively similar...at times i think its harder to get accepted to these schools than it is to some other higher ranked schools.

the only thing you can really count on most of the schools listed above is prolly waitlist movement.
 
Vermont only has a few seats and if you look at their actual acceptance rates. If you're from Vermont, you have a really, really good chance to get in there. And they also give another ten seats to Maine residents. So, they don't have that many seats available.

People should still apply to BU. You never know. It's tough to get in there. They have more applicants than any other school. But many, many seats go to link programs. Also it's a 100 bucks. I also think that you have to have better numbers than listed for their average. I believe their average is lower because of the links they have. If you guys remember the debate from a couple of months ago, BU has a minority recruitment program with like ten historically black schools. Their average MCAT was an 18.18
http://www.bumc.bu.edu/www/busm/oma/pdf/article_one.pdf

So, to off set those numbers, it seems to suggest that if you are not a part of these programs, you'd need to be in the 30's because their average is close to 30. So, don't be misled by their lower numbers. A few 18's in a class of 150 will need to be off set with some high numbers. So, if you have an MCAT of 28 and you have a GPA of 3.4, don't apply.
 
Originally posted by jlee9531
i think it would be impossible to tier these schools.

i have a gpa lower than all of these schools and i have either gotten a rejection or still waiting to get a rejection without an interview at the schools listed above.

i know that its just me, but a lot of these schools are seen as safety/backup type schools by students who are worried about gaining acceptances and for that reason alone the people that apply to these schools are many.

bu with 10k, gw with 9k, etc...

thats thousands and thousands of applicants...many of which are relatively similar...at times i think its harder to get accepted to these schools than it is to some other higher ranked schools.

the only thing you can really count on most of the schools listed above is prolly waitlist movement.

so you're saying theres no such thing as a safety school, 'sides your non-caly in state school.
 
U of Miami has a relatively high min. G.P.A. cutoff for out of state residents (3.6). That might be useful to know for some applicants.
 
Originally posted by jlee9531
i think it would be impossible to tier these schools.

Impossible? Yes. Will that stop me? No.

LOL. I'm going to try my best to do this and present a theoretical tier grouping tonight. I will take things into account such as acceptance percentage, avg scores, whether it gives preference to state residents, number of applicants, etc. Keep in mind, there is NO methodology to what I am attempting to do, and it is EXTREMELY arbitrary. It will just be one man's attempt at making order out of this chaos that we call the "medical crapshoot"

:laugh:

CCW
 
BU should definetely taken of that list. They have 90 people competing for every spot. Considering that 1/3 of the class is from linkage or combined programs there are not that many seats and a lot of people competing for them.
Albany only has about 90 spots open for normal applicants, the rest is for linkage programs. So the competition is tight there too.
Vermont is almost impossible to get in if you are out of state (unless you are from Maine in which case it's much easier). So that should not be on the list either.
 
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I am gonna take BU off and leave UVM on, but Im gonna tier UVM lower.

The maine access program is only for 10 students, so that isnt that huge of a deal.

Any other comments on Albany. I'm gonna leave it, but I am not sure where to put it. People were telling me to ADD it earlier.

Thanks for the input guys

CCW
 
I would also add EVMS to the list. They take mostly in state, but if you're from VA its the easiest one. They take a decent number of out of staters, and their averages are pretty low. (3.5 29 i think)
 
I would add some Texas schools, especially Texas Tech, UTMB and UTHSCSA. Of course they have a preference for Texans, but of the out-of-staters who apply a decent number get in, and their averages are pretty low. These are also CHEAP schools, even for non-Texans (and after a year you can easily get Texas residency.)
 
Originally posted by johnnyMD
so you're saying theres no such thing as a safety school, 'sides your non-caly in state school.

yup.
 
uvm is especially tough to get into if you dont really have any connections to the state or the east coast. they strongly emphasize the question...why vermont? and if you dont have a good answer for them...then you are most likely going to say hello to the rejection or waitlist pile.

uvm likes to accept students from california. esp ucla.

some extra info i think you would enjoy.
10 spots for maine people yes.
instate preference but hardly any people from instate apply since there arent that many premeds in the state of vermont. a significant number of their entering class is out of state and esp, like i said before californians.

uc burlington someone called it jokingly over there.
 
If only EVMS or MCV (VCU) could be on this, what would you recommend?

CCW

ALSO ... how do you guys feel ab out adding TX schools as suggested, I avoided them due to the small number of out of staters present in them and the separate application procedure for TX residents... if so, which schools?
 
I'm not sure about GW - they have the numbers to be on the list, but they get something like 10,000 applications! Thay also have a BS/MD and an early entry program so some of the spots are gone. I think that it is VERY hard to distinguish yourself no matter how wonderful you are when there are that may applicants, many of them also very good...
 
I don't agree with George Washington or Georgetown. Its all luck . . .there really isn't much strategy for applying (except maybe tarot cards and an ouiji board).
 
bump it up!
 
...isn't this why there is a such thing as the MSAR?

I see the logic behind trying to tier school as you are. However, let me voice a note of caution. I know that you have already said that your ranking is arbitrary and lacks methodology; that's good, but a lot of people won't bother reading that (or my post for that matter).

Having said that, there is something to be said for researching school options on your own. There are only 126 allopathic medical schools in the US. I took a copy of the MSAR to a coffee shop and I spent several evenings just going through the listings, reading about schools and curricula, application/accepted demographics and numbers, etc. To me, this was part of the fun I guess.

In some ways, I'm glad I didn't even know about SDN until after the application process and all of my interviews were over because I knew that I hadn't been swayed by disinformation or what other people said. I guess all I'm really getting at is, there is definitely something to be said for doing your own leg work.
 
Great list! :clap: :clap: :clap:

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