WedgeDawg's Applicant Rating System (Updated Jan 2017)

[WedgeDawg]

Curious. What would UC ( ucla undergrad ) fall under: lvl 1?

(UC is a state univ. )


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1 or 2. I generally advise ranking more conservatively and then modifying your list later if necessary.

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[iwillbeadoctor!94]

I had great success using your system!! Thank you!

 

[Deecee2DO]

I'm not sure about the research category. There are a fair amount of applicants and matriculants without research. Having no research experience can destroy your resulting application category at the end using this method despite being a strong applicant otherwise. According to the numbers I am a low-tier MD applicant (with research category not included) and then since I don't have research once I include the research category as a "1" I end up as a category E applicant who should only apply DO

 

[WedgeDawg]

I'm not sure about the research category. There are a fair amount of applicants and matriculants without research. Having no research experience can destroy your resulting application category at the end using this method despite being a strong applicant otherwise. According to the numbers I am a low-tier MD applicant (with research category not included) and then since I don't have research once I include the research category as a "1" I end up as a category E applicant who should only apply DO

Hmm, can you PM me your applicant profile in an WAMC style post (or link me to a WAMC thread if you've made one in the past)? Thanks!

 

[Shreman]

Additionally, small differences in LizzyM score become significant when using this metric to assess competitiveness for two similar schools. For example, Duke has a LizzyM score of 75, while Yale has a LizzyM score of 76;

Hey wedge, did you mean "insignificant" on the above line in the description? Not a major point, but may lead to some confusion

 

[aalamruad]

WARS was really helpful to me when creating a school list, so I figured I'd come back to report on how it worked out now that it seems there won't be many more II's sent out.

My WARS score is 80-82 A, probably closer to 80. After feedback from Wedgie himself, I cut down my Category 1 list to 5 schools and added a few more Category 4 schools.

Here were my II and rejection/silence results. Blue = II, Red = rejection/silence

Category 1
Columbia
UCSF
Harvard
Stanford
Duke

Category 2
UCLA
NYU
Emory
Pitt
UCSD
Cornell
Northwestern
Mt. Sinai

Category 3
USC-Keck
Einstein
Hofstra
Rochester
Dartmouth
UVA
Ohio State

Category 4
SLU
Stony Brook
SUNY Downstate
Wake Forest

Category 5 (State Schools)
UC Davis
UC Irvine

Category 6 (Low-Yield)
Tufts
NYMC

I'm not sure what to make of the love from Category 1 and 3 schools but no love from Category 2. My impression is that the Category 1 schools liked my PS and LOR's and heavily factored them in, the Category 3 schools liked my stats, but the Category 2 schools didn't particularly like my stats (LM ~74) and placed less emphasis on the importance of essays/LOR's. Just a guess, it's obviously a small sample size so I won't try to draw too many conclusions.

I think it was a good call to remove the Category 1 schools that I did, since they seem more concerned with stats than many of the Category 1's I applied to, and it was apparently a good idea to add more Category 4 schools too given that I received II's from 3/4 of them.

I only applied to Tufts as a throwaway school in order to get my primary verified while I was coming up with a school list and taking the MCAT, but I shouldn't have applied to NYMC, I don't think I realized it was low-yield at the time.

Overall, I think this is a fantastic tool and a great starting point for creating school lists. Of course it should always be supplemented by WAMC though, just in case. And given that it's impossible to factor essays/background/LORs/etc. into this system, applicants should feel comfortable skewing their list upwards if they know they're strong in those unquantifiable aspects and downwards if they feel that those areas are weak points in their application.

I still have 2 pieces of constructive criticism:

1) It's possible to go from a Level A --> Level C applicant (and vice versa) with a 1-point change in MCAT score.

That means someone with a 515 MCAT could have this result:
Category 1 - 30%
Category 2 - 30%
Category 3 - 25%
Category 4/5- 15%
Category 6/7 - Do Not Apply

whereas someone with a 514 MCAT would have this result:
Category 1 - 5%
Category 2 - 15%
Category 3 - 25%
Category 4/5- 55%
Category 6 - Consider Applying
Category 7 - Do Not Apply

Those lists would be drastically different, and they don't reflect the reality of a 1-point MCAT difference. A 1-point MCAT drop shouldn't decrease your number of Category 1 schools by 25% and increase your number of Category 4/5 schools by 40%. Such drastically different school lists wouldn't really be prepared for WAMC, which is best used for minor tweaks to solid school lists.

2) There are 2 instances in the stats section where a 3.71 is considered equivalent to a 4.0.

Both the MCAT problem and the GPA problem would be solved by introducing much smaller increments to the stats table, like having 12-15 separate MCAT ranges and ~10 separate GPA ranges instead of the current 7 of each.

Thanks for the great work @WedgeDawg

 

[Nintendraw]

Hooray, an update!

The list I was cobbling together without using WARS skews much more heavily towards Category 4+ schools than WARS suggests, so I'm rather confused since this is the only resource recommending I not apply to DO schools. Is it alright if I ask a quick WAMC here and see what other people/adcoms here think?

Spoiler: App Stats and Such

GPA: Currently 3.54 cum (hoping to kick that up into 3.6 before the senior year ends...)
MCAT: 515 (does score distribution count any? I have a near-perfect score in Psych.)
Research: 2+ yrs + poster (aiming for publication)
Clinical: 1+ yrs hospital volunteering (includes EMT training)
Shadowing: shadowed a DO daily from 9-6 for two months--assuming that's a 2
Volunteering: Calling it a 2 since I did do something non-clinical for at least two quarters, but...
Leadership/Teaching: Does UA'ing (TA's lieutenant--teaching fellow undergrads) count for 3? It will last 2 quarters.
Misc: mostly personal hobbies = 2
Undergrad/URM/Trend: UCLA, not URM, upward

My current school list is roughly 40-50% Categories 4-6 (not posting the current list because it's 50+ and I need to whittle it down farther), and I'll be adding 5-15 DO's on top of that. Due to GPA/MCAT mismatch, I've been recommended to apply very broadly even for a Californian (30-40 schools); and since my GPA isn't super competitive, I used 10th-90th as my first filtration criteria, hence the lower-skewing schools.

 

[WedgeDawg]

Hooray, an update!

The list I was cobbling together without using WARS skews much more heavily towards Category 4+ schools than WARS suggests, so I'm rather confused since this is the only resource recommending I not apply to DO schools. Is it alright if I ask a quick WAMC here and see what other people/adcoms here think?

Spoiler: App Stats and Such

GPA: Currently 3.54 cum (hoping to kick that up into 3.6 before the senior year ends...)
MCAT: 515 (does score distribution count any? I have a near-perfect score in Psych.)
Research: 2+ yrs + poster (aiming for publication)
Clinical: 1+ yrs hospital volunteering (includes EMT training)
Shadowing: shadowed a DO daily from 9-6 for two months--assuming that's a 2
Volunteering: Calling it a 2 since I did do something non-clinical for at least two quarters, but...
Leadership/Teaching: Does UA'ing (TA's lieutenant--teaching fellow undergrads) count for 3? It will last 2 quarters.
Misc: mostly personal hobbies = 2
Undergrad/URM/Trend: UCLA, not URM, upward

My current school list is roughly 40-50% Categories 4-6 (not posting the current list because it's 50+ and I need to whittle it down farther), and I'll be adding 5-15 DO's on top of that. Due to GPA/MCAT mismatch, I've been recommended to apply very broadly even for a Californian (30-40 schools); and since my GPA isn't super competitive, I used 10th-90th as my first filtration criteria, hence the lower-skewing schools.

I would post a real WAMC thread in WAMC not here but I do not think you need to apply to DO schools.

 

[esob]

What are the asterisks on the school names on the first page for? I tried searching the original thread and couldn't find any reference.

 

[aalamruad]

What are the asterisks on the school names on the first page for? I tried searching the original thread and couldn't find any reference.

They're schools with very heavy in-state bias

Edit: though it surprises me that UCLA is in that group, I heard it doesn't favor in-state applicants very much but I could be wrong about that

 

[Astra]

WARS was really helpful to me when creating a school list, so I figured I'd come back to report on how it worked out now that it seems there won't be many more II's sent out.

My WARS score is 80-82 A, probably closer to 80. After feedback from Wedgie himself, I cut down my Category 1 list to 5 schools and added a few more Category 4 schools.

Here were my II and rejection/silence results. Blue = II, Red = rejection/silence

Category 1
Columbia
UCSF
Harvard
Stanford
Duke

Category 2
UCLA
NYU
Emory
Pitt
UCSD
Cornell
Northwestern
Mt. Sinai

Category 3
USC-Keck
Einstein
Hofstra
Rochester
Dartmouth
UVA
Ohio State

Category 4
SLU
Stony Brook
SUNY Downstate
Wake Forest

Category 5 (State Schools)
UC Davis
UC Irvine

Category 6 (Low-Yield)
Tufts
NYMC

I'm not sure what to make of the love from Category 1 and 3 schools but no love from Category 2. My impression is that the Category 1 schools liked my PS and LOR's and heavily factored them in, the Category 3 schools liked my stats, but the Category 2 schools didn't particularly like my stats (LM ~74) and placed less emphasis on the importance of essays/LOR's. Just a guess, it's obviously a small sample size so I won't try to draw too many conclusions.

I think it was a good call to remove the Category 1 schools that I did, since they seem more concerned with stats than many of the Category 1's I applied to, and it was apparently a good idea to add more Category 4 schools too given that I received II's from 3/4 of them.

I only applied to Tufts as a throwaway school in order to get my primary verified while I was coming up with a school list and taking the MCAT, but I shouldn't have applied to NYMC, I don't think I realized it was low-yield at the time.

Overall, I think this is a fantastic tool and a great starting point for creating school lists. Of course it should always be supplemented by WAMC though, just in case. And given that it's impossible to factor essays/background/LORs/etc. into this system, applicants should feel comfortable skewing their list upwards if they know they're strong in those unquantifiable aspects and downwards if they feel that those areas are weak points in their application.

I still have 2 pieces of constructive criticism:

1) It's possible to go from a Level A --> Level C applicant (and vice versa) with a 1-point change in MCAT score.

That means someone with a 515 MCAT could have this result:
Category 1 - 30%
Category 2 - 30%
Category 3 - 25%
Category 4/5- 15%
Category 6/7 - Do Not Apply

whereas someone with a 514 MCAT would have this result:
Category 1 - 5%
Category 2 - 15%
Category 3 - 25%
Category 4/5- 55%
Category 6 - Consider Applying
Category 7 - Do Not Apply

Those lists would be drastically different, and they don't reflect the reality of a 1-point MCAT difference. A 1-point MCAT drop shouldn't decrease your number of Category 1 schools by 25% and increase your number of Category 4/5 schools by 40%. Such drastically different school lists wouldn't really be prepared for WAMC, which is best used for minor tweaks to solid school lists.

2) There are 2 instances in the stats section where a 3.71 is considered equivalent to a 4.0.

Both the MCAT problem and the GPA problem would be solved by introducing much smaller increments to the stats table, like having 12-15 separate MCAT ranges and ~10 separate GPA ranges instead of the current 7 of each.

Thanks for the great work @WedgeDawg

dang walloobi. I expected you to get so many more invites from top schools. Your PS was amazing and your stats are great! Hope u get into Columbia or UCSF!

 

[aalamruad]

dang walloobi. I expected you to get so many more invites from top schools. Your PS was amazing and your stats are great! Hope u get into Columbia or UCSF!

Thanks my friend, I really appreciate it! I think my MCAT was a tad low for some of the top schools, but I got into UCSF so I couldn't be any happier!

 

[lunasan]

What is considered adequate shadowing? I shadowed one geriatrician in the clinic and nursing home for 38 hrs and an internist during his rounds for 7 hours. Would 45 hrs with two physicians be enough, or do I need more?

 

[efle]

What is considered adequate shadowing? I shadowed one geriatrician in the clinic and nursing home for 38 hrs and an internist during his rounds for 7 hours. Would 45 hrs with two physicians be enough, or do I need more?

I would say 1) depends how much other exposure to clinics/hospitals you have and 2) you'd benefit a lot from another couple days of shadowing, either more IM/primary care or another specialty

 

[coffeeandcodeine]

I used this system when constructing my school list and it was incredibly helpful. It encouraged me to apply for many more reach schools than I otherwise would have, for which I am so grateful, because most of my interviews came from these schools. If you feel like a borderline candidate for top schools, I would encourage you to apply and see what happens! My WARS score was about 89, give or take a few points. This is my school list, broken down by Wedge's categories. I've coded green for acceptances, blue for IIs, and red for rejections. Thanks to Wedgedawg for creating this awesome system!

Category 1 (TOP):
Harvard
Hopkins
UCSF
Yale
Chicago
Stanford
Columbia
WashU
Penn

Category 2 (HIGH):
Michigan
UCLA
NYU
Cornell
Vanderbilt
Pitt
UCSD
Northwestern
Emory

Category 3 (MID):
USC-Keck
Rochester
Einstein
Hofstra

Category 4 (LOW):
Wake Forest

Category 5 (STATE):
UCI
UCD

Category 6 (LOW YIELD):
Rush
Georgetown
Jefferson

Category 7 (DO): DO Schools
Didn't Apply

What I took away from this whole experience is that there truly are no safety schools in the med school admissions process. Schools that I thought I'd have a really solid chance at rejected me, and schools I thought I had zero chance at accepted me.

 

[SSDGM]

I get two different scores based on whether I compute the equation by hand or use the link at the top of page one of this discussion (the equation in the link appears to start at -40, which would explain the different score). Link here: {{view.title || 'JSCalc.io'}}

My question is...which score is correct? I'm in very different categories (level S vs. level C) based on each score and want to make sure I'm looking at my school list through the correct lens.

 

[TheGreatAli]

Hi!!

The sheet is locked, how do I unlock it? Or is the online calculator I'm supposed to use?

 

[WedgeDawg]

Hi!!

The sheet is locked, how do I unlock it? Or is the online calculator I'm supposed to use?

There are only certain areas you should be able to edit (change sheets at the bottom of the document to the calculator tab)

 

[Dr. Bernard]

There are only certain areas you should be able to edit (change sheets at the bottom of the document to the calculator tab)

Hi WedgeDawg,

Now that MSAR has updated its school data, I was wondering if the information and the schools I should apply to have remained the same?

Also, I was wondering why the list doesn't include all the medical schools in the US?

 

[WedgeDawg]

Hi WedgeDawg,

Now that MSAR has updated its school data, I was wondering if the information and the schools I should apply to have remained the same?

Also, I was wondering why the list doesn't include all the medical schools in the US?

The first question is yes it's updated enough that it's usable.

The second question is because I wasn't going to list every state school ever because no one from the continental US is applying to university of Hawaii

 

[tekkenman11]

Has this been updated for the new MCAT percentiles and the new GPA/MCAT Matriculants grid?

 

[WedgeDawg]

Has this been updated for the new MCAT percentiles and the new GPA/MCAT Matriculants grid?

It's updated as of anything available in Jan 2017

 

[tekkenman11]

It's updated as of anything available in Jan 2017

Does this take into account new information provided by the latest MSAR that was released recently or does that have no bearing on these factors?

I guess those are definitely too school specific right?

P.S I believe they updated the MCAT percentiles this past May 1st.

 

[WedgeDawg]

Does this take into account new information provided by the latest MSAR that was released recently or does that have no bearing on these factors?

I guess those are definitely too school specific right?

P.S I believe they updated the MCAT percentiles this past May 1st.

The tiers are in concordance with the newest MSAR

 

[Redpancreas]

Has this been tested in the current crop of applicants, did it predict which schools would issue invitations for interview?
I think that the undergrad school list could be rearranged with about 15-20 schools in each of the top levels.

I tested this (n=1, App Cycle 2013-2014) and for Category 4 schools (where most my percentage was at according to WedgeDog's Table) were 6/7 interviews I received...what kind of sorcery is this @WedgeDawg?

 

[LizzyM]

I tested this (n=1, App Cycle 2013-2014) and for Category 4 schools (where most my percentage was at according to WedgeDog's Table) were 6/7 interviews I received...what kind of sorcery is this @WedgeDawg?

 

[DameJulie]

Bookmarked. Thank you for this useful information!

 

[Mrd7889]

For 'Miscellaneous', would being a refugee (at a young age) count as a significant life experience? Like a level 2 maybe

 

[tantacles]

For 'Miscellaneous', would being a refugee (at a young age) count as a significant life experience? Like a level 2 maybe

It might, but I'm reasonably certain that what he means as significant life experience is something active that you did, not something passive that you are.

 

[WedgeDawg]

For 'Miscellaneous', would being a refugee (at a young age) count as a significant life experience? Like a level 2 maybe

I wouldn't change how you construct your school list based solely on that fact. When in doubt, rate yourself conservatively.

 

[Dr. Bernard]

I wouldn't change how you construct your school list based solely on that fact. When in doubt, rate yourself conservatively.

Thanky you for answering!! A few more quick questions:

I initially wrote the first MCAT back during the summer of 2014, and got a 27. Then I wrote the new MCAT summer of 2016 and I received a 517 (~35). Will my 27 from three years ago hurt my application? My GPA is also a 3.975 --> Do I need to average my MCAT scores for the section 1 of your calculator? I.e. would I really be considered only a 5 instead of an 8?

Additonally, I am a Canadian student, so I was wondering if I'd be considered international at students that accept Canadians? Or would I be considered out of state (for schools accepting Canadians).

 

[tekkenman11]

Last quick question.

Starting next month I will be working full-time as a scribe, in your calculator would this still count in your "shadowing" category? I will be putting it down on my apps and subsequently updating schools on how it's going later in the cycle if need be (as long as the school accepts them). I also was a medical screener for a year as an undergraduate student where every Saturday we would perform basic screenings and observe a different (or sometimes the same) physician. Oh and I followed a pediatrician around on a medical brigade for over a week (40+ hours), but does that even count as shadowing? I speak Spanish so I understood all of his conversations.

I am asking because a 1 puts me at a 59 while a 2 puts me at a 70 (large disparity)

Edit: Also why is Einstein considered a mid-level school? According to the MSAR the median MCAT is 516 and median GPA is 3.83

 

[WedgeDawg]

Thanky you for answering!! A few more quick questions:

I initially wrote the first MCAT back during the summer of 2014, and got a 27. Then I wrote the new MCAT summer of 2016 and I received a 517 (~35). Will my 27 from three years ago hurt my application? My GPA is also a 3.975 --> Do I need to average my MCAT scores for the section 1 of your calculator? I.e. would I really be considered only a 5 instead of an 8?

Additonally, I am a Canadian student, so I was wondering if I'd be considered international at students that accept Canadians? Or would I be considered out of state (for schools accepting Canadians).

The algorithm is less accurate the more complex your application is. This is why we have a WAMC section. How your mcat scores will be viewed depends on the school and can't really be generalized. This would be a good question to ask in a WAMC thread

Also yes you would still be considered international as far as I know

 

[WedgeDawg]

Last quick question.

Starting next month I will be working full-time as a scribe, in your calculator would this still count in your "shadowing" category? I will be putting it down on my apps and subsequently updating schools on how it's going later in the cycle if need be (as long as the school accepts them). I also was a medical screener for a year as an undergraduate student where every Saturday we would perform basic screenings and observe a different (or sometimes the same) physician. Oh and I followed a pediatrician around on a medical brigade for over a week (40+ hours), but does that even count as shadowing? I speak Spanish so I understood all of his conversations.

I am asking because a 1 puts me at a 59 while a 2 puts me at a 70 (large disparity)

Edit: Also why is Einstein considered a mid-level school? According to the MSAR the median MCAT is 516 and median GPA is 3.83

It's probably fine for shadowing.

Level of competitiveness is not solely dependent upon stats.

 

[spartandawg21]

What score do I need to be a competitive Caribbean applicant?

 

[tantacles]

What score do I need to be a competitive Caribbean applicant?

That may be a spreadsheet you need to put together yourself. This one focuses on us md schools.


Large dogs

 

[Grundleplith_MD]

oderately-to-highly significant life experiences or achievements. This includes other terminal graduate degrees such as PhDs or JDs, military or Peace Corp service, as well as intense involvement with a unique or meaningful

What score would an NCAA athlete receive for Misc?

 

[TrilliamClinton]

would you say Michigan is a class 1 or 2 undergrad?

 

[Dox4lyfe]

I'm confused about the teaching/leadership part. Would being the president of two (medium sized) clubs count as level 2 or 3?

Also, would a moderate level of commitment to a club sport count as level 2 misc? Or nah

Lastly, is a ucla/uva type school a level 1 or 2? (Please say 1 Haha)

 

[dcmorgan96]

I'm confused about low yield. I used MSAR OOS #s to calculate II/App rates for a good amount of schools on the spreadsheet and "low yield" schools had very similar numbers to schools in the other tiers. There are more applicants, but there are more interview spots. I also calculated II/matriculant #s and they weren't discernibly different either, meaning you don't have less of a shot at matriculating after getting an interview.

So... for the low yield list, are we just assuming that it's worse because the sheer volume of apps means they can't pay close attention to each one? Maybe a school with less apps reads through each a bit more carefully, but they will be selecting for fewer spots. I don't see how that could be quantifiable.

 

[astrostellar]

What score do I need to be a competitive Caribbean applicant?

honestly? a checkbook or debit card

 

[tantacles]

I'm confused about the teaching/leadership part. Would being the president of two (medium sized) clubs count as level 2 or 3?

Also, would a moderate level of commitment to a club sport count as level 2 misc? Or nah

Lastly, is a ucla/uva type school a level 1 or 2? (Please say 1 Haha)

I would suggest you underestimate rather than overestimate.


Large dogs

 

[Govols22]

I've been tweaking with this and I've come across a very odd scenario.

Let's say the numbers go like this...

Stats: 6
Research: 2
Clinical: 2
Volunteering: 2
Leadership: 1
Miscellaneous: 2
Undergrad: 1
URM: 1
Upward Trend: 1

= 59

A 33 MCAT and 4.0 GPA with clinical experience and sufficient but not great volunteering experience would be under the "only apply to DO" category.

 

[WedgeDawg]

I've been tweaking with this and I've come across a very odd scenario.

Let's say the numbers go like this...

Stats: 6
Research: 2
Clinical: 2
Volunteering: 2
Leadership: 1
Miscellaneous: 2
Undergrad: 1
URM: 1
Upward Trend: 1

= 59

A 33 MCAT and 4.0 GPA with clinical experience and sufficient but not great volunteering experience would be under the "only apply to DO" category.

Shadowing?

 

[DBC03]

Would you say always err on the side of conservatism when rating our experiences? I have 150 hours of clinical volunteering over one year - so not generally below a year, but not generally above a year - exactly one year - moderate, right? It was very hands-on, but I moved after a year and had to quit. I'm unsure on volunteering. I have volunteered with some organizations for three years or more, but had to quit when the recession hit. I think I have over 500 hours total, but not necessarily all with one place (nontrad). I'm also stuck on the leadership/teaching. I tutored for three years and was a project manager at work (11 years as an engineer). I also own and have run my own photography business for the past 8 years. I still feel like that's moderate? I guess I have NO idea how medical schools are going to view my application... I'm a 79 if I go at it very conservatively. I go up to an 81 if I rate myself higher in any one of those categories, but I feel like I'm really just moderate in all of them.

 

[raiderette]

I'm confused about low yield. I used MSAR OOS #s to calculate II/App rates for a good amount of schools on the spreadsheet and "low yield" schools had very similar numbers to schools in the other tiers. There are more applicants, but there are more interview spots. I also calculated II/matriculant #s and they weren't discernibly different either, meaning you don't have less of a shot at matriculating after getting an interview.

So... for the low yield list, are we just assuming that it's worse because the sheer volume of apps means they can't pay close attention to each one? Maybe a school with less apps reads through each a bit more carefully, but they will be selecting for fewer spots. I don't see how that could be quantifiable.

There are not significantly more interview spots. Imagine that you are a high stats applicant with limited funds. I would ignore most schools with low yields in order to focus on schools that are a better fit. If I am more of an average or marginal applicant, it may be worth it to roll the dice on a few.

 

[Govols22]

Shadowing?

Sorry, forgot to add it to my post, but it was included and still amounted to 59.

 

[dcmorgan96]

There are not significantly more interview spots. Imagine that you are a high stats applicant with limited funds. I would ignore most schools with low yields in order to focus on schools that are a better fit. If I am more of an average or marginal applicant, it may be worth it to roll the dice on a few.

I mean I'm just letting you know that I did the math when figuring out where to apply. The percentage of interviews to applicants is not appreciably different between most "low yield" and "tier 4" schools. I agree that you'll find the the lowest % schools are in the low yield category like Loyola and Rush. However the majority were around 7% which is par for the course. The tier 4 schools MCW and Oakland actually had two of the lowest percentages.

 

[akb5633]

Wondering about shadowing, as the difference between a 1 and 2 for me changes me from B (77) to S (88).

1. I have 1000's of hours working in the OR with surgeons and anesthesiologists (and will be continuing this job during my gap year) - However, I did not list this as formal shadowing on my primary app (rather as paid clinical work)

2. I have contacted several physicians (internal medicine) to begin shadowing. Now just dealing with the paperwork process (uncertain how long this will take).

Would you recommend just meeting in the middle and applying like an A applicant?

So far I have applied to 23 schools, with the breakdown as follows:

Category 1: 26%
Category 2: 26%
Category 3: 22%
Categories 4-6: 26% (I counted OOS-friendly schools as my state schools, as PA does not have state schools)

I'm willing to apply to up to 30 schools, so let me know if I should beef up any of these categories.

Also, I applied to two low-yield schools (PSU and Jefferson) - do you know if being a PA resident will help me at all for these, even though they are not state schools?

 

[Dox4lyfe]

Wondering about shadowing, as the difference between a 1 and 2 for me changes me from B (77) to S (88).

1. I have 1000's of hours working in the OR with surgeons and anesthesiologists (and will be continuing this job during my gap year) - However, I did not list this as formal shadowing on my primary app (rather as paid clinical work)

2. I have contacted several physicians (internal medicine) to begin shadowing. Now just dealing with the paperwork process (uncertain how long this will take).

Would you recommend just meeting in the middle and applying like an A applicant?

So far I have applied to 23 schools, with the breakdown as follows:

Category 1: 26%
Category 2: 26%
Category 3: 22%
Categories 4-6: 26% (I counted OOS-friendly schools as my state schools, as PA does not have state schools)

I'm willing to apply to up to 30 schools, so let me know if I should beef up any of these categories.

Also, I applied to two low-yield schools (PSU and Jefferson) - do you know if being a PA resident will help me at all for these, even though they are not state schools?

I would definitely apply to a few more C2 schools.

Also, out of curiosity, what kind of work did you do in the OR?