What are my chances??

[exeunt]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I'm currently a junior (Asian female) at a top15 private undergrad preparing to apply this summer. I'm majoring in biology with a 3.95 cumulative and a 36R.

-CA resident
-several honor/leadership societies, treasurer for Golden Key
-Red Cross exec board, multiple chair positions & treasurer
-shadowed 2 doctors, volunteered at a hospital for a semester
-spend 2 winters in a rural area in China volunteering in the ER
-work for academic advising as a tutor (biochem, physics, orgo, Chinese) and also as a TA
-volunteer tutor for underprivileged/struggling elementary school students (done this since freshman year of high school)
-research w/a pretty famous medical professor since freshman year, possible publication, but research isn't really my angle
-career center advisory board member
-member of a business fraternity, inter-chapter liaison
-pretty good LORs, probably not stellar

I'm actually graduating a year early (this May), not entirely sure what I'm going to do yet, but it looks like next year I'll be interning for a charity in Hong Kong that deals with constructing schools in rural China/fundraising for disadvantaged & immigrant children in HK. Or, I could just stay at home and look for a research job..

How many schools should I apply to, and which ones should I view as my reaches/matches/safeties? Any input is appreciated!

 

[MilkmanAl]

As pretty much everyone will tell you, there aren't such things as safeties in the world of med school application. You have an exceptionally strong application, so any school is a reasonable choice for you. I'd apply to around 15 schools, including all of your state schools, maybe a couple of the more popular, less selective private schools and OOS-friendly schools (Creighton, Temple, Jefferson, GW, Georgetown, Ohio State, maybe Texas schools, etc.), and 5-6 "reach" schools like Yale, Harvard, Wash U, Penn, and the like. You're going to be very competitive everywhere you apply, so go nuts. As long as you don't apply solely to the most selective schools around, you should be fine.

 

[exeunt]

thanks for the input, i really appreciate it🙂 is there anything i should work on/pay attention to before the summer? any idea what my chances at the UCs or someplace like stanford/columbia would be?

 

[MilkmanAl]

Your chances at the UC's are probably quite good. Your chances at Stanford will be notably less since the school focuses very heavily on research and is one of the most selective schools in the country. Chances at Columbia would probably be about as good as possible. Keep in mind that these top schools see hundreds of applicants with credentials just as amazing as yours, so it's really a big crapshoot as to whether or not you'll get looked at. Make sure to dominate the interview if you get one.

The only possible weakness I see is clinical experience, depending on what your "winters" in China entailed in terms of hours worked. If you wanted, you could pick up another clinical volunteering gig just to make sure you're in the clear. If you don't have time or just plain don't want to, you should be fine without it.