What are the less competitive Med schools?

[daisy2]

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Just looking to see if any schools out there are more flexible than others

Thanks

 

[SN2ed]

Thread moved. This topic is better suited for the Pre-Allo forum.

 

[Kaputt]

All US MD and DO schools are competitive. Granted, some are harder than others, but none are considerably less competitive than any others.

But typically the best shot you have is at your state school.

 

[Swiss Medical]

All US MD and DO schools are competitive. Granted, some are harder than others, but none are considerably less competitive than any others.

But typically the best shot you have is at your state school.

This has become increasingly apparent as I stay on this website and talk to some my the ms 2s and 3s. Another thing I have noticed is a lot of schools are after different groups of applicants. More specifically, there is the hbc-tier, upper-tier, which involes research and a STRONG SCIENCE background. Others are mid-tier like Penn Sate, Rosalind Franklin, VCU, Georgetown that look at applicants based on the traditional admission criteria. I would check out the websites of these respective schools to learn more.

Even DO schools are becoming competitive. TCOM in Ft Worth has a median of >3.5 28 mcat for accepted students.....

Take a look.

http://www.hsc.unt.edu/education/tcom/admissions/enteringclassstats.cfm

 

[NickNaylor]

The ones you haven't heard of.

 

[DJtiesto]

This has become increasingly apparent as I stay on this website and talk to some my the ms 2s and 3s. Another thing I have noticed is a lot of schools are after different groups of applicants. More specifically, there is the hbc-tier, upper-tier, which involes research and a STRONG SCIENCE background. Others are mid-tier like Penn Sate, Rosalind Franklin, VCU, Georgetown that look at applicants based on the traditional admission criteria. I would check out the websites of these respective schools to learn more.

Even DO schools are becoming competitive. TCOM in Ft Worth has a median of >3.5 28 mcat for accepted students.....

Take a look.

http://www.hsc.unt.edu/education/tcom/admissions/enteringclassstats.cfm

care to explain? how is research and a strong science background not traditional admission criteria? pretty sure GPA and research are not uncommon for matriculants to all US MD schools.

oh wait your h.sdn... nevermind

 

[NickNaylor]

care to explain? how is research and a strong science background not traditional admission criteria? pretty sure GPA and research are not uncommon for matriculants to all US MD schools.

oh wait your h.sdn... nevermind

 

[Swiss Medical]

care to explain? how is research and a strong science background not traditional admission criteria? pretty sure GPA and research are not uncommon for matriculants to all US MD schools.

oh wait your h.sdn... nevermind

Mosts schools do not require any type of research...and by strong background, i mean lab research and a very high gpa. By your question you are saying that every school (or at least the majority) have requirements for research..and that is not true. What I am really saying is these "harder to get in schools" put more weight on things like that, thus making them more competitive, which brings us back to your original question. You look for schools with relatively easier requirements and a smaller applicant pool. Google is your friend.....and I am an hsdn allumni (i.e. a previous member). just because I am does not mean I do not know what i cam talking about. I would also get a copy of the msar....

 

[Doc of the Walk]

Mosts schools do not require any type of research...and by strong background, i mean lab research and a very high gpa. By your question you are saying that every school (or at least the majority) have requirements for research..and that is not true. What I am really saying is these "harder to get in schools" put more weight on things like that, thus making them more competitive, which brings us back to your original question. You look for schools with relatively easier requirements and a smaller applicant pool. Google is your friend.....and I am an hsdn allumni (i.e. a previous member). just because I am does not mean I do not know what i cam talking about. I would also get a copy of the msar....

Didn't you say in the other thread (the one you were getting bashed in) that you were taking a break from SDN?...

 

[MrBananaGrabber]

Mosts schools do not require any type of research...and by strong background, i mean lab research and a very high gpa. By your question you are saying that every school (or at least the majority) have requirements for research..and that is not true. What I am really saying is these "harder to get in schools" put more weight on things like that, thus making them more competitive, which brings us back to your original question. You look for schools with relatively easier requirements and a smaller applicant pool. Google is your friend.....and I am an hsdn allumni (i.e. a previous member). just because I am does not mean I do not know what i cam talking about. I would also get a copy of the msar....

It certainly doesn't help...

 

[Swiss Medical]

Didn't you say in the other thread (the one you were getting bashed in) that you were taking a break from SDN?...

My break was over on sunday night after the mavs game...

 

[Doc of the Walk]

Ah...you do know this is summer right? Go outside, get some air, make friends. Get off SDN

 

[NickNaylor]

Mosts schools do not require any type of research...and by strong background, i mean lab research and a very high gpa. By your question you are saying that every school (or at least the majority) have requirements for research..and that is not true. What I am really saying is these "harder to get in schools" put more weight on things like that, thus making them more competitive, which brings us back to your original question. You look for schools with relatively easier requirements and a smaller applicant pool. Google is your friend.....and I am an hsdn allumni (i.e. a previous member). just because I am does not mean I do not know what i cam talking about. I would also get a copy of the msar....

Not having any research experience is a bad idea. It's more or less an unwritten requirement. Look at the MSAR; a majority of applicants have been involved in research.

So yes, you're right in the sense that technically research is not a requirement. But good luck getting into any top school without research experience. Even at middle-of-the-road schools research experience can be a big help.

 

[senorsquishie]

Didn't you say in the other thread (the one you were getting bashed in) that you were taking a break from SDN?...

Does that mean to be cool we have to make fun of the HSDNers? 😎 Though to be fair some of them say the most ridiculously hilariously dumb things.

 

[circulus vitios]

The ones you haven't heard of.

hipstermedstudent.jpg

 

[Socrates25]

Rocky Vista DO program in Colorado

Absolute cakewalk to get in there. Its the only for-profit medical school in the country, as long as you can pay the money and have a pulse they will let you in.

 

[WeAreNotRobots]

Rocky Vista DO program in Colorado

Absolute cakewalk to get in there. Its the only for-profit medical school in the country, as long as you can pay the money and have a pulse they will let you in.

you don't even need the pulse...
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=829893

 

[gravitywave]

i realize it's become the norm over the last few days to flame Swiss whenever he says something, but I'd just like to point out that research is far from a de facto requirement for medical school. there are other ways to demonstrate potential aptitude for medicine besides research.

the fact is that most successful applicants have research because, on the traditional pre-med track, it's much easier to get meaningful research experience than it is to get meaningful clinical experience.

yes, like 98% of the people at Stanford had research going in. does that surprise anyone? only 65% did at Mercer, again, does that surprise anyone? different schools, different missions. the schools don't tell you that research is required, because it isn't. 95% of incoming students at JHU have it, that means 5% didn't.

 

[Doc of the Walk]

Does that mean to be cool we have to make fun of the HSDNers? 😎 Though to be fair some of them say the most ridiculously hilariously dumb things.

Of course, I mean I'm so cool

*Puts on sunglasses*

I use liquid nitrogen to heat my coffee

*Walks off screen*

YEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

 

[raltima07]

i realize it's become the norm over the last few days to flame Swiss whenever he says something, but I'd just like to point out that research is far from a de facto requirement for medical school. there are other ways to demonstrate potential aptitude for medicine besides research.

the fact is that most successful applicants have research because, on the traditional pre-med track, it's much easier to get meaningful research experience than it is to get meaningful clinical experience.

yes, like 98% of the people at Stanford had research going in. does that surprise anyone? only 65% did at Mercer, again, does that surprise anyone? different schools, different missions. the schools don't tell you that research is required, because it isn't. 95% of incoming students at JHU have it, that means 5% didn't.

I agree with you, but at Mercer, over half the students had research (going based off of your data). That still is a sizeable chunk. I personally would want every advantage I could when applying to schools, and competing for that 45% is much harder IMO. But yes, research is not 100% necessary, it just helps a lot.

 

[gettheleadout]

hipstermedstudent.jpg

Good catch haha. 👍

care to explain? how is research and a strong science background not traditional admission criteria? pretty sure GPA and research are not uncommon for matriculants to all US MD schools.

oh wait your h.sdn... nevermind

Mosts schools do not require any type of research...and by strong background, i mean lab research and a very high gpa. By your question you are saying that every school (or at least the majority) have requirements for research..and that is not true. What I am really saying is these "harder to get in schools" put more weight on things like that, thus making them more competitive, which brings us back to your original question. You look for schools with relatively easier requirements and a smaller applicant pool. Google is your friend.....and I am an hsdn allumni (i.e. a previous member). just because I am does not mean I do not know what i cam talking about. I would also get a copy of the msar....

Swiss, the problem with saying "a strong science background" is that it implies that one is more competitive at upper-tier schools with either A) Excellent performance in the prereq's or B) Excellent performance in further science class (i.e. a science major and a high GPA). All schools require a high GPA and excellent performance in the prereq's to be competitive, and a science major isn't an advantage anywhere, as has been shown before. The distinction you're trying to make can easily be made by simply comparing average GPA's at medical schools and gauging competitiveness off of that. There is also no reason to believe "lab research" is emphasized at top tier schools, as you said, any more than other types of research.

 

[Vulcan]

 

[obgyny]

All US MD and DO schools are competitive. Granted, some are harder than others, but none are considerably less competitive than any others.

But typically the best shot you have is at your state school.

Except if you live in CA .

 

[YouNeverKnow22]

Princeton Med

 

[NickNaylor]

Princeton Med

This man is a genius.

 

[SeminoleVesicle]

Caribbean schools.

 

[Astarael]

I understand where a lot of disagreement with Swiss Medical's posts is coming from, but this part:

Another thing I have noticed is a lot of schools are after different groups of applicants.

seems to be a pretty good insight, actually. Schools do seem to emphasize research and community service differently, and you can't really trust the MSAR to break that information down, since my semester of research and another applicant's 3 years and 2 publications get counted the same. Knowing the strengths of your application and the traditional selection criteria of the schools you are considering applying to is definitely to your advantage.

 

[Tapepsi]

Others are mid-tier like Penn State, Rosalind Franklin, VCU, Georgetown that look at applicants based on the traditional admission criteria.

While there is some truth to what you say Swiss Medical be careful and look more into the schools you mention. As someone who will be attending Penn State myself in less than 2 months, ~85% of last years incoming class had done research prior to med school. Furthermore, every student during med school is required to complete a research project. My research was brought up during one of my interviews and we talked about it for a decent amount of time so it does hold some degree of importance and I'm sure it does for other schools as well.

 

[pancakesyrup]

D.O. schools.

They replace bad grades if you retake and do better, and they have lower GPA requirements, much less expectation to do research, and will routinely take students with MCATs of 26-29, while MD schools overwhelmingly expect 30+.

 

[V5RED]

https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/requirements/msar/

For $15 you can find out exactly how competitive almost all of the US MD schools are.

 

[SissyAlice]

University of Phoenix, and it's online too 😉!

 

[CascadaFan]

D.O. schools.

They replace bad grades if you retake and do better, and they have lower GPA requirements, much less expectation to do research, and will routinely take students with MCATs of 26-29, while MD schools overwhelmingly expect 30+.

He asked for Medical schools not osteopathic schools.

 

[FrkyBgStok]

He asked for Medical schools not osteopathic schools.

DO schools are Medical schools. I would think that someone who is going to be attending MSUCOM in the fall would know that.

 

[ceasefire]

He asked for Medical schools not osteopathic schools.

Refer to FrkyBgStok's comment:

DO schools are Medical schools.

 

[jaqydoc]

I don't mean to bash anyone and I hope I can express my freedom of speech on here, but I do hate when people pretend to not understand what someone is actually asking when they post this or a similar question...there are some schools (not going to name names) which are easier to get into, or take "less competitive" applicants than others.
Yes, medical school is difficult to get into, and yes, it is competitive, but I think the OP wants to know some that are not as competitive, or, at the bottom of the competitive spectrum.

As for which schools those are, I prefer not to voice my opinion.

 

[I feel pretty]

Just looking to see if any schools out there are more flexible than others

Thanks

Depends what you mean by "flexible"... the easiest schools to get into, by far, are the Caribbean where the only requirement is the ability to pay.

DO schools are easier to get into than MD schools, they both have lower MCAT averages (25-27 vs. 31+) and GPA (3.45ish vs. 3.67+) also on top of this, DO schools allow you to do grade replacement so in reality DO schools are significantly more "flexible".

MD schools are all very competitive while some are easier depending on the "community" they cater to, like regional bias or state-restrictions.

 

[NickNaylor]

I don't mean to bash anyone and I hope I can express my freedom of speech on here, but I do hate when people pretend to not understand what someone is actually asking when they post this or a similar question...there are some schools (not going to name names) which are easier to get into, or take "less competitive" applicants than others.
Yes, medical school is difficult to get into, and yes, it is competitive, but I think the OP wants to know some that are not as competitive, or, at the bottom of the competitive spectrum.

As for which schools those are, I prefer not to voice my opinion.

So you're complaining that people don't give specific med school names that are less competitive and then... you don't give out names?

 

[MossPoh]

While there is some truth to what you say Swiss Medical be careful and look more into the schools you mention. As someone who will be attending Penn State myself in less than 2 months, ~85% of last years incoming class had done research prior to med school. Furthermore, every student during med school is required to complete a research project. My research was brought up during one of my interviews and we talked about it for a decent amount of time so it does hold some degree of importance and I'm sure it does for other schools as well.

That is a lot of schools. I'd venture to say more than 85% at my non research oriented school did research in undergrad. Nearly everyone checks off the same boxes.

The applicants aren't that different between schools...maybe what some of those schools want in a class is slightly different, but nearly every class will have a pretty wide range of personalities and life experiences. I know when I was applying, I didn't think anything about that, I clicked down the list and then catered each application to what I thought they wanted to hear.

 

[gettheleadout]

He asked for Medical schools not osteopathic schools.