What do you look for in a medical school?

[madbay]

So, here are a few questions for the seasoned SDN folks (and hopefully successful med school applicants)...

1) When you're first starting out--in terms of the application process--what qualities do you look for in a school? Why?
2) How do you learn about those qualities (i.e., the school's website, talking to students, SDN forums, national rankings, etc.)?
3) Assuming that you didn't have the opportunity to visit schools before your primary application, how did you decide which dozen or so were the ones worth trying?

I've got a while before I apply (taking the MCAT spring '06), but I'm hoping to get some feedback from the bona-fide applicants!

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[madbay]

bump!

 

[Sparky Man]

1) When you're first starting out--in terms of the application process--what qualities do you look for in a school? Why?

I applied to several schools, about 24, and they were distributed pretty evenly as far as usnews rankings go, just to be safe. I really wanted to end up in California, so I applied to all CA schools, except Loma Linda. I also applied to several east coast schools, most Ivies, and some in the middle such as UTSW, Wash U. I looked for strong research, especially in medical imaging, and a student body best fit to my personality, based on the limited info I had (as you listed: websites - both medical school and individual research pages, SDN info, USNews). I thought alot about what kind of city I wanted to end up in. I had no idea whether I would like PBL vs. traditional, so I didn't discriminate (I still don't know). Looking back, I would say I did not put a colossal effort into reasearching each school. I didn't exactly have the feeling I was choosing them, but they were choosing me, which is why I applied to so many schools. I was accepted to UTSW early on, so I dropped many schools I knew I would not take over UTSW, and interviewed at about 5 more places. I learned alot during my interviews. Those little brochures just don't give you the same feeling as the visit. Right now, I'm planning on Wash U, but holding on to a waitlist spot at Penn and Harvard. Ya never know, but I'm certainly not counting on the waitlists. I loved Penn and this was a total surprise for me. I could not have predicted how this worked out, and I'm still in the purgatory of the waitlist. I don't even know what I'll do if I get an offer, although Harvard would be difficult to refuse. Unless you are a complete superstar, don't apply to a small number of schools. Search "crapshoot" and I'm sure you will find a kajillion threads.

Sorry for rambling...

 

[madbay]

That's cool--thanks for the input Sparky Man. Let's bump this thang and see what others think!

 

[DrHuang]

i look for an acceptance letter ^_^

 

[Law2Doc]

So, here are a few questions for the seasoned SDN folks (and hopefully successful med school applicants)...

1) When you're first starting out--in terms of the application process--what qualities do you look for in a school? Why?
2) How do you learn about those qualities (i.e., the school's website, talking to students, SDN forums, national rankings, etc.)?
3) Assuming that you didn't have the opportunity to visit schools before your primary application, how did you decide which dozen or so were the ones worth trying?

I've got a while before I apply (taking the MCAT spring '06), but I'm hoping to get some feedback from the bona-fide applicants!

When you are first starting out, you really just want to apply to schools where your numerical stats are competitive (with a few long shots, and to a few with stats below yours, if any) in the geographic parts of the country you are willing to live. Unlike college, most people don't get a chance to scope out most of the places to which they apply before their interviews (which are much later in the application process).
Of course always apply to your state school(s) if tuition cost might be an issue. Most people apply to between 10-30 schools; if you have less competitive stats, apply to around 20 schools; If you have stellar stats you can get away with fewer. Best thing to do is to pick up a med school guide which describes the schools basic info and stats etc. Princeton Review publishes one, MSAR as well. US News research ranking will give you the general feel for which are the "top schools", and the top dozen or so will be the schools which provide the most "prestige", but otherwise is of questionable value in terms of evaluation of schools.