What to look for in a Medical School

[Gkw07001]

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I live in Connecticut and have always thought I would attend the University of Connecticut Medical School. I go to UConn now for undergraduate but after looking into med school, I have realized, obviously, that I can't assume I'm going to get in. I am clearly willing to go elsewhere or out of state but I really have no idea where to look or what to look for. Do medical schools vary a lot? I'm just not sure where to even begin as I think about where to apply and what will be a good fit. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

[Mobius1985]

Look at the School Selection spreadsheet stickied at the top of this forum. You will choose schools initially based on how competitive your GPA and MCAT are. Then fine tune the list based on cost, curriculum type, weather, proximity to home, how likely the school is to take out-of-staters, etc.

 

[GoSpursGo]

Let me tell you a dirty little secret about med school: by and large, they're all the same. You take the same classes, you learn the same material, you do the same rotations, and you take the same STEP exams. Sure, there might be a handful of schools that have a truly unique curriculum like Duke's 1 year basic sciences schedule or Yale's "no grades" philosophy, and if you care about research then NIH dollars would be nice, but it's basically like ice cream; one flavor might taste a bit better than the others, but you'll almost certainly be happy with whatever you get.

So I think the first step is to figure out your general competitiveness by heading over to our handy-dandy School Selection Worksheet which should give you an idea of which schools you have a reasonable chance of getting an interview at based on your stats. Try to aim for 10-15 schools for which you match your stats very well, then 5-10 "safeties" (a misleading term, since no one should feel "safe" about getting into any school, but just basically a school at which you are above average stats wise), and finally maybe 5 reach schools; don't make the mistake of falling in love with the top 25 and just applying primarily to the top schools because that's a really good way to wind up wasting a year and having to reapply. Also, make sure you buy an MSAR so you have an idea of which state schools are worth applying to; some states accept literally no out of state students or a vanishingly low number (like LA, I think), so there's no use wasting time there.

Beyond that, it's really up to you. Personally I'd choose based on location, cost of tuition, and weather

 

[sarahl86]

Let me tell you a dirty little secret about med school: by and large, they're all the same. You take the same classes, you learn the same material, you do the same rotations, and you take the same STEP exams. Sure, there might be a handful of schools that have a truly unique curriculum like Duke's 1 year basic sciences schedule or Yale's "no grades" philosophy, and if you care about research then NIH dollars would be nice, but it's basically like ice cream; one flavor might taste a bit better than the others, but you'll almost certainly be happy with whatever you get.

So I think the first step is to figure out your general competitiveness by heading over to our handy-dandy School Selection Worksheet which should give you an idea of which schools you have a reasonable chance of getting an interview at based on your stats. Try to aim for 10-15 schools for which you match your stats very well, then 5-10 "safeties" (a misleading term, since no one should feel "safe" about getting into any school, but just basically a school at which you are above average stats wise), and finally maybe 5 reach schools; don't make the mistake of falling in love with the top 25 and just applying primarily to the top schools because that's a really good way to wind up wasting a year and having to reapply. Also, make sure you buy an MSAR so you have an idea of which state schools are worth applying to; some states accept literally no out of state students or a vanishingly low number (like LA, I think), so there's no use wasting time there.

Beyond that, it's really up to you. Personally I'd choose based on location, cost of tuition, and weather

This is probably in the top 5 of most useful posts on this website.

 

[Stratego]

Let me tell you a dirty little secret about med school: by and large, they're all the same. You take the same classes, you learn the same material, you do the same rotations, and you take the same STEP exams. Sure, there might be a handful of schools that have a truly unique curriculum like Duke's 1 year basic sciences schedule or Yale's "no grades" philosophy, and if you care about research then NIH dollars would be nice, but it's basically like ice cream; one flavor might taste a bit better than the others, but you'll almost certainly be happy with whatever you get.

So I think the first step is to figure out your general competitiveness by heading over to our handy-dandy School Selection Worksheet which should give you an idea of which schools you have a reasonable chance of getting an interview at based on your stats. Try to aim for 10-15 schools for which you match your stats very well, then 5-10 "safeties" (a misleading term, since no one should feel "safe" about getting into any school, but just basically a school at which you are above average stats wise), and finally maybe 5 reach schools; don't make the mistake of falling in love with the top 25 and just applying primarily to the top schools because that's a really good way to wind up wasting a year and having to reapply. Also, make sure you buy an MSAR so you have an idea of which state schools are worth applying to; some states accept literally no out of state students or a vanishingly low number (like LA, I think), so there's no use wasting time there.

Beyond that, it's really up to you. Personally I'd choose based on location, cost of tuition, and weather

This is really an excellent summation. Your school's reference library or premed advising office might have a copy of the MSAR too. A lot of the most important data has been included in the updated School Selection spreadsheet previously referred to.

Another piece of advice is to read these forums widely. Pretty much anything you need to know is here, if you use the "search" function.