Where to apply?

[deleted9493]

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I willl be applying this summer and am starting to get an idea of the schools I should make application to. I was wondering if you guys could give me an idea of which schools I would have good odds at...or what schools would be good for me to look into. Certainly I will apply to all md schools in Michigan, but I'm thinking more in terms of outside michigan. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I go to a state university in Michigan that isn't really well-known nationally.
Overall gpa - 3.9
Science gpa - 3.8
MCAT 11,11,11 (what I've been scoring in practice)
Decent letters of recommendation and extracirriculars....nothing spectacular but nothing to scoff at....kind of like my MCAT

🙄

 

[laviddee]

apply anywhere and everywhere you can.
I think you have to ask what you want in a school and ask yourself where you want to be?
midwest? east? west?
how much are you willing to spend???
definitely apply to michigan/mich state/ wayne

the door is open to you.... maybe not harvard or hopkins.. but plenty of schools should want you. BUT DON'T just apply to top 20 schools- diversify diversify diversify.
and apply early. you can do a search on the forum for what others may consider to be some 'safety' schools as well.

 

[tBw]

If you end up getting the 33 MCAT (and people get a wide range of scores relative to their practice ones) you can apply anywhere. You will not be a sure thing at any school but it's not like any school will be completely out of your reach either.

Some people will advise you to apply to "a wide range of schools". For some reason thats very popular advice here and not something I actually go along with. I knew I would be happier not getting in and re-applying than applying to some schools I had better shots at (eg my state school) but which just wouldn't give me the education I wanted. Don't get me wrong - my state school is a great school - but it's great for rural medicine. I want to live in an urban area, I want to practice in an urban area, I want to specialize, I want to do academic medicine Q.E.D. my state school, while a great school, would be miserable for me to live at, and would not give me as appropriate a preparation for what I wanted.

So think about what you want both in terms of where for med school and also for after. and then start looking. An amazing number of schools will drop off your list just because they favor their own state residents or some other criteria you don't fit.

 

[mws99]

You are pretty much a shoo-in at Wayne with those stats, so my advice would be to apply to schools you would spend the money to attend if accepted there in addition to being accepted to Wayne. That's what I did and I know that some people will say it is risky, but I think they are a pretty stat conscious school and it is unlikely you will be rejected.