Will more lower tier schools help my chances?

[jofrbr76]

THis isn't a "what are my chances" thread, but i was wondering what you think.

My aamcas is on hold right now, so if i need to apply to more back up schools, i still can. I've felt fairly confident until this week for some reason. I have a 3.58 gpa, with a good upward trend (2.8 freshman year) and a 32P mcat (9v-12p-11b).

I've done research for over a year, worked as nurse aid for almost 2 yrs, volunteered about 50 hours in Emergency Dep., done some other volunteering at a homeless shelter, president of premed club and had some significant shadowing experiences.

I applied to Mich st., UofMich, Wayne st., UofC pritzker, loyola, n'western, penn.st, temple, u of pitt, wake forest, st.louis university and u of washington (seattle).

Should i add more lower tier schools? What do you think, am i just having an anal week and need to relax? probably.

Thanks in advance for ANY thoughts on the subject,

Joe

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[Diogenes]

You are a good applicant. But it never hurts to apply to more schools (except in the pocketbook). Better safe than sorry.

 

[Chronotropic]

It's always good to have a few school to fall back on. Not that getting into lower tier schools is easy.

 

[Mystique]

If you're a MI resident, I think you're alright w/ those stats (for your in-state schools). I think you've chosen a nice range of schools. But, you never know what to expect in this ballgame. You could play all your cards right and still get screwed. If I were in your shoes, I'd apply to 3 or so more "lower-tier" schools. If the question were to pop up in my head and I had the money, then I'd add some more just to put my mind at ease (for the time being).

 

[mws99]

20% of in state people who apply to Wayne enroll at Wayne. So the acceptance rate must be between 30-40%. Your MCAT scores is 4 points above their average and your gpa is very similar to their average. I am sure you will get in so if you would be happy going there then you probably don't need to apply anywhere else.

 

[Gradient Echo]

If you can afford it, then it cant hurt to apply to more lower tier programs.

 

[lola]

if i were you and i had enough money, i'd add 2 or 3 more lower tier schools to the list. even if wayne state seems like a sure thing you can't count on getting into any one medical school. besides, i think it'd be nice to have a choice of schools in the end if possible.

 

[jofrbr76]

SO what other schools do you think i should apply to? Thanks all for your advice so far...

 

[Mystique]

These aren't "easy" schools to get into due to the large number of applicants, but some that come to mind are MCW, George Washington, Albany, Finch, Jefferson, and Boston U.

 

[Diogenes]

yeah, I ought to reiterate the point that there are no easy schools. They are all hard. But some are harder than others.

 

[pbehzad]

you have the university of washington (seattle) on your list, are you from washington or the northwestern states? cause i have heard that uw doesnt accept hardly anyone from out of state unless its northwestern states so there is no point in even applying and wasting your time and money. i am not for sure so dont quote me. i coudl be totally wrong, this is only what i have heard. if someone else knows please correct me.
hope that helps.

 

[Diogenes]

Originally posted by pbehzad
you have the university of washington (seattle) on your list, are you from washington or the northwestern states? cause i have heard that uw doesnt accept hardly anyone from out of state unless its northwestern states so there is no point in even applying and wasting your time and money. i am not for sure so dont quote me. i coudl be totally wrong, this is only what i have heard. if someone else knows please correct me.
hope that helps.

I looked into UW but I'm from California and they don't take Californians except for MSTP. I think that holds true for all non-washingtonians

 

[ludey]

i think you should be fine. i had almost identical stats and got into 4/5 chicago schools. You might add Rush to your list, i see you have the other 3 private chicago schools on there and Rush is a little less competitive. good luck.

 

[Dr. MAXY]

It won't hurt anything so you might as well do it. If anything at all, it will increase you chances.
GOOD-LUCK

 

[FrankMD]

I think you should apply to as many schools that you would definitely go if that's the only school you are accepted. From my personal experience, I got rejected from basically all of "lower tier" schools without an interview but ended up interviewing at "top-tier" schools. You will increase your chance of getting into a school if you apply to more schools, but applying to more "lower-tier" schools doesn't mean you will have better chance of getting in. Apply to schools you want to go to, not the schools you think you can get in because of their numbers. Good luck.

 

[punkin2]

Originally posted by ThingAMaJig
These aren't "easy" schools to get into due to the large number of applicants, but some that come to mind are MCW, George Washington, Albany, Finch, Jefferson, and Boston U.

As ThinkAMaJig writes, be careful with what you see as an "Easy" school. I had higher numerical stats than you but was rejected w/out interview from GW and Jefferson. (Shows you that numbers are not everything.) On the other hand, I was accepted to U Pitt and U Mich which I saw on your list (go figure). I haven't been able to make much rhyme or reason out of this entire process. In general, I would suggest more schools simply because you never know where your application will strike a chord with the adcom.

I hope this helps

 

[doctorivy]

I think that your stats are very competitive, and if you are interested in more higher tier schools (take USNews rankings with a grain of salt) that you should apply to them also. I had a 3.8 gpa and a 31-33 MCAT (8P, 10B, 13-15V), and I was scared that I wouldn't get any interviews. It turns out that I received interviews from Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Dartmouth, Penn State, NYMC, Utah, MCW, Creighton, Virginia CW, OHSU, and St. Louis. I had no idea that I would get so many interviews, especially at the so-called top schools. Anyway, I agree with a previous post that you should apply to the schools that you want to attend, but then add a few so-called easier schools to the list. Just my two cents.