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Started by sandmonkey
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Can you be more specific how your application fits "engineering" if you have a bachelor's degree in molecular/cell bio? Have you checked the prerequisite classes for Carle, Arizona State, and Texas A&M EnMed (if you are applying)?

There's not enough information to help you with your "fit" as it stands. Hours are insufficient to truly determine fit. 500 hours of other employment could provide context. Saying you have a "little mech e and ai" mean nothing without a context. Having only 1 mentoring/teaching experience shouldn't make it a "theme" of your application without more details. I understand the concern of not exposing yourself on the internet, but garbage-in-garbage-out also applies. Whatever you put into admit, you have way too few "baselines" in my opinion (17-21-5?). A proper list should be more balanced.

If you need advice on reducing your list, geography is very important, and you can afford to take off a number of schools where I'm going to assume you have no cultural fit (USUHS seriously? Brown? Hackensack?). I don't know what you mean by interdisciplinary collaboration (which is more research-oriented), and I question whether you have significant insight into interprofessional collaboration. Shadowing 50 hours means you check the box, but you could have no primary care exposure or be involved in ophthalmology and radiology where patient interaction is different from the ER. Every medical school will offer opportunities for mentoring (peers, school children, underrepresented), but you need to find a school where YOUR mentors and support system are optimal for your success. Have you visited or attended recruitment sessions with any of the schools you have listed?
 
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Yes, you are applying to too many schools. Remove Central Florida and Virginia Tech since they have an instate or regional preference. With a MCAT of 513, many of your reach schools are unrealistic so you could remove these:
Pittsburgh
Emory
UCLA
Einstein
Ohio State
Brown
Miami
Dartmouth
Cincinnati
You could add Belmont and Methodist
 
sandmonkey said:
Thanks for the response. I agree with some of these, but others I'm not so sure. It doesn't seem like VTech has an instate bias, and considering the small class size and MSAR's map, there doesn't seem to be a super strong bias for the New England Region. Also, I've consistently heard it's research focused, so I think that could work in my favor. Could you please expand on that one more? Also, from my understanding, places like UPitt, Emory, Ohio, and Cincinnati are pretty research focused so I was thinking that my substantial research hours could possibly offset my MCAT, although I understand that these would still be reach schools for sure. What do you think? Not trying to argue with anything you're saying, just trying to understand. I appreciate your help!
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VTech has a small class with a regional bias. They did not matriculate anyone from Arizona last year. 43 schools is too many to apply to, so I removed the ones you are least likely to receive an interview from.
 
sandmonkey said:
Thanks for the response. I agree with some of these, but others I'm not so sure. It doesn't seem like VTech has an instate bias, and considering the small class size and MSAR's map, there doesn't seem to be a super strong bias for the New England Region. Also, I've consistently heard it's research focused, so I think that could work in my favor. Could you please expand on that one more? Also, from my understanding, places like UPitt, Emory, Ohio, and Cincinnati are pretty research focused so I was thinking that my substantial research hours could possibly offset my MCAT, although I understand that these would still be reach schools for sure. What do you think? Not trying to argue with anything you're saying, just trying to understand. I appreciate your help!
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If you are gunning for "research schools" and thinking it would be a plus factor for an OOS applicant, I would encourage you to just apply PhD or +PhD.

Brown tends to admit many students from its own articulation programs or Ivy-level schools. Plus, you need to convince me you want to move from Arizona to Rhode Island. What do you know about the community around Providence? (Again, if you are interested in research, check out MSTP or PhD only.)

Hack/Meridian also has about 30% OOS, but most of its matriculants are from the Northeast. Not many Southwest matriculants in the last class profile. Again, convince me you want to move to Hackensack.

There's not really any "compensating" in an applicant profile. It's like saying donuts taste better because they have more sprinkles, rather than just being a bit undercooked/fried. No one comes into medical school "perfect." The focus is on mission fit, and you have to show you are prepared to embark on that journey with that program. This is why you network with schools before one starts to apply; any list should be a starting point... You are responsible for considering the fit.
 
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