Yet another "Schools to apply to?" thread

[clockworktangel]

Okay, so I know I'll probably be called a "troll" for posting my insecurities here, but I'm going to anyway (hey, anonymity is good for something, right). I have a 40R (14P 14B 12V) and a 3.94 (about the same for science), CA resident, about 6 months of lab research and 6 months clinical research in the UCLA ER (no publications or abstracts, I'm not that in depth yet). I'm trying to figure out what schools I should apply to. I want to apply to maybe 20-25.

I'm not really looking for specific suggestions of where to apply to really (however, those are welcome), but I'm just wondering how "low" I should go in terms of MCAT and gpa averages. I know this is all a crapshoot, and I've heard horror stories of friends of friends (also with good scores) applying to only the top 20 and not getting in anywhere.

Let the flaming begin, along with a few useful comments hopefully.

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[Rugger81]

Okay, so I know I'll probably be called a "troll" for posting my insecurities here, but I'm going to anyway

And what exactly are your insecurities???

Apply to a broad range. Some Top 10's, some mid range schools, some state schools. If you're asking "how low should I go" I don't know what you expect people to say. For you, a "safer" school may be something like Creighton or George Washington.

Remember, it's not just numbers. You're GPA could be a 4.0 and you could have a 45T, but if you have no personality or any ability to talk to people, you might get very few if any acceptances.

Good luck! And don't worry so much.

 

[clockworktangel]

i dont mean insecurities as in "omg im not gonna get in anywhere", I just dont want to apply to all top notch schools, and i'm having trouble cutting some out so that i can add the "safety" schools in there

 

[10minutes]

You can apply to a broad range of schools. 5-10 top tier, 10 mid tier, 5 low tier. Done.

 

[clockworktangel]

You can apply to a broad range of schools. 5-10 top tier, 10 mid tier, 5 low tier. Done.

Please excuse my ignorance, I'm pretty new to this whole med school thing, I just decided to apply last fall. What exactly are the definitions of top mid and low tier?

 

[agp4]

With your stats you have very little to worry about. You'll get interviews basically everywhere - its up to you to follow up on your excellent scores with good interviews. I'm not saying you'll get in everywhere, but you're not going to have to sweat like a lot of us had to.

As for which schools to apply to, it depends on the amount of risk you're willing to take. I think 2 or 3 "safety" schools (local state schools with low gpa and mcat avgs) might be enough, but if you're shaky about your interview skills you might want to add more. My only suggestion is to not apply blindly to schools because they have high rankings or because they sound good (I'm sure you've already had this lecture before, so I'm going to cut it off there). I think its safe to say that this process is still somewhat of a mystery to all of us, but I think you'll come out fine. Good luck!

 

[Pinkertinkle]

What clinical experience do you have besides the clinical research?

 

[clockworktangel]

What clinical experience do you have besides the clinical research?

that's pretty much it. like i said, i just decided to go med towards the end of 2003, so i havent volunteered since high school.

 

[Pinkertinkle]

I think if you can convince the adcoms you are motivated and knowledgeable about what you're getting into, you're set for a top school.

 

[SanDiegoSOD]

Please excuse my ignorance, I'm pretty new to this whole med school thing, I just decided to apply last fall. What exactly are the definitions of top mid and low tier?

Ok, I'm going to have to call BS on this one. If you have taken the MCAT and scored a 40, then I assume you went through some kind of study prep course (maybe you didnt, I dont know) and have been exposed to enough pre-meds to know by now what the difference between a top and mid ranked school is.
If this is a real post, then my advice is to save your money and only apply to schools that you would want to attend. Your numbers are in the 99%tile for both MCAT and GPA; you dont need to apply to 25 schools. Unless you have extreme trouble talking to strangers (think interview), but that can be overcome.

 

[10minutes]

Please excuse my ignorance, I'm pretty new to this whole med school thing, I just decided to apply last fall. What exactly are the definitions of top mid and low tier?

Just in terms of ave. GPA and MCAT. I'd go for 20 since you are Cali resident and you got all right volunteer/research experiences.

 

[Krazed_Medic]

I think the question should be more of where do you want to go to med school? It appears to me that you could apply at any school and really be competitive. Heck, if I were in your situation, I'd probably mix it up a lot and apply all over the USA. Good luck!

 

[NubianPrincess]

You know your scores and gpa are high, etc. Just do your research and apply. With all that you've accomplished, going to some websites and learning about different schools should be the least of your worries.