Yield Protection at low/mid-tier MD Schools

[test123123]

Hi all, I am a Canadian who plans to apply to USMD and DO schools this coming cycle and I am getting worried as I read more about yield protection. I am aiming for Canadian friendly low/mid-tier MD schools and DO schools with relatively high stats. cGPA 3.90, sGPA 3.93 and MCAT 519. Another issue is that I rewrote the MCAT once (my first score was 517 --> 519) so I'm concerned that this could hurt me as well. Does anyone have insight into how this would look to an adcom at a low/mid-tier MD school?

Sorry if this comes across as a humblebrag thread; it really isn't. My situation is a bit dire in Canada and I am looking at exploring all avenues for medicine in the US!

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[ndafife]

People don't want to waste the resources necessary to interview you and an interview spot if they don't think you're going to go there.

 

[KnightDoc]

Hi all, I am a Canadian who plans to apply to USMD and DO schools this coming cycle and I am getting worried as I read more about yield protection. I am aiming for Canadian friendly low/mid-tier MD schools and DO schools with relatively high stats. cGPA 3.90, sGPA 3.93 and MCAT 519. Another issue is that I rewrote the MCAT once (my first score was 517 --> 519) so I'm concerned that this could hurt me as well. Does anyone have insight into how this would look to an adcom at a low/mid-tier MD school?

Sorry if this comes across as a humblebrag thread; it really isn't. My situation is a bit dire in Canada and I am looking at exploring all avenues for medicine in the US!

Stupid question -- if you have high stats, why are you shooting for low/mid tier?

The MCAT isn't going to hurt you since it didn't go down. The two points are insignificant, but other than someone maybe questioning your judgment for retaking a perfectly good score, nobody is going to reject you over a 517 --> 519.

The short answer is that yes, yield protection is a real thing, so you have to figure out how to convince a low tier school that you are serious in spite of high stats. Again, why aren't you aiming higher?

 

[test123123]

Stupid question -- if you have high stats, why are you shooting for low/mid tier?

The MCAT isn't going to hurt you since it didn't go down. The two points are insignificant, but other than someone maybe questioning your judgment for retaking a perfectly good score, nobody is going to reject you over a 517 --> 519.

The short answer is that yes, yield protection is a real thing, so you have to figure out how to convince a low tier school that you are serious in spite of high stats. Again, why aren't you aiming higher?

Good question. Although my stats may be up to par I'm not sure if my ECs are good enough for the higher tier schools. To be quite frank they are rather cookie cutter with a mixture of community service, hospital volunteering, and research with a few abstracts published. I may still apply to a few high-mid tier schools to test my luck.

 

[Orangekiwi]

I think you’re selling yourself short OP, you sound like a pretty strong applicant! If you want to know for sure, go into the WAMC threads and post a thread with your stats, a general outline of your extracurriculars, and any other important information (Canadian, if you’re URM, low SES, etc.) and some of the experts will give you a list of schools to target. Picking the right schools to apply to is just as important as the rest of your application, so make sure you put enough thought and care into it that you aren’t shooting yourself in the foot. Applying to a bunch of mid tier MD schools with those stats could very well be a mistake, as others have mentioned and adcoms on SDN will always point out, schools want to make sure they don’t waste interview spots on people who are likely to matriculate at other schools.

 

[KnightDoc]

Good question. Although my stats may be up to par I'm not sure if my ECs are good enough for the higher tier schools. To be quite frank they are rather cookie cutter with a mixture of community service, hospital volunteering, and research with a few abstracts published. I may still apply to a few high-mid tier schools to test my luck.

In that case, I think you've answered your own question. Adcoms aren't stupid -- they know what good applications look like, as well as great applications and not-so-great ones.

If your ECs aren't as good as your stats, they will see that, and your risk of being yield protected out will decrease accordingly. Remember -- the whole point of yield protection is to avoid wasting resources on candidates that aren't serious and are only using the school as a safety. If they see that your ECs won't generate IIs and As at "better schools," you'll be a serious viable candidate for them (assuming your ECs are good enough, along with your stats, for them). Good luck!!!

Edit -- @Orangekiwi makes good points -- you very well might be selling yourself short with respect to your ECs. My advice would be to apply widely -- you might surprise yourself to the upside and will also protect yourself to the downside assuming you do get yield protected.

 

[KnightDoc]

Hi all, I am a Canadian who plans to apply to USMD and DO schools this coming cycle and I am getting worried as I read more about yield protection. I am aiming for Canadian friendly low/mid-tier MD schools and DO schools with relatively high stats. cGPA 3.90, sGPA 3.93 and MCAT 519. Another issue is that I rewrote the MCAT once (my first score was 517 --> 519) so I'm concerned that this could hurt me as well. Does anyone have insight into how this would look to an adcom at a low/mid-tier MD school?

Sorry if this comes across as a humblebrag thread; it really isn't. My situation is a bit dire in Canada and I am looking at exploring all avenues for medicine in the US!

Also, if you don't mind my asking, why is your situation dire in Canada?

 

[test123123]

Thank you guys I appreciate the votes of confidence and advice!

Also, if you don't mind my asking, why is your situation dire in Canada?

For context, I have not gotten an interview at any Canadian school in the past 2 cycles. Both times, it has been my low CARS scores (126 then 127) which have severely hurt my chances for half of the schools in my province with my mediocre (by Canadian standards) GPA of 3.82 and 3.90 (weighted) disqualifying me from the other half. (btw AMCAS GPA is calculated differently than GPA in my province with the 3.83 equalling a 3.90 on AMCAS). So essentially I'm in a sticky situation where my GPA and CARS score are both subpar for schools in my province even if they seem good on paper. This is a bit of a simplification of the dilemma but essentially where I am at.

 

[DNAJB6]

Hi all, I am a Canadian who plans to apply to USMD and DO schools this coming cycle and I am getting worried as I read more about yield protection. I am aiming for Canadian friendly low/mid-tier MD schools and DO schools with relatively high stats. cGPA 3.90, sGPA 3.93 and MCAT 519. Another issue is that I rewrote the MCAT once (my first score was 517 --> 519) so I'm concerned that this could hurt me as well. Does anyone have insight into how this would look to an adcom at a low/mid-tier MD school?

Sorry if this comes across as a humblebrag thread; it really isn't. My situation is a bit dire in Canada and I am looking at exploring all avenues for medicine in the US!

A 519 is a decent score, but the expectations are higher for foreign students. It is hardly high enough to worry about yield protection especially as a retake. You seem solid but not "over qualified" (tongue in cheek).

 

[deleted988749]

In that case, I think you've answered your own question. Adcoms aren't stupid -- they know what good applications look like, as well as great applications and not-so-great ones.

If your ECs aren't as good as your stats, they will see that, and your risk of being yield protected out will decrease accordingly. Remember -- the whole point of yield protection is to avoid wasting resources on candidates that aren't serious and are only using the school as a safety. If they see that your ECs won't generate IIs and As at "better schools," you'll be a serious viable candidate for them (assuming your ECs are good enough, along with your stats, for them). Good luck!!!

Edit -- @Orangekiwi makes good points -- you very well might be selling yourself short with respect to your ECs. My advice would be to apply widely -- you might surprise yourself to the upside and will also protect yourself to the downside assuming you do get yield protected.

How do you know these things when you're a premed?

 

[test123123]

A 519 is a decent score, but the expectations are higher for foreign students. It is hardly high enough to worry about yield protection especially as a retake. You seem solid but not "over qualified" (tongue in cheek).

Thanks, this is reassuring!

 

[MrPooperScooper]

My experience this cycle with a 521, 4.0, average ECs

Applied to 9 top 20 schools, 0 interviews

Applied to 14 schools outside top 20, 6 interviews with highest rank being case western

Got interviews at schools where my stats were above the 90th percentile. These schools did not receive many apps compared to other schools, however.

Didn’t receive interviews from schools that receive a lot of apps like Jefferson, tufts, BU.

Is yield protection real? I didn’t encounter it at less applied to schools.

 

[test123123]

My experience this cycle with a 521, 4.0, average ECs

Applied to 9 top 20 schools, 0 interviews

Applied to 14 schools outside top 20, 6 interviews with highest rank being case western

Got interviews at schools where my stats were above the 90th percentile. These schools did not receive many apps compared to other schools, however.

Didn’t receive interviews from schools that receive a lot of apps like Jefferson, tufts, BU.

Is yield protection real? I didn’t encounter it at less applied to schools.

Congrats on your amazing cycle and gl in med school. Out of curiosity are you a Canadian applicant?

 

[MrPooperScooper]

Congrats on your amazing cycle and gl in med school. Out of curiosity are you a Canadian applicant?

Thanks! I'm not a Canadian citizen, but my advice to you would be to invest in MSAR and start making a list of Canadian friendly schools. I know one that instantly comes to mind is Wayne State, as I believe the interview rate for Canadians is about 10%. There probably are some more, but just make sure you make a smart school list which targets schools that accept multiple international students each year.

 

[rogerthat35]

Interesting info from the Johns Hopkins website. Certainly worth verifying and Good Luck! :

Canadian Applicants/Canadian Medical Schools

Canadian Citizens Applying to U.S. Schools U.S. medical schools vary in terms of whether or not they classify Canadian students as international applicants. Please reference the Association of American Medical College’s (AAMC) Medical School Admission Requirements for each U.S. medical school’s...

studentaffairs.jhu.edu

"Canadian Citizens Applying to U.S. Schools

U.S. medical schools vary in terms of whether they classify Canadian students as international students or not. Penn State, George Washington, Albert Einstein, Medical College of Wisconsin, and Yale all view Canadian citizens the same way as U.S. citizens. Many other schools classify Canadians as international students. To see an accurate list of schools which that accept International students, as well as an additional list of schools which that accept Canadian applicants, see the International Students page of the Pre-Professional Advising website. When in doubt, check the Medical School Admissions Requirements or the website of the particular program.

Regarding financial information, as is the case with other international applicants, Canadian citizens are typically asked to complete a Financial Certificate at the time of interview showing sufficient funds to pay for educational expenses.

A SPECIAL PROGRAM: One special connection for Canadian students applying to Michigan State University—College of Osteopathic Medicine (MSU-COM) has a PDF Document: pipeline program established specifically for Canadian students. This initiative has been so successful, that the Canadian Osteopathic Association has on its website a section devoted to the Canadian Osteopathic Medical Student Association!"