<p>How do you recommend choosing med schools for the application process? Do you go mostly with geograpshy? Where you want to be?</p>
<p>Is there really that big s difference between schools? </p>
<p>It seems that all med schools in the US are extremely competitive, unless you have a state residency advantage in a less popular state (was it South Dakota some one mentioned?) it is rather a roll of the dice....so, do you even worry about "fit" the way we talk in UG apps?</p>
<p>What should be ones priorities in making the list?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>It depends on the applicant. Some will just struggle to get in. Others can be more selective in what they want. Everyone, however, is rolling the dice, there are no guarantees.</p>
<p>1.) Apply to all the schools in your state, public or private, since even private schools often give in-state consideration unofficially. (Just check out Vanderbilt or Wake's IS vs. OOS percentages.)</p>
<p>2.) Look for what economists call arbitrage opportunities. Some schools can be much more selective than better-regarded counterparts for little apparent reason. Geography is commonly at its root; an excellent undergraduate program is often a reason. For example, Brown, BU, Wake, and Georgetown are much more selective (by percentages) than Washington University, Columbia, UPenn, Vanderbilt, or Case Western. These would be excellent inefficiencies to capitalize on.</p>
<p>3.) We've tried to emphasize on here that research-oriented medical schools are not something to *strive *for unless you are aiming for a research career. But so long as you can put up with a little bit of research for a few years, there's little reason to avoid them. In other words, no need to be obsessed about them -- but if it turns out at the end that you have the qualifications, no need to specifically avoid them.</p>
<p>4.) If he's dramatically overqualified for his top choice (i.e. their median MCAT is less than 30, for a gap of 10 or more), he should think somewhat about applying Early Decision. But this is a very rare circumstance.</p>