Can I get into a Top 10 Medical School

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

<p>Hey,</p>

<p>My parents particularly think I should be happy to get into any medical school, but I'm a very competitive person and desire the best. I hope this post doesn't come off cocky, I would just really like to know where I could be applying / expect to have a chance to get in (I understand that all I can do is have a chance, as nothing is certain in admissions). Specifically I was wondering about Mount Sinai, Albert Einstein, Cornell, Columbia, NYU, and Yale.</p>

<p>NY
Male
White
Ivy League College (Don't want to be specific because I would like to remain as anonymous as possible)
Economics Major, Chemistry Minor
3.93 GPA (4.00 scale)
4.00 Science GPA (4.00 scale)
Study Abroad at Oxford
Extracurriculars: Biomedical Research, Intern at Hospital, Plenty of Community Service (Again, I don't want to be specific because I would like to remain as anonymous as possible)</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

2

<p>You can't do this without an MCAT score.</p>

3

<p>Error 404, MCAT not found. i guess we can eliminate Cornell since you specify 4.00 scale.</p>

4

<p>Ditto. You need an MCAT score.</p>

5

<p>Haha, I haven't taken them yet. Okay, let me reword my question. If I maintain that GPA / extra-curriculars, what MCAT score would be necessary for a top 10 med school?</p>

6

<p>a balanced 35+ is good</p>

7

<p>wow with grades like that in an ivy league school, I'm pretty sure you'll do really well on the MCAT! Somewhere, I heard that for top tier schools, a "score" of 75 (MCAT+10*GPA) should be good to make you a competitive candidate, at least, to get an interview. So I would shoot for around a 36.</p>

8

<p>yes, you have a great GPA, but I also know people who have graduated PBK from ivies but for whatever reason, haven't been able to hack the MCAT the same way they have their coursework and scored in the 30-33 range; good enough to be admitted to several schools, but generally not what the 'top 10' schools are looking for (i also noticed your list of schools only includes on that is on the actual 'top 10,' though columbia is generally included when people fling that term around as well).</p>

<p>It also really should be noted that you're fooling yourself if you think the 'top ten' schools satisfy your desire 'for the best.' It sounds much more like they satisfy your desire to say 'i go to X school.' For people interested in primary care, these top schools are in many cases the worst of options, with strong focuses on research and academic medicine. Finding a school where you will fit in whose mission you agree with is much, much more important to your success.</p>

<p>Truth be told, yes, you're GPA is great, you knew that already. You don't have an MCAT score and your extracurriculars seem like the cracker-jack 'i can check this box on my application' sort since you refuse to elaborate. Regardless of where you go to school (which you already revealed on another thread), people with your grades get rejected from top schools all the time. The process is much, much more random than undergrad, and you cannot approach it in the same way.</p>

9

<p>I hadn't even noticed that his list was that odd. Interesting.</p>

10

<p>Additionally, since you haven't even taken your MCAT yet, I'm assuming you haven't done much research into the schools you're looking into yet, and you should consider that the schools you listed are very different places, even if you very strongly want to be in New York (Yale seems a bit of an outlier on your list). I don't know much about AECOM, but I'll give you my impressions of the other schools, for what little that is worth.</p>

<p>Columbia - best reputation, worst location of the NY schools, I have heard all kinds of stories about how the students are very unhappy there, I think it may have to do with the location in Washington Heights, the competitive atmosphere, and the poor housing.</p>

<p>Cornell - good location in a very nice area, but not very close to many attractions. very heavy PBL school.</p>

<p>Sinai - my favorite of the NY schools, would be going here next year if I hadn't gotten of the waitlist at my top choice. Shades_children is a student there if you have detailed questions. Most relaxed atmosphere of the NY schools, by far the best housing, and is an incredibly student-focused program. In terms of admissions, they seems pretty MCAT-focused (a la WashU). The NYU affiliation is in name only.</p>

<p>NYU - best location of the NY schools, but has problems with getting students housing after first year from what I've heard, seems pretty GPA-driven regarding admissions.</p>

<p>Yale - I personally love this school, but it is definately not for everyone given that it is probably the most student research-oriented program of any school out there except maybe for Stanford. No grades for your first two years, small class size, and I personally don't disdain New Haven as much as a lot of people do. Not crazy about the dorm housing that many MS1s opt for though.</p>

<p>Again, I must stress the randomness of the process, and so even with an MCAT score, it is incredibly difficult for anyone to accurately asses your chances without intimately knowing your application, and even then people could at best give an educated guess.</p>

11

<p>PhillySASer,</p>

<p>What is PBL?</p>

12

<p>problem based learning.</p>

13

<p>When you say Sinai is incredibly MCAT-based ala Wash U, do you mean to the same extent as them (aka less than 3.8 with a 37+ need not apply)? If I'm coming from Harvard with a 3.56 and a 36 (11B, 12P, 13V) would I have a decent shot? Worth the application fee?</p>

14

<p>thanks for your opinion on the NY schools (and yale) phillySASer....what's your take on Einstein?</p>

15

<p>Re #13: No, he means relative to their means.</p>

16

<p>
[quote]
When you say Sinai is incredibly MCAT-based ala Wash U, do you mean to the same extent as them (aka less than 3.8 with a 37+ need not apply)? If I'm coming from Harvard with a 3.56 and a 36 (11B, 12P, 13V) would I have a decent shot? Worth the application fee?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Sinai is not as numbers-crazy as WashU is. It's only recently that Sinai has started to focus more on test scores. There's still room for people who have other strengths.</p>

<p>Regardless, you should consider applying to Sinai - you have a good chance. The fact that you come from Harvard is a help. Your MCAT is competitive. If you can bump your GPA up a bit, that'd be good, too.</p>

17

<p>Philly, that was tremendously helpful. </p>

<p>I know that the process can be depressingly random, but I just wanted to get a feel for things. </p>

<p>I have another question for you and anyone else who wants to answer it: Am I competing with fellow undergraduates from my college? I know that when I applied to undergraduate colleges, if a student or two from my high school were accepted to a particular school that greatly diminished my chances at being accepted there. Does this happen with medical schools to? And to what degree?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

18

<p>Obviously every med school wants some sort of diversity but the more important mission is to select the best applicants. If they all happen to come from the same college, so be it. From Columbia P&S' Class of 2011 roster, I count 20 from Columbia, 20 from Harvard, and 19 from Yale.</p>