<p>Well, there are a few reasons I was asking. </p>
<p>1) I was wondering if you had a good understanding of medical school admissions and ranking. Many young students assume that there are “tiers” of med school in the same way there are “tiers” of undergrad schools. However, that’s essentially not the case. The reason is that there are only 130ish med schools in the country, and each of them is de facto required to teach similar material because graduates from all schools must pass the same licensing tests in order to practice medicine. Nation-wide, pass rates for boards are quite high, which implies that all medical schools do a good job preparing students to practice medicine. While there are certainly elite schools that do impressive research and offer brand new facilities, concluding that these things make them “better” than another school is not necessarily accurate. One of the reasons for this is that there’s a lot more to a med school than its name, and the things you value in a school might not be the same as the things someone else values in a school. </p>
<p>2) I was wondering if any common misconceptions were guiding your decision to, at first glance, limit yourself to considering elite programs. You did mention one common misconception–that better med school = better residency = better job. This is slightly similar to the misconception that better undergrad = better med school. The name of your program means very little to the med school or residency where you eventually match. As far as residencies go, things that are considerably more important than the name of your school include your boards scores, your third year clerkship grades, evaluations from your clinical preceptors, research you’ve done, leadership positions you’ve held, and (probably) whether you are a part of AOA. Additionally, it’s unlikely a high school student can accurately interpret match lists, so if you’re personally the one concluding that Med School A is better than Med School B because its match list looks more impressive, you could be mistaken.</p>
<p>I’m not trying to be sassy or discouraging, just wanted to point out that if your goal is “just” to get into any medical school, that is still an admirable goal. You wouldn’t be “settling” if you chose your state’s school (for example) in the same way you might be “settling” if you chose a no-name school for undergrad.</p>
<p>But, generally speaking, in order to get into an elite program, you have to have a considerable hook. When I interviewed at some elite programs a few years ago, I met students who: a) graduated from Julliard, composed for Broadway, designed and open a new clinic, and started an after-school program that got adopted by the state, b) graduated from his state school, pitched for an MLB team, published two basic sciences research papers, and was part of the Peace Corps, c) triple majored at an LAC, did Teach For America, consulted for a health policy agency, and presented research to the WHO. (Why was I among them? Sometimes I wonder. I started a nonprofit organization that received some national attention from the sector it works in, was recognized for various awards and scholarships as an undergrad, and had a wide variety of experiences.)</p>
<p>It’s hard to make a timeline for getting into an elite school (or any med school for that matter) because it’s so individual to each person. What you need to do is figure out what you’re passionate about and how you can cultivate those passions at OH State. You need to develop an impressive array of meaningful experiences (research, clinical, shadowing, service, employment, etc) that you can communicate effectively about. You need to take risks, find leadership roles, get involved with various research labs and clinics, etc. </p>
<p>You need to do all of this while maintaining a very high GPA (>3.7) taking difficult classes. You need to get a high MCAT score. </p>
<p>You need to develop relationships with mentors, professors, and leaders in various fields who will go to bat for you and attest to your dedication to and preparation for a career in medicine. </p>
<p>You need to be an excellent communicator, both written and verbal.</p>
<p>You need to apply early and intelligently to a wide array of schools. You need to write convincing secondaries. You need to knock the socks off your interviewers. You need to be charming, courteous, polite, and engaging.</p>
<p>I’d say you have a decent shot at acceptance to a top program if you can fulfill each of the things I mentioned.</p>
<p>Edited to add: But what you really need, more than anything, in my opinion, is a healthy dose of luck and serendipity.</p>
<p>(For what it’s worth: I’m currently a second year med student at my state’s med school, and I also interviewed at 3 elite programs in 2010.)</p>
Good luck to you!</p>