If this were you, which SOMs would be on your list?

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

<p>If this were you, which med schools would you apply to? </p>

<p>And why would you apply to the SOMs that you're recommending?</p>

<p>White Male
Age 21 at time of application.
Applying this summer as a rising senior.
Alabama resident
Attends Alabama
major: Chemical Engineering
minors: Math, Chemistry, Biology
Very good LORs, including one from his PI
good ECs, research, REUs, shadowing, etc.
3.99 cum GPA (one A- in Spanish)
4.0 BCMP GPA (GPAs according to AMCAS standards)</p>

<p>MCAT score (took on Saturday, we're guessing 30 - 33, hopefully balanced, so use that. While he felt strong in the science questions, he's not the best "reading" person. I hope that doesn't mean a low Verbal Reasoning. :( )</p>

<p>Naturally, he'll apply to his 2 instate SOMs, but beyond that he's not sure. </p>

<p>And...how useful are those "predictor sites"??? We tried a couple and they recommended some OOS public SOMs that I don't think accept ANY (or many) OOS students. </p>

<p>*** If you want to suggest some SOMs for a higher score (like a 34/35), then put an asterisk beside those. (We can wish! lol )</p>

<p>(Please don't recommend OOS publics that take few OOS students. If you're recommending an OOS public, it must accept a decent number of OOS students.).</p>

<p>Thanks a bunch. :)</p>

2

<p>Your son has a killer GPA in an extremely difficult major-that said, other than the two state schools, I’d wait to get the MCAT score before making a school list. We’ve just been throught the process, and it gets extremely expensive-not just with the apps, but with travel cost for interviews, etc. If your son gets an MCAT score in the upper 30s, he will be competitive anywhere; anything 30 and over and he’ll get accepted at a US medical school(and I think there aren’t any “bad” US medical schools). Right now, he ought to be asking himself-Practice medicine or academia? What specialty? And this is important-where? Different schools have different strengths in terms of residency programs, etc-some are good at many, some not so much.
Anyway, your son is in a good spot; right now he ought to make sure he’s got his LORs lined up, and is organized so that he can get his application done ASAP; the personal statement is most important, so start work on that now; have it re-read multiple times, then submit. He’s in somewhere-but with no MCAT yet, tough to say where.</p>

3

<p>I don’t think he’s the academia type. He’s not the PhD/MD type. It’s not that he doesn’t like research, he does. It’s just that we don’t think he’d get a 38+ MCAT that seems to be necessary. He’s more the slow and meticulous type. If it were a turtle and hare contest, he’d win. ;)</p>

<p>I think he’ll make a great diagnostician in whatever specialty he goes into.</p>

<p>The reason why we’re asking for potential ideas based on a belief that he scored in the 30-33 range is so that he can get a jump start on some stuff. </p>

<p>I played around with some of those med school predictor sites, but they don’t seem to take into account that a number of OOS publics don’t accept many OOS kids.</p>

4

<p>You might take a look at SDN forum and see if the old ‘Lizzy M score’ spreadsheet is still available, it let you predict based on a combo of GPA + MCAT to formulate a list</p>

5

<p>ummm, no offense crankyoldman, but I disagree with most of the questions you think he should be asking himself right now. Most students graduate med school going into a different specialty than they planned, and without being in the fields, trying to decipher how good a match list is is very hard (especially since so many non prestige things factor into match lists).</p>

<p>I definitely agree with “where?” That might be number one. You don’t have that much free time, but if you’re not happy when you leave class or the hospital, you’ll never be happy when you’re in them.</p>

<p>What kind of curriculum do you like? Are you a lecture guy? A discussion guy? Do you like to hear things more than once (traditional model where 1st year is “normal” and 2nd year is “abnormal”) or would you rather have the integrated model where you do normal and abnormal together, but once you’re done with cardio in 1st year you’ll never talk about the heart again. </p>

<p>Do you want to be graded P/F? The answer should always be yes unless you’re so competitive you can’t handle not being in a competitive environment. I’m not talking about being in an environment where you’re surrounded by the best, I’m talking about do you need to always be fighting to be the best and if others look down on you for that will it bother you.</p>

<p>How important are each of the following: public health, global health, research, community service, underserved populations, being on the cutting edge?</p>

<p>As you look at schools, keep your eye out for special things that make them unique that you like. They’re especially good for talking about “Why X school” on your essays.</p>

6

<p>I think he should also consider what type of learning environment he wants. Does he want a big school (300+)? A medium-sized one (150-200)? A small one (<100)? </p>

<p>Does he want a traditional curriculum (lots of lectures, probably systems based, 2yrs preclinical work followed by 2yrs clinical, etc)? Or would he like more progressive (eg lots of problem/case based learning, a preclinical year followed by a research year followed by two clinical years)? Does he want a dual degree program (eg MD/MPH, MD/MBA, MD/JD)?</p>

<p>Where does he want to go? Somewhere near family? Near friends? Totally new? A big city? Suburbs? Coast? South? Midwest?</p>

<p>Here’s a brief breakdown of why I applied to the schools I applied to.</p>

<p>I’m from Missouri, so I applied to Missouri and SLU. I currently attend Missouri. I withdrew from SLU before an interview offer. </p>

<p>I’m Catholic and went to Catholic schools through high school, so I applied to Creighton, Loyola, and Georgetown (and SLU). I was rejected by Georgetown early on and withdrew from the others.</p>

<p>I wanted a small school with a community feel and with a progressive curriculum (don’t really like lectures all that much…) and I had a nice complement of ECs, so I applied to Mayo. I had an interview there and was waitlisted but eventually withdrew. I definitely loved it there, and wouldn’t be surprised if I wanted to explore an away rotation there in a few years.</p>

<p>I’ve always liked Chicago and I wanted a program with a progressive curriculum, so I applied to Northwestern. I’m interested in public health, and they have a cool MD/MPH program. Turned out that it felt a little too big and a little too competitive for my liking, plus I don’t think I could live in that big of a city for 4 years (as much as I may enjoy visiting…). I had an interview but withdrew afterward.</p>

<p>Continuing on the quest for a small school with a progressive/unique curriculum in a non-urban area, I also applied to Duke. I loved Duke when I interviewed, was waitlisted, and eventually withdrew.</p>

<p>I tossed Drexel, Harvard, Tufts, and UVA into the mix for “good measure” so I wasn’t just applying to a few schools. I withdrew from all of them after my acceptance.</p>

<p>Does that help? I think setting some parameters (hey it’s ok if they’re flexible!) is a good starting point. I mean, really “all” he has are private schools and Alabama schools–so if he can figure out what he’s looking for (eg a small class size with a progressive curriculum) then it will be easier to wade through books and websites. </p>

<p>What if he doesn’t know what he wants? Just tell him to think about it more. He’ll figure out what he values sooner or later :)</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

7

<p>this kid doesn’t really care about school size or other things that often matter. He’s the kind of kid that just fits in wherever he lands. </p>

<p>He will also apply to the Catholics; he too went to Catholic K-12. </p>

<p>After the Alabama SOMs and the Catholics, it seems a bit of eenie, meenie, minie, moe - except for the elite meds.</p>

8

<p>Cornell’s med school is not in Ithaca, it is in manhattan with NYP being its teaching hospital. Dorms are across the street, nice setup. Controlled rent on the housing. I would put that one on the list, and depending Columbia as well. (not on son’s list, reason doesn’t apply to your son)</p>

<p>ECU takes NO OOS. UNC however does. And after first year they reclassify you from OOS to in-state. Hello $14K tuition. They also award money. And for some a nice starting bonus to get you to NC.</p>

<p>Duke would also be a possibility, depends more on the MCAT though. Wake Forest I again would wait on MCAT but in the opposite direction for the MCAT and you have other options in that slot. How does he feel about Baltimore? Was a deciding factor for son and his 2 best friends. One turned down JH because of the area. So area does matter.</p>

<p>Chicago, but that is also a quick and FUN rejection! Michigan, depending on MCAT. Son really liked the school and area (enjoyed his interview), however the money was an issue for him. They do NOT re-classify so once an OOS always an OOS for tuition purposes. Neither do the Florida schools. OOS stays OOS.</p>

<p>He could consider Miami (private), they give preference to in-state but take plenty of OOS, MD/MPH is only 4 years while all others are 5. UVA takes OOS but is pricey, and he as 2 in-state options now.</p>

<p>USC might be another possibilty. But they will be looking for his attachment to the area, but he could answer that in a supplemental.</p>

<p>Again the above posters are right MCAT will play a large role. But he can start crossing schools off his list. Son did an initial purge that way. And finances. If he gets no money, all loans where can he afford to go? Yes they will give it to you in all loans, but what is his threshold. Yes if he gets into only 1 school he will pay no matter what.</p>

<p>But I assuming he will have some choices, and he (y’all) can start to think about that. Reason why son used excel. He was very concerned about finances, since he was paying for it all himself, so he took some off the list right away based on money. Sp for example, Temple is pricey but they offer merit scholie’s so they remained on his list. They have a brand new facility. But after acceptance came off the list when the money wasn’t enough.</p>

<p>Some schools are heavy on research while others more primary care. Some are in GREAT locations while others not so great. He was able to narrow some down based on that alone. After his trip to Michigan he can home and withdrew from some other midwest schools, early in the process. Was true for the NY schools as well. He only kept the ones he really, really liked after he had some acceptances. And since it was so early in the app season it did help. But again this was during the app season not before.</p>

<p>My son was not specific about the size of class, P/F, teaching style…more where he would be comfortable, enjoy the area, his peers, and the money.</p>

<p>Kat</p>

9

<p>Seriously, I think my son just want an acceptance and won’t be picky at all. I don’t think his MCAT will allow for being picky or having lots of choices. lol</p>

<p>Naturally, we are hoping for UAB since it’s very good, instate, and a good price. But, since we all know that admissions to a specific SOM is a tiny chance, he’ll have to cast a wide net.</p>

<p>I realize without an MCAT score, it’s hard to recommend, that’s why I put the parameter I did. </p>

<p>When using those predictor websites, I was surprised that it recommended UArkansas and a Penn State SOM (don’t know the campus). It also recommended UNew Mexico and a Missouri SOM (I think Kansas city?)</p>

10

<p>New Mexico takes no oos (the ones they accept oos are from Indian nations located in NM). Missouri takes few oos and the ones they take are from neighboring states.</p>

11

<p>Kansas City SOM is a 6 year medical program with very few matriculating after bachelor’s and those are from nearby universities (like Truman State) with “agreements” to have their graduates come in if they achieve X gpa and Y mcat. The only other state school in Missouri is located in Columbia, MO (see comment above)</p>

12

<p>UNM indeed takes no OOS. However, UNM will consider on an equal footing applicants from WICHE states that have no in-state med school (Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Alaska) OR are a member of any Native American tribe. (Doesn’t have to be in NM.)</p>

<p>~~</p>

<p>PA has no public medical schools. The “state med school” – PSU at Hershey–is actually a private school. It’s about 50% in-state. If he’s going to consider Hershey, then maybe he ought to consider Temple, Drexel and Jefferson (all in Phila.) as well. All private and all with under 50% in-state. Applicant metrics are about the same as Hershey.</p>

<p>D1 applied to Drexel and was offered an interview, but withdrew before the interview. Drexel has the option for a student to choose either a traditional or progressive curriculum.</p>

13

<p>Assuming a MCAT 30-32—what about Virginia Tech, Virginia Commonwealth or University of Vermont?</p>

14

<p>What is his personal criteria for choosing?</p>

15

<p>kaw,
Do you know which states will allow oos to change after one year? NY and Ohio are the ones that I’ve heard.</p>

16

<p>WA used to, but they stopped this year :(.</p>

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<p>"Do you know which states will allow oos to change after one year? NY and Ohio are the ones that I’ve heard. "</p>

<p>-In OH, it does not mean much, as state schools’ tuition in 3rd and 4th year is the same as expansive private. So, you are saving a bit in 2nd year (if any at all)</p>

18

<p>Sigh… Thanks MiamiDAP… I guess we were dreaming when we thought that we would be able to pay tuition for med school with no loans.</p>

19

<p>Little known but very nice. If a student is accepted to a Texas state medical school from OOS and gets a $1000 merit scholarship, in state tuition starts immediately. From my watching on sdn , if you get the acceptance as an OOS, the scholarship is likely to follow.</p>

20

<p>NM does if one can demonstrate “ties to the state.”* (Of course getting accepted to UNM in the first place is the hard part…)</p>

<ul>
<li>I have this in writing from the UNM’s SOM Dean of Admissions.</li>
</ul>