<p>URoch? (Its secondary is very, very brief.)</p>
<p>My only advice would be to make sure that he likes each of those schools. I know I’m in the minority, but I think 15 is borderline too many. Even without taking into account app fees and the cost of interviewing (because let’s face it, in the grand scheme of medical education a few extra grand won’t matter), applying to a ton of schools can just be…exhausting. Sure you can reuse aspects of your applications, but I found that keeping up the stamina to send my best possible application to each of my 13 schools got really tough toward the end. Looking back, I would have rather applied to 10 schools and sent fantastic apps to each of them than tack on those extra 3 schools “just in case.” It happened that the extra 3 were schools I probably would not have attended had they been my only acceptance, which to me meant they were a waste of energy that could have been better spent. </p>
<p>So, I think you should ask him (after he’s really thoroughly researched all of those schools) if he would be absolutely thrilled to go to any one of them should it be his only acceptance. I think it would work here because it looks like his list is nicely balanced and it sounds like he has a competitive application. It’s also a pretty straightforward way to take into account all the researchable stuff, like curriculum style, class size, location, mission, training facilities, etc. And if you find a few that don’t fit the bill, save yourself some trouble and time and just scratch them now!</p>
<p>I personally think 9-12 would be an appropriate number, especially because it appears that he is nicely competitive and nicely matched for his state school, which I understand is a school he would like to attend. Considering his best chances of admission (in terms of admissions percentage) are from his state school anyway, loading on a bunch of other schools where he is less likely to get in from to beginning seems like it could be a waste of time to me. I think it would be a different story if he really didn’t want to go to his state school, his state school were a bad match for him, or if he had his sights set on an elite program. If the latter were the case, I think 15+ would definitely be appropriate. </p>
<p>(Possibly unrelated, but interesting nonetheless: when I was talking about applications with my med school classmates, I found that with 13 apps I applied to the most schools. Most applied to 5-8, because they knew they were competitive for their state school and that’s where they wanted to go anyway.)</p>
<p>m2ck - Are you dissing Texas? I don’t see any schools!</p>
<p>^ When somebody from the south (Alabama in this case) is still dissing Texas, we Texans really have an image problem. 
I think last year, an applicant from Georgia did not want to try Texas schools either. In DS’s year, all premed friends who he knows but were not from Texas originally never wanted to come down here. (too hot and too “red” are often cited as the reasons.) Maybe we should elect a governor who did better than “oops”, and who led many states to “pray for the rain.” By doing this, the image problem could possibly be improved. LOL.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I will probably never seriously consider a Texas school. However, both of my parents( UT alumni) are Texas natives who can trace their Texas roots back over 100 years(in the case of my dad, back before there was a Texas.) and both have strongly recommended that I never live/work/study there. And it had nothing to do with how hot it is.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That would be my daughter you are referring to and you’re spot on as the main reasons she excluded TX schools. ;)</p>
<p>Good to know. More seats for our Texas kids. May be I will vote for Rick Perry next time if thats all it takes dissuade the competition in three years! :p</p>
<p>Btw, the prayers must have been answered since we have fireworks today?</p>
<p>why does noone like texas? im super sad that i’ll be leaving tx</p>
<p>A couple of years ago, a relative (a kid) visited us during summer. When we were walking in the down area, he said:“It is like walking in the desert.”</p>
<p>But this kind of thing grows on you. I think it took DS at least 3 years (and got yelled at in the football game by drunken students/alumni: “you are in the wrong league” several times) before DS finally stopped wearing his longhorn jacket everywhere NOT in Texas. (He even did not go to UT, but most of his friends did. He is also not a long horn team’s fan. So the only explanation is that, at that time, he still had some need to “identify” with his home state.)</p>
<p>(GA2012MOM, I did refer to your D. I think your loved one will fly north for yet another 4 years. I bet she has been more used to that environment than her hometown by now.)</p>
<p>Yep, D is an official NE girl now. She never had the southern accent despite being born here. In first grade, she got off the bus crying. When I asked what was wrong, she said all the kids on the bus were chanting “yankee, yankee” because she didn’t talk with a southern accent! She told them all she was born in Atlanta, but they continued to bully her. I told her not to pay attention, that some day that people wouldn’t say that.</p>
<p>As far as the heat vs. the cold goes, I always said you can always put on layers, but you can only take so much off!</p>
<p>meant to include Galveston and UT-H on the list. </p>
<p>Only “dissing” the other Texas ones because they don’t seem to admit OOS students.</p>
<p>We LOVE Texas…it’s great…and I love that their waffles are in the shape of their state.</p>
<p>Oh, I happen to love it in Texas. Doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate other places or see some things I’d like to see change. But I rode 1600 miles through the Texas Hill Country (Upper and Lower) Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and yesterday . Street and dirt roads. If you plan your ride correctly you can go for hours without seeing another vehicle. Just hills and curves. Fantastic riding. Lots of wildlife. Still a little water in the creeks. </p>
<p>Whenever I ride in other states I just can’t get over how crowded and closed in they feel. And at night here you can see the stars. Really see them.</p>
<p>I love the SouthWest and Texas.</p>
<p>M2ck - He will love it if he gets in and wants to come! There are no other places in the country which can you give you all your rotations within a 2 mile distance.</p>
<p>Curm - 1600 miles? Really? How can you stand that much of driving?</p>
<p>I couldn’t stand that much driving, either. I was on a motorcycle. We ride them. We ain’t going anywhere. We’re just riding. lol</p>
<p>p.s. We don’t go into a town except to eat and get gasoline. The rest of the time we route around even the smallest towns. It’s great fun and my lifelong avocation. We splash across streams and rivers. Seek out the twistiest roads or roughest roads (depending on the bike I’m on). I left the ranch at 7 yesterday. Got back at 7. Celebrating freedom by being free. ;)</p>
<p>Motorcycle riding sitting in one position sounds very tiring. Is that common to do such long stretches of driving as a group? </p>
<p>I normally see groups on weekends on major roads but a city does not have too many dusty roads I suppose.</p>
<p>How is the girl who applied late last year doing this year?</p>
<p>Son looked at the TX schools since the fam spent so much time in vegas, phx and so cal. He loved playing football in that dry heat. But he had 3 publics on his list and had since become a Carolina son. He interviewed at the 3 publics early, 1 called in August so he knew he wouldn’t pick the TX school over his own state school.</p>
<p>But I think the TX schools offer a great opportunity to OOS students…better than our state, for the publics. Only 2 here and one doesn’t accept ANY OOS and capped at 18% at the other. And cost is great bargain as well.</p>
<p>Kat</p>
<p>Curm have you been riding around here? It gets empty on many of the roads here and the way to the smokies is fantastic for views!</p>
<p>Yup. Sure have. I loved it. Western North Carolina. BRP. The little bitty roads. Away from the cities. Nephews and I rode over there a couple years ago and just started winding our way through the mountains on ever smaller roads. Ended up on a hiking trail. The hikers were not amused.</p>
<p>texaspg, we don’t parade. Picture small groups of ne’er do wells terrorizing the gravel and dirt roads with 600 pound round-the-world type adventure bikes (big giant huge dirt-bikes) . And we stand on the pegs a lot to cool down and relieve butt pressure points. </p>
<p>Even when I’m on my Harley, I just don’t do big groups. I don’t like crowds and, apparently, the feeling is mutual. ;)</p>
<p>Sorority little sis starts soon and only an hour from me. Small program at Texas A+M at Scott and White Hospital in Temple, Texas for all 4 years. 30 or so students? All brand new sim labs and facilities. State of the art stuff from what I hear. She is one very lucky girl. Did everything wrong app-wise (late, waited on MCAT re-take, late to be complete, crappy short list, and still got in). Thank God she’s cute, sweet, personable, and had a good/very good resume.</p>
<p>I’d have been dead in the water. ;)</p>