<p>D just beginning to gather her list of potential places to apply. Basic stats are MCAT 36, GPA =3.9ish. Average ECs, research, volunteerism and shadowing. We live in Illinois and she attends UG at Tulane.</p>
<p>Stanford
George Washington
Miami
Emory
Loyola
Northwestern
R.Franklin
Rush
U Chicago
U of I Chicago
Tulane
Boston Univ
Tufts
Mayo
Wash U
Duke
Case
Vandy
Baylor</p>
<p>She would like to avoid anyplace that is ultra competitive as she likes a more collaborative atmosphere if possible. She really would rather not come back to Chicago if she has a choice as she hates the weather but knows alot of schools are located in places with crappy weather.
Kid is a wanderer and is wondering if it is stupid to apply to Medical University of South Carolina because it is in Charleston and thinks she would like to spend time there???? Total waste of $$ or why not?</p>
<p>Medical University of South Carolina has a moderately strong in-state bias (>85% of its enrollment is in-state). Unless she can demonstrate some sort of “ties to the state,” applying is likely an exercise in futility.</p>
<p>As for comments about other schools—I’m going to sit this one out because I also have a kid applying this year.</p>
<p>1) Great stats. Should be in range for any school.
2) Apply to all in-state schools unless she has a compelling reason not to. At first glance it looks like she has some good options.
3) Apply to private schools in your stats range. Looks like she has those boxes checked too.
4) Apply to some elite programs, just because. And she’s done that. </p>
<p>If I were her, I’d be happy with this list, and with the benefit of retrospect, I wouldn’t bother applying to that many schools. I’d say a nice mix of a dozen schools would be fine for her, assuming there are no glaring red flags on her application (doesn’t sound like it). I’m probably in the minority here, suggesting fewer schools–but that’s just my slant on the process. </p>
<p>PS: If you have any ties to MO, she should apply to my school! Sounds like she’d like the environment here. Would be happy to provide more in-depth thoughts via PM if you’d like. And the weather’s maybe not quite as bad as Chicago?</p>
<p>Not sure what it is now but when S was applying to Med schools in 2008, tuition at MCSC for OOS students was something like $50 or $ 60 K per year as I recall.</p>
<p>Given their strong in state bias he also felt the OOS tuition cost was a not so subtle message to an OOS applicant as well.</p>
<p>Was going to mention Wake Forest as well. They would like those stats and the Illinois diversity. And the 85% in state in SC is also an indicator of their in-state preference. UNC also has the mandatory 18% and under cap for OOS but after the first year of OOS you can be reclassified for in-state tuition. Don’t know how long that will last (University of Washington had same but changed recently) with a new legislature and gov. wants to re-do some educational finances.</p>
<p>UNC would also like the 36 mcat and the 3.9. How much???</p>
<p>Wake also gets tons of apps, but just a feeling she would be more competitive there than GW and BU.</p>
<p>Thanks for the thoughtful replies. There seems to be so many variables of each school the search is much more complicated than the search for an undergrad institution. I will relay the suggestions you have made to my D.</p>
<p>I would hesitate to apply to medical schools like GWU with an average MCAT of 30 or so and average GPA of 3.5-3.6. Your daughter’s application may not be taken very seriously - they may figure that with stats like hers, she’s certain to get into a more highly ranked school like Stanford, so why waste an interview on her?</p>
<p>I am not sure what criteria she used to make this first cut list. Probably a combination of stats, location. I have passed on the ideas that have been suggested and she is looking at them.</p>
<p>I echo what shades is saying and would add: If “a” med school is the goal, her state schools are her best bet. Beyond that, with her stats being what they are, she’d better write a convincing “why GWU?” essay ( for example) or find another way to “show them the love” no matter how genuine her desire to attend. Yield is very important. </p>
<p>Had my daughter known more about the process, she’d have applied to her state schools and then 8-10 schools she’d have attended even with an acceptance to one of the state schools. In other words, she would not have applied to a number of mid-range schools.</p>
<p>Of course going to “a” medical school is the goal overall. She knows she has to apply instate and she will do that. There is a financial benefit to attending in state, but if I had to make a guess right now, D would prefer to go somewhere other than her home state. D is very thrifty and knows that instate might be her best move financially but I do stress to her she needs to be somewhat happy about where she ends up. Slogging through four tough years at a place you are not thrilled with doesnt sound like a good plan to me. </p>
<p>I think she went through the MSAR looking for places that fit her stats within reason and some places where she thinks she might like to attend locale wise also. Probably picked some schools in the reach and some in the safety range (for lack of better terms. I know no school is a safety) I will warn her about wasting apps on schools whose averages are much lower than hers. Question though; Do med schools not operate like some undergrads and take higher stat kids in order to boost the schools stats?</p>
<p>So Curm, if I am understanding your point, your D would have applied to her state schools plus 8-10 schools she thought she would like to attend. Does that mean they were all schools that she could defend wanting to go to in her secondaries regardless of her/the schools stats?</p>
<p>Pritzger may give her substantial merit money to take the COA under other schools, including state schools. There is a student on this board who got full tuition I believe, and maybe she/he may weigh in on that. My daughter was offered 40K per year from them. Was her second choice school, first choice gave her more incentive.</p>
<p>I was offered the same scholarship at Pritzker; at the time it was offered, I mistakenly thought it was a full-tuition scholarship because the amount would have been full-tuition anywhere else I had applied. (I didn’t realize how high Pritzker tuition was.)</p>
<hr>
<p>My general advice in making a list is as follows.</p>
<p>1.) Apply to every school in your home state.</p>
<p>2.) Do not apply to any out-of-state public schools.</p>
<p>2a.) There are some exceptions to rule #2, especially if you have close ties to that state. Pay close attention to their rate of interviewing and admitting OOS applicants before deciding that the school falls into an exception.</p>
<p>3.) Generally, do not apply to any school whose mean/median MCAT score and/or GPA exceed yours by too much. Obviously this is moot here. Use the data obtained from actual matriculants, and not merely admittees – this is usually reported correctly in US News.</p>
<p>4.) Beware of “deceptively selective” programs. There are many schools that have reasonable (that is, not too high) MCAT and GPA scores, but for whatever reason their admissions percentages turn out shockingly low. When I was applying in 2005, these schools included Boston University, Wake Forest, and Georgetown, among others. Avoid these. Admissions percentage matters just as much as mean MCAT and GPA.</p>
<p>5.) In sum, there’s three quantitative areas to be aware of: (1) In-state favoritism; (2) Matriculating student MCAT and GPA; (3) Admissions percentage.</p>