<p>^There are always exceptions, applicants from my school have a very high acceptance rate to Georgetown and GW.</p>
<p>“She would like to avoid anyplace that is ultra competitive as she likes a more collaborative atmosphere if possible.”
I do not believe that any Medical School is competitive. they support each student as much as they could and they to accomodate certian needs.
On the other hand, academics is super duper hard at any place, the lowest ranked Med. School included. It is not anything that any UG senior could even imagine, according to my D. (who I have asked many times) it is not anyhow comparable to UG level, it is much harder. Frankly, my D. did not care for Chicago either and not for the weather as we are in the similar region, although Chicago ans specifically Feinberg (close to lake) is super windy. Another concern was not having a car there. Believe me D. was concidering Feinberg very much, we were there looking for apartment.
We did not consider cost. But we considered number of schools that D. applied. Your list is way too long on my D’s scale. The only advice I have is to limit yourself to approximately 10 of wide range. My D. has applied to 8. Best wishes!</p>
<p>Forgot to mentione, that Pittsburgh was another city that D. did not care about and withdrew after interview. Just keep in mind that suggestions here will be based on each poster personal experience and might not be applicable to your specific situation. Many indicated their love for Pittsburgh, while my D. did not feel that she would fit into surroundings and the student body there would be a good match for her. These 2 were her top cirteria along with the specifics of each program, they are different from school to school, but you can learn about them only during interview and/or Second Look event.
Another point to keep in mind that some schools seem to accept the same applicant in most cases (I am sure there are exceptions). As an example most who are accepted at Case get accepted at NwU.</p>
<p>2.) Do not apply to any out-of-state public schools (edit: except UVa).</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>How about this list: the Illinois schools you have listed plus these warmer-weather schools
Emory
Duke
Vandy
Baylor
UVa
UNC
UCSF</p>
<p>Another thing I would recommend is making sure you give your state school a fair shot. All throughout undergrad (probably until…I started applying to med school?) I was pretty hell-bent on going to an elite program–probably because I was (mistakenly) sure that the more elite programs were better than my state school (which is far from well-known for its academics, and much more so for its athletics programs). I had a similar feeling when applying for undergrad–I HATED the idea of going to a state school, and I really only did because my parents made me.</p>
<p>But, lo and behold, much to my chagrin, state school for UG ended up being just absolutely perfect. And I don’t know how I come off on this board, but in real life I can be pretty stubborn–so agreeing with my parents (gosh they were right AGAIN) was tough.</p>
<p>And you know, the same ended up being pretty true for med school too. At first, I scoffed at the idea of going to my state school and thought that it would be as much of a safety as can be in med schools. But after I started learning more about it, and recognizing that it had that “x factor” many private schools didn’t offer–things like a familiar supportive environment, proximity to my family and friends, etc etc. </p>
<p>In no way do I think my education has been compromised for choosing a state school. On the contrary, I think it may have been enhanced: since I plan to practice here in the future, I love learning about health care issues in my state (eg punitive medicaid thresholds–19% FPL, 3rd worst in the nation!), getting to know leaders in the field here, having an opportunity to do clinical rotations in rural areas, the list just goes on and on. </p>
<p>Not saying your kiddo has any of these same attitudes, just that I imagine they’re more common than I realize and that it can be tough to articulate them. Also not saying that there’s a bias against state schools here, although as far as I know private (elite) schools are considerably more represented than state schools by current posters/parents. Just that I was pleasantly surprised by how wonderful my state school was, and I hope she doesn’t overlook a potentially great school!</p>
<p>I am reading the original post and it says 36 MCAT and 3.9 GPA. Is this considered not good enough?</p>
<p>I saw some follow up posts referring to 30 and 3.5-3.6 being too low. I dont know if they were mentioned and removed.</p>
<p>Baylor is private but 75% or so instate. Not sure about OP’s D’s current school but although UT houston is 90% in state, they like to accept students from well known schools.</p>
<p>
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<p>No, those are very good numbers. The thing is that even for candidates with very good numbers, choosing which schools to apply to is super important.</p>
<p>3.9 36 is good enough to have a shot anywhere. But …it is not a guarantee anywhere.</p>
<p>(Wasn’t implying that OP’s D wouldn’t be competitive at elite schools–on the contrary, she appears to be very competitive just about anywhere–just that I think it would be a good idea to consider state schools too–they can be really great!)</p>
<p>For her GPA and MCAT, I would suggest two groups of med schools in her list. The first group is her dream schools. If getting in, her dream will come true. The second group consists of med schools that have the highest acceptance rate for her UG school graduates. This group of schools is for the goal - getting in a med school. Her school’s med advisors should have historical statistics of acceptance rate of her UG school’s graduates of all med schools that accepted her UG graduates. Go to get that important infomation.</p>
<p>texaspg, my D has the 3.9, 36. Shades was trying to tell me that she should not apply to places where the avg. numbers were 3.4 , 30. That such a school will not consider my D thinking she will likely go to a different (higher ranked?) school.</p>
<p>Kristen, my D not wanting to come back to Chicago has little to do with the state schools quality but more to do with her not wanting to live back in the Midwest. We cant predict the future, but I think I am safe in saying that she doesnt intend on practicing here if she can help it. She will apply to the Illinois schools knowing that it is the smart thing to do but she is hoping she has a better (weather) option. She is not a midwestern girl LOL. She is not going on prestige of school. Actually, her Dad and I suggested it would be fun to say you got accepted to an Ivy med school and maybe she should apply? Not interested in name recognition so that was that.</p>
<p>Funny thing is I had lunch today with someone who is a Adcom member at one of those schools listed above as having a super low admission percentage. In talking, I said we had been told that to apply to schools with stats being much lower than my D’s was possibly a waste of an application. Do to the schools looking out for their yield, they would not risk one of their acceptances on a chance she may come. He emphatically told me this was basically crazy talk!!! So I explicitly asked if he interviewed alot of upper stat kids at this institution and did they actually accept them seeing as this school is more “average”. He said yes but I wonder???<br>
DD said she took out BU and GW and put in Pitt. I will pass on other suggestions of UVa. D is very interested in Baylor and Emory so far.
She is just starting to form a plan so we are so thankful for all the opinions from this forum. Keep it coming.</p>
<p>"3.9 36 is good enough to have a shot anywhere. But …it is not a guarantee anywhere. "
-Exactly. Even very carefully selected list hopefully will result in about 50% with some schools not even responding, stay cool and do not take anything personally. These numbers are beyond superior, these combo is not that common. One thing based from personal experience, I guarantee 99% acceptance to both Case and NwU.</p>