<p>I have some nice stats and ECs, etc. and I have no idea how to pick schools.</p>
<p>Of course I've added the ivies that matter most to me but I don't know how to find other top schools of that tier and everything below.</p>
<p>I added Duke to my list as well but I really don't know which schools to add.</p>
<p>the schools I have:
harvard
yale
stanford
mit
uchicago
umichigan
ucla
ucsd
nyu</p>
<p>Get some safeties in your list. You will most likely be rejected from all Ivies, Stanford, MIT, and UChicago no matter how “nice” you think your stats and ECs are. Don’t pick schools based on “prestige.” Apply to some schools where you actually have a chance at. Here are some great schools for premed that you can add if you are of “Ivy” caliber. Cornell, UC Berkeley, Johns Hopkins, and UNC.</p>
<p>For pre-med, chemistry, or biology, you can go anywhere, almost, and get a good education. Anywhere, not just these great schools. So go to the one which fits you best. The most important component in fit for most people is cost: what can your family afford? The only way to know this is to get your parents’ most recent tax statement and sit down with them to run the data thru the “net price calculators” at these schools. The NPCs will produce an Estimated Family Contribution that tells your family what the school expects them to pay. Whether or not your family can or is willing to pay that will tell you where, for the most part, you can apply to school. When you have that information, you can consider the rest of the elements of “fit”: gender ratio, party atmosphere, size, urban/suburban/rural, big sports, crime rate, distance from home, Greeks, weather, you name it. Prestige has near zero to do with it because no med or grad school is going to give a hoot where you went u/g. What they want to see is GPA, rigor, MCATs, research, letters of rec, interview, in roughly that order. What you want to see is that you haven’t a great deal of debt, or no debt at all, entering med school. Finally, also consider the possibility that you will not want to go to med school after two years, or you will not get into a med school after four or five years: what college has your backup majors or will have them if you don’t know what they are now. You’ve plenty of top tier, now find out if they fit, and then find some matches and safeties that fit.</p>
<p>Low cost is an important factor for pre-meds. Medical school is expensive, so you want to avoid debt and save money to keep your medical school debt down.</p>
<p>Avoiding debt can also be a factor for biology and chemistry majors who do not get into medical school, since the bachelor’s level job prospects in those fields may not be that well paying.</p>
<p>Get a copy of the Fiske Guide to Colleges and identify some schools that look interesting. Run the Net Price Calculator to see if you can afford them. Visit some if possible. Agree with those who say keep your costs down if you are going to med school – look hard at in-state schools, any schools with reciprocity for you state, and schools where your “nice stats” might qualify you for significant merit aid. If you are eligible for need based aid, also look at schools that meet full need.</p>
<p>How much will your parents pay each year for undergrad? You have some OOS publics on your list and they don’t give great aid. Even the privates that give good aid may expect your parents to pay more than they’ll agree to pay. If you don’t know how much your parents will pay, then ask. You need to know.</p>
<p>What are your stats?</p>
<p>Go where you’ll get a good education (any good school) and where you’ll get a high GPA. Your GPA and your MCAT score are most important. Also important are your medically related ECs and LORs.</p>
<p>“URM-mexican, 2300+ SAT, Intel science fair, 3.99GPA, etc.)”</p>
<p>Your chances are pretty good. Just make sure that finances are also in order. Be sure to apply to some affordable safeties.</p>