<p>sGPA definitely includes math. (Fortunately for D2 because she was a math major and took LOTS of math classes. And did quite well.)</p>
<p>OK, I see her strategy as doing one of 2 things:</p>
<p>1) conservative. Apply instate and to mostly mid tier research schools (rank #30-75), including many approx peer schools to her state school, with 4-6 Top 20 and desirable OOS schools (maybe UHSU, CU–she’d be good fit at either but their OOS acceptance percentages are <3%)</p>
<p>2) gung ho! Apply to her 4 “must apply” schools (instate, undergrad, currently employer, UMinn) and use most of the rest of her list to take risks on top privates where her stats are in range or close to in-range.</p>
<p>I realize either option is a gamble one way or another. There are no sure things in med school applications.</p>
<p>I’m tending to favor approach #2, but she’s not as sure it’s the right thing to do. </p>
<p>BTW, BDM was right about looking at OOS acceptance rates (accepted vs applied) at public. Yikes! Talk about bad odds!</p>
<p>The hybrid option is to pick enough schools to satisfy list #1, while adding several schools from list #2. The obvious downside is that this requires more work and more money, but I tend to feel that it’s worth it.</p>
<p>And yeah – I’m always shocked when I see the numbers! I feel like admissions percentage is the number that I forgot about in picking undergraduate applications, so maybe I overcompensate a bit in med school, but still…</p>
<p>Although, you know, the more I think about it the more concerned I am that the 9 is going to be a problem. :(</p>
<p>Perhaps a good thing to do would be to think about the goal at the end of this process. Obviously the goal is to be accepted to medical school. But are you looking for one acceptance anywhere? Or are you looking to have a variety of acceptances, and thus a choice? What are the non-negotiables (other than NYC)?</p>
<p>For me, the goal was to get into med school. I had a school that I knew I had a good shot at, so I applied to a few (2?) schools with similar stats and some (4?) elite programs. In hindsight, those other 6 applications were a waste of time and money. But I guess it’s easy to say those were a waste since I ended up not needing them–so maybe the trick is to figure out what degree of uncertainty and risk you’re comfortable with.</p>
<p>I suspect I’d accept more uncertainty than future dr bdm, but that his results would be more impressive than mine :)</p>