What are my chances?

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

<p>What are my chances for obtaining an interview (and getting accepted to) to Harvard, Duke, UMich, Stanford, Yale, etc? If I fall short of those, what are some alternative schools where I would be competitive? And what are some good safety schools?</p>

<p>I have a 3.83 cumulative GPA and a 3.70 science GPA, I got a 34R on my MCAT.</p>

<p>Double majoring in Neuroscience and Psychology at The University of Michigan - Ann Arbor.</p>

<p>150 hours of volunteering experience in an a cardiovascular surgery O.R. at UofM hospital
2 years Research in a developmental neuroscience lab
Honors thesis on pediatric OCD and brain electrophysiology (no publication)
Fraternity member - 2 semester scholarship chairman
Graduated with honors and with "distinction" (top 25% of graduating class)
40-50 hours Shadowing experience (internal, psychiatry, orthopedics)
Solid letters of recommendation
Strong personal statement (IMO)</p>

<p>I'm also a first generation college student from a working-class (economically disadvantaged) background. I am a white male from a suburb of Detroit, Michigan.</p>

2

<p>I do not know about most schools, but D. has applied to U of M. Her stats were a bit higher. You might have more EC’s than she had, but she had plenty according to her committee. Well, U of M has completely ignored her application, not rejection, no anything from them. D. was accepted to couple top 20s and had good choices at the end. Currently is MS2.<br>
I am very sure though that your Michigan resident status will be a big plus. I would engourage you to apply despite of D’s negative experience. We are actually from state that U of M does not favor too much from what I heard (and from statistics of accepted).</p>

3

<p>Statistically, you are behind on MCAT at all of them. A Caucasian male applicant probably needs a few more points (at least 2, probably 3) to be “competitive”. Is it a well-balanced 34? Is it your only testing? Both of those answers could change things. </p>

<p>A tenth light on bcmp (remember, just bio, chem, math and physics). Probably not a biggie compared to MCAT. </p>

<p>The really good news is that you have a competitive application for the majority of med schools. </p>

<p>IIRC, there are very few statistical differences among the top 20-ish schools. They all look pretty much alike. @ 3.8 GPA, 36 MCAT. The difference comes in the other parts of the app. Your app looks “fine”. But nothing stands out as superlative.</p>

<p>Have a healthy list of mid-tiers. All your state schools. And throw a few high-flyers in, too. You never know. My kid was light a couple MCAT points and she made it through at one of your dream schools (but her resume was “better”).</p>

4

<p>Oh, yeah. My kid also had the school who never responded. At all. For her it was Stanford. Never a peep.</p>

5

<p>Answering your “safety” question: I’d strongly encourage you to apply to Michigan State, Wayne State, and Central Michigan. With your numbers and as an in-stater, you’d be in good shape for all three-and an early acceptance can take a lot of stress out of the process.</p>

6

<p>Don’t forget Oakland which now has a medical school. ;)</p>

7

<p>*What are my chances for obtaining an interview (and getting accepted to) to Harvard, Duke, UMich, Stanford, Yale, etc? If I fall short of those, what are some alternative schools where I would be competitive? And what are some good safety schools?</p>

<p>I have a 3.83 cumulative GPA and a 3.70 science GPA, I got a 34R on my MCAT.*</p>

<p>While there are no safety med schools, your “kinda safeties” may be some unranked instate public SOMs. Your stats aren’t so high that they would be certain that they’re being used as safeties. </p>

<p>As for those tippy top SOMs…The chances are lowish even for those with tippy top stats.</p>

<p>That said, why are you so concerned about those SOMs? What difference do you think those SOMs will make for you?</p>

<p>What schools did you apply to??</p>

8

<p>Since you are in Mich., I would recommend all Mich. state schools as most people apply in-state in tehir respective states. Then, did you consider OH at all? If you have nothing against, apply to OSU, Cinci, definitely Case. If you apply to Case, then might as well apply to NorthWestern as many times they accept the same students. The last 2 are very expansive privates though, but again any OOs would be just as expansive.
Unless you have something really special that nobody else show, I would NOT recommend Chicago, some here on CC applied just to get rejection few hours after paying application fee. But, again, some people get accepted there…</p>

9

<p>Good MCAT score, you’ll get into a top 20. Maybe not Harvard or Upenn, but it is possible. You’ll meet the MCAT cutoff at all of those schools though.</p>

<p>The poster above is correct that white males and (asian males) need to be above average to stand a chance now.</p>

10

<p>Thank you all for responding.</p>

<p>My MCAT breakdown was a 12 BS, 12 PS and 10 Verbal. Unfortunately I was scoring higher on all my practice tests, but my verbal section didn’t go as well as usual. It was my first time taking the MCAT though. I’m considering retaking it, but I need to ensure that my verbal score will be stellar my second time through. </p>

<p>I’m most interested in these “top” medical schools due to the residency advantage they may bring. I have heard from many sources that top med schools produce more competitive applicants for top residencies, and since I hope to pursue a career in Radiology or Anesthesiology, I could use the advantage. However, I’ve also considered that if I attend a “normal” medical school (i.e. Wayne State, which is still a great school), I may be above-average and thus would still be able to land a more competitive residency position. I’m also a first generation college student and I would love to have a prestigious medical school under my belt for my own gratification.</p>

<p>Also, my GPA shows an upward trend (4.0 the last three semesters). My downfalls are in Organic chemistry from freshman year (B and B+), and physics from sophomore year (B- and B-).</p>

<p>I went to a below-average high school outside of Detroit with less than half of the students attending 4-year universities. My personal statement highlights the economic disadvantage I have overcome, having lived below the poverty line most of my childhood. Though I am a Caucasian male, I have not led the life typical of Caucasian males applying to top medical schools. I know some medical schools look at the “distance traveled” when admitting applicants, so I’m hoping I may have a slight edge in this area, but I’m not banking on it. </p>

<p>I actually have not applied yet; I’ve decided to take a year off before I apply. As of now, I plan on applying to all of the In-state schools (Umich, Wayne, Oakland and MSU), and Harvard, Yale, Duke, Stanford, UChicago, UCSF, UNC, UVirgina, Northwestern, Loyola, Case Western, Indiana, Penn State, Vandy, Emory, Boston University, Tufts, UConn, Dartmouth, URochester, Wisconsin, USC, Wake Forest and Brown. I know that several of those may be “reach” schools now, but my stats should be “competitive” for many of them as well, and hopefully “safe” for a few.</p>

11

<p>It might be too early to have your sights set on rads or anaestheisa. I say might because there are certainly some students who have an absolute calling for one field or whatever, and they know what they’re going to do before they go to med school, and their interests don’t change one lick during med school, and they actually end up in those residencies. In my experience though, the likelihood of you sticking with your pre-med school specialty choice is pretty low. Most people don’t solidify their choices until 3rd or 4th year, so you don’t need to go into it with the idea of coming out rads or anaesthesia. You have plenty of time to decide and it’s not a big deal if you change your mind.</p>

<p>Re: competitive residencies. A word of caution there would be that someone who is not involved with that field probably cannot adequately analyze a match list. The reason is that there’s a huge variety of factors–top programs, top schools, top departments, etc…and while one school might be the best for ortho, its rads program might be nowhere near as good. So, you probably aren’t in a position to judge match lists (but perhaps you have connections to people who are in such a position).</p>

<p>I certainly can’t argue with the logic that you would want to prepare yourself well to get into the best residency possible, and that perhaps an element of getting into the best residency is getting into the best med school possible, and that few people would disagree that the schools you originally listed are among the best. </p>

<p>My advice would be to encourage you to find the school that’s best for you, and realize that it may not be an elite school. The reason I think it’s important to find the school that’s best for you is because med school kinda sucks. It’s absolutely draining at times, and it’s a real rude awakening to no longer be the best in your class or the smartest among your friends. The volume of work is pretty stressful, and balancing your new life is pretty challenging in my opinion (and I’ve been told my time-management skills are fantastic). </p>

<p>I chose these elements to highlight the difference a great environment can make in your medical education–because if you have a program that fits your style, find friends who are kind and care about you, and overall are in a supportive environment, then med school (despite its drawbacks) will be AWESOME. I interviewed at 3 top 20ish schools, and it was surprising to me how different each of them felt from the others and how I really didn’t see myself surviving at one of them. I ended up at a program that fits me to a T, and I couldn’t be happier.</p>

<p>So the take home point is…keep an open mind and make it your mission to find a school that’s perfect for you, rather than gain admission to the most elite school you can. But that’s just me.</p>