<p>Here's my lists so far...any input?</p>
<p>Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Boston University School of Medicine
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Jefferson Medical Coll. of Thomas Jefferson Univ.
Drexel University
University of Southern California - Keck
Loma Linda University School of Medicine
New York University
New York Medical College
Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Oregon Health and Science University
Stanford University School of Medicine
Tufts University School of Medicine
UCLA/Drew Medical Education Program
University of California San Diego
University of California San Francisco
University of California, Davis School of Medicine
University of California, Irvine- College/Medicine
University of Washington School of Medicine</p>
<p>My stats:
3.75 Overall GPA, 3.81 BCPM
MCAT - 10VR, 9PS, 11BS, Q (<--this mcat is what killed me :( )
Good ECs - hospital volunteer, research for 3 years, work, medical mission to developing countries, leadership position.
Good LORs..I think - 2 of them my professors let me look at it.
CA resident, asian male</p>
<p>You should probably delete University of Washington, UCLA/Drew, and Loma Linda from your list. </p>
<p>The only match/low reach schools I see are Albert Einstein, BU, Jefferson, Drexel, USC, NYMC, and Tufts.</p>
<p>Out of those, Jefferson, Drexel, BU, and NYMC receive so many applications (10,000+) that it’s almost impossible to get in, even if your GPA/MCAT are in range. With a 30 MCAT, you should be searching for more match schools out in the Midwest or South (schools like MCW, Tulane, SLU, Ohio St., etc.).</p>
<p>NCG, why should he delete UCLA but keep UCSF (just curious from my non-CA vantage point)? Oregon is also very instate-driven, and Stanford is a big reach.</p>
<p>Otherwise, generally agree with the above assessment, you’re MCAT will hurt you at a lot of the schools you listed.</p>
<p>Why delete Loma Linda and Drew?</p>
<p>PSAS: Drew is a specialized program within UCLA. “UCLA School of Medicine” usually refers to Geffen.</p>
<p>He has both the Geffen (the main program: 120 students) and the Drew programs (24 students) listed. The Drew program isn’t mean to be a second crack at UCLA but rather a program aimed at producing doctors who’ll help the underserved and, to be perfectly honest, a program aimed at attracting URM applicants. </p>
<p>Frankly, any of the CA schools on his list would be reaches (even Davis or Irvine). There are just no guaranteed interviews in CA. But, it’s almost mandatory for CA residents to apply to every CA school as a package, with the exception being Loma Linda. A typical applicant will probably not feel comfortable in a place like Loma Linda. (Obviously, I’m making certain assumptions, that the OP didn’t grow up in Compton or that he isn’t a Seventh Day Adventist).</p>
<p>You think I should just delete UWash? do they take mostly in-state students?
and why delete UCLA/Drew? do they take mostly URM students?</p>
<p>and for Loma Linda, I think i’ll be fine. I know they’re a religious school and I used to go to catholic high school and regularly go to church, and I also part of the religious youth group in my college. So even though i’m not a seventh day adventist, I’ve been around religious atmosphere. Loma Linda is probably my biggest chance in getting to CA school actually.</p>
<p>UWash is almost exclusively in-state as I recall. I would really take NCGs advice and broaden your list further and cut down on the reach schools.</p>
<p>Some thoughts if you don’t want to be in the midwest/south:
You list Drexel and Jeff, so why not Temple?
What about the DC schools (G’town and GW)?
Look into some state schools that take a fair number of OOS applicants, go through the data for each school individually.</p>
<p>I am also hearing Ohio State is pretty competitive these days…</p>
<p>I might add temple, but i’m actually deciding if I should drop drexel because I heard the location isn’t very nice. I’ve never visited any of the med schools so I’m mostly deciding it based on location, and I heard temple and drexel are located in the not so nice area. But then they’re one of my “match” schools so I’m thinking I should probably keep them…hmmm.</p>
<p>And i’m also thinking of adding Gtown, GW, and VCU. Good idea?
If you guys know anything about any of these schools and wanna give input, please do.</p>
<p>Based on what norcalguy initially said, Both Georgetown and George Washington are two schools which also receive a ton of applications…</p>
<p>Drexel is actually in a rather nice residential area, the only real downside is that one needs to take public transit or some other means to get to center city. Saftey-wise, the occasional car theft is generally the worst that happens. It should be noted that Drexel Med is not particularly close to the undergrad campus, which is next to Penn in West Philly, but rather is in the northwest part of the city. Temple is truly located in the worst neighborhood in the entire city just about, but they are building a whole new teaching building opening in the fall of '09 and have a very friendly vibe.</p>
<p>The idea is that there are a lot of mid-tier schools w/ medians around 3.7/31 but they are not all equally difficult to get into. The mid-tier schools in the Midwest and South are particularly interested in attracting CA residents because there are relatively few CA residents applying there. Schools that receive 10,000+ applications (these include BU, NYMC, Drexel, Jefferson, Georgetown, and George Washington) for 150 spots are essentially just as hard as a Mt. Sinai or NYU to get into simply due the sheer number of applications. The original list has too many schools that either a) have high MCAT/GPA averages or b) have too many applicants.</p>
<p>This is a good time to break open the MSAR and look for schools that:</p>
<p>a) Have at least 50% OOS matriculants
b) Interview at least 15% of the OOS applicants</p>
<p>NCG, how good of a chance would u say that CA ppl have in other regions like the midwest/south, since they actually want CA ppl? would it be far-fetched to say there’s a better chance there than the CA schools?</p>
<p>That depends on the school of course. Duke Med will be harder to get into than UC Davis SOM. But, if you were to compare, say, UC Davis or UC Irvine vs. MCW or SLU, the answer is unclear. The UC’s generally have in-state acceptance rates of 4-10% and avg. stats of 3.7/32 (or higher). That’s pretty much as tough as any out of state private upper mid-tier med school.</p>
<p>Drexel’s in a shady location in Philly.</p>
<p>Temple’s med campus is awesome, it’s right next to the Children’s Hospital. I’d drop Drexel and add Temple.</p>
<p>30’s from California cannot afford to drop schools based on neighborhood.</p>
<p>Uh…ok…</p>
<p>I never said he should drop Drexel because of its location. It’s something I would do, never told him to do that.</p>