<p>I know that sophomore year is too early to develop a list, but my D will be attending a Health Professionals fair and it seems like a good time to begin discerning major differences between med schools (beyond acceptance stats). So what types of things would be important to ask about? Teaching approach? Specialties? Residency placement? Financial aid?</p>
<p>I'm interested in general about what distinguishes med schools and how you decide which ones to apply to other than in-state and stats related factors. What is the med school equivalent of "fit" for undergrads? </p>
<p>If it makes a difference, she is particularly interested in public policy and working with under served communities.</p>
<p>The only things I'd look at would beyond in-state and stats factors would be location (urban/suburban/rural as well as region of the country - some people just can't do the Northeast, or can't stand the idea of living in Missouri or something) and teaching style (whether their curriculum is systems based, PBL intensive, old school lecture style, or some other form).</p>
<p>The other things you mentioned...just too hard to really determine where the school fits in those things as far as overall effect. Plus specialty choices and residency placement can REALLY vary from class to class. My class has 7 people applying for neurosurgery after no more than 2 people going that way from the last 4 years. There were 18 people who went into anesthesia the class ahead of mine, and there might be 6 this year. And actual location...total crapshoot. I'm applying to 22 programs for peds. My roommate is applying to 64 ENT programs. People apply based on where they feel they can get in, on relationships that mentors have at other places, on weather, and on any other number of factors that are entirely personal. </p>
<p>If she knows she has an interest in public policy, she can always ask if there are any programs that might be of interest to her. Some places will probably give her a blank stare, but others might have student groups set up, have specific rotations that would apply or some other unique programs.</p>
<p>Expanding on BRM's thoughts you might also look into curriculum and grading structure. For example UT Southwestern is old school strict curve grading for the first two years while UT Houston is pass/fail in an attempt to further the spirit of cooperative study and reduce the level of competition among students. There are a number of schools heading in the direction that UTH has taken.</p>
<p>When deciding where to apply, usually GPA/MCAT range and location are enough.</p>
<p>When deciding where to matriculate, I think applicants typically look at rankings, location, financial aid, and finally overall curriculum/happiness of the students/gut feeling during interview. To be frank, most applicants get into b/w 0-2 med schools so choosing med schools really isn't a big issue. You go where you're accepted.</p>
<p>Most schools will pass out match lists during the interview day but I personally don't think it's a good idea to choose a school based on match list. For one thing, the saying "past performance is not indicative of future success" is applicable. Matchlists represent group dynamics while getting into residency depends only on one individual: you. Secondly, various med schools' match lists tend to change a lot from year to year. For example, last year, UCLA SOM matched 10 students into derm which is AMAZING. But, two years ago, UCLA only matched 2 into derm, which is somewhat below average.</p>
<p>In fact, I think NCG is already being too picky. I really think location needs to be much, much less of a consideration for most students than it is. You are in medical school all day. You're not going to Broadway whether you're at Columbia or WUSTL. Barring some kind of family or romantic commitment, location should really be a non-factor except insofar as it affects cost of living.</p>
<p>You'll have a few good friends in your class. You'll go out to bars every couple weeks, and perhaps you'll even get a chance to visit a museum every once in a while. But compared to the basic fact of medicine, this is an absurdly trivial consideration when push really comes to shove. Forget location.</p>
<p>Start by figuring out where you're competitive. That's not just numbers, it's also EC's and the other components of your application. Once that's in place, use interviews for a very simple litmus test. Once those are nailed down, then you can start considering fringe benefits like curriculum and location.</p>
<p>The simple litmus test is this: when I meet students of that school, which of them would I want to be my doctor in ten years? Which of them strike me as professional, dedicated, well-rounded, human, capable in every respect?</p>
<p>Which student body you fit into really isn't the question. The question is: which student body do you think a good doctor ought to fit into?</p>
<p>I helped my son put together a list, and frankly, it was done almost exclusively on acceptance rates (a good spread with reaches, etc.), and regions where he wanted to live (midwest and northeast). After you eliminate state schools from other states (most of which have few slots for out of staters), schools that are out of reach, a few schools that may have requirements you haven't met, there just aren't that many schools you can apply to, and they are all pretty similar. </p>
<p>However, it is a good thing to go to the fair and ask questions about areas of your daughter's interest for another reason. When she gets to the application part, she'll need to write the "why I love your school" essay for just about every school. So anything she can pick up to use for that essay will be helpful.</p>
<p>I agree that location SHOULD be less of a factor (just like rankings should be less of a factor) but I still find location and overall med school prestige to weigh heavily in students' selections of medical schools. Location goes into the "overall impression" category. Some schools are in really nice areas (Cornell Weill, Northwestern Feinberg, etc.) while some schools are in not-so-nice areas (Suny Downstate, WashU (although I think WashU's location is exaggerated)). It's hard not to let that influence your gut feeling about the school.</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the replies, they're helping me get a much better idea of how med school applications should be approached. Definitely time to throw the undergrad mindset out the window and move into a new methodology.</p>
<p>entomom you do have the benefit of my D being a year ahead of your D. Just watch for what I advise mine to do and then have your D do the opposite. It appears that's what mine plans to do. ;)</p>
<p>What resources should I get to help pick schools? I'm guessing the MSAR and US News, but I'm not sure when the best time to purchase those would be - when does the new data come out? Those will cover more than just numbers, like ECs, etc. right?</p>
<p>You need to figure out when you'll be applying. You should do that in May (or June), whenever the new common application becomes available, and you be ready to submit it AS SOON as it becomes available. So you should get the MSAR (and US News, although of lesser benefit) a few months before applying. It doesn't take as much time to pick a list as with undergraduate, because you don't generally visit schools before applying. You put together a list that covers a ranger of schools, and then visit those that invite you for an interview. </p>
<p>I'm not sure what you mean by EC's. If you mean some guide as to what EC's various medical schools are looking for, you won't find it. They all want a well-rounded application. In addition to the numbers, you need good clinical exposure, to show you know what you're getting into, and also something to show you're do more than just study.</p>
<p>While we're on the topic of ECs, I don't understand how ECs can be evaluated as a major admissions factor... The more, the better? The more selective they are, the better? The more clinical, the better? Should you be able to get a rec letter out of them? I've always thought it as either you do things or you don't outside of class, whether or not you have personal interests/passions you're pursuing outside of academics.</p>
<p>I tutor for kids in innercity neighborhoods, build houses for Habitat, and fundraise for making surgery available for kids who need it. They aren't really clinical, and they're student-led so no one to get a rec letter from, but I've been involved in these of groups since my freshmen year, I enjoy being in it, I've met great peers. Isn't that really all there is to it? Is there a list of good ECs you ought to be doing for med school admissions? I've never really thought of "doing things outside of class" as a measurable admission factor, I've thought it was you did or you didn't. Maybe I'm a little uninformed.</p>
<p>There certainly is a HUGE variety of things that people do as EC's...but you can't tell me that it's not more impressive if you're the student body president at your school compared to some schmo who played three seasons of intramural broomball.</p>
<p>Leadership experiences count. Selectivity, as best as you can show, can count (like I was one of only 12 Student Ambassadors for the College of Arts & Sciences when I was an undergrad). Passion can make up for a lot, especially if your EC is a little outside the norm. </p>
<p>Clinical EC's fall more into the "you do or you don't" paradigm in terms of the idea that you better have something or you're pretty well screwed. But somethings will always be more impressive than others (like my friend who started an orphanage in Nepal and has done massive amounts of fundraising through the years to support the kids). </p>
<p>The important part of it all, is do things you WANT to do. Don't do them because you think med schools would prefer you did thing X over thing Y. You'll get far more out of the things you want to do, enjoy them more, be able to talk about them better during interviews and be more able to answer the question of how that experience will make you a better physician if you do things you want to do.</p>
<p>Although I agree that location is important. I do not believe the teaching style matters much at all. I don't think it makes any difference in the quality of doctor they turn out. We are talking BASIC introductory medicine at any medical school. They could be entirely traditional lecture or entirely problem based and I doubt one could tell the graduates apart 10 years later.</p>
<p>On the other hand, if someone is serious about an area, then try to focus on schools that offer it. At some places one could combine the MD with a masters in public policy. Depending on interests within this area, masters in public health, epidemiology, or business administration could be good starting points for a career. Not that many medical schools will offer these choices. So researching those that do could help narrow down the choices quite a bit.</p>