My grades and MCAT are strong and I have interesting non-clinical extracurriculars. However, I only have 8 mo. of (paid) clinical experience and no research, no pre-med clubs, etc. Knowing that I am a risky candidate and unsure of my appeal to AdComs, I applied very, very broadly and, hopefully, strategically. A friend of mine applied to 40+, received 4 interviews, and one acceptance.
My strategy: apply to all in state as well as surrounding states that consider OOS students. Also chose some Puerto Rican schools because another friend of mine ONLY was accepted there. For farther away states, I used a ratio (OSR) I found on this site:
and calculated it myself when not available. The formula is: percent OOS students in matriculating class divided by percent OOS students applying. These stats can be found on this site:
http://medical-schools.startclass.com/
To compile my list of schools, I used a combination of - the OSR - the overall percent admission - data on schools that had accepted applicants with profiles on this site who had similar stats to mine - tuition, percent students receiving financial aid, and average student debt (all can be found on the startclass site) - other factors such as proximity to National/State Parks
A word of advice: remember to look up your schools' specific requirements before applying and assigning LORs, as many schools list a maximum number of LORs accepted. I forgot to do this until the last minute and spent a while cross-referencing each school
// Applications //
Application Cycle One: 06/10/2015
Undergraduate Area of study: Biological/Life Sciences
Total MCAT SCORE: 520
MCAT Section Scores:
B/B 130,
C/P 129,
CARS 132
Overall GPA: 3.78
Science GPA: 3.73
Summary of Application Experience
DO schools: decided against after fatigue of secondaries kicked in and fully realized the financial commitment I was making
Updates
12/08/2015 Whew! Grand total at this point: - 37 schools applied total - 9 withdrawn applications - 9 rejections - 15 pending, after secondary submitted - 4 interview invites - 1 accepance
Summary of Experience:
** So as I've seen on other profiles here, rejected before secondaries due to OOS status. Well, keep that in mind when you apply!**
Unclear OSR word on street is that it's extraordinarily low (one site said 0.09). However, when I calculate it myself it's 0.57?? 3.9%
Summary of Experience:
**update: had no idea how strict their policies were regarding alcohol and religious services until viewing the secondary. I will most likely withdraw. I don't think it would be a healthy fit for me!
Summary of Experience:
**** My statistics were faulty. There are 100 seats guaranteed to Utah residents and 8 seats guaranteed to Idaho residents. The rest of the student body (total number of students in entering class = 122) must have a strong connection to Utah (or be from underserved community? unclear). See this page for more info:
CA-pyreticas took the old MCAT and scored a which is in the percentile of all old scores.
We converted this to a on the updated scale which is in the percentile of the updated MCAT. We also converted CA-pyreticas’s section scores as follows:
CA-pyreticas scored a 12 on the Biological Science section of the old MCAT which is approximately equal to a 130 on the Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems.
CA-pyreticas scored a 12 on the Physical Science section of the old MCAT which is approximately equal to a 129 on the Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems.
CA-pyreticas scored a 13 on the Verbal Reasoning section of the old MCAT which is approximately equal to a 132 on the Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills.
