Building the Optimal Medical School List:  Part A

There are 191 accredited medical schools in the United States, 155 MD or allopathic programs, and 36 DO or osteopathic programs. There are perhaps 60 Caribbean medical schools, of which 4 may be considered “of quality.” Like finding a spouse or selecting a vehicle to drive, the most important thing is compatibility, fit. Do you match the medical school? Does it match you? Medical schools are not the same; just as all cars are not the same. When you base your medical school list based solely on a ranking, like US News, the criteria are someone else’s. Would you marry someone because your best friend or parents told you should? Or do you establish your own metrics, your own requirements, and select a medical school based on your personal preference, your goals and your vision?

In this blog, we will consider how to accomplish this critical component of your journey to medical school.

With so many medical schools to choose from, where do you begin? Unfortunate would be the outcome if despite being a competitive candidate you applied to 30 medical schools and received no offers. Such a result could occur if you applied with an ultra-competitive, unbalanced, poorly researched and mismatched list. Medical schools can be divided into tiers: highly selective, competitive, possible, probable and highly probable. Your list should depend on your admission profile and your risk tolerance. At the end of the day, it is all about fit. You must be an applicant that both “stands out” and “fits in.”

 

Outline

• On Your Mark
• Get Set
• Go

 

• On Your Mark

 

• The first thing you should consider are the words of Socrates, “Know Thyself.” You must know your personality, preferences, goals and vision. Without this foundation, you’ll apply to programs for the wrong reason, hoping to “fit in” once you get there rather than applying to institutions that you already match. If you are from California and hate frigid winters, or will probably get homesick living far from home, attending Harvard could be a very bad idea.

 

• Next, you’ll want to assess your Admission profile: academic, intellectual, scholarly, pre-professional and personal. If you are an average student, you don’t want to struggle at an academically rigorous institution.

 

• After self-reflection medical schools that you’re curious about, and are “in range” academically.

 

• You’ll next need to research specific departments of interest, professors who may become mentors, courses of interests, existing scholarly projects on campus, clubs, the curriculum, campus size and culture.

 

• If that were not enough, it’s now time to get to know the competition. Can you compete? Do you stand out?
• Having done that, in concert with your long-term vision, set your priorities and set your deadlines.

 

• Get Set

 

• Now it’s time to “know the Journey,” in other words, the process from preparation of the academic and personal profile, to execution of your application, to the letters of recommendation and the interview.
• Once you know the “End Game,” your actions should be consistent with your goals.
• It’s all about fit. You want to love, excel, and thrive in medical school, as well as graduate on time, and on budget. There are many types of Fit; including Academic, Intellectual, Social, Personal, Athletic, Spiritual and Financial Fit.
• You want to minimize your risk of paying application fees and filling out lengthy applications to medical schools that you are not a great fit for, and would despair going to.
• You don’t want to learn after you’ve spent 10 – 20 hours on the secondaries and interviews of a particular medical school, and after getting an acceptance, that you don’t want to go there. Do your due dilligence before you apply, before you spend your valuable time and money.

 

• Go
  • Attend the wrong medical school, and you’ll be unfulfilled, less productive, perhaps not even graduate. Creating a prudent “balanced List” of schools optimizes your chance of acceptance and satisfaction once enrolled.
  • Reiterating, many students spend countless hours, perhaps 5 – 10 hours applying to a medical school that they have researched little, never visited and would regret if enrolled. This is why a thorough preliminary research is essential.
  • AMCAS says that the average number of medical schools applied to is 16. I suggest you develop your own ranking system, then refine your list from perhaps 20 – 25, down to 10 – 15.
  • In conclusion, never compromise quality for quantity; and remember, it’s all about fit.

 

• Need help? Then contact Physician Bound, the medical school admission experts.