Chances of medical school

[y82benji]

Disclaimer: Med school isn’t easy to get into (anywhere) and while a lot of public schools favor applicants from their state, the degree to which they favor them varies a lot from entirely to only a little tiny bit.

I went through a list of all the AMCAS schools and cut out all public schools and all schools on either the “research” or “primary care” US News & World Report top 50 lists. That leaves 18 private medical schools in the United States.

Albany Medical College
Creighton University School of Medicine
Drexel University College of Medicine
Eastern Virginia Medical School of the Medical College of Hampton Roads
Finch University of Health Sciences / The Chicago Medical School
George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences
Howard University College of Medicine
Loma Linda University School of Medicine
Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine
Meharry Medical College School of Medicine
Mercer University School of Medicine
Morehouse School of Medicine
New York Medical College
Rush Medical College of Rush University
Saint Louis University School of Medicine
Temple University School of Medicine
Tulane University School of Medicine
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine

[sgolik]

Hello, I am an older student (30) with an M.S. in Biology from UC San Diego, and a B.S. in Molecular Biology from UC Berkeley. I have 2 scientific publications, but I have been working as a Software Engineer since 1999. My GPA at Berkeley was 3.3.

I have always been a very good test taker (97-99th percentile on my GREs), so, assuming I can score similarly high on the MCAT (say, 37?), what are my chances of being accepted to, say, a UCSF or Stanford?

Thanks —

[y82benji]

Also post your questions on the “Ask Admissions Consultants” thread.

Your age is not an issue, as long as you are very certain about your desire to enter medicine. With a 34+, a Master’s, a 3.3 long ago (not as important, especially if you did well in your Master’s program and do well on the MCAT), and a couple of publications, you sound like you will be fine academically to apply to UCSF or Stanford. Remember two VERY important things though:

1. Your application is not just grades and scores. With so many competitive applicants, admissions committees look for A LOT more than that (your character, writing, application presentation, recommendations, experiences, etc.).

2. Apply to plenty of schools to give yourself lots of options, even if Stanford and UCSF are your top choices. Don’t not get into med school because you didn’t send out enough applications (I’d say at least 10). Besides, you might visit another school and fall in love with it (happened to me).

[denilo83]

Hi,
I am currently a senior. My GPA is a 3.4. I understand this is not a very competitive GPA. However, my GPA has been progressively improving since my junior year in college (3.0 > 3.2 > 3.5 > 3.8 each representing my GPA from each semester since my Junior year). Do you think that the admission board will take that into consideration?

I would also like to know if it is true that the admission board only look at your science GPA.

Thank you so much.

[Author]

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