stanford_med

[stanford_med]

I’m not exactly sure what Creighton is referring to when they say 85% of the residencies are obtained from an alumni network. But it definitely confirms what we all know to be true – often times, it’s who you know that matters.
That being said, I’d pick UW. I think it will open more doors for you (assuming you think you’ll be happy there). If you can get a hold of their match list, that might also be instructive.

[stanford_med]

I wouldn’t count on admission committee members either a) being that cognizant of how tough your undergrad school might be b) taking the time to figure out why and how your MCAT score would be an aberration.

Thymol blue and i disagree about your next course of action. If your only choice is Creighton or retaking the MCAT to reapply, then i would reapply if you’re confident about breaking a 33 – even though I know this is certainly the minority opinion.

While it is true that applicants from any medical school can technically get into any speciality at any residency, that doesn’t mean all medical students are perceived equally. Sure, if you’re the best at your school, then you’re set. If not, then several other factors play a role, including geographic bias. Another crucial factor are the faculty members at your host institution. One of the most powerful tools for getting into a competitive speciality are having powerful, well-known people to back you – through letters of rec and personal phone calls. And for better or worse, these guys at the top of the field are buddies with other guys at the top, and they all tend to cluster at the generally more well known medical centers. and quite often, they conduct themselves with significant regional nepotism.

In any case, I would agree that doing well in medical school is of course paramount, but everything else being equal, you would do yourself a huge favor by going to the more prestigious institution.

[stanford_med]

you’re entirely right…the process is arbitrary and capricious. And unfortunately, you’re right in the middle of some of the more unfair aspects.

As for your question, Creighton is a solid medical school. There really are no bad medical school in the united states since all 100 are held to such high national standards. There’s the top 30 and everyone else is pretty much the same. if you’re highly confident you have a shot at a top 30 school, including UW, by increasing your MCAT, then i say go for it. It’s definitely not the safer path, but hey, shoot for the stars, right? Besides, it sounds like you’re a northwest/west coast guy so you’ll be happier staying closeby.

[stanford_med]

Anyone who graduates at the top of their class will have a lot of flexibility, but most people aren’t at the top. By definition, most will be in the 25th to 75th percentile, and these are the people that will benefit most from geographic bias.

Interestingly enough, if you’re a highly qualifed west coast med student, then that makes it paradoxically more difficult to get into an east coast residency. Historically, top california medstudents don’t leave CA if they have a choice. So east coast residency directors are always skeptical about seriously considering these kinds of students.
Me and my classmates always got the same tired all question: “You’re from Stanford huh? that’s a nice area. Do you REALLY want to leave or are we just wasting our time?” to convince them that you’re genuinely interested, it helps to have personal ties to that geographic area- family, grew up there etc. (for the sake of residency, midwest is considered the same as east coast)

[stanford_med]

I didn’t mean to put down your school or anything. I just meant that in the admissions world, rightly or wrongly, there are probably 10-15 nationally recognized undergrad schools that get some bonus points (either literally or figuratively). Only Wash U in st. louis has regional evaluators to make sure the admissions committee is familiar with the undergrad schools (to prevent exactly this problem – when someone doesn’t know much about a college and assumes it’s just ok, nothing outstanding).

But in any case, your science gpa and success in science classes are great. and hopefully this translated into great letters of rec. so it’s sounds like it’s an mcat issue (which also may have affected the quality of your letters of rec). a 29 isn’t competitive so i’d take them again and forgo creighton. also keep in mind that if you’re a west coast guy and want to come back to the west coast for residency, it’s infinitely easier if you’re already on the west coast for medschool. going from creighton to say stanford for residency is much harder than from univ of wash. even more so, going to univ of wash for medschool makes it much much easier to stay at UW for residency.

[stanford_med]

there could be a number of reasons why you’re not getting many interviews or secondaries. While your GPA is great, your MCAT isn’t so hot. A score below a 30 makes it tough; couple this with a relatively unknown undergrad school (i know, it’s not fair, but undergrad schools are even given qualifier points) means you likely were weeded out by a simple computer program.

However, if you are indeed getting secondaries but just not interivews, then the other place to look are your letters of rec. They are extemely important in pretty much all phases of the application process after the primary AMCAS. Try to get an idea of what your profs are saying about you.

And of course, go ahead and call the schools and ask why you weren’t interviewed. Many times they’ll tell you, esp if you contact the admissions members- not just the secretary.

as for your real question, turning down a medschool acceptance (any medschool) is risky, even with a better mcat score. most people will say one in the hand is better than two in the basket. But if you’re confident that you can break 30, then i say go for it. medschool reputation makes a large difference when determining what kind of competitive residency you have a shot at.

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