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With @AMCASinfo opening in 3 days, you might be worried about what schools you should apply to. Here is a #tweetorial for #PredmedTwitter about how I selected my school list. Please comment with your own experiences!
#MedStudentTwitter #MedTwitter
#MedStudentTwitter #MedTwitter
Get rid of any school with a regional bias you don't meetI've seen students donate hundreds of dollars to schools they never stood a chance at because they were from out of state (OOS). Let's take a look at AAMC's Table A-1. 2/
https://www.aamc.org/system/files/2019-11/2019_FACTS_Table_A-1.pdf
I recommend looking at the OOS matriculants column and using 25% as an arbitrary cut-off. This isn't a perfect method since it is likely that schools accepted more OOS than matriculated. But it's a good start. 3/
Some schools may be deceiving. For example, @UWMedicine shows an OOS rate of 48.1%, due to serving the WWAMI region. Similarly, 179 OOS applications at @UCIrvineSOM, 0 OOS matriculants. The school just made $21,480 in donations from secondary fees. 4/
Filter by GPA & MCATIn this step, I included any school that my GPA & MCAT was at the 25th percentile or above. This is where purchasing the MSAR is helpful. Sort by "Matriculated Students." Accepted Students has students who went elsewhere mucking up the data. 5/
I think basing it on the 25th percentile is fair but not mandatory. You can definitely get accepted with a GPA/MCAT below the 10th percentile (I mean, 10% of the class did), so if there is a school you have your heart set on, don't let this limit you. 6/
LocationNext, I decided to base it on where I would be living. Would I want to spend the next 4 years somewhere I hated? It is also important to consider housing. Some schools offer it, some don't. You can find it in the MSAR under "Campus Life." 7/
Grading scaleI would rather go to a letter-graded school than no school at all, but the importance of a P/F grading system can not be overstated. You can find this info on the MSAR under "Evaluation and Requirements." Bonus points if it is P/F during rotations. 8/
RotationsIt will be helpful to know where you'll be spending the 2nd half of your time in med school. Some schools require rotations are far-away sites that will require transportation. This wasn't a deal-breaker for me, but it was important for me to know. 9/
FitArguably the most important, but the hardest to ascertain. For me, it was important to go somewhere that offered opportunities in transgender health. So I scoured school websites to find info. I emailed faculty with that shared interest to find out about opportunities. 10/
This can seem like a strange thing to do, but I found it super helpful. If you have a particular interest and you find a clinician or researcher doing work in that field, you can reach out to them, explain you are applying, and want to know more about their work. 11/
This can accomplish a couple of things:
1. You learn more about why you would want to go to that school, helpful for secondary essays and interviews
2. You can make connections with people, regardless of whether or not you go to that school. I still talk to some. 12/
1. You learn more about why you would want to go to that school, helpful for secondary essays and interviews
2. You can make connections with people, regardless of whether or not you go to that school. I still talk to some. 12/
There are other factors that people will prioritize. I encourage others to share their experience in this thread. Especially for DO apps. There are other criteria to consider when you are choosing between multiple acceptances, might talk about that next year. 13/end.
