Hi, I applied to too many schools, how should I select which secondaries to fill out?

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Kingsmen2018

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So yeah I'm the dunce who decided to apply to 55 schools and I've been getting roasted about it. So, in an effort to trim my secondary heck down should I eliminate 8 schools from my list who require the CASper? I don't feel like taking this test I'm not prepared for and I need to trim the list anyways. Next, how else should I trim this list?



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So you would fill out 8 separate secondaries instead if taking one exam that will clear 8 schools off your list

OP did apply to 55 schools...

EDIT: On the plus side OP, I suspect you have a lot of credit card rewards coming up in the next billing cycle.

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My point is cutting 8 other schools would make more resource sense. If you take casper for 8 schools and cut 8 other schools you just cut your secondaries to 39

I understood and agree with your point. I was, admittedly, being snarky as 55 schools is mind-boggling to me (mostly from a financial perspective). As is not killing 8 birds with one stone.

EDIT: OP I apologize for continuing the roast. In all seriousness, consider the advice of gonnif.


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So you would fill out 8 separate secondaries instead if taking one exam that will clear 8 schools off your list
I don't quite understand your point. Don't these schools make you take the casper in addition to filling out their secondary? Am I mistaken?
 
OP did apply to 55 schools...

EDIT: On the plus side OP, I suspect you have a lot of credit card rewards coming up in the next billing cycle.

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2% cash back on all online transactions (;
 
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NYMC has CASPer AND a secondary (with a nice fee). I would do a little research before hand.
 
If you applied to 55 schools, chances are pretty good that a significant number of them are out of reach in terms of your stats/service hours, or accept a very small number of out-of-state or out-of-region applicants. Looking into those two factors will likely cut your list down significantly.
 
NYMC has CASPer AND a secondary (with a nice fee). I would do a little research before hand.

Last year, NYMC had CASPer and a secondary, but the secondary took like 5 minutes.
 
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So yeah I'm the dunce who decided to apply to 55 schools and I've been getting roasted about it
:eek:

On a more serious note, if you want to trim down the list you should focus your secondaries on the schools where your stats are at about the median. Do your research, look at school websites and past school specific threads on SDN. Do you fit their mission statements? Would you actually attend the school if accepted? Location? Do you want to be there for the next 4 years?
 
I believe most of these schools use CASPer instead of secondaries. if you had spent time researching the schools instead of blindly applying to 55, you may not have this issue
Well, 39$ is a drop in the bucket in the bigger picture of things. Maybe I will find the time to fill out these things. As you always say, ~ 50% of matriculants only get 1 acceptance, so I guess my chances increase with the schools i apply to. With the exception of like 5 schools, i am around their median mcat and far above their median GPA. Plz stop trolling me @gonnif lol
 
Tell us which OOS public med schools you applied to.

Tell us your reaches.

Verified JUNE 17 CA RESIDENT
cGPA:3.90,sGPA:3.93
MCAT: 511


We get that you're a CA resident and therefore believe that you have to apply to many since your instate chances are low (for every CA applicant).
 
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So yeah I'm the dunce who decided to apply to 55 schools and I've been getting roasted about it. So, in an effort to trim my secondary heck down should I eliminate 8 schools from my list who require the CASper? I don't feel like taking this test I'm not prepared for and I need to trim the list anyways. Next, how else should I trim this list
Consider posting your school list in WAMC so that the chancers can tell you at which schools you have no shot.
 
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I'd definitely say be real about reach schools and maybe some geographical preference.

CASPer doesn't require studying, and it's one test for ~8 schools that cuts down the secondary load for each of those. As much as I never in my life thought I would say this, the CASPer test seems like your best bet.

Good luck!


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Well, 39$ is a drop in the bucket in the bigger picture of things. Maybe I will find the time to fill out these things. As you always say, ~ 50% of matriculants only get 1 acceptance, so I guess my chances increase with the schools i apply to. With the exception of like 5 schools, i am around their median mcat and far above their median GPA. Plz stop trolling me @gonnif lol
My record is an applicant who applied to 110 schools. It did not improve the outcome.
It is an uncommon applicant who benefits from more than 15 well chosen applications.
 
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Last year, NYMC had CASPer and a secondary, but the secondary took like 5 minutes.

Were there questions for the NYMC secondary? Or was it more of a fill out info about yourself deal?


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There are all sorts of ways to cut down your list. Obviously thoroughly looking at the GPA and MCAT percentiles, and IS vs OOS matriculation numbers is the first place to start. Research the mission of each school...do you REALLY fit that mission? Check out the cost...would you REALLY pay the price for USC or Tufts? Also check out the OOS cost. Check out the number of applications the schools receive. Do you really think you have a good chance at a school that receives 13K applications? Think about the location. Would you REALLY want to live in that city for 4 years? Check out the grading systems for the schools...letter grades or P/F or what? Mandatory lectures? Dress codes?
 
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I might suggest simply doing your research to make a list of priority and simply work down the list when you get the secondaries. If you get to the lower priority schools then great, if not oh well. I don't really see a need to drop schools at this point as long as you're okay with not getting through all of your secondaries and have the ability to make a priority list that is best for you. Just make sure you don't sacrifice quality simply because you're rushing to get through all of your secondaries
 
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Did you use the WedgeDawg Applicant Rating system? If not, do that, and decide what your goal number of apps is so that you can group the schools and select a certain number from each group. As others have mentioned, you want to allocate resources efficiently; for instance, if you don't really like Vanderbilt and have applied, you could cut it to avoid the autobiography (or not because, as a CA resident, you'd probably write a similar essay for UCSD which could be modified).
 
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Were there questions for the NYMC secondary? Or was it more of a fill out info about yourself deal?


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From what I remember, it was the latter. No essay questions.
 
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@Kingsmen2018 and echoing @21Rush12 ... Don't worry about CASPer! I actually thought it was interesting and thought it enhanced my application! Take the practice test on the website and see what you think!
 
Make sure the schools you applied to have a decent out of state acceptance. If they have like a 5%-10% oos acceptance don't waste your time.
 
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My record is an applicant who applied to 110 schools. It did not improve the outcome.
It is an uncommon applicant who benefits from more than 15 well chosen applications.

Wow! The cost of the secondaries alone!

What were his reasons for that many apps? Low or borderline stats? What was his outcome?
 
3.9 gpa and 511 mcat? Well on the good side, you will likely get in somewhere lol. Your classmates will have about the same stats but only applied to 15 or so schools and saved $1000s :/
 
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