Many college applicants are familiar with the concept of safety schools, institutions where their academic competitiveness — such as overall GPA and SAT or ACT scores — far exceed the averages for accepted students. Applicants use this designation to apply to schools where they feel confident that they will be accepted.
Although this is a commonly used approach in college admissions, given the ultracompetitive nature of medical school admissions, does a safety medical school actually exist?
With an overall acceptance rate of around 41% to U.S. allopathic schools, and with some medical schools accepting only about 1% of applicants, the consideration of a school being safe does not really apply. In fact, many admissions experts think that no school is safe, even for the most competitive applicant.
[Read: Why It’s Hard to Get Into Medical School Despite Doctor Shortages.]
According to statistics from the Association of American Medical Colleges, applicants with the highest GPAs and MCAT scores have about an 83% acceptance rate to a U.S. allopathic medical school. What this means is that acceptance to medical school is not guaranteed and a variety of factors, not only test scores and GPAs, are considered. Therefore, it can be argued that there are no medical schools that should be considered safety schools.
Instead, applicants should consider classifying schools according to their competitiveness. A common method used by medical school applicants is designating schools as far reach, reach, target and undershoot schools.
This classification is based on many factors about the applicant and the school itself and more reflects the med school admissions process. It allows applicants to put their competitiveness into perspective relative to a particular school.
[Related:How High of a College GPA Is Necessary to Get Into Medical School?]
For example, an applicant may consider their dream medical school — one that has a median MCAT and GPA far above their scores — a far reach school. That same applicant may consider a different school an undershoot if their GPA and MCAT exceed that school’s median numbers.
The number of medical schools a prospective student should apply to, including those deemed undershoots, depends on the applicant’s strength. If the applicant’s scores are not very competitive, he or she may want to apply to more undershoot schools to maximize the chances of getting an acceptance.
[Related:kHow to Decide Where to Apply to Medical School]
These designations will be specific to each applicant and his or her respective qualifications, but the key is that this method incorporates the very competitive and uncertain nature of medical school admissions.
Remembering that even the highest-scoring, most academically qualified applicants don’t have a 100% acceptance rate reinforces that there is no guarantee of acceptance when applying to medical school — and why the term “safety school” doesn’t truly apply in this realm of admissions.
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Why No School Is a Safety in Medical School Admissions originally appeared on usnews.com
