About to finish a postbac program with a 3.9 GPA and a 30 MCAT. Schools within range?

[Florida_guy]

3.2 cGPA 2.8 sGPA undergrad (hence postbac program), five years research including 3 publications, 100+ hours shadowing and community service. What schools, preferably in the Southeast or Northeast are within range? DO and/or MD?

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[Goro]

I suggest any DO school, your state MD school (if any) and the following:
NYMC
Albany
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Tulane
Tufts
U Miami
Wake Forest
EVMS
VCU
All new MD programs except Va Tech and Hofstra

3.2 cGPA 2.8 sGPA undergrad (hence postbac program), five years research including 3 publications, 100+ hours shadowing and community service. What schools, preferably in the Southeast or Northeast are within range? DO and/or MD?

 

[LuluLovesMe]

I suggest any DO school, your state MD school (if any) and the following:
NYMC
Albany
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Tulane
Tufts
U Miami
Wake Forest
EVMS
VCU
All new MD programs except Va Tech and Hofstra

Hey Goro, why do you recommend Tufts in this list when their average MCAT is 34?

 

[Goro]

It's in striking distance. If it were Pitt or Vandy I'd not recommend it for someone who was 3-4 points below the avg.

Hey Goro, why do you recommend Tufts in this list when their average MCAT is 34?

 

[LuluLovesMe]

It's in striking distance. If it were Pitt or Vandy I'd not recommend it for someone who was 3-4 points below the avg.

Hmm so Tufts is less strict with admitting people outside of their normal stat ranges than say Pitt or Vandy?

 

[Goro]

Yup. Tufts' 10-90th %ile range = 30-38 (avg = 34)
Pitt = 31-39 (36)
Vandy = 32-40 (36)

So you can see that Tufts' median is skewed more to the left than the other two.

Hmm so Tufts is less strict with admitting people outside of their normal stat ranges than say Pitt or Vandy?

 

[DrMidlife]

Please don't base decisions on somebody's interpretation of the MSAR's MCAT medians. [retracted] Lots of schools publish details in their FAQs. Use the MSAR to make your list of schools to research deeply and get to work.

Look at the number of students who apply to each of the schools listed, which should make you realize you need to look at the midwest.

Study the FAQs to see that some have a lot more in-state preference than their "private" status would indicate, and/or that consideration for postbac work is conditional on where you live.

If there's any reasonable chance of squeezing out a couple more MCAT points, that's the real thing to be considering right now. The MCAT is the one thing you can still change. Fix everything fixable before you invest in an MD app cycle.

And of course, if you do not take cost of attendance into account, you're selling your future self into slavery. It's worth it to wait a year or more to apply if there's a reasonable chance to get into your home state public(s).

Best of luck to you.

 

[LuluLovesMe]

Please don't base decisions on somebody's interpretation of the MSAR's MCAT medians. That's 3 year old data based on what schools answered on a questionnaire, which frequently doesn't match last year's info which lots of schools publish on their websites. Lots of schools publish details in their FAQs. Use the MSAR to make your list of schools to research deeply and get to work.

Look at the number of students who apply to each of the schools listed, which should make you realize you need to look at the midwest.

Study the FAQs to see that some have a lot more in-state preference than their "private" status would indicate, and/or that consideration for postbac work is conditional on where you live.

If there's any reasonable chance of squeezing out a couple more MCAT points, that's the real thing to be considering right now. The MCAT is the one thing you can still change. Fix everything fixable before you invest in an MD app cycle.

And of course, if you do not take cost of attendance into account, you're selling your future self into slavery. It's worth it to wait a year or more to apply if there's a reasonable chance to get into your home state public(s).

Best of luck to you.

So the most recent MSAR is data that is 3 years old?

 

[gyngyn]

So the most recent MSAR is data that is 3 years old?

Our MSAR data is for the current first year class, so it is quite fresh.

 

[DrMidlife]

Our MSAR data is for the current first year class, so it is quite fresh.

Very happy to hear this.

But maybe you can confirm/deny what I understand to be true: schools report their data to the AAMC. The AAMC has (arguably) the most factual and complete data from AMCAS, but it's my understanding that AMCAS data is not what populates the MSAR. AMCAS data would be much richer and more accurate than school-reported data.

I think this is particularly important because when people are looking at the 10th percentile data (for instance), there's no qualifying info on that bottom 10% such as URM, grad work, instate/OOS, pathway programs, etc. But that's also true on school website FAQs.

Hopefully things have gotten better with the MSAR moving online, but "3 years old" was the norm when I applied and I think it's still what you get from some schools.

Insights appreciated.

 

[gyngyn]

Very happy to hear this.

But maybe you can confirm/deny what I understand to be true: schools report their data to the AAMC. The AAMC has (arguably) the most factual and complete data from AMCAS, but it's my understanding that AMCAS data is not what populates the MSAR. AMCAS data would be much richer and more accurate than school-reported data.

I think this is particularly important because when people are looking at the 10th percentile data (for instance), there's no qualifying info on that bottom 10% such as URM, grad work, instate/OOS, pathway programs, etc. But that's also true on school website FAQs.

Hopefully things have gotten better with the MSAR moving online, but "3 years old" was the norm when I applied and I think it's still what you get from some schools.

Insights appreciated.

Nope. AMCAS calculates the scores directly: gpa's,MCAT.
They also do all the IS/OOS data, URM stats...
They are completely up to date.
We are only allowed to supply the text in the available boxes.

In contrast, US Snooze and World Distort uses data reported by the schools.

 

[DrMidlife]

This is a great improvement in the online MSAR. My post above edited accordingly.

I maintain that not having data on outliers (such as 10th & 90th percentile) explaining who in the top/bottom chunks were instate/OOS, URM, did grad work, did a pathway, etc makes me cringe to see top/bottom numbers listed at all.

My point: with a GPA/MCAT at the 10th percentile for a school, this does not mean you're in contention at that school. And an OOS student who is at the combined median, when the OOS median is substantially higher, is not a strong contender at that school.

I'm being twitchy about this because I'm seeing people apply too soon, with reduced chances which could be improved with a bit more work, and as a result, they end up with over $300k in student loans. I think that trainwreck is badly underemphasized.

Best of luck to you.

 

[gyngyn]

This is a great improvement in the online MSAR. My post above edited accordingly.

I maintain that not having data on outliers (such as 10th & 90th percentile) explaining who in the top/bottom chunks were instate/OOS, URM, did grad work, did a pathway, etc makes me cringe to see top/bottom numbers listed at all.

My point: with a GPA/MCAT at the 10th percentile for a school, this does not mean you're in contention at that school. And an OOS student who is at the combined median, when the OOS median is substantially higher, is not a strong contender at that school.

I'm being twitchy about this because I'm seeing people apply too soon, with reduced chances which could be improved with a bit more work, and as a result, they end up with over $300k in student loans. I think that trainwreck is badly underemphasized.

Best of luck to you.

I agree that the 10th% and below are largely filled by extraordinary candidates and that most applicants would do well to steer clear. I have to cringe every time someone completely wastes their filing fee and I have to read their application!

 

[jl lin]

In contrast, US Snooze and World Distort uses data reported by the schools.

LOL