Cut off schools?

[Publius]

Hello all,

Wondering if anyone has a good source for which schools use automated cut off scores to weed out the applicant pool. Do they have this in the MSAR (and does anyone know when 06-07's coming out, other that 'spring'?)

I have some credits that followed me from military training (which, at the time we didn't know was accredited - not that it would have changed much.) The GPA from those credits (45hrs) were around 2.6 and I currently have a 4.0 towards my undergrad degree (ending 2nd semester now.) I know that these credits will drag down my cumulative GPA.

I'm sure that there are going to be some that will drop my app before giving me the chance to explain, just wondering if I can get a feel for who they are - to save some time and money in the application process. Would contacting some of these admission reps be worthwhile, to get them to take a closer look, or are these cut offs end-all for these schools?

Any information would be appreciated, mainly looking for a source.

Thanks!

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[BaylorGuy]

I talked to aamc and they said the MSAR would be out the second week of May....lame

 

[Publius]

Awesome, in March they said mid-April... nice to see things are trucking along

 

[dr.z]

From my experience, most schools cut off by numbers first although numbers aren't the only thing sometimes. It helps them eliminate candidates when they recieve large number of applications. My advice is to try to apply to a range of schools to see what happens.

 

[sockandmittens]

i don't know though i think it tends to be state schools not the private schools. i know that univ washington has a cut off for out of state applicants (non-WAMI/WICHE applicants), because in their rejection letter they pretty much told me that I failed to make their cut off. sorry i can't be more of a help. i don't think you'll have a problem getting in tho! good luck

 

[boyz of 4d]

Umiami has a cut off of a gpa of 3.6, NYU does some cutoff although they dont tel you what it is, and VCU also does one if u r out of state (only 40% receive 2ndary from OOS)

 

[DrBowtie]

You can look on theprincetonreview.com website and search for various schools. If you click on statistics on the left tool bar it breaks it down and it usually says either "All Amcas applicants receive a secondary" or "X% receive secondaries" and some break it down by in state vs out of state. I dunno how old the info is but it worth a look until the MSAR is out.

 

[klp14]

Oregon's cutoff is 30 MCAT, but I'm not sure what the GPA is.

Mount Sinai's is 31 MCAT, 3.5 GPA.

Any school might be willing to interview if someone stands out or is close to these numbers.

 

[crys20]

So say you had a 30/3.5 and that was a school's cut off. Do you think that would be it, or that there would be other factors...Like say, someone's 30 was a 12/11/7 or something like that. I always wondered that. Or likewise there are a lot of different ways to get a 3.5.

 

[LizzyM]

Your best bet is to find the schools that have average matriculant scores close to your scores and that send secondaries to all applicants.

When real people look at your application, they will see that the poor GPA was limited to those early years in the military (your gpa will be broken down in a grid by acadmic year and BCPM/non-BCPM/total). Showing improvement over time also counts for something and this will be picked-up by the human eye.

 

[Publius]

Really appreciate all of the input!

Like I said, I'm a ways out.. so a decent GPA is still within reach.

I didn't know that the grades were subdivided by the academic year on the AMCAS application, that is good to know.

I'll just bust my rump in the upcoming semesters and try to pull high MCAT scores.

Brett - thanks for the tip on TPR site

These individual inputs on the various schools are really informative as well, keep it coming. Thanks again!

 

[nockamura]

I don't think Oregon's cut off is 30 because I know someone that got a secondary with less.

 

[jackets5]

Oregon's cutoff is 30 MCAT, but I'm not sure what the GPA is.

Mount Sinai's is 31 MCAT, 3.5 GPA.

Any school might be willing to interview if someone stands out or is close to these numbers.

Are u sure about Sinai, in the MSAR the GPA is a 3.6 and MCAT a 32 so i find it hard to believe that they have cut offs at 3.5 and 31?

 

[wisteria]

i don't know about an automated source for this information...most schools want as many applications as possible to up their stats and make moolah so they're not going to make it readily available.

georgetown definitely has a (mcat/gpa) formula to weed off the top and bottom of the pile. i don't know the specifics but i would imagine they cut sub 30 and sub 3.5 or somewhere around there.

and the last person vanderbilt admit with a sub 3.5 gpa was a Vietnam vet (that's second hand info).

 

[Friendly]

and the last person vanderbilt admit with a sub 3.5 gpa was a Vietnam vet (that's second hand info).

Second hand info. is not always good:
http://www.mdapplicants.com/viewprofile.php?id=2024
http://www.mdapplicants.com/viewprofile.php?id=2356
http://www.mdapplicants.com/viewprofile.php?id=1936

 

[LizzyM]

Don't be fooled into thinking that there is a large standard deviation around those means. If the mean gpa and MCAT are 3.6/32 there may be only a few applicants who are even a shade below the mean and a long right tail of higher scores.

When there are thousands of applicants for just 100-150 seats, they can cut at their current mean and still have plenty to choose from.

 

[Will Ferrell]

Don't be fooled into thinking that there is a large standard deviation around those means. If the mean gpa and MCAT are 3.6/32 there may be only a few applicants who are even a shade below the mean and a long right tail of higher scores.

That makes no sense. The long right tail would pull up the average.

 

[LizzyM]

That makes no sense. The long right tail would pull up the average.

It depends on how thin the tail is. 100 clumped together with 10 trailing off to the right will not move a mean, particularly if you round. This is even more true when there is a ceiling of ~4.0/40 and your mean is 3.6/32.

 

[neurofan]

Awesome, in March they said mid-April... nice to see things are trucking along

University of Washington cuts off at a 3.5 and and average of a 9 on MCAT subtests. If you are not a WAMI resident, don't bother, no matter what your numbers are.

 

[Publius]

appreciate all of the posts

Seems like the TPR site will at least let you know which schools send secondaries to all and which have cut offs, although no specifics mentioned.

Have any of these schools came outright and stated their cut off points (following the AMCAS apps), or are these estimates based on receiving/not receiving secondaries?

 

[edfig99]

every school has cutoffs...even the ones that send out secondaries to everybody. no one is going to advertise what those cutoffs are, and you'd be hardpressed to find cutoffs formally documented since schools don't want to deal with litigation issues from a disgruntled applicant.

several schools that i know that use automated cutoffs still have a manual review by someone who will then put the application back into the mix; this is at both "everyone gets a secondary" and "selective secondary" schools. other schools do the automatic cutoff thing and don't need the money from your secondary applications so they just cut you off on some random numeric formula outright.

don't worry about the cutoffs. they don't really represent the students that get accepted into the school (more helpful would be to see the range of gpas and mcats accepted, but again...med schools don't like litigation so they tend not to advertise this info). work hard, do the best you can in your classes, and apply to a broad range of schools to maximize your opportunities.