High GPA, Low MCAT

[james1988]

where should one with a High GPA but Low MCAT apply?

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[lucky lady]

How low? can you retake the mcats again?

 

[james1988]

i havent taken the mcat yet, im just wondering, lets say 27-29-30 range

 

[frisbee]

I applied with a 29N (10,9,10) and 3.95BCPM and felt like it was an uphill battle. I ended up getting 4 spring interviews (applied as early as possible) at Jefferson, Drexel, Colorado (instate), and Rosalind Franklin. I had a lot of community service activities and some activities that gave me good exposure to the medical world. Before I got accepted, I was seeking advice on how to improve my application. Every school that I received input from mentioned that they would like to see at least all 10's on all sections of the MCAT. I suggest you try everything possible to achieve a balanced 30. Another thing to consider is the caliber of students your state school accepts. Colorado's average MCAT was 33-34. I think I just got the interview because of my GPA at a harder state school, but I was rejected in the end. Good Luck.

 

[EpiPEN]

Wasn't this the same discussion in another thread? lol

Speaking strictly from the experiences my friends and I have had while applying for medical school, you should probably pull your MCAT to about a 32 to stand a good chance of getting several interviews if applying broadly (not considering DO schools). I talked to one of my interviewers at one of the UC schools (won't disclose name) after I got in and he told me that he believes that everyone can paint a good picture for themselves, but it's not often that scores lie. I'm sure that doesn't apply to all, but something to think about.

I would guess schools outside of the top 50 rank might be a good bet?

 

[deleted74029]

Okay that was a joke, but as the above poster said, maybe some sub top 50 schools.

 

[chessknt]

I applied with a 29N (10,9,10) and 3.95BCPM and felt like it was an uphill battle. I ended up getting 4 spring interviews (applied as early as possible) at Jefferson, Drexel, Colorado (instate), and Rosalind Franklin. I had a lot of community service activities and some activities that gave me good exposure to the medical world. Before I got accepted, I was seeking advice on how to improve my application. Every school that I received input from mentioned that they would like to see at least all 10's on all sections of the MCAT. I suggest you try everything possible to achieve a balanced 30. Another thing to consider is the caliber of students your state school accepts. Colorado's average MCAT was 33-34. I think I just got the interview because of my GPA at a harder state school, but I was rejected in the end. Good Luck.

I would imagine a single point in the PS section wouldnt make that huige of a difference. How many schools did you apply to/how strong do yo ufeel your writing abilities are?

 

[loganhayes]

To the OP, if the MCAT score is lower than 27, you might want to consider re-taking the MCAT. If it is lower than 25, definitely re-take it.
27-29 MCAT will get you in somewhere. May be not at top schools, but all you need is one acceptance.

 

[pincheeric]

Study hard, score 30 or higher, and you've given yourself a chance at any school given that the rest of your application is decent.

 

[horhay1241]

I was in the same boat. Got 6 MD interviews and am really happy with the way things turned out. Check out my MDapps for the details and schools. It seems like some schools put more emphasis on GPA than MCAT, and the other way around too. Good luck!

 

[jelly476]

look just apply across a broad spectrum. I had a 30 MCAT and a high gpa and got into NYU so its not a set rule. Just make sure ur scores arent too disparate.

 

[1 Up]

Looking at the MSAR will show you that quite a few low scoring students still get into schools.

 

[1 Up]

I applied with a 29N (10,9,10) and 3.95BCPM and felt like it was an uphill battle. I ended up getting 4 spring interviews (applied as early as possible) at Jefferson, Drexel, Colorado (instate), and Rosalind Franklin. I had a lot of community service activities and some activities that gave me good exposure to the medical world. Before I got accepted, I was seeking advice on how to improve my application. Every school that I received input from mentioned that they would like to see at least all 10's on all sections of the MCAT. I suggest you try everything possible to achieve a balanced 30. Another thing to consider is the caliber of students your state school accepts. Colorado's average MCAT was 33-34. I think I just got the interview because of my GPA at a harder state school, but I was rejected in the end. Good Luck.

Some questions:

1. What sort of clinical exposure did you have?
2. Did you do any research?
3. What sorts of other extracurricular activities did you show?
4. Did you feel that your essay was stellar?
5. Did you feel that your interviews went well? Compare them to other interviews you've had. Are you good with interviews?
6. How many recommendation letters did you secure? Do you feel they were written for a mediocre student, or an excellent student?
7. How many schools did you submit secondaries to?
8. Would the schools have had any other reasons to NOT accept you?

These are some pretty important questions because you could potentially be scaring quite a few people by telling them what you have; as a GPA of 3.95 and MCAT of 29 combined isn't wonderful, but it isn't bad either. I have friends who have gotten accepted with lower GPAs and scores so you can't really tell someone that it's going to be an uphill battle just because their MCAT score is low. It also depends on the sorts of schools to which you apply. If you're in above your head, then you probably should have applied more strategically.

 

[frisbee]

Some questions:

1. What sort of clinical exposure did you have?
2. Did you do any research?
3. What sorts of other extracurricular activities did you show?
4. Did you feel that your essay was stellar?
5. Did you feel that your interviews went well? Compare them to other interviews you've had. Are you good with interviews?
6. How many recommendation letters did you secure? Do you feel they were written for a mediocre student, or an excellent student?
7. How many schools did you submit secondaries to?
8. Would the schools have had any other reasons to NOT accept you?

1. I had about 300 hours of hospital volunteer experience. I felt like 200 hours was pretty useful, but the other 100 was just cleaning beds and other work that gave me no exposure.
2. I did not have any research on my application, but I did have some to talk about in interviews because I did research about 15 hours a week in my senior year.
3. I had a lot of community service activities and two-three leadership roles. I also had a few smaller activities that I thought made my app stand out. My extracurricular activities were in no way comparable to some of the activities listed in some MDApp profiles I have seen.
4. I do not think my essay was stellar. I am not a great writer and had a pretty hard time writing it. I know that it was well edited, but the content was probably mediocre. I never heard any feedback on my essay from schools.
5. I felt that Rosalind Franklin and Jefferson were my best interviews. The interview at Drexel was decent, but I didn't like the school too much and it probably showed. The interview at CU was poor-mediocre with the student interviewer and great with the faculty interviewer. I think I am too nervous and introverted during interviews and don't come across that well. When I see the posts on the # of interviews versus # of acceptances thread, it is clear that I do not interview as well as other applicants.
6. I don't remember how many letters I had, but I would say the science letters would describe me as an excellent student. The non-science letter that I had to send to a handful of schools was probably mediocre because the professor did not know me too well, but he was my only choice.
7. I sent secondaries to 16 schools, and I was definitely dreaming about 3 of them.
8. Only other things I could think that might be an issue would be my age (21), maybe too much AP credit which let me graduate in 3 years
(only prerequisite AP credit was chemistry and I was a chem major), and a very limited life-science and non-science background when I submitted my applications (I took 4 non-science classes and two life-science classes my senior year).

Sorry if my post scared anyone, and feel free to ask more questions.

 

[Rikkye]

for 28-30, you'll get in somewhere with a strong writing skill and a friendly attitude, but it will probably not be your #1 choice, I was in the same boat, I like my school, just not the tuition and location

still, if I can redo everything over, I WILL DEFINITELY get over my MCAT laziness and take it again

 

[EpiPEN]

for 28-30, you'll get in somewhere with a strong writing skill and a friendly attitude, but it will probably not be your #1 choice, I was in the same boat, I like my school, just not the tuition and location

still, if I can redo everything over, I WILL DEFINITELY get over my MCAT laziness and take it again

That's being optimistic. see the stats of people who reapply?

 

[Rikkye]

That's being optimistic. see the stats of people who reapply?

do you mind showing me a few?

 

[EpiPEN]

do you mind showing me a few?

aww dang, you called me out on it . Just the general feel I got from reading the reapplying appliant forum and a few cases I talked to in my undergrad school. I don't have solid numbers unfortunately

 

[Phoenix.]

Study hard, score 30 or higher, and you've given yourself a chance at any school given that the rest of your application is decent.

I agree. I had a 30 and a 3.78 and think I did very well (see my mdapps). However, I did have a breakdown of 8 PS, 12 VR, 10 BS, and am certain that the 8 in PS hurt me at many schools. On the other hand, I imagine my non-trad background as a former attorney helped, and I think my essays and writing skills were definitely an asset as well. I had no shadowing, a year of clinical research with no publications, and about a year and a half of ER/clinic volunteering (about 3 hours a week).

For some schools stats are much more important. For example, I would bet money that if I'd gotten a 10 in PS I would have gotten an interview at Northwestern. For Pritzker, however, I don't think it would have made any difference whatsoever. It boggled me that they held me on a pre-interview hold until January (rather than rejecting me in August), when they were rejecting stellar applicants with 40+ on the MCAT left and right. I guess what it comes down to is the "fit" schools vs. the "non-fit" (or stats) schools. I was very lucky that my dream school happens to be a fit school.

Anyway, the bottom line is just to make the most of what you've got. Put lots of time, effort and passion into your personal statement and secondary essays and put your best foot forward. Tell them what you love about their school/program/student body, etc., and show them what you'd add to the class and why they simply MUST have you. If they're a fit school, it will certainly help. Alternatively, if you've got your sights set on a stats school, all I can recommend is retaking the MCAT if you don't hit the magic number. But be sure not to get caught up in lusting after a school without questioning that lust. The more you find out about the school and the more students you talk to who go there, the more you may find that that school isn't exactly the perfect school for you anyway.

 

[1 Up]

Thanks frisbee!

 

[majik1213]

apply instate

 

[whymcat]

with a gpa 3.6 from harvard and mcat 25 10/bio, 9/phys, 6/V, where can I apply in US?

 

[whymcat]

hi:
I was wondering if anyone can tell me where in US I can apply to with mcat 25,
10/bio, 9/ps, 6/v and gpa of 3.6 from harvard.
thanks

 

[aSagacious]

Hi Whymcat, for these types of questions we have a dedicated sub-forum called 'what are my chances?'. If you go there and click 'new thread' you'll probably receive more useful advice. I am glad to see someone using the search function though.

 

[whymcat]

where can I apply with a 25 mcat and gpa 3.6 from harvard. and also what kind of questions where you asked at rosalind and jeffereson? thank you