MD applicants with GPA<3.5: How many schools did you apply to?

[LuluLovesMe]

How many interviews did you get and how many (if any) acceptances did you get?

If you see this thread and decide you don't want to share, could you just make a post noting that as well? I'd like to also get an idea of how much response bias there is.

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[hoihaie]

40+, 4 II, and 1 acceptance

 

[LuluLovesMe]

40+, 3 II, and 1 acceptance so far

Did you feel that 40+ was necessary? Do you mind if I ask for your other stats and URM status?

 

[RedPhys]

10,
2 II (so far?!)
(waiting to hear back from both)

 

[mr11]

12 schools and I'm a tx resident. 4 interviews, 3 acceptances (1 OOS)

 

[hoihaie]

Did you feel that 40+ was necessary? Do you mind if I ask for your other stats and URM status?

I don't have a school tha has IS bias for me so yeah, i thought it was necessary.

 

[MrLogan13]

Applied to 31, completed 27 secondaries, have received 2 II's so far, and have 1 acceptance right now.

 

[songl4a]

.

 

[Doctor_Nope]

Applied to 35 schools with 10 interviews invites and 6 acceptances so far. Non-URM, MCAT > 34, non-trad, and somewhat unique EC's with fairly strong medical background.

Contrast that with last year where I applied to 15 schools with 2 II's and no acceptances.

In hindsight it would seem that applying to that many schools this year wasn't absolutely necessary, but it was interesting that some of the schools that I thought were long-shots gave me interviews while many of the low-tiered schools I thought I had a good chance with gave me silence. And several of my acceptances are ones I added later on my list.

From what I've observed in the past couple years (though my data is admittedly limited), it seems that if you have fairly balanced numbers with standard EC's and background (or have schools available with strong in-state preference), it's probably safe to just go off the MSAR and apply to a reasonable number of schools in your GPA and MCAT range (say 10-15) with a couple below and above your range to cover your bases (i.e. your dream and safety schools). If your numbers are skewed, though, (e.g. low GPA and high MCAT) and/or have unique EC's, URM, non-trad, etc... then it's better to add more schools to your list. There seems to be some unpredictability in how the schools review non-standard applications. Just my 2 cents...

To add one other data point, I have a friend with similar stats as mine (though more research heavy and less medical experience) who applied to about as many schools as I did the first time and had the same results (0 acceptances). He only applied to one state school the next year, though, and got in.

 

[keevwu]

how many of you are URM?

 

[ProudMD]

My sGPA was under a 3.5, but my MCAT was a respectable 33.

Applied to just over 20 MD schools - one interview and one acceptance to top choice.

I applied early and got my acceptance in October. Absolutely best day of my life.

EDIT: Non-URM

 

[mr11]

I'm not URM. But I did have a 39 MCAT and I did a one year masters which helped. My ECs were average I suppose. Some scribing and clinical research.

 

[ProudMD]

I'm not URM. But I did have a 39 MCAT and I did a one year masters which helped. My ECs were average I suppose. Some scribing and clinical research.

An astronomical MCAT can open doors that are otherwise shut...

 

[justadream]

40+, 3 II, and 1 acceptance so far

How did you write secondaries for that many schools!?

 

[songl4a]

.

 

[ConsultantMD]

I applied to over 30 schools and I had an MCAT score in the top 5 percentile. I have several interesting ECs and experiences as a non-traditional applicant. I have 7 iis so far (3 from top 25 ranked research schools and 1 from a top 10 primary care). I have 2 acceptances so far. I'd say if you can afford it, reach! Pretty much none of the schools I thought I was a potential fit for have been interested in me and if I had applied more prudently I would be applying again most likely. Good luck!

 

[hoihaie]

How did you write secondaries for that many schools!?

Treated it like a full time job+2nd job

 

[LuluLovesMe]

I applied to over 30 schools and I had an MCAT score in the top 5 percentile. I have several interesting ECs and experiences as a non-traditional applicant. I have 7 iis so far (3 from top 25 ranked research schools and 1 from a top 10 primary care). I have 2 acceptances so far. I'd say if you can afford it, reach! Pretty much none of the schools I thought I was a potential fit for have been interested in me and if I had applied more prudently I would be applying again most likely. Good luck!

Hmm so you're saying to aim higher? What are the two schools that accepted you if you don't mind me asking?

Have you gotten interviews from schools with MCAT averages around the same as your MCAT?

 

[FLdivegurl]

32 Schools. 5 II's. Attended 2. 1 acceptance. 35 MCAT. Non trad (<30yo). White as Wonderbread.

 

[LuluLovesMe]

32 Schools. 5 II's. Attended 2. 1 acceptance. 35 MCAT. Non trad (<30yo). White as Wonderbread.

Only 5 II's? Which schools? Also what was your GPA?

 

[ConsultantMD]

Hmm so you're saying to aim higher? What are the two schools that accepted you if you don't mind me asking?

Have you gotten interviews from schools with MCAT averages around the same as your MCAT?

I'll PM you on this. I guess I would say that if one major component of your app is missing, for me it was my grades, but everything else is great (MCAT namely), then am higher. If several areas are weak, then no do not aim higher.

Yes I have gotten interviews at schools with similar MCAT averages, some higher averages too.

 

[FLdivegurl]

Only 5 II's? Which schools? Also what was your GPA?

Yup. GPA was sub 3.0. II's at Albany, SLU, Wake, Quinn and Commonwealth PA. It only takes 1 Interview to yield an acceptance, plenty of kiddos would punch a nun for 5 II's... No Nuns were harmed in the completing of my application cycle.

 

[WillburCobb]

ORM, semi-non-trad, 3.45 cGPA, 3.35 sGPA, 32 MCAT. Applied to 8 MD and 6 DO - received 3 MD and 3 DO acceptances, turned down 2 MD IIs late in the season and 3 DO IIs.

 

[MrLogan13]

I'm ORM, non-trad, standard EC's, some uncommon clinical work experiences (military).

 

[gapyearguppy]

URM. Applied to 11 schools but only completed secondaries for 9. One II and one acceptance. Very lucky seeing as I applied to so few schools with my stats.

 

[ProudMD]

ORM, semi-non-trad, 3.45 cGPA, 3.35 sGPA, 32 MCAT. Applied to 8 MD and 6 DO - received 3 MD and 3 DO acceptances, turned down 2 MD IIs late in the season and 3 DO IIs.

Congrats!

You must have some pretty stellar ECs.

 

[WillburCobb]

Congrats!

You must have some pretty stellar ECs.

Nothing really special. 2+ years inpatient psych, 2+ years inpatient med/surg as an aide, 2 years of mixed neuro and social psych research, and 2 years of CT surgery research. My state school is VERY friendly for IS applicants as well.

 

[ZymurgySurfer]

Both sGPA and cGPA below 3.5, MCAT>32, not URM. applied to 19, 2 II and 2 acceptances so far

 

[LuluLovesMe]

Both sGPA and cGPA below 3.5, MCAT>32, not URM. applied to 19, 2 II and 2 acceptances so far

How were your extracurriculars/research

 

[songl4a]

.

 

[ZymurgySurfer]

How were your extracurriculars/research

I would describe my work experience as very unique and I incorporated that a lot, I did zero research in college (I work in a research lab now) so I had no pubs or anything like that, I founded a medical service organization and ran 1 international trip my senior year and was a member of a sports club for a year

 

[workethic712]

ORM, both sGPA and cGPA 3.3-3.5, MCAT 33-35, solid ECs, traditional applicant.
applied to ~32 allopathic schools, zero II starting to lose hope

 

[LuluLovesMe]

ORM, both sGPA and cGPA 3.3-3.5, MCAT 33-35, solid ECs, traditional applicant.
applied to ~32 allopathic schools, zero II starting to lose hope

Where did you apply and how late?

 

[LizzyM]

You can use mdapps to see what the experience of people who applied in past cycles (and this cycle) with a gpa between x and y and an MCAT between x and y, and so forth. To the extent that the mdapps entries are accurate, this will give you a good picture.

It isn't how many applications one makes but where you are from geographically and in terms of life experience and which schools you apply to.

 

[LuluLovesMe]

You can use mdapps to see what the experience of people who applied in past cycles (and this cycle) with a gpa between x and y and an MCAT between x and y, and so forth. To the extent that the mdapps entries are accurate, this will give you a good picture.

It isn't how many applications one makes but where you are from geographically and in terms of life experience and which schools you apply to.

I know CA residents have it the worst; how do MA residents fare in the grand scheme of things?

 

[Doc4Underserved]

4 II - 2 acceptances (OOS), 1 waitlist (IS), 1 coming up (IS).

CA resident, cGPA and sGPA <3.4, MCAT 28Q, applied to 27 schools, received 25 secondaries, completed 23.

 

[LuluLovesMe]

4 II - 2 acceptances (OOS), 1 waitlist (IS), 1 coming up (IS).

CA resident, cGPA and sGPA <3.4, MCAT 28Q, applied to 27 schools, received 25 secondaries, completed 23.

URM status?

 

[Doc4Underserved]

URM status?

Non-URM by most schools' standards. I'm Filipino/Asian.

 

[LizzyM]

I know CA residents have it the worst; how do MA residents fare in the grand scheme of things?

I'm not going to do the math for you but google AAMC tables and look at tables 3 and 4 to get the numbers you want and work out the proportion or ratio or whatever by state by year. The data on those tables goes back 10 years or more.

 

[workethic712]

ORM, both sGPA and cGPA 3.3-3.5, MCAT 33-35, solid ECs, traditional applicant.
applied to ~32 allopathic schools, zero II starting to lose hope

Where did you apply and how late?

I'm from CA, my primary was verified before secondaries came out. Secondaries submitted and marked as complete in July (just a handful in August). School list as follows:

Albany
Albert Einstein
Boston University
David Geffen UCLA
Drexel
Geisel
GWU
Georgetown
Hofstra
Keck USC
Loyola University Chicago Stritch
Mayo
Medical College of Wisconsin
NYMC
Oakland University William Beaumont
Pennsylvania State
Quinnipiac
Rosalind Franklin
Rush
Temple
Toledo
University of Vermont
Tufts
Tulane
University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix
University of Arizona College of Medicine-Tucson
University of California, Davis
University of California, Irvine
University of California-Riverside
VCU
Virginia Tech Carilion
Wake Forest

 

[beachside]

How many interviews did you get and how many (if any) acceptances did you get?

If you see this thread and decide you don't want to share, could you just make a post noting that as well? I'd like to also get an idea of how much response bias there is.

I returned secondaries to 19 schools. Received five interview offers. Didn't attend two of them, after my first acceptance, so not sure what my total number of acceptances would have been.

 

[cupcakesandcadavers]

applied to 24, 2 II, 1 acceptance (!!!!!!), 1 waitlist
1 hold, 12 silence
broad range from top 10 to top 80 lol

 

[senzen]

I plan on applying to every single DO school in the country and maybe 50-60 MD schools.

I know that may be overkill but I feel it's better to be safe than sorry. It will be worth it whenever I obtain that first acceptance.

I do intend on pre-writing secondaries so that I'm not under a time constraint and can submit quality writing in a timely manner whenever secondaries do happen to be released.

 

[ProudMD]

I plan on applying to every single DO school in the country and maybe 50-60 MD schools.

I know that may be overkill but I feel it's better to be safe than sorry. It will be worth it whenever I obtain that first acceptance.

I do intend on pre-writing secondaries so that I'm not under a time constraint and can submit quality writing in a timely manner whenever secondaries do happen to be released.

It's not overkill - it's ludicrous and absolutely not necessary. You are talking about close to 100 applications...be realistic.

 

[LuluLovesMe]

I plan on applying to every single DO school in the country and maybe 50-60 MD schools.

I know that may be overkill but I feel it's better to be safe than sorry. It will be worth it whenever I obtain that first acceptance.

I do intend on pre-writing secondaries so that I'm not under a time constraint and can submit quality writing in a timely manner whenever secondaries do happen to be released.

What are your stats?

 

[beachside]

I plan on applying to every single DO school in the country and maybe 50-60 MD schools.

I know that may be overkill but I feel it's better to be safe than sorry. It will be worth it whenever I obtain that first acceptance.

I do intend on pre-writing secondaries so that I'm not under a time constraint and can submit quality writing in a timely manner whenever secondaries do happen to be released.

I hope you're taking a gap year to write all of those secondary essays. I mean, literally do nothing else but writing secondary essays. The questions are not that similar, and you can't just BS them if you want to be considered.

 

[senzen]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/explaining-bad-grades-chances.1115518/#post-16066641

Those are my stats. I still have yet to take the MCAT. But I hope to score in the top 5 percentile. I know it may sound naive but I'm doing everything I can to make that a reality. I will keep taking practice tests until I can achieve that score. I won't really give up until I do. Lululoves me I read that you got a 37 on the MCAT, that's absolutely amazing. Congratulations. Can I PM you for some advice?

I will have about 4-5 months before I apply so I intend on finishing the majority of my secondaries then. When I get the actual secondaries, I'll be doing a lot of tweaking to and making it unique to each respective school.

@LuluLovesMe @beachside @ProudMD

 

[hoihaie]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/explaining-bad-grades-chances.1115518/#post-16066641

Those are my stats. I still have yet to take the MCAT. But I hope to score in the top 5 percentile. I know it may sound naive but I'm doing everything I can to make that a reality. I will keep taking practice tests until I can achieve that score. I won't really give up until I do. Lululoves me I read that you got a 37 on the MCAT, that's absolutely amazing. Congratulations. Can I PM you for some advice?

I will have about 4-5 months before I apply so I intend on finishing the majority of my secondaries then. When I get the actual secondaries, I'll be doing a lot of tweaking to and making it unique to each respective school.

@LuluLovesMe @beachside @ProudMD

I don't think you'd need to apply to that many schools. 50-60 MD schools is already enough, which based on your GPA, you seem like you'd have a good chance at atleast lower tier schools. Mine is like yours, except my GPA is worse.

 

[ProudMD]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/explaining-bad-grades-chances.1115518/#post-16066641

Those are my stats. I still have yet to take the MCAT. But I hope to score in the top 5 percentile. I know it may sound naive but I'm doing everything I can to make that a reality. I will keep taking practice tests until I can achieve that score. I won't really give up until I do. Lululoves me I read that you got a 37 on the MCAT, that's absolutely amazing. Congratulations. Can I PM you for some advice?

I will have about 4-5 months before I apply so I intend on finishing the majority of my secondaries then. When I get the actual secondaries, I'll be doing a lot of tweaking to and making it unique to each respective school.

@LuluLovesMe @beachside @ProudMD

Your 3.6 cGPA and 3.5 sGPA is very reasonable for many MD schools. And your calculated DO GPA is even higher, which means that first, there is absolutely no reason for you to apply to EVERY DO school in the country. If you want to be safe, apply to 3-5 DO schools (like PCOM, AZCOM, CCOM, TUCOM, etc.).

Assuming that you want to focus on MD schools, I would recommend a good 20-25 MD schools (you can consider applying to 30, but that's the maximum number that's still reasonable) and perhaps another 5 or DO schools just to cover your bases. Your ECs are quite strong (from a cursory glance at your other thread), so focus on doing well on the MCAT and you should be set.

You are in a pretty good position right now. Don't psyche yourself out!

 

[LuluLovesMe]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/explaining-bad-grades-chances.1115518/#post-16066641

Those are my stats. I still have yet to take the MCAT. But I hope to score in the top 5 percentile. I know it may sound naive but I'm doing everything I can to make that a reality. I will keep taking practice tests until I can achieve that score. I won't really give up until I do. Lululoves me I read that you got a 37 on the MCAT, that's absolutely amazing. Congratulations. Can I PM you for some advice?

I will have about 4-5 months before I apply so I intend on finishing the majority of my secondaries then. When I get the actual secondaries, I'll be doing a lot of tweaking to and making it unique to each respective school.

@LuluLovesMe @beachside @ProudMD

Sure you can PM me.

Your GPA is okay for allopathic schools and it's higher than mine. You really would be better served applying to 25-30 carefully selected schools.

You may only need a 32-34 MCAT to get into an allopathic med school