MD Need advice IL resident cGPA-3.84, sGPA-3.86, MCAT-29 (13PS, 6VR, 10BS)

[Sherlocked8]

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[Faha]

You do not need to retake the MCAT. Your schools from U of Illinois to ST. Louis are all realistic. Starting with Indiana on your list you mainly have state schools which give preference to their own residents.

 

[Nysor_bttw]

I don't know, that verbal score is pretty killer. I'm not an expert on how things works for URM, but I would think a 6 on any section quite crippling.

 

[Nysor_bttw]

Like I said...You have the GPA and you have no MCAT, you got a problem building...wait a minute. You have the GPA, and you have no VR Scores, you got a problem building your VR score. You have the G...you have the GPA and you don't have the MCAT, the MCAT, it is easier to build. So if you have the GPA and you don't have the MCAT, it is easier to build the MCAT. You have the MCAT and you don't have the GPA, you got a problem building the GPA... No, you don't understand. You have the GPA, but you don't have the MCAT, you got a problem building downstairs. You got the GPA- MCAT on the bottom, it is easier to build on the top, so you don't have much as a problem. Yeah.

How was that helpful to her situation?

 

[Sherlocked8]

You do not need to retake the MCAT. Your schools from U of Illinois to ST. Louis are all realistic. Starting with Indiana on your list you mainly have state schools which give preference to their own residents.

The state schools on my list seemed to have reasonable OOS percentages when I checked the MSAR (except Central MI). I also heard state schools give some preference to OOSers from bordering states. Is this not the case?

 

[Faha]

The state schools on my list seemed to have reasonable OOS percentages when I checked the MSAR (except Central MI). I also heard state schools give some preference to OOSers from bordering states. Is this not the case?

I do not know about the OOS preferences of the state schools. I do know that private schools generally do not give a strong preference to state residents. You would have a decent chance applying to private schools such as Quinnipiac
New York Medical College
Albany
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Penn State
Tulane
I know these are outside of your geographic preference but applicants need to be flexible about location because the application process is so competitive.

 

[Sherlocked8]

I do not know about the OOS preferences of the state schools. I do know that private schools generally do not give a strong preference to state residents. You would have a decent chance applying to private schools such as Quinnipiac
New York Medical College
Albany
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Penn State
Tulane
I know these are outside of your geographic preference but applicants need to be flexible about location because the application process is so competitive.

Thank you for your school suggestions. I will look into them but another big reason for my only applying in the Midwest was my financial situation. Although I have been saving up for the app process, it will most likely not be enough to buy multiple plane tickets.

 

[Sherlocked8]

Also I would appreciate any advice from @Goro , @gyngyn , and @LizzyM about MCAT retake or school list

 

[Goro]

You're golden; aim high

 

[Sherlocked8]

You're golden; aim high

Is my school list alright? I am especially concerned about SIU (im from chicagoland area), Central michigan (very low OOS rate), U of michigan (reach) University of chicago (high reach) Northwestern (high reach) and case western reserve (high reach).

 

[Goro]

Even with the VR6, schools will fall over themselves to recruit you. You can probably dump Central MI....other places will take you.

Is my school list alright? I am especially concerned about SIU (im from chicagoland area), Central michigan (very low OOS rate), U of michigan (reach) University of chicago (high reach) Northwestern (high reach) and case western reserve (high reach).

 

[Sherlocked8]

Even with the VR6, schools will fall over themselves to recruit you. You can probably dump Central MI....other places will take you.

Thanks for your help Goro!

 

[Sherlocked8]

Even with the VR6, schools will fall over themselves to recruit you. You can probably dump Central MI....other places will take you.

For optional secondary questions, such as 'discuss any academic weaknesses' or 'discuss elements that may be concerning to admissions committee,' should I bring up my low verbal score?

If so, I know that I should not make excuses and was thinking of saying something along the lines of "I don't think this score accurately represents my ability to succeed in medical school as it is only a snapshot of those abilities. My verbal score for the SAT was also much lower than my college's average but I was still able to succeed there academically." OR "I prepared myself for all three sections of the MCAT and preformed well on the science sections but I did not score as well as I planned to in verbal. With this, I learned how important it is to approach different challenges with different tools/strategies and I will apply this knowledge in medical school"

Would either of these answers be alright for a secondary question and/or if I am asked about this in an interview?

 

[Goro]

if there's any place to discuss it, it's right there.

For optional secondary questions, such as 'discuss any academic weaknesses' or 'discuss elements that may be concerning to admissions committee,' should I bring up my low verbal score?

If so, I know that I should not make excuses and was thinking of saying something along the lines of "I don't think this score accurately represents my ability to succeed in medical school as it is only a snapshot of those abilities.

This is a poor start to the argument...
My verbal score for the SAT was also much lower than my college's average

...but this is the best point you can make...you have provided evidence that the VR6 was meaningless to your success.
but I was still able to succeed there academically."



This is another way of saying "I did well in 2/3 things I'm supposed to master." This won't work either.
"I prepared myself for all three sections of the MCAT and preformed well on the science sections but I did not score as well as I planned to in verbal. With this, I learned how important it is to approach different challenges with different tools/strategies and I will apply this knowledge in medical school"

 

[Grace184]

Like I said...You have the GPA and you have no MCAT, you got a problem building...wait a minute. You have the GPA, and you have no VR Scores, you got a problem building your VR score. You have the G...you have the GPA and you don't have the MCAT, the MCAT, it is easier to build. So if you have the GPA and you don't have the MCAT, it is easier to build the MCAT. You have the MCAT and you don't have the GPA, you got a problem building the GPA... No, you don't understand. You have the GPA, but you don't have the MCAT, you got a problem building downstairs. You got the GPA- MCAT on the bottom, it is easier to build on the top, so you don't have much as a problem. Yeah.

@ActorENFP What?

 

[Sherlocked8]

if there's any place to discuss it, it's right there.

For optional secondary questions, such as 'discuss any academic weaknesses' or 'discuss elements that may be concerning to admissions committee,' should I bring up my low verbal score?

If so, I know that I should not make excuses and was thinking of saying something along the lines of "I don't think this score accurately represents my ability to succeed in medical school as it is only a snapshot of those abilities.

This is a poor start to the argument...
My verbal score for the SAT was also much lower than my college's average

...but this is the best point you can make...you have provided evidence that the VR6 was meaningless to your success.
but I was still able to succeed there academically."



This is another way of saying "I did well in 2/3 things I'm supposed to master." This won't work either.
"I prepared myself for all three sections of the MCAT and preformed well on the science sections but I did not score as well as I planned to in verbal. With this, I learned how important it is to approach different challenges with different tools/strategies and I will apply this knowledge in medical school"

How about:
"I am confident that I will be able to excel in your program, as I have excelled in my undergraduate education. I believe that the rest of my application can provide evidence/support for this"
Would this come off as being arrogant?

Do you have any suggestions on how to best address this issue in a secondary or an interview, if asked?

 

[Goro]

I'll have to ponder that one.

 

[Sherlocked8]

I'll have to ponder that one.

Alright, thanks again Goro! Please let me know if anything comes to mind, otherwise I'll probably just use the last response I posted to answer this question.

 

[reapplicanthelpme2014]

Like I said...You have the GPA and you have no MCAT, you got a problem building...wait a minute. You have the GPA, and you have no VR Scores, you got a problem building your VR score. You have the G...you have the GPA and you don't have the MCAT, the MCAT, it is easier to build. So if you have the GPA and you don't have the MCAT, it is easier to build the MCAT. You have the MCAT and you don't have the GPA, you got a problem building the GPA... No, you don't understand. You have the GPA, but you don't have the MCAT, you got a problem building downstairs. You got the GPA- MCAT on the bottom, it is easier to build on the top, so you don't have much as a problem. Yeah.

What even the fck just happened here?

 

[Grace184]

What even the fck just happened here?

I think it was med school Tourette's or she was channeling Rainman

 

[Catalystik]

Is my school list alright? I am especially concerned about SIU (im from chicagoland area)

Keep SIU. They accept a few residents of Northern Illinois each year.

 

[Sherlocked8]

Keep SIU. They accept a few residents of Northern Illinois each year.

Thank you, Catalystik! Are there any schools on my list that you would suggest taking out?

 

[Catalystik]

Thank you, Catalystik! Are there any schools on my list that you would suggest taking out?

You might check school-specific websites for any with absolute subscore cutoffs. Though taking a quick look at Illinois schools, a lot of that language has been removed, probably due to the confusion of the new vs old MCAT reporting scales. I do note that Loyola prefers subscores above the national averages.