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Very insignificant. The rest of the app is what would let you get in or get rejected from schools. You only have ground to lose retaking a 34.I realized that a 34 will not keep someone out of top 20 med schools. I guess I should phrase it in a slightly different way: the way that people talk about this gives me the impression that there is, for example, a bigger difference in admission chances between a 34 and a 35 than a 37 and a 38.
I realized that a 34 will not keep someone out of top 20 med schools. I guess I should phrase it in a slightly different way: the way that people talk about this gives me the impression that there is, for example, a bigger difference in admission chances between a 34 and a 35 than a 37 and a 38.
The reason people talk about 35+ may be that the differences between the different scores become very slim in terms of percentile once you get past that threshold. However, like others have said, the MCAT score only gets you in the door. The rest of your app will make or break you.
There is very little difference between a 34 and a 35.I just got my MCAT score back and it seems like many of the top 20 Med schools might be out of the question with my score. (I got a 34 and the rest of my application is average but not very strong).
There is something I've always been quite curious about. People (sdn, my pre health advisor) talk about the 35+ threshold a lot. Do med schools actually screen with that score in mind? Is a 34 really that different from a 35?
There is no difference between a 34 and a 35.
I fixed your post for you.
As with almost everything with regards to medical school admissions... Is what you are saying (or others for that matters) logical? Does it make any sense? If the answer is no, then it is likely false.
They don't screen like that- your screen sets your lowest bar and rejects low tier applicants. You wouldn't want to reject everyone with a 34 if your class average is a 36, as many of your applicants will fall in the 33-39 range overall and you'd be cutting out some good applicants on the low end.I don't think it's really too farfetched of an idea. Schools automatically screen out applications below x GPA / x MCAT don't they? Granted a 34 is still high, some schools have an average of 36 I thought? So maybe they only want to screen for applications that are 35 or better. (Theoretically)
I don't think it's really too farfetched of an idea. Schools automatically screen out applications below x GPA / x MCAT don't they? Granted a 34 is still high, some schools have an average of 36 I thought? So maybe they only want to screen for applications that are 35 or better. (Theoretically)
I don't think it's really too farfetched of an idea. Schools automatically screen out applications below x GPA / x MCAT don't they? Granted a 34 is still high, some schools have an average of 36 I thought? So maybe they only want to screen for applications that are 35 or better. (Theoretically)
I just got my MCAT score back and it seems like many of the top 20 Med schools might be out of the question with my score. (I got a 34 and the rest of my application is average but not very strong).
There is something I've always been quite curious about. People (sdn, my pre health advisor) talk about the 35+ threshold a lot. Do med schools actually screen with that score in mind? Is a 34 really that different from a 35?
It's a great score and a 34 is in striking distance of a lot of school's median score for acceptees, like, say, Pitt.
Don't count on your MCAT to save you if the rest of your app is weak. Academically, tens of thousands of applicants are clones of each other.
So you're saying for a class of ~150, you expect pretty much every single person to have a 35, 36, or 37?I don't think it's really too farfetched of an idea. Schools automatically screen out applications below x GPA / x MCAT don't they? Granted a 34 is still high, some schools have an average of 36 I thought? So maybe they only want to screen for applications that are 35 or better. (Theoretically)
So you're saying for a class of ~150, you expect pretty much every single person to have a 35, 36, or 37?
Trust me, no matter what score you get, you will be saying the same thing. I got a 37, and I cant help to think of all the people who got 38, 39 and 40+. As everyone else said, just make sure every other point of your application is on point, apply broadly, and you should be fine.But also, from what I see posted on here and on MDApps, there are a TON of people who apply to top schools with scores of 36, 37, 38, 39
So you're saying for a class of ~150, you expect pretty much every single person to have a 35, 36, or 37?
What? Did you even read what I was responding to and what I wrote?Use MSAR to figure it out
What? Did you even read what I was responding to and what I wrote?
Who cares what MCAT score you or anyone else had once you're all in med school? I'm certainly not going to ask people what they got and not going to reveal mine unless someone persistently asks me.
No I understand that an average of 36 means there will be scores ranging all over the place... I was just saying theoretically some MCATs aren't high enough to beat a screen. a 34 definitely is, but for example if I'm applying to UMich with a 30, my application might never see the light of day
But also, from what I see posted on here and on MDApps, there are a TON of people who apply to top schools with scores of 36, 37, 38, 39
If URM or an astronaut...A 30 will absolutely see the light of day at Michigan and any other top school.
I think you guys are conflating "see the light of day" with "have a good chance". There are still enough compelling applicants in the low 30's high 20's range that even the most selective schools won't automatically toss those applications in the trash, but they won't keep most of them around after the first cut either.If URM or an astronaut...
I think you guys are conflating "see the light of day" with "have a good chance". There are still enough compelling applicants in the low 30's high 20's range that even the most selective schools won't automatically toss those applications in the trash, but they won't keep most of them around after the first cut either.
With a 30, unless your first EC listed is olympic gold medalist or former professional athlete or 16 first-author publications or something crazy like that, its getting tossed after about 15 seconds
I'm not sure what experience you have as a premed that qualifies you to correct current and former students at these schools about their admissions policies. Nobody is disagreeing that a 30 puts you at a disadvantage, but it's also not as insurmountable as you're making it seem.With a 30, unless your first EC listed is olympic gold medalist or former professional athlete or 16 first-author publications or something crazy like that, its getting tossed after about 15 seconds
Based on what exactly are you making this kind of assertion?
Nobody is disputing that a 30 will be difficult to sell at the top schools. But, the concept that you won't be considered is just plain wrong.
I'm not sure what experience you have as a premed that qualifies you to correct current and former students at these schools about their admissions policies. Nobody is disagreeing that a 30 puts you at a disadvantage, but it's also not as insurmountable as you're making it seem.
As with almost everything with regards to medical school admissions... Does it make any sense? If the answer is no, then it is likely false.
So, what's the logic behind maintaining a 99th percentile median class MCAT when anything past the high 20's predicts success? Why does a third of a point decrease in GPA drastically impact your odds when the average GPA between undergrads can differ by twice that?
Maybe a one point difference on your MCAT won't make or break your app, but on the numbers side of admissions it seems like once that gap becomes a few points there's plenty of true nonsensical behavior. To poorly paraphrase something I read from LizzyM or gyngyn on here, it makes no freaking sense in terms of percentile yet schools view a 39 much differently than a 35.
Define 'success'. If the bar is 'will be a good doctor', then yes, ensuring a class average of 35+ is a little silly. There aren't enough 'stand out' applicants each cycle to fill our medical schools. I'm talking about people that you pick up their CV and think, floor is good doctor, ceiling is unlimited. So, we snap up those people as best we can and then fill out the rest of our class with super safe, very smart students. And a third of a point decrease in GPA doesn't drastically change YOUR odds. People with better scores are statistically more likely to get in. But, for an individual case, that 32 vs 34 or that 3.6 vs 3.7 is not going to be what keeps you out of medical school. It is going to be everything else.
Unless it took three tries to get there.So unless there is actually some other value placed on the MCAT (maybe schools trying to get students who will murder the step exams?) it still seems nonsensical to care about differences in score past the low 30's.
perhaps you would suggest a pass/fail MCAT would be a better approach? The difference between a 35 and a 39 could be as little as 4 questions on a 144 question exam (2.77% difference). But a pass/fail MCAT would simply increase all the other random hoops to jump through.I thought MCAT/GPA was not seen as a predictor of physician quality at all, but was meant to show the student could handle the academics of the medical education - that's why it's nonsense to give a 39 much preference over a 35, because both are way way into the safe zone for what is supposedly being demonstrated. So unless there is actually some other value placed on the MCAT (maybe schools trying to get students who will murder the step exams?) it still seems nonsensical to care about differences in score past the low 30's.
perhaps you would suggest a pass/fail MCAT would be a better approach? The difference between a 35 and a 39 could be as little as 4 questions on a 144 question exam (2.77% difference). But a pass/fail MCAT would simply increase all the other random hoops to jump through.
No. GPA is too highly variable. You also go to a deflating school. Having GPA count more than MCAT wouldn't help you at all.I don't mind the current system of scoring, more the inconsistency in what adcoms say the MCAT is being used for vs their behavior towards it. I think the same thing happens with step 1 scores and residency, with the test supposedly given to demonstrate competency/ability to pass but actually used to help identify top candidates by percentiles. If I were going to change anything it would be to weight the prereq GPA ~3x more than the MCAT because the latter is much shallower/easier, but I'm in the minority with that view.
I don't mind the current system of scoring, more the inconsistency in what adcoms say the MCAT is being used for vs their behavior towards it. I think the same thing happens with step 1 scores and residency, with the test supposedly given to demonstrate competency/ability to pass but actually used to help identify top candidates by percentiles. If I were going to change anything it would be to weight the prereq GPA ~3x more than the MCAT because the latter is much shallower/easier, but I'm in the minority with that view.
No. GPA is too highly variable. You also go to a deflating school. Having GPA count more than MCAT wouldn't help you at all.
pre-req GPA would be even worse because you can take classes at any school and with any professor. If we say that 35 is just as good as 39, how is that fair to the guy who worked for the 39 when he could've settled for the 35? None of it is going to ever be perfectly fair for anyone so just push through and do the best you can.