WAMC 4.0 sGPA 2 MCAT scores...

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katherinepierce1473

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Hey all,

First time poster but long timer lurker.

I am applying this cycle. I had already added 15 schools but am looking to add a few more. Open to MD or DO.

First MCAT: 25
Second MCAT: 513

sGPA: 4.0
cGPA: 3.98

>2000 hours of being a medical assistant
>250 hours research
~150 hours non-clinical volunteer

Any school recommendations? I'm worried about my MCAT since I took the old one AND the new one...

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You should be still be fine. I believe a 513 is 89th percentile which translates to about a 33. Even for schools that average, a 4.0/29 isn't a deadly combination(and there are a number of schools that won't average and put alot more weight in your recent score)

Invest in MSAR, come back with a list, and you can get help having it edited.
 
Thank you so much for the reply. I have MSAR. Trying to add more schools today since I think many schools have a deadline of tomorrow.

So far I have:
State schools
Rosalind Franklin
Tufts
Georgetown
Tulane
Emory (reach)
George Washington
Rochester
Minnesota
Colorado
Arizona (Tuscon campus)
Brown (reach)


I'm open to living just about anywhere.
 
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Thank you so much for the reply. I have MSAR. Trying to add more schools today since I think many schools have a deadline of tomorrow.

So far I have:
State schools
Rosalind Franklin
Tufts
Georgetown
Tulane
Emory (reach)
George Washington
Rochester
Minnesota
Colorado
Arizona (Tuscon campus)
Brown (reach)


I'm open to living just about anywhere.

What's your state of residence; it matters for schools like Arizona and others where you want to apply OOS to public schools. I would probably ditch Minnesota and perhaps Colorado unless you have ties there. Brown heavily favors their own, there are defiintely better options if you want to reach a little.

There's no good answer for how schools will view retakes. Them saying they will weigh the more recent score doesn't mean all that much as gyngyn has said many times before. For a 4.0/33, Emory and Rochester are fine. For a 4.0/29, they aren't. The best strategy in your case is to add a number of lower tiers as if you schools might average and then after you have your bases covered there you can start sprinkling in reaches hoping your first score really isn't a factor.

Rosalind, Tufts, Tulane are all fine lower tier choices. GW and Georgetown as is stated everytime they are mentioned on this site aren't high yield schools due to how many apps they get. Here are some more lower tiers to cover your bases
Creighton
Saint Louis
WVU(maybe)
Penn State
Wake Forest
VCU
Eastern Virginia
Rush
Drexel
Temple
NYMC
Albany
Oakland
Quinnipac
Western Michigan

Pick about 12-15 lower tiers. Then for your final schools you can start throwing in some reaches: Miami, Einstein, Boston U(maybe) USC and Case Western(maybe) are ones to look at under the hope that your higher score is the one that'll be given much more consideration(which is hardly a gurantee).
 
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Thank you so much for your input. I really appreciate it.

If anyone wants to weigh on on whether or not I should add DO schools, that would be great. I know my scores put me in an odd situation. At the end of the day I want to be a physician, letters after my name don't matter.
 
Thank you so much for your input. I really appreciate it.

If anyone wants to weigh on on whether or not I should add DO schools, that would be great. I know my scores put me in an odd situation. At the end of the day I want to be a physician, letters after my name don't matter.

Yes probably a good idea to apply to half a dozen or so to cover all bases.
 
Nice MCAT improvement, excellent GPA, and good activities (though be sure to add clubs, hobbies etc.). I think you have a pretty good shot at MD. Grapes gave you good suggestions for additions.
 
You'll need to do your homework to rule out what schools average (like mine) the MCAT. But many superscore, so I think that you'll have some decent success this cycle. I suggest:


U VM
Miami
St. Louis
Albany
Albert Einstein
Rochester
Rush
Rosy Franklin
BU
Hofstra
NYMC
VCU
EVMS
Wake Forest
Jefferson
Temple
Drexel
Creighton
George Washington
Emory
USC/Keck
Tulane
Loyola
Creighton
Any new MD school. Skip Central MI and the three new FL schools.
Your state school(s).
Any DO program



Hey all,

First time poster but long timer lurker.

I am applying this cycle. I had already added 15 schools but am looking to add a few more. Open to MD or DO.

First MCAT: 25
Second MCAT: 513

sGPA: 4.0
cGPA: 3.98

>2000 hours of being a medical assistant
>250 hours research
~150 hours non-clinical volunteer

Any school recommendations? I'm worried about my MCAT since I took the old one AND the new one...
 
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Two schools its been widely rumored average MCATs are Jefferson and Loyola. Anybody got any others out of curiosity(I've heard USF does as a side note but that's just gospel).
 
Thank you all for your responses. I am going to start doing some digging on the above mentioned options. If I come across any that state they average, I'll update the thread.
 
How competitive is/was your undergrad institution? Wondering if that might or might not mitigate any concerns about the first MCAT given a science 4.0. Also great that you are so open to DO but also wondering if you were advised by anyone that you needed to focus on or at least include DO.
 
I don't think my institution will help to mitigate any concerns. I did all of my studying on my own for both exams. In terms of DO, everything I've learned about the application process has been from this website.
 
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You'll need to do your homework to rule out what schools average (like mine) the MCAT. But many superscore, so I think that you'll have some decent success this cycle.
I'm pretty sure that very few superscore.
Looking for them is one of my hobbies.
The only ones I have been able to verify are Vanderbilt, MCW and GW.
 
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I'm pretty sure that very few superscore.
Looking for them is one of my hobbies.
The only ones I have been able to verify are Vanderbilt, MCW and GW.

Any chance you can give some more insight into some of the ones that average MCATs(beside your own)?

Loyola and Jefferson are the first two that have long been rumored to and USF to a less extent(I think Loyola has explicitly stated in MSAR). I haven't really heard anything close to definite about any other school and I know MSAR isn't always the best source for this and that it can be somewhat misleading to call a school and have the answer be "we'll consider the more recent one more significantly".

I realize the inherent trickiness in answering this question both in the nature of the question itself and the position you hold. Anything you might be able to say at all covering any part of this would be insightful.
 
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Any chance you can give some more insight into some of the ones that average MCATs(beside your own)?

Loyola and Jefferson are the first two that have long been rumored to and USF to a less extent. I haven't really heard anything close to definite about any other school.
I am confident that the clamor for an answer to this question has produced the common responses one hears from the front desk of every school in the country: "the latest score, the best score and all scores are considered."
In practice, multiple scores are interpreted idiosyncratically and the result will be difficult if not impossible to predict.
I know that those with multiple scores want answers but, frankly every re-take opens the door to interpretations that are personal to the evaluator.

Some schools may target those who ultimately score in the target range. Others screen based on the lowest score (expecting similar results in times of stress).
 
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I am confident that the clamor for an answer to this question has produced the common responses one hears from the front desk of every school in the country: "the latest score, the best score and all scores are considered."
In practice, multiple scores are interpreted idiosyncratically and the result will be difficult if not impossible to predict.
I know that those with multiple scores want answers but, frankly every re-take opens the door to interpretations that are personal to the evaluator.

Some schools may target those who ultimately score in the target range. Others screen based on the lowest score (expecting similar results in times of stress).

Yes, I am not exactly the first person to ask this. It just surprises me I guess in some way that only a few schools openly state we average scores like Loyola does.

About what I figured though nonetheless. The benefit of saying "we give the most recent score the highest weight" is it allows for ambiguity and allows for different interpretations across different scores and circumstances. I guess there isn't an incentive on the part of the med schools to give much more insight than that.

The screen based on the lowest score at some schools is not something I had heard much of. Good to know.
 
The screen based on the lowest score at some schools is not something I had heard much of. Good to know.
No one is likely to talk about that one.
The test designers (AAMC) recommend averaging. They also recommend a higher reliance on the 2015 MCAT over previous versions.
 
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No one is likely to talk about that one.
The test designers (AAMC) recommend averaging. They also recommend a higher reliance on the 2015 MCAT over previous versions.

Do you think the study that came out 4-5 years ago about how averaging MCAT scores correlated more with performance on Step 1 and 2 has had an effect on schools policies and causing them to change? I know LizzyM said her school started averaging multiple MCATs 4-5 years ago around the time of that study getting published. Not sure if they are related(and I'm not really just talking about her school).
 
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Do you think the study that came out 4-5 years ago about how averaging MCAT scores correlated more with performance on Step 1 and 2 has had an effect on schools policies and causing them to change? I know LizzyM said her school started averaging multiple MCATs 4-5 years ago around the time of that study getting published. Not sure if they are related(and I'm not really just talking about her school).
Yes, I do. We give a copy of that study to every member at the beginning of the cycle.
 
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No one is likely to talk about that one.
The test designers (AAMC) recommend averaging. They also recommend a higher reliance on the 2015 MCAT over previous versions.
You mention the AAMC recommends a higher reliance on the MCAT2015. Do you think most adcoms are going to really consider this and give these test takers the benefit of the doubt or do you think most will just go with the numbers that are more familiar? I mean I know each applicant is their own and everything but it seems there is some sort of bias one way or another
 
You mention the AAMC recommends a higher reliance on the MCAT2015. Do you think most adcoms are going to really consider this and give these test takers the benefit of the doubt or do you think most will just go with the numbers that are more familiar? I mean I know each applicant is their own and everything but it seems there is some sort of bias one way or another
It is difficult to predict bias trends because there are both new adopters and those who find change difficult on every committee. Multiple scores open a Pandora's box of human frailties.
 
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You mention the AAMC recommends a higher reliance on the MCAT2015. Do you think most adcoms are going to really consider this and give these test takers the benefit of the doubt or do you think most will just go with the numbers that are more familiar? I mean I know each applicant is their own and everything but it seems there is some sort of bias one way or another

If you look at official reports you'll find many schools say they will prefer the new MCAT in 2016 and especially 2017. This year it's not really an issue and those reports say schools will accept either without mention to preference. In fact I think a school like WVU requires the old MCAT for this cycle if I'm not mistaken( and I very well might be)
 
You mention the AAMC recommends a higher reliance on the MCAT2015. Do you think most adcoms are going to really consider this and give these test takers the benefit of the doubt or do you think most will just go with the numbers that are more familiar? I mean I know each applicant is their own and everything but it seems there is some sort of bias one way or another
Emory has placed a screen of a minimum 27 MCAT (67%) and a minimum 500 for the new MCAT (51%). I do not know what you can take from that, just putting it out there
 
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