schools that screen application before sending out secondaries

Northwestern, Vanderbilt, alot of state schools (for OOS) ... search for an older thread on this.

I can tell you that all the UC's in cali pre-screen.

add Duke to the list. Only 'invited' applicants get secondaries according to the website.

USUHS and Pitt come to mind.

hypersting said:

Northwestern, Vanderbilt, alot of state schools (for OOS) ... search for an older thread on this.

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Vandy in a way doesn't necessarily prescreen for secondaries . They changed the system so that they decide straight from the primary whether you interview or no. And if you get picked for an interview, then they make u submit ur secondary before you come to the interview. I like that system a lot because they're not just taking money from you like some other privates that probably know that you don't have a chance at their school neways.

Definitely Pittsburgh, Iowa, Ohio State,Wake Forest....
Most likely Loyola, Virginia Commonwealth, Medical College of Wisconsin
Medical College of Ohio at Toledo.....

Cincinnati?

You may have to write an assay to get a secondary from Wake Forest.
I know that the rest do send secondaries to a mediocre applicant but no interview offering (as expected.) Even Michigan did so. (The applicant mixed up between Michigan and Michigan State then.)

Screening or not, it doesn't make much different.

calcrew14 said:

Definitely Pittsburgh, Iowa, Ohio State,Wake Forest....
Most likely Loyola, Virginia Commonwealth, Medical College of Wisconsin
Medical College of Ohio at Toledo.....

Cincinnati?

You may have to write an assay to get a secondary from Wake Forest.
I know that the rest do send secondaries to a mediocre applicant but no interview offering (as expected.) Even Michigan did so. (The applicant mixed up between Michigan and Michigan State then.)

Screening or not, it doesn't make much different.

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Both Michigan and Michigan State screen. So does Wayne State, for that matter.

All of the florida schools screen. USF, UF, FSU and even the lone private school Miami. There are different cutoffs for resident and non-resident applicants.

I think it's listed in the MSAR - under each individual school, it says whether or not they'll automatically send you a secondary. The MSAR is useful, although a little expensive, and really only useful for a limited time. (And hopefully, you'll only need it for one year....)

Good luck!

Try searching, there are tons of threads about this from earlier this month and last year. Good luck.

scooter31 said:

USUHS and Pitt come to mind.

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What kind of screen have you heard at USUHS? This is one worry, I think I have a chance if they look at me as a whole person, but a screen might bite me.

this is something i want to know, thanks for asking and aswering y'all!

evms, uic, loyola I don't medical college of wisconsin does but I may be wrong. I got the secondary two days after my amcas was trasmitted.

Mayo also screens.
I wouldn't be suprised if schools that screened last year have changed their policy. As medical schools across the board are experiencing budget shortfalls, they are looking to secondaries to generate a little extra $.

MErc44 said:

evms, uic, loyola I don't medical college of wisconsin does but I may be wrong. I got the secondary two days after my amcas was trasmitted.

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I don't think MCW screens. Everyone I know got a secondary. My friend got a rejection letter two days after his check cleared.

I know Case and Pitt say they screen, but I am not so sure they actually do - someone I know with a 25 on her MCATs got a secondary from Case and then a week after she submitted it, she got rejected. She called the dean who said her MCATs were too low.

I also know people who had similar stories about Pitt, minus the really low MCATs.

You would think that MCAT and GPA would be the first thing they use to determine if they are going to invite you to submit a secondary.....

I know that Wake Forest, UCLA, U of Miami, U of Iowa (out of state) screen before they send out secondary applications. Hope that helps.

abbaroodle said:

...someone I know with a 25 on her MCATs got a secondary from Case and then a week after she submitted it, she got rejected. She called the dean who said her MCATs were too low.

I also know people who had similar stories about Pitt, minus the really low MCATs.

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I don't get it, how many times did she get 25? How many MCATs did she take?

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=124620
(read at your own risk - this thread may cause mental harm)

Forget this screening thing. A first time applicant with well-balanced MCAT of 27 , no research, minimal volunteer acitivity, most likely routine LOR, so and so PS and nothing else, he received secondaries from every screening school that he applied for. That included Michigan, Pitts, UCLA, UCSD and UCI. Wake Forest rejected him secondarily after an extra assay was reviewed. He ended up with only one interview at a screening school and none from non-screening ones.

The guy got by with the only two things he had, a 3.6998 ( with one C) and a lucky interview. It didn?t take long before the interviewer mentioned something LIKE..... ?You could have got a 4.0........?

Good luck

Oopse, sorry. UC Davis did reject him presecondarily.

If I have already taken the MCAT but plan to retake it in Aug (and mark this on AMCAS), will schools that screen pre-secondary wait to send me a secondary until they receive my Aug MCAT scores? I am pretty sure I would meet screening cut-offs with my current GPA & MCAT (3.75 and 29). If they do wait, how much will this hurt me in the process?

Also, I'm assuming I won't get interviews until schools receive my Aug scores, because even if they would grant me one with my current qualifications I'm guessing they'll still want to see how I do in Aug before making a decision. Does anyone know for a fact that this is how it works? Thanks!

UNC also screens heavily....if you get a secondary then you get an interview

calcrew14 said:

Screening or not, it doesn't make much different.

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Why do you say this? A school that "plugs" numbers and gives the thumbs up to everyone that meets minimums knows that the vast majority will not actually qualify and will just "pay for a rejection letter".

thewzdoc said:

Why do you say this? A school that "plugs" numbers and gives the thumbs up to everyone that meets minimums knows that the vast majority will not actually qualify and will just "pay for a rejection letter".

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I believe that it doesn't make much different for most, if not all, applicants. Some applicant wants to be rejected sooner than later so that he/she could take some alternative. This screening process doesn't help and shouldn't become a factor in school selection. If it is of any value, it is for adcoms and/or their schools only.

BTW, I don't know the fact that Mistress S is looking for. I am willing to bet that Adcoms wait for the result of August MCAT only if it helps them making better final decision. They know how to take care of well qualified applicants. What if the retake score is lower than 29? I heard that many schools honor the most successful numbers. I don't know about the down trend though. I only know that the majority of improvement in MCAT retake are only by 1 point. So be careful. It may not be a good idea to take unnecessary risk. Any way, make sure that you return the completed secondary asap, in 2-3 weeks. Do the same to LORs if possible.

Thanks calcrew--I wish I didn't have to retake, but my score is pretty unbalanced (10 BS, 7 PS, 12 VR) so I think it would really help. Even if I only go up 1 point, as long as it's in PS I think it would be beneficial, as I've heard that getting at least an 8 in all sections is a cut-off for some schools (anyone know if this is true?). If anyone has experience with this and knows for sure about secondaries/interviews when one already has an okay MCAT score but is retaking, I'd love to hear from them.

Mistress S said:

Thanks calcrew--I wish I didn't have to retake, but my score is pretty unbalanced (10 BS, 7 PS, 12 VR) so I think it would really help. Even if I only go up 1 point, as long as it's in PS I think it would be beneficial, as I've heard that getting at least an 8 in all sections is a cut-off for some schools (anyone know if this is true?). If anyone has experience with this and knows for sure about secondaries/interviews when one already has an okay MCAT score but is retaking, I'd love to hear from them.

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I'm in a similar situation. I have a high GPA, research, work, volunteer, etc. The only black spot on my application will be the VR score from last year's Aug MCAT. I was wondering if NorthWestern would want to give me a chance. I'm going to take the August '04 MCAT too.
Just to reiterate, I messed up the VR real bad.
I got a combined score of 28 just because of that dreaded section.

Mayo does screen before they send out secondaries. But, you still have to send them a check before they will even consider you. I sent in my check and got my rejection letter about a week later.