Seriously, What are my chances??

boo-yeh said:

Considering just about everyone I know has done better on the real MCAT than on practice tests,

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You don't know a representative sampling. The rule of thumb is that people tend to do within three points above OR BELOW the average of their last several full length practice tests. Many many people come in shy of where they were on practice tests.

harishchandra said:

Haven't taken MCAT yet,

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Until you take the MCAT you have zero chance of getting into med school, and it is basically a bad cliche here to "assume" a good score. Quite a few people do worse under the pressures of the real thing as they do on practice tests, and it does not appear from your post that you have taken enough full length practice tests upon which you can even estimate your score. Post back when you actually earn your 30. Until then you have no chances at all.

What about the inevitable question... Why medicine, why not pharmacy?

badasshairday said:

What about the inevitable question... Why medicine, why not pharmacy?

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Oh snap, that definitely has to go in your PS.

Echoing what Law2Doc said, for guessing where you might get in, no MCAT score = no idea where you might end up. There is a world of difference between a 29 (my highest practice score) and a 32 (what I got on the real thing).

You could get in with a 30 but depending on what state, I'd say your chances are less than 50%. You really need to get that MCAT up just a LITTLE more. Even a 31 would be a big help. If you could get to a 32 or a 33 then you're in a lot better shape. Go after physical and bio science since those can be gamed easier than verbal.

what year in pharm school are you?

harishchandra said:

Hey all,

I'm a pharmacy student, thinking about going to medical school. My undergraduate GPA is 3.64, and my BCPM GPA is around 3.4. Haven't taken MCAT yet, but I took a practice test without studying and got 29. I have lots of extracurricular activities, such as tutoring inner city kids, working as pharmacy tech, other clinical experiences (part of pharmacy school), was a president of a multicultural organization in college, couple honor societies, etc. So, what do you think are my chances of getting into a medical school assuming I get at least 30 in my MCAT? Thanks!

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If you can increase that BCPM then things will be better. A 29 on the first test is definitely a good sign.
If you can be as honest (in interviews, PS) as the real Satya Harish Chandra you'll be bound to succeed.

harishchandra said:

Hey all,

I'm a pharmacy student, thinking about going to medical school. My undergraduate GPA is 3.64, and my BCPM GPA is around 3.4. Haven't taken MCAT yet, but I took a practice test without studying and got 29. I have lots of extracurricular activities, such as tutoring inner city kids, working as pharmacy tech, other clinical experiences (part of pharmacy school), was a president of a multicultural organization in college, couple honor societies, etc. So, what do you think are my chances of getting into a medical school assuming I get at least 30 in my MCAT? Thanks!

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you're ****ed

You're pretty average, but your chances are good. Get a 30+ on the MCAT, apply broadly, and I think you'll be fine.

Law2Doc said:

Until you take the MCAT you have zero chance of getting into med school, and it is basically a bad cliche here to "assume" a good score. Quite a few people do worse under the pressures of the real thing as they do on practice tests, and it does not appear from your post that you have taken enough full length practice tests upon which you can even estimate your score. Post back when you actually earn your 30. Until then you have no chances at all.

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No @#$@. It was a hypothetical question!

Spathi said:

You could get in with a 30 but depending on what state, I'd say your chances are less than 50%. You really need to get that MCAT up just a LITTLE more. Even a 31 would be a big help. If you could get to a 32 or a 33 then you're in a lot better shape. Go after physical and bio science since those can be gamed easier than verbal.

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that's BS. Just practice verbal a lot and you will improve. My verbal score on my Kaplan Diagnostic was a 5 and in four months I've gotten it to 11s on practice exams.

Law2Doc said:

Until you take the MCAT you have zero chance of getting into med school, and it is basically a bad cliche here to "assume" a good score. Quite a few people do worse under the pressures of the real thing as they do on practice tests, and it does not appear from your post that you have taken enough full length practice tests upon which you can even estimate your score. Post back when you actually earn your 30. Until then you have no chances at all.

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I second this...although harsh, it's true. I've heard too many friends say "I'm gonna do great on the MCAT" only to wind up doing poorly. I'd actually even be inclined to say that of the people I know, more people who bragged about their good practice scores did poorly than those people who were humble and approached the test confidently but without being cocky.

Also OP, your gpa isn't fantastic. You should work on boosting that.

Good luck!

Spathi said:

You could get in with a 30 but depending on what state, I'd say your chances are less than 50%. You really need to get that MCAT up just a LITTLE more. Even a 31 would be a big help. If you could get to a 32 or a 33 then you're in a lot better shape. Go after physical and bio science since those can be gamed easier than verbal.

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With a 30 on the MCAT you're predicting less than a 50% chance of getting an acceptance somewhere? Where are you getting that from? Are you saying that specifically with respect to the OP, or in general? With respect to CA, I agree, but otherwise, I think that statement sounds a bit too harsh.

AAAH I'm from Cali. Stop this talk, it is freaking me out again.

I've heard about many people who applied to med schools while still enrolled in some other program. The rule is, if you won't have graduated from your program in time for matriculation, med schools wouldn't touch you. I don't think they'll like you dropping out either.

if you scored a 29 with no studying whatsoever, it seems to me that you have potential for improvement. what i mean is that a 29 without any prep is pretty good, and if you really buckled down hard to prep for the test, there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to crack 30, if not 30+ (if that one practice wasn't some weird accident, that is).

assuming you have everything else you need to be a successful candidate (EC's, clinical experience, research, blah etc.) i would think you have a good shot.

just be able to explain why you left pharm, which would be easy if you have clinical experience that you really enjoyed: "i realized that, after doing XYZ, i want to study/practice medicine more than pharm because..."

phoenix1 said:

With a 30 on the MCAT you're predicting less than a 50% chance of getting an acceptance somewhere? Where are you getting that from? Are you saying that specifically with respect to the OP, or in general? With respect to CA, I agree, but otherwise, I think that statement sounds a bit too harsh.

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Less than 50% of a chance is the reality. Just because a medical school is a state school, does not mean that you have a 1:2 chance of getting in. In NY, the acceptance rate for state schools is anywhere around 20-35%. Much better percentage than most private medical schools, but still challenging to get into.

For the OP:
The average stats for applicants and marticulants:
http://www.aamc.org/data/facts/2006/2006mcatgpa.htm

I recommend going by the marticulant data since those are the ones who got into medical school, whereas with the applicant data the not accepted students are included as well.

sle3pyguii said:

You'll need a pretty good reason for dropping out of pharma school.

Think of it from an adcom's perspective: "What if this person drops out of med school just like they did with Pharma?"

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pharma?

Pheonix, I think you're confusing what CS77479 said. CS77479 is talking about getting accepted into SPECIFIC medical schools or medical schools in specific states. Those chances are always much lower than 50%.

If you're talking about getting accepted ANYWHERE, then the average applicant has about a 50% shot.

I'm not from Calfornia, so I'm not sure what the acceptance rate is if you apply to every single Cali school.

nehcmij86 said:

Albert Einstein
Boston University
Brown
Case Western
Columbia
Dartmouth
Duke
Emory
Harvard
Johns Hopkins
Mayo
Mount Sinai
NYU
Northwestern
Stanford
UCSF
University of Chicago
UIC
Michigan Ann Arbor
University of Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh
Rochester
Vanderbilt
Washington University in St. Louis
Cornell
Yale

If I have:
4.0 GPA
4.0 Science GPA
School: Case Western Reserve University
Major: Biomedical Engineering
Asian Male
Residence: IL
10V, 13P, 14B, Q
4 years of research (Northwestern and UCSF)
1 small publication
no medical volunteering or shadowing, yet
social coordinator, honors societies

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I think you'll have a pretty good shot at most of the schools on your list but I would definitely try to get some volunteer/shadowing experience, because people might ask about your lack of these activities on your interview. One adcom I spoke to mentioned that they severely discount applications w/o any volunteer exp regardless of stats.

drizzt3117 said:

I think you'll have a pretty good shot at most of the schools on your list but I would definitely try to get some volunteer/shadowing experience, because people might ask about your lack of these activities on your interview. One adcom I spoke to mentioned that they severely discount applications w/o any volunteer exp regardless of stats.

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I've heard this too. And seen applicants with 35+ and 3.9 gpas not even get an interview at some schools (like Loyola) who are quite keen on community service. Volunteering is key at some schools. My guess is that it might not be as "required" at some of the more research heavy schools (who might be partial to an app with excellent research experience even if there is little to no volunteer experience). Good luck. And get out there and do some community service work asap.

nehcmij86 said:

Albert Einstein
Boston University
Brown
Case Western
Columbia
Dartmouth
Duke
Emory
Harvard
Johns Hopkins
Mayo
Mount Sinai
NYU
Northwestern
Stanford
UCSF
University of Chicago
UIC
Michigan Ann Arbor
University of Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh
Rochester
Vanderbilt
Washington University in St. Louis
Cornell
Yale

If I have:
4.0 GPA
4.0 Science GPA
School: Case Western Reserve University
Major: Biomedical Engineering
Asian Male
Residence: IL
10V, 13P, 14B, Q
4 years of research (Northwestern and UCSF)
1 small publication
no medical volunteering or shadowing, yet
social coordinator, honors societies

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you lack of clinical/healtcare/volunteering will probably keep you out of the top 5, but other than that you have a good shot. Ever give MDPHD a thought, probably get into a top program. Oh and that asian male thing will hurt you severely

OP, a 29 with no practice is great! If you buckle down and study you can definitely bring it above a 30, and probably much higher. I went up 15 points from my original practice - not that common (I scored low the first time) but I would say a lot of people go up by 5 points at least. And definitely try to get some non-pharm clinical exposure to enhance your explanation of why you're choosing medicine over pharmacy.