.

Started by mariposas905
Get help with your application

Use all the free resources available to you from SDN: articles, guides, expert advising, forums discussions, and school research.

Browse articles Compare schools My application plan Read Interview Feedback
Practice for interviews Ask an Advisor
You probably have a better chance at scoring high on the MCAT than accomplishing what many of the matriculants with "low" MCATs have accomplished to gain entry into UCLA. They may have not had "515+ MCATs" but I can guarantee you they were most likely superb candidates in each and every other category. As @Goro has said many times, schools practicing a holistic approach doesn't mean they forgive low MCATs for average, subpar candidates.
 
Like others have said, it is more likely the case that UCLA carries a much broader pool of applicants than its peer schools rather than it being suddenly easier to get into UCLA. Last year, when the MSAR reported the distribution of applicant statistics as well as admitted and matriculant student stats, you could see that at the top schools only the top 5-10% or so of applicants to each school were truly "competitive" in the sense that they fell in the schools 10-90th percentiles for stats.
 
mariposas905 said:
I just saw in MSAR that UCLA's average MCAT is listed as 508?! Isn't UCLA supposed to be a top medical school? I thought it was really difficult to get in and that they needed MCATs of 515+

I feel like there is something I'm missing here...do I actually have a good chance at UCLA with a 509 MCAT as OOS or do adcoms secretly select for higher MCATs? Or perhaps the 508 is only for in-state people?

So confused.
Click to expand...

Just because their accepted MCAT medians dropped to national matriculant levels doesn't mean the school became less selective and more accessible to applicants with average applications. It just means UCLA is looking very thoroughly and extensively at the overall application. The people with 508 MCAT getting into UCLA have a very strong and compelling application that addresses what the school is looking for and the adcoms are willing to overlook their MCAT. Having such a strong application is very difficult and not something an average applicant has.
 
mariposas905 said:
I just saw in MSAR that UCLA's average MCAT is listed as 508?! Isn't UCLA supposed to be a top medical school? I thought it was really difficult to get in and that they needed MCATs of 515+

I feel like there is something I'm missing here...do I actually have a good chance at UCLA with a 509 MCAT as OOS or do adcoms secretly select for higher MCATs? Or perhaps the 508 is only for in-state people?

So confused.
Click to expand...
From what I've seen on MSAR, UCLA has a higher proportion of nontraditional students and URM students than quite a lot of other medical schools. It seems like they place more value on the life story, ECs, representation, etc. 🙂
 
You must log in or register to reply here.