blinkblink2
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Discussing politics can work both ways.volunteer leadership role in challenging congressional campaign that both tie into ACA (when looked like might be repealed) and implications for Medicaid-dependent district.
So you are not advocating for medicare for all in your apps? What healthcare policies do Biden Democrats support?I'd agree with you if this were 15 years ago, but left/right wing are so strongly tied to education/lack thereof today that I think it's never been less true. I feel pretty comfortable saying "ACA should not be repealed" in my apps. I mean....look at some of their prompts, how ideologically left-wing they are quite frankly. I'm not even that left myself, more of a Biden Democrat.
LM is a rule of thumb, not one of the Ten Commandments.Hey , thanks for any input. 74.5 LM from 3.94 cGPA (3.88 sGPA) and 516 (129/129/130/128). My WARS is >90, though some of level distinctions I found borderline...high 80s at worst. White male, CA resident.
Question is whether LM, which seems to indicate I"m viable for any school, is giving me the more accurate picture of my strength as an applicant than MSAR matriculant MCAT percentiles.
To look over schools/do what my chances assessment on MSAR, I rank high-to-low MCAT because my GPA is not a limiting factor for admission anywhere. For all the Ivies except Dartmouth/Brown, I"m below 50th percentile MCAT. It's the case that I"m as low as 10th percentile somewhere like Penn or NYU, yet LM suggests I"m viable at either.
Am I reading the MSAR data wrong to conclude these schools who have MCAT score as a greater consideration in admission are a real reach for me?
For example, am I failing to consider that the low percentile MCAT matriculants for a school probably have very high GPAs (if so, you could see this as an argument for LM being better indicator) and all boxes checked on ECs, plus some compelling "Interesting person committed to non-medical activities" stuff? I fit that profile.
TLDR: LM indicates there are no reaches for me, MSAR MCAT data indicates otherwise, or at least relatively few matriculants with my MCAT score at top tiers. Which is closer to the truth?
• white CA resident with ++ECs and 3.94
Thanks. I applied widely, but would be good point of reference in taking triage on secondaries.LM is a rule of thumb, not one of the Ten Commandments.
Using MCAT score as a filter is fine as well.
I will provide school later, if you remind me!!
This^^^^^^. Sure, you're "viable" anywhere with your GPA and MCAT.LM is a rule of thumb, not one of the Ten Commandments.
Using MCAT score as a filter is fine as well.
I will provide school later, if you remind me!!
White male, CA resident.
I hear you. So, hopefully you understand the answer you seek just does not exist. You are also the embodiment of all the limitations of the indicators we use. They will tell you nothing other than people with your stats have been successful. This will have zero predictive value with respect to your odds.Well, I have a lot of "experiential diversity" and let them know all about that where indicated (facetious).
Path of least resistance for me would have been journalism or law as a career. I do expect written portions will advantage me.
However, I may inadvertently be the embodiment of white male privilege. Perhaps I'll practice my uptalking and projective emoting ahead of interviews.
For all the Ivies except Dartmouth/Brown, I"m below 50th percentile MCAT.
That's great, but 57% of the applicant pool is unsuccessful. So that leaves us with 43% of the pool. Where is he there?His stats are better than ~93% of the applicant pool...
This ORM white male from CA can't do a whole lot better than he has. For the 18% figure you note, we can also say that 82% in that range do get accepted. And his GPA is at the upper end of 3.8-4.0 and his MCAT is not on the low end of that 514-517 range. So, by the numbers, he has a better than 82% shot. At some point, I think you have to admit he has a solid shot at some of his reach schools. Maybe that's what you mean when you said earlier "you are viable."That's great, but 57% of the applicant pool is unsuccessful. So that leaves us with 43% of the pool. Where is he there?
Where is he in the applicant pool from CA? The White pool from CA? The White male pool from CA?
All of a sudden, he's not in the top 7% anymore! 🙂 That's the point, and this is before we look at SES, ECs, 1st gen, etc. By the time we are done, he might very well be in the bottom half of high SES, White from CA, and could conceivably find himself out of the blessed 43%. And this is the limitation of one size fits all indicators.
None of us has any idea what's going to happen to OP, but we do know that a full 18% of applicants with GPAs above 3.79 and MCATs between 514 and 517 were not among the 43% from 2017-18 through 2019-20! Without knowing anything about that 18%, it is statistically much more likely that a high SES White male from CA will be part of that unfortunate cohort than just about any other demographic slice of the pool you can imagine. So, better than 93% of the applicant pool really doesn't answer OP's question.
There are lots of ORM with no discrepancy between GPS and MCAT so OP could have better to be viable for T20 schools based on stats. I noticed few 3.9 and 516-517 range ORMs from T20 UGs didn't get into top tier schools. Check WAMC threads from last 2 cycles and check results.This ORM white male from CA can't do a whole lot better than he has. For the 18% figure you note, we can also say that 82% in that range do get accepted. And his GPA is at the upper end of 3.8-4.0 and his MCAT is not on the low end of that 514-517 range. So, by the numbers, he has a better than 82% shot. At some point, I think you have to admit he has a solid shot at some of his reach schools. Maybe that's what you mean when you said earlier "you are viable."
Yes, I am absolutely NOT trying to say he is screwed. He will very likely be successful. My point was that LizzyM, MSAR and WARS have limitations, and the certainty he seeks regarding using indices or published stats to gauge his chances just doesn't exist, because of the fact that some people with any given GPA and MCAT belong to one applicant demographic bucket while others belong to another one. It just so happens, OP finds himself in the most difficult bucket (actually, second most difficult, since ORMs have it even worse!).This ORM white male from CA can't do a whole lot better than he has. For the 18% figure you note, we can also say that 82% in that range do get accepted. And his GPA is at the upper end of 3.8-4.0 and his MCAT is not on the low end of that 514-517 range. So, by the numbers, he has a better than 82% shot. At some point, I think you have to admit he has a solid shot at some of his reach schools. Maybe that's what you mean when you said earlier "you are viable."