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Seems like they believe you will be heading elsewhere.
As someone in the field with a son who is a year 2 student, I believe Cincinnati has an agenda which has caused a bit of a shift in their acceptance patterns.
I believe Cinci is pushing hard to raise their average MCAT scores and even altering their admission patterns to achieve this goal. If you look at the data for the most recent class, OOS students comprised 38% of the 2008 class, compared to 25% and 27% in the two previous years. The average age of accepted students is also going up compared to the previous two years.
Due to the applicant pool where most applicants have high GPA's, my guess is that they will sacrifice GPA for MCAT scores. I know from having asked the question that the 2008 class has an average MCAT of 32.3, compared to 31.8 for the 2007 class. This trend has gone on for several years.
Combine this trend with last year's average Part I scores (234) and you have a program on the rise.
With the new CARE/Crawley building, the school can compete favorably in terms of physical plant with most med schools in the US. They are a big research institution with the goal of significantly increasing research dollars as they now have additional laboratory space.
My son's experience has been extremely good, with a very supportive faculty and staff who very much care about the medical students, as they should. While you would expect this attitude to be pervasive, it is not always the case. My son also had very high MCAT's, but a lesser GPA. Cincy snatched him up in a hurry and he was impressed enough with the program to attend. He is very happy he made the decision.
I don't really think the higher MCAT trend is exclusive to Cincinnati. I have a News and World Report book of med schools for both 2005 and 2007 and almost all schools show an increase in average MCAT score, and I'm pretty sure the average among people taking it has been increasing. Besides "OnlyNeedOneYes" has a 39, how much higher would they be looking for? I think the new MMI format means Cinci is looking for a certain personality type this year, regardless of location or maybe even score in some cases.