2018 Low GPA/High MCAT Thread

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MedicineN'Jazz said:
I get that you mean well, but this post was a bit insensitive. Not every school is looking to only admit the “really smart.”.
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Is there any implication that 'every school is looking to only admit the "really smart"..? I think you misconstrued @DokterMom 's post. The post simply states that Low GPA/High MCAT combo tells the adcom that an applicant is really smart, not that adcoms are only looking for the "really smart."

This post is specifically for people with Low GPA/High MCAT combo, not really sure what part of the post should be considered insensitive.
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MedicineN'Jazz said:
I get that you mean well, but this post was a bit insensitive. Not every school is looking to only admit the “really smart.”.
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If you've got a list of schools looking for "not very bright" applicants, I'm sure that would be of great interest to the SDN community.
 
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DokterMom said:
If you've got a list of schools looking for "not very bright" applicants, I'm sure that would be of great interest to the SDN community.
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“This class is ‘really smart.’ We need to find some ‘not so bright’ applicants.” Is something that I hear all the time. /s
 
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Oh man, this thread makes me nervous lol. Seeing the varied success everyone's had makes me wonder what my cycle has in store. I think have a good school list but it's kinda tough when your GPA is below the median (or even below 10th percentile in one case) but your MCAT is above.
 
IMGASMD said:
“This class is ‘really smart.’ We need to find some ‘not so bright’ applicants.” Is something that I hear all the time. /s
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OMG - You're right! If we don't, everyone will be above average!
 
BillDugRomans said:
Oh man, this thread makes me nervous lol. Seeing the varied success everyone's had makes me wonder what my cycle has in store. I think have a good school list but it's kinda tough when your GPA is below the median (or even below 10th percentile in one case) but your MCAT is above.
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You need to have a good list and app. GPA is a single metric.
 
kepler16b said:
Well done my friend, and congratulations on the MD/PhD!

Are you by chance a URM/did you have some other special circumstance that set you apart? Or did you just market yourself in an effective and earnest way?
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Thanks! Not URM, not a veteran, not a first-gen college student, no deaths in the family, no legacy, no family favors, etc. I didn't even have a stellar GPA from my SMP - probably around 50-70th percentile. I even only applied to about 5 MD/PhD programs thinking I had no chance and sent most (30+) my applications to MD.

I do think my clincal/non-research ECs were probably above average - they were commented on by the MD-side interviewer for my MD/PhD interview.
 
low gpa/high mcat should not worry imo. Better than the opposite
 
christiknow said:
So I've been told that there are prompts on secondaries to address low GPAs / academic fluctuations, but only 2 out of 28 secondaries in my list ask for something like that. Should this information be included in the "Let us know something you haven't addressed" prompt? Let's say the reason for the low GPA was because of bad time management/organizational skills that led to a couple of semesters with B's/C's, and the essay was going to be about how you kept trying to find out what went wrong, until you finally found something that worked and your GPA dramatically shot up afterwards.
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I've normally written my diversity essay for the additional info prompts, sometimes with a little "why X school" thrown in. So IMO it would depend on the strength of your diversity essay and if there is another question asking about diversity. If you don't have a very strong diversity story, I would probably go ahead and write the academic fluctuation essay.

The reason I would consider the diversity essay as a higher priority in general is that someone can look at your academic record and see that you've improved as a student. Barring some sort of extenuating circumstance like major illness, death in the family, financial issues, etc. a diversity essay seems much more compelling. Becoming a better student through time management, while awesome, isn't a very unique and compelling story on its own. But that is just my $0.02.
 
I'm wondering why people always say low GPA/high MCAT shouldn't worry since MCAT is more heavily weighted. Does that seem to pan out in admissions statistics? Or is it just one of those SDNisms? It's a little old, but in a 2011 survey of adcoms, MCAT was ranked 6th on the list of most important parts of an application, while science GPA was ranked 3rd and overall GPA 5th.

Source: https://www.aamc.org/download/261106/data/

Is there an updated version of this that shows the opposite?
 
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Matthew9Thirtyfive said:
I'm wondering why people always say low GPA/high MCAT shouldn't worry since MCAT is more heavily weighted. Does that seem to pan out in admissions statistics? Or is it just one of those SDNisms? It's a little old, but in a 2011 survey of adcoms, MCAT was ranked 6th on the list of most important parts of an application, while science GPA was ranked 3rd and overall GPA 5th.

Source: https://www.aamc.org/download/261106/data/

Is there an updated version of this that shows the opposite?
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Admissions statistics would suggest that you're correct -- Though of course, there's the 'how low' and 'how high' metrics. Variances in grading standards are well-known, so an under 500 MCAT, even coupled with a 4.0, suggests the applicant is unlikely to be successful. A high GPA and sGPA from a respected school coupled with a moderate MCAT is fine.
 
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Matthew9Thirtyfive said:
I'm wondering why people always say low GPA/high MCAT shouldn't worry since MCAT is more heavily weighted. Does that seem to pan out in admissions statistics? Or is it just one of those SDNisms? It's a little old, but in a 2011 survey of adcoms, MCAT was ranked 6th on the list of most important parts of an application, while science GPA was ranked 3rd and overall GPA 5th.

Is there an updated version of this that shows the opposite?
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Confounders beware, but looking at the AAMC's Table 23 (the GPA/MCAT grid) and GPA/MCAT percentile data for accepted applicants from the MSAR, we can see the following:
  • For accepted applicants, the median GPA is a 3.76 and median MCAT is a 511. An applicant with these statistics would fall under the bin with a 1388/2040 = 68% acceptance rate.
  • An applicant with a 25th percentile GPA and 75th percentile MCAT (3.58/515) would fall under the bin with a 405/660 = 61.4% acceptance rate.
  • An applicant with a 10th percentile GPA and 90th percentile MCAT (3.37/519) would fall under the bin with a 63/109 = 57.8% acceptance rate.
  • An applicant with a 75th percentile GPA and 25th percentile MCAT (3.90/506) falls under the bin with a 1538/2310 = 66.6% acceptance rate.
  • An applicant with a 90th percentile GPA and 10th percentile MCAT (3.97/502) falls under the bin with a 920/1692 = 54.4% acceptance rate.
Unfortunately, due to top GPA bin encompassing everything from 3.79 onwards, the resolution of this data is not good. Notably, it seems to suggest that there is not a significant advantage to having a 10th/90th percentile GPA/MCAT combination versus the opposite. However, as frequently noted before, low GPA/high MCAT combinations are much, much rarer than the opposite. I would think that other factors, such as the presence of an upward trend and the quality of an applicant's activities, are the key decision-makers in such applicants. Many things can account for a low GPA, whereas the same is not necessarily true for a low MCAT score. To me, the "SDNism" that low GPA/high MCAT applicants need not worry stems from the fact that a decent chunk of low GPA applicants have mitigating factors like an upward trend or very good extracurriculars.
 
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Found out i got 516 yesterday. I have a 3.4 uGPA, and 3.74 masters GPA. ECs are good in leadership, volunteering and shadowing. ok w research. URM Hispanic. Havent submitted primary. Tips?
 
Based on family experience, low GPA is bad for ORMs even with high MCAT a d excellent ECs.
 
Exactly the news I needed to here..

Any updates anyone? I feel like I'm just shooting in the dark with these secondaries. Is anyone else tempted to talk about why they got such a low GPA? I had 2/3 really bad years and then pulled it together my senior year + a few post bacc classes. Took the MCAT recently which shows I'm not the dimwit my GPA would suggest.
 
Not exactly "high" MCAT but I have a 514/3.46c/3.27s
So far: 23 primaries, 19 secondaries, 2 MD II (one from my state school), 0 Rs (this'll change soon)
 
So question. My overall GPA in AMCAS is a 3.43 (sGPA 3.61). However, the majority of that is from years and years and years ago (over a decade ago for like 30 credits or so). I just completed a postbacc, and my AMCAS GPA for the postbacc is a 4.0. How do I think about this? I already submitted apps, but I kind of just picked a few schools based on the 4.0 and then picked a few based on the 3.43.
 
Matthew9Thirtyfive said:
So question. My overall GPA in AMCAS is a 3.43 (sGPA 3.61). However, the majority of that is from years and years and years ago (over a decade ago for like 30 credits or so). I just completed a postbacc, and my AMCAS GPA for the postbacc is a 4.0. How do I think about this? I already submitted apps, but I kind of just picked a few schools based on the 4.0 and then picked a few based on the 3.43.
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I picked a pretty even spread of schools based on my MCAT. If I picked schools based on my gpa I wouldn't have applied anywhere. I would suggest that you pick schools based on a combination of your MCAT and your science gpa which is quite good. But I'm just an applicant so you should see if someone with more experience can comment!
 
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JBruinW said:
I picked a pretty even spread of schools based on my MCAT. If I picked schools based on my gpa I wouldn't have applied anywhere. I would suggest that you pick schools based on a combination of your MCAT and your science gpa which is quite good. But I'm just an applicant so you should see if someone with more experience can comment!
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Thanks for the tip!
 
kepler16b said:
I would say that you and I (sGPA 3.55, MCAT 519) are borderline "low GPA", but there is still some good information to be learned here. Congrats on the MCAT by the way!
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We have the exact same stats lol
 
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boogiecousins94 said:
I had a 3.3 and 515 with 3II one WL still waiting on 2 decisions from late Feb. I applied to 29 schools still have to hear from 4 I think but no interviews from state school!

I think low gpa high mcat peeps need be strong/above average in some sort of EC to stand out
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Did you end up getting any acceptances?
 
Reapplicant from 2016 with a ~3.65/521. Applied to 30 schools, about half are T20. This time around I have a higher MCAT, more clinical volunteering, some pubs and AmeriCorps service so I really hope this cycle turns out better than the previous one.
 
wontonsoup said:
Our stats are pretty identical, best of luck to ya mate. Any ideas what went wrong your first cycle? Did you get interviews?
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Well I had limited clinical volunteering, and what I did have wasn't very meaningful. Frankly I had no experiences that I could point to and say "this is how I know I want to help people/serve others". I got two interviews but I think my lack of service made my response to "why medicine?" pretty unconvincing. Both interviews resulted in a waitlist.

Plus, I had zero non-clinical volunteering at the time of application. I started hospice volunteering and doing some non-clinical stuff around the time I submitted my application, so I have a couple years under my belt now, which should remedy all my percieved deficiencies. Plus I finished a post-bac fellowship at the NIH and got a few papers and posters on my app that I didn't have first time around.

Good luck to you too! Let me know how things turn out for you
 
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Yesss I found my fellow low GPA/high MCATers! ;) To those accepted with multiple IIs in previous cycles, when did you get your app verified and start getting IIs? Just wanted to see how many of you were part of the first batch of IIs... Good luck this cycle, everyone!
 
Sheiko said:
Well I had limited clinical volunteering, and what I did have wasn't very meaningful. Frankly I had no experiences that I could point to and say "this is how I know I want to help people/serve others". I got two interviews but I think my lack of service made my response to "why medicine?" pretty unconvincing. Both interviews resulted in a waitlist.

Plus, I had zero non-clinical volunteering at the time of application. I started hospice volunteering and doing some non-clinical stuff around the time I submitted my application, so I have a couple years under my belt now, which should remedy all my percieved deficiencies. Plus I finished a post-bac fellowship at the NIH and got a few papers and posters on my app that I didn't have first time around.

Good luck to you too! Let me know how things turn out for you
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I have a feeling you will do really well this time.
 
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Matthew9Thirtyfive said:
How do I think about this? I already submitted apps, but I kind of just picked a few schools based on the 4.0 and then picked a few based on the 3.43.
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Welcome to the club. Advice I received mentioned just averaging the two. I ended with a 3.5/3.8 c/sGPA. I just applied where the 3.5 was within the 10%ile on MSAR. I biased it a little where the MCAT was >50%ile. I then included some schools as reaches that had medians of my MCAT or within 10%iles of it.
 
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Lucca said:
I have a feeling you will do really well this time.
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Thats very kind of you to say. I actually got my first II today! You've gotten quite a few invites yourself havent you? I think I saw you post in the Wash U thread.

Sent from my LG-LS993 using Tapatalk
 
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Just a random side note: Any tips for scoring a high MCAT? What would you say would be the reason you scored so high? Good luck everyone on your application cycle!!
 
EnzymaticFuture said:
Just a random side note: Any tips for scoring a high MCAT? What would you say would be the reason you scored so high? Good luck everyone on your application cycle!!
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high iq
 
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EnzymaticFuture said:
Just a random side note: Any tips for scoring a high MCAT? What would you say would be the reason you scored so high? Good luck everyone on your application cycle!!
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I focused on concepts, data analysis, and passage reading techniques. I practiced reading the passages and being able to predict what they would ask and how the passage hinted at the right answers. For data analysis, you need to practice reading the figures. You can always get at least couple questions per passage that way. And for concepts, that is a good way to not have to memorize formulas. Knowing the concepts and unit analysis is very helpful.
 
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EnzymaticFuture said:
Just a random side note: Any tips for scoring a high MCAT? What would you say would be the reason you scored so high? Good luck everyone on your application cycle!!
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Practice problems! I did four NextStep practice exams in addittion to ALL of the AAMC material. Be dilligent in your review of the practice exams and a good score will come.
 
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I started doing practice problems from day 1. I took Next Step 1 during my first week of studying. You can never do too many practice problems. Having a content review and practice split makes no sense to me IMO. I also used anki extensively and had about 4000 flashcards by the time of my test
 
JBruinW said:
I started doing practice problems from day 1. I took Next Step 1 during my first week of studying. You can never do too many practice problems. Having a content review and practice split makes no sense to me IMO. I also used anki extensively and had about 4000 flashcards by the time of my test
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I used Anki pretty extensively too, although I only generated a measly 2800 cards. If you're going to use Anki, I would encourage you to make your own cards in stead of using a pre-made deck as well. For me, creating the cards themselves was a big part of mastering the material
 
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Sheiko said:
Practice problems! I did four NextStep practice exams in addittion to ALL of the AAMC material. Be dilligent in your review of the practice exams and a good score will come.
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I liked NS, but they had several egregious errors in their physics questions/explanations.
 
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This is why I never gave anyone my anki decks..

I never took the time to go through the NS exam in details because they were so much more difficult than AAMC. I took 4 and never scored above a 513
 
JBruinW said:
This is why I never gave anyone my anki decks..

I never took the time to go through the NS exam in details because they were so much more difficult than AAMC. I took 4 and never scored above a 513
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Funny you say that, my average was 513 too! NS definitely underpredicts by a good margin. My AAMC average was right one the nose though, down to the subsection
 
I used the Kaplan books, Anki (about 2000 cards that I made over the course of 5 or so weeks during winter break) and did all the AAMC material twice, except the practice tests which I did only once each. Any time I missed a question, I made an Anki card for it. My scores were ~515 (sample test estimate taken after a week of studying), 516, 518, 525 on the practice tests and 521 on the real thing. I'm a physics major so I hardly studied any of that material, and I had just come off of an auto-tutorial biochem class so I was pretty set on that. I spent most of my time learning psych/soc and brushing up on orgo/bio stuff that I had forgotten. Best advice I could give is just set up a solid study plan beforehand and stick to it. Make room for breaks and rest days, don't forget to eat and sleep.
 
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