3.9 and 512 = Mediocre Student?

[Medtobe345]

I wanted to ask how an applicant with a 3.9 GPA and 512 MCAT is percieved. Would you look at their stats and believe that their GPA was inflated or their MCAT was mediocre? Is a 512 mediocre? understand that this post reeks of neuroticism, and I apologize. However, I just want know how a student with these stats and average ECs is perceived at schools like University of Alabama, Emory, Dartmouth, Case Western or UNC. ( I am an Alabama resident that is interested in schools in the southeast)

@Goro @Faha @gyngyn

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[Goro]

I wanted to ask how an applicant with a 3.9 GPA and 512 MCAT is percieved. Would you look at their stats and believe that their GPA was inflated or their MCAT was mediocre? Is a 512 mediocre? understand that this post reeks of neuroticism, and I apologize. However, I just want know how a student with these stats and average ECs is perceived at schools like University of Alabama, Emory, Dartmouth, Case Western or UNC. ( I am an Alabama resident that is interested in schools in the southeast)

@Goro @Faha @gyngyn

Those stats will get you into a lot of schools, like:
UCF (maybe)

Ohio State (maybe)

Hofstra

U Toledo

Wayne State

U IA

U VM

Pitt

Miami

St. Louis

Albany

Albert Einstein

Rochester

Rush

Rosy Franklin

MCW

NYMC

VCU

EVMS

Wake Forest

Jefferson

Temple

Tufts

Drexel

Creighton

George Washington

Georgetown

Emory

Tulane

Dartmouth

Loyola

Netter

Oakland-B

Western MI

Seton Hall

Your state school(s).

Nova MD

CUSM IF you're from CA

Uniformed Services University/Hebert (just be aware of the military service commitment)

Any DO program. I can't recommend Touro-NY, Nova, Wm Carey, LUCOM, for different reasons. MSUCOM? Read up on Larry Nasser and you decide.

 

[Medtobe345]

@Goro Thanks for the reply. I just want to ask does being a Black female change anything? I don't think I would qualify as disadvantaged because of my parent's income. I personally feel that my ECs will be pretty average when I apply:

Clincial Volunteering in rural and low access communities: 160hr; which I plan to continue during my gap year

Non Clincial Volunteering with working poor in homeless shelters and bullied kids: 300hr; which I will continue during my gap year

Research: 4 years (500hr) in a clincial lab where I have gotten 1 first author poster presented at a national conference, 1 thesis, and 1 mid author publication (low impact journal though)

Working 2 jobs during the school year as a hospital lab assistant and research assistant for the emergency room (30hr a week for 1.5 years)

Shadowing: 80 hr in Primary Care and 20hr in Internal Medicine

Eboard member and President of a community service club dedicated to serving the homeless (2 years)

I just wanted to know if getting a 512 MCAT hurts my application overall since it is barely above the national average for matriculants. Thanks again for the suggestions!

 

[Goro]

@Goro Thanks for the reply. I just want to ask does being a Black female change anything? I don't think I would qualify as disadvantaged because of my parent's income. I personally feel that my ECs will be pretty average when I apply:

Clincial Volunteering in rural and low access communities: 160hr; which I plan to continue during my gap year

Non Clincial Volunteering with working poor in homeless shelters and bullied kids: 300hr; which I will continue during my gap year

Research: 4 years (500hr) in a clincial lab where I have gotten 1 first author poster presented at a national conference, 1 thesis, and 1 mid author publication (low impact journal though)

Working 2 jobs during the school year as a hospital lab assistant and research assistant for the emergency room (30hr a week for 1.5 years)

Shadowing: 80 hr in Primary Care and 20hr in Internal Medicine

Eboard member and President of a community service club dedicated to serving the homeless (2 years)

I just wanted to know if getting a 512 MCAT hurts my application overall since it is barely above the national average for matriculants. Thanks again for the suggestions!

Being a URM changes everything (that noise you hear off in the background is the wailing and gnashing of teeth of the hyperacheivers).

Start your list off with Wash U and radiate outwards. Any med school is yours. Always include your state schools and the HBCs.

 

[Medtobe345]

@Goro Thanks for the vote of confidence! I just did not love my 512 because it was below my full lengths and does not seem spectacular next to the 515s and 520s that T30 schools will be recieving. I felt that this score would not be helpful in applying and hindered my options.

I will save enough money to afford applying to 15-25 schools next year. What percentage would you recommend I give schools who have median MCATs that are higher than mine or I am in their 10th or 25th percentile?

I just want to apply smart and not rely on being an URM to get me through the door. Thanks again for the advice so far!

 

[Mikedavis]

@Goro Thanks for the vote of confidence! I just did not love my 512 because it was below my full lengths and does not seem spectacular next to the 515s and 520s that T30 schools will be recieving. I felt that this score would not be helpful in applying and hindered my options.

I will save enough money to afford applying to 15-25 schools next year. What percentage would you recommend I give schools who have median MCATs that are higher than mine or I am in their 10th or 25th percentile?

I just want to apply smart and not rely on being an URM to get me through the door. Thanks again for the advice so far!

I can’t believe you consider your extracurricular “average!” What more do you need to impress the admissions committee? You have everything they look for!

Btw, I’m a rising freshman/premed, and I was just compelled by your stats.

 

[Medtobe345]

I can’t believe you consider your extracurricular “average!” What more do you need to impress the admissions committee? You have everything they look for!

Btw, I’m a rising freshman/premed, and I was just compelled by your stats.

Yeah, I know I sound completely neurotic and spoiled. I think for me it's the fact that my practice exams caused me to set my expectations for the MCAT high, so I did not like my score because it was below what I typically got during practice.

However, that's part of the journey. Not everything in my life will go my way. I am used to being the high scorer (for most people and not just for URM), so I am experiencing a bit of disappointment in myself.

Overall, I am glad that I got this score because it is giving me a lesson in humility and giving me a sign that l need to check my pride and quit relying on stats to make me feel better about myself. I just had a freakout about my competitiveness for schools. Again, I apologize if I came off ungrateful or neurotic, but I just needed an outlet to express my feelings towards my score and get some encouragement that everything will be alright.

 

[Saifa]

Just to clarify there is NOTHING mediocre about scoring a 512 on the MCAT unless you’ve defined that for yourself. Good luck OP

 

[Goro]

@Goro Thanks for the vote of confidence! I just did not love my 512 because it was below my full lengths and does not seem spectacular next to the 515s and 520s that T30 schools will be recieving. I felt that this score would not be helpful in applying and hindered my options.

I will save enough money to afford applying to 15-25 schools next year. What percentage would you recommend I give schools who have median MCATs that are higher than mine or I am in their 10th or 25th percentile?

If you wish to hedge your bets, try this rubric:
Both AL schools
The four HBCs
Vandy OR JHU OR Baylor
Wash U OR U Chicago OR NYU OR Northwestern
Harvard OR Stanford OR Yale
U Miami
Case
Emory
Wake
U VA OR U MI
Duke or Pitt or Mayo
one of the four Manhattan Titans
Einstein
Hofstra
Dartmouth
BU
UCSF OR Keck
Jefferson or Gtown

 

[Medtobe345]

Just to clarify there is NOTHING mediocre about scoring a 512 on the MCAT unless you’ve defined that for yourself. Good luck OP

Thanks! Yeah I wasn't sure how my MCAT compared to my GPA. I just thought that is was not balanced enough to consider myself a a high stats candidate. I know better now, so I will carry that with me as I work on my applications.

 

[Medtobe345]

If you wish to hedge your bets, try this rubric:
Both AL schools
The four HBCs
Vandy OR JHU OR Baylor
Wash U OR U Chicago OR NYU OR Northwestern
Harvard OR Stanford OR Yale
U Miami
Case
Emory
Wake
U VA OR U MI
Duke or Pitt or Mayo
one of the four Manhattan Titans
Einstein
Hofstra
Dartmouth
BU
UCSF OR Keck
Jefferson or Gtown

Thank you for the suggestions!

 

[Goro]

What about a 4.0 and 511? Competitive for MD’s?

Go look up what the median stats are for M.D. acceptees.

 

[Medtobe345]

What about a 4.0 and 511? Competitive for MD’s?

From what I have learned from everyone, yes a 4.0 and 511 will make you qualified for MD.

 

[Mikedavis]

I wanted to ask how an applicant with a 3.9 GPA and 512 MCAT is percieved. Would you look at their stats and believe that their GPA was inflated or their MCAT was mediocre? Is a 512 mediocre? understand that this post reeks of neuroticism, and I apologize. However, I just want know how a student with these stats and average ECs is perceived at schools like University of Alabama, Emory, Dartmouth, Case Western or UNC. ( I am an Alabama resident that is interested in schools in the southeast)

@Goro @Faha @gyngyn

You’re overthinking it. I’m beyond sure you’ll get into m

From what I have learned from everyone, yes a 4.0 and 511 will make you qualified for MD.

This post on here clearly showed me how neurotic people on this site are. Ya’ll have good GPAs and MCAT score, but still, worry about getting accepted, not to mention your rigorous extracurricular. CHILL!

 

[ghouloftokyo]

Those stats will get you into a lot of schools, like:
UCF (maybe)

Ohio State (maybe)

Hofstra

U Toledo

Wayne State

U IA

U VM

Pitt

Miami

St. Louis

Albany

Albert Einstein

Rochester

Rush

Rosy Franklin

MCW

NYMC

VCU

EVMS

Wake Forest

Jefferson

Temple

Tufts

Drexel

Creighton

George Washington

Georgetown

Emory

Tulane

Dartmouth

Loyola

Netter

Oakland-B

Western MI

Seton Hall

Your state school(s).

Nova MD

CUSM IF you're from CA

Uniformed Services University/Hebert (just be aware of the military service commitment)

Any DO program. I can't recommend Touro-NY, Nova, Wm Carey, LUCOM, for different reasons. MSUCOM? Read up on Larry Nasser and you decide.

Those stats will get you into a lot of schools, like:
UCF (maybe)

Ohio State (maybe)

Hofstra

U Toledo

Wayne State

U IA

U VM

Pitt

Miami

St. Louis

Albany

Albert Einstein

Rochester

Rush

Rosy Franklin

MCW

NYMC

VCU

EVMS

Wake Forest

Jefferson

Temple

Tufts

Drexel

Creighton

George Washington

Georgetown

Emory

Tulane

Dartmouth

Loyola

Netter

Oakland-B

Western MI

Seton Hall

Your state school(s).

Nova MD

CUSM IF you're from CA

Uniformed Services University/Hebert (just be aware of the military service commitment)

Any DO program. I can't recommend Touro-NY, Nova, Wm Carey, LUCOM, for different reasons. MSUCOM? Read up on Larry Nasser and you decide.

I have similar stats and this list is very helpful. Thank you 🙂

 

[Medtobe345]

If you wish to hedge your bets, try this rubric:
Both AL schools
The four HBCs
Vandy OR JHU OR Baylor
Wash U OR U Chicago OR NYU OR Northwestern
Harvard OR Stanford OR Yale
U Miami
Case
Emory
Wake
U VA OR U MI
Duke or Pitt or Mayo
one of the four Manhattan Titans
Einstein
Hofstra
Dartmouth
BU
UCSF OR Keck
Jefferson or Gtown

So @Goro what about this list:
1.Howard
2. Meharry
3. Morehouse
4. University of South Alabama
5. University of Alabama
6. Wake Forest
7. Dartmouth
8. Emory
9. Georgetown
10. University of Miami
11. Saint Louis
12. SUNY Downstate
13. Einstein
14. Case Western
15. University of Cincinnati
16. University of Michigan
17. University of Pittsburgh
18. Yale
19. Northwestern
20. University of Chicago
21. Vanderbilt

Let me know if you think anything needs to be changed. Thanks!

 

[Goro]

So @Goro what about this list:
1.Howard
2. Meharry
3. Morehouse
4. University of South Alabama
5. University of Alabama
6. Wake Forest
7. Dartmouth
8. Emory
9. Georgetown
10. University of Miami
11. Saint Louis
12. SUNY Downstate
13. Einstein
14. Case Western
15. University of Cincinnati
16. University of Michigan
17. University of Pittsburgh
18. Yale
19. Northwestern
20. University of Chicago
21. Vanderbilt

Let me know if you think anything needs to be changed. Thanks!

Fine list