37 MCAT, 3.8 GPA, 2 interviews?!

[mdquestion]

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I'm posting this on behalf of a friend (yes...this is not me. I wish my MCAT was that high, lol).

He applied for this cycle with strong stats, but lacking in clinical experience. 37 MCAT (12P, 12V, 13B), 3.7 cGPA, 3.8 sGPA. Both of his parents are physicians, so he thought this might compensate for his lack of clinical exposure. He has decent ECs otherwise and 5 years research experience in excellent labs. Most of his applications were complete in August, but he's only heard back from 2 schools so far (great schools, but only two schools). List of schools are below. He's received interview invites at UChicago and Yale, of which he recently attended. Should he still expect to hear back from other schools? Is it too late now, i.e. was his app likely passed over?

Yale
UChicago
Northwestern
UVA
OHSU
USC-Keck
Stanford
Harvard
UPenn
Jefferson
Columbia
Mount Sinai
Cornell

 

[J ROD]

I'm posting this on behalf of a friend (yes...this is not me. I wish my MCAT was that high, lol).

He applied for this cycle with strong stats, but lacking in clinical experience. 37 MCAT (12P, 12V, 13B), 3.7 cGPA, 3.8 sGPA. Both of his parents are physicians, so he thought this might compensate for his lack of clinical exposure. He has decent ECs otherwise and 5 years research experience in excellent labs. Most of his applications were complete in August, but he's only heard back from 2 schools so far (great schools, but only two schools). List of schools are below. He's received interview invites at UChicago and Yale, of which he recently attended. Should he still expect to hear back from other schools? Is it too late now, i.e. was his app likely passed over?

Yale
UChicago
Northwestern
UVA
OHSU
USC-Keck
Stanford
Harvard
UPenn
Jefferson
Columbia
Mount Sinai
Cornell

basically, he applied to too many selective schools without any safety schools. He is apparently book smart but lacks common sense.

When you apply to these schools it is a real crap shoot.

I would recommending getting more clinical ECs over the next yr if needed and apply broader and smarter next time!!

 

[Catalystik]

You, OP, being an SDNer, know the importance of clinical experience and community service, so be a good friend and get him started in a volunteer experience in a clinical environment now, being a nag if necessary. There's a good chance he'll be reapplying next year. Having physician parents covers some of the expectation of shadowing at some schools, but he needs at least a few days worth.

I think I recall a post by someone with little clinical experience getting in at Yale, but since he also revealed that he was ***cough*under the influence*cough*** during the interview, I wouldn't consider that reliable information.

 

[TheMightySmiter]

I'm posting this on behalf of a friend (yes...this is not me. I wish my MCAT was that high, lol).

He applied for this cycle with strong stats, but lacking in clinical experience. 37 MCAT (12P, 12V, 13B), 3.7 cGPA, 3.8 sGPA. Both of his parents are physicians, so he thought this might compensate for his lack of clinical exposure. He has decent ECs otherwise and 5 years research experience in excellent labs. Most of his applications were complete in August, but he's only heard back from 2 schools so far (great schools, but only two schools). List of schools are below. He's received interview invites at UChicago and Yale, of which he recently attended. Should he still expect to hear back from other schools? Is it too late now, i.e. was his app likely passed over?

Yale
UChicago
Northwestern
UVA
OHSU
USC-Keck
Stanford
Harvard
UPenn
Jefferson
Columbia
Mount Sinai
Cornell

This is the biggest problem that I see in the post. The second biggest problem is the top-tier-heavy school list. Is your friend in-state at Virginia or Oregon or neither? If it's VA, he definitely should have applied to all of the state schools. If it's Oregon I imagine he'd have gotten an interview there already. If it's neither, why no state schools?? His research experience is good for most of those schools, but he's going to need something special to stand out at any of them. Applicants with stats like his are passed over at top-tiers all the time!

 

[JJMrK]

What exactly does "lacking" mean? Like, none? That could be a problem

The school list is also a problem.

 

[bannie22]

well.. jefferson is a shoo in. if hes in-state that kinda thingy.

 

[TheMightySmiter]

well.. jefferson is a shoo in. if hes in-state that kinda thingy.

Not necessarily, schools like this that focus on primary care rather than research tend to value clinical experience a lot. Also, Jefferson is private and a Pennsylvania school, and none of them heavily favor IS applicants.

 

[ApoK]

I'm posting this on behalf of a friend (yes...this is not me. I wish my MCAT was that high, lol).

He applied for this cycle with strong stats, but lacking in clinical experience. 37 MCAT (12P, 12V, 13B), 3.7 cGPA, 3.8 sGPA. Both of his parents are physicians, so he thought this might compensate for his lack of clinical exposure. He has decent ECs otherwise and 5 years research experience in excellent labs. Most of his applications were complete in August, but he's only heard back from 2 schools so far (great schools, but only two schools). List of schools are below. He's received interview invites at UChicago and Yale, of which he recently attended. Should he still expect to hear back from other schools? Is it too late now, i.e. was his app likely passed over?

Yale
UChicago
Northwestern
UVA
OHSU
USC-Keck
Stanford
Harvard
UPenn
Jefferson
Columbia
Mount Sinai
Cornell

Not sure there's much wrong with the school selection, given his stats.

However, he can't expect to get in easily if he's lacking clinical exposure entirely. WTH would you even talk about during your interview, provided you did get one? "I want to be a doctor because... um, my parents both are and they say it's great... and I like helping people!"

 

[ApoK]

well.. jefferson is a shoo in. if hes in-state that kinda thingy.

How is he a "shoo-in" at Jefferson? This process is most definitely not just a numbers or residency game, as you imply.

 

[mdquestion]

How is he a "shoo-in" at Jefferson? This process is most definitely not just a numbers or residency game, as you imply.

Well definitely not a shoe-in there. He's "rejected" via inquiry to the dean of admissions to call about why he hadn't gotten an interview, who cited she didn't think he had enough clinical experience. He's Oregon state residency but grew up in Virginia. Parents both went to UVA Med.

 

[mdquestion]

Not necessarily, schools like this that focus on primary care rather than research tend to value clinical experience a lot. Also, Jefferson is private and a Pennsylvania school, and none of them heavily favor IS applicants.

Not true. Jefferson, Drexel, Temple, Pitt, Penn State, UPenn, and Pittsburgh all at least slightly prefer in-state applicants. You can look at the stats for both the % interview IS vs. OS and the percent of interviewees accepted IS vs. OS. It's a very clear advantage at all these places. I was considering trying to get residency here for the slight advantages.

 

[Charcoal]

ECs are super important. He sounds like a bright kid but from my own personal experience thus far with the application process, ECs have really helped my application. I have a much lower MCAT and have received interviews at 5 of the 7 schools we appear to have in common.

Applying broadly may actually not have helped him in this case (save applying to his state school) because his stats would get him passed over at a lot of lower tiered schools.

Have you read his personal statement or Secondaries? Is he a good writer and convincing in his desires to be a doc?

 

[bannie22]

Not true. Jefferson, Drexel, Temple, Pitt, Penn State, UPenn, and Pittsburgh all at least slightly prefer in-state applicants. You can look at the stats for both the % interview IS vs. OS and the percent of interviewees accepted IS vs. OS. It's a very clear advantage at all these places. I was considering trying to get residency here for the slight advantages.

👍

Jefferson also has one of the largest class sizes.

 

[bravofleet4]

where are all these people coming from who think any medical school applicant is a shoe-in and need only apply to a handful of schools. I don't deny that there are some people who got into medical school and applied to a few schools but I prefer to think of it as rolling a snake eyes or a 7 with a pair of dice. Your chances are good (assuming great stats) but it's still possible that you don't have any luck. A 3.8 and 37 MCAT is great but their not way out there, so he could've applied to like 35 schools if he liked, with a reasonable chance of getting an interiew.

Let's be honest. The vast majority of people who do such things are juniors where who can say if they don't get in this year they'll still have their senior year to apply again. If they want to think of their first attempt at medical school as just a try-out, then that's perfectly fine. At least you know what you're doing next year and that you can still improve your app without thinking too hard. For people who've graduated, though, they know that their app won't really improve much next year and don't know what they're going to do, so they're going to apply broadly if they're smart. when all is said and done if he doesn't get in people are going to tell you he should've applied more broadly (among other things).

 

[TheMightySmiter]

Not true. Jefferson, Drexel, Temple, Pitt, Penn State, UPenn, and Pittsburgh all at least slightly prefer in-state applicants. You can look at the stats for both the % interview IS vs. OS and the percent of interviewees accepted IS vs. OS. It's a very clear advantage at all these places. I was considering trying to get residency here for the slight advantages.

I said that none of them heavily favor IS residents, which is true, especially compared to other states. You will have an advantage as a PA resident, yes, but it is not nearly as significant an advantage as you would have at most other state schools as an IS resident.

 

[cleareyedguy]

A 3.8 and 37 is terrific.
It's also the average numbers for most of the schools on his list.

He needs a hook and/or some luck. I don't know if it's too late, but he might want to send an "update" to instate or less-competitive schools, thereby demonstrating his specific interest in that school.

 

[rctriplefresh5]

basically, he applied to too many selective schools without any safety schools. He is apparently book smart but lacks common sense.

When you apply to these schools it is a real crap shoot.

I would recommending getting more clinical ECs over the next yr if needed and apply broader and smarter next time!!

why would he apply again? he gt accepted to great schools.

yeah the guy sounds very book smart, with no common sense ill agree. the people who come on here, only applying to top schools ad wondering why they dont get in amazes me. id imagine even the lowest tier med school is competitive also.