4.0 GPA and 504 mcat, MD school?

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Lyra26

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Take the MCAT again. I am in the opposite boat, high MCAT, low gpa. My position is WAY harder to fix. With a 4.0 and decent extra curriculars you can get into a top tier school. Retake it. Take a gap year if you need to (I'd recommend that too, it's so helpful and trust me it's a nice break before med school). Reassess what went wrong in your MCAT. Study differently. Retake it. If you have a 4.0 you probably had a good science basis but didn't master taking the test yet. Go take more practice tests.



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Urm ORM ?

I would take the MCAT again and apply broadly including do. If you don't think you can score above a 510 I would not take the MCAT again and only apply DO.
 
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libertyyne said:
Urm ORM ?

I would take the MCAT again and apply broadly including do. If you don't think you can score above a 510 I would not take the MCAT again and only apply DO.
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Sorry if this is a stupid question but what do u mean by "urm ORM."
 
Lyra26 said:
Sorry if this is a stupid question but what do u mean by "urm ORM."
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Under represented in medicine . Black, Hispanic Mexican ,native American.

ORM : Asian, rich.
 
If you are URM (black or Hispanic) apply and you'll be fine. If not, retake and get a 508 or higher. And you'll be golden
 
Lyra26 said:
Do I fall into a minority then? I get so confused with this.
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I believe the answer is no, it is specifically Mexican and Puerto Rican that is URM, though I think @gyngyn might know this off the top of his head.

I think the smart move for you is the MCAT retake. Improving even ~5 points (especially a few points in Verbal) would do a lot for your odds.
 
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efle said:
I believe the answer is no, it is specifically Mexican and Puerto Rican that is URM, though I think @gyngyn might know this off the top of his head.

I think the smart move for you is the MCAT retake. Improving even ~5 points (especially a few points in Verbal) would do a lot for your odds.
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The problem is schools who will average scores. 509+504 =506.5 still below what would pass muster in NY state schools.
 
libertyyne said:
Urm ORM ?

I would take the MCAT again and apply broadly including do. If you don't think you can score above a 510 I would not take the MCAT again and only apply DO.
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I actually am not so sure you should rush to a retake. I have a good friend who has a 3.9/503 and has gotten 3 MD interviews, and our state is crappy for applicants. A broad app might be more successful than you think. Loyola in Chicago has a new MCAT average of 504.

Edit: I should also add he is white, and had a 123 in CARS.
 
AnatomyGrey12 said:
I actually am not so sure you should rush to a retake. I have a good friend who has a 3.9/503 and has gotten 3 MD interviews, and our state is crappy for applicants. A broad app might be more successful than you think. Loyola in Chicago has a new MCAT average of 504.
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Has your friend converted to acceptances? Usually I refrain from suggesting applying to people if they are expecting success as outliers on the lower end of the pool.


Buffalo does have a 10th percentiles MCAT at 27 . All the other schools are above. It's possible , but heart break is more likely a scenario.
 
libertyyne said:
Has your friend converted to acceptances? Usually I refrain from suggesting applying to people if they are expecting success as outliers on the lower end of the pool.


Buffalo does have a 10th percentiles MCAT at 27 . All the other schools are above. It's possible , but heart break is more likely a scenario.
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I think you are right, I might retake it. Can't believe will have to go through that again. Sucked enough the first time around.
 
Lyra26 said:
I think you are right, I might retake it. Can't believe will have to go through that again. Sucked enough the first time around.
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You have a solid app for DO. I know it sucks, but if the MD is really what you want a score above 510 would open up some opportunities for you.


Something that I don't know about is your green card status and how adcoms will treat that. There was a poster from Texas some time back who was having unsuccessful cycles with great stats. I would call a couple of your state schools and find out how they would treat that.
 
Lyra26 said:
Honestly I moved here to the U.S. When I was 18 (deeply regret it though since in Brazil u get to go to medicine right after high school) so until this day idk why the hell they felt the need to separate medicine into MD and DO and why is there such a huge stigma against DOs (I have seen it and didn't even grow up here).

That's a good point. I'm going to call now and ask about green card.
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Yeah I meant it sucks to take the MCAT again , not getting a DO. DO=MD in the real world, just limits some Uber competitive specialties and the OMM thing is kinda weird.
 
libertyyne said:
Yeah I meant it sucks to take the MCAT again , not getting a DO. DO=MD in the real world, just limits some Uber competitive specialties and the OMM thing is kinda weird.
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Oh no I get what u said, I answered that to what u mentioned about MD being what I really want because I honestly don't even know if it is, if it wasn't for the stigma I wouldn't care I guess.
 
I do not believe Brazilians are considered URM. Most South American nationals / immigrants are not.

I also think you should retake the MCAT. 123 in Verbal can definitely be improved. How did you study this time? Take a look at the MCAT forum there are a lot of study guides and tips from people who do insanely well over there.
 
libertyyne said:
Has your friend converted to acceptances? Usually I refrain from suggesting applying to people if they are expecting success as outliers on the lower end of the pool.


Buffalo does have a 10th percentiles MCAT at 27 . All the other schools are above. It's possible , but heart break is more likely a scenario.
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Yes he has, and the interviews were to state schools as OOS. But what is Buffalo's 10th percentile of the new MCAT scores? Almost every school I've looked at has had a lower MCAT average with the new score than the old one. Because the MCAT is so sucky to retake (disclaimer: the following only applies if OP is willing to potentially use a lot of money) I think if OP wanted to apply one cycle with a broad app and only retake if he didn't get in the first time then that is actually an ok gamble to take.
 
AnatomyGrey12 said:
Yes he has, and the interviews were to state schools as OOS. But what is Buffalo's 10th percentile of the new MCAT scores? Almost every school I've looked at has had a lower MCAT average with the new score than the old one. Because the MCAT is so sucky to retake (disclaimer: the following only applies if OP is willing to potentially use a lot of money) I think if OP wanted to apply one cycle with a broad app and only retake if he didn't get in the first time then that is actually an ok gamble to take.
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That gives me a little more hope. I don,t want to take the chance of doing worse the second time around because although I know I can Improve, I don,t know if it would be significantly. Perhaps I can apply to more DOs and fewer MD,s.
 
Lyra26 said:
That gives me a little more hope. I don,t want to take the chance of doing worse the second time around because although I know I can Improve, I don,t know if it would be significantly. Perhaps I can apply to more DOs and fewer MD,s.
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Do mid to low tier MD. You have a shot, but you gonna be spending some monaayyyy to apply broaddlayyy
 
As a Brazilian you are considered "Latino" but not "Hispanic", since latino applies to anyone who is from Latin America (central or South America). "Hispanic" refers to the same places except its only for the countries where Spanish is the language that is mainly spoken (official language).

I'm not entirely sure but I do believe that latinos are considered URM. If you check msar and the demographics, you will see not too many Latin Americans in most schools.

OP I think you should apply both MD and DO because I do know of people who have gotten MD acceptances wth a 504 mcat. However, if you still have resources available and can retake it for a better score then that would be better so you have a higher chance of acceptance.
 
If you're boning for the MD, then retake. You're fine for DO.

Lyra26 said:
hi everyone,

I got a 504 on my mcat and am debating if I should take it again. Breakdown is 127, 123, 128 and 126.
I'm a senior graduating this December (I started college In spring). Im in NY btw. Extracurriculars include 6 months hospital volunteering, 100+ aspca volunteering with shelter animals, soup kitchen on weekends (not many hours), been a secretary for honor society for a year and just got promoted to Vice President. Have been a supplemental instructor for gen chem 1, 2 and orgo 1 for 2 years now. Also have had 4.0 GPA for all my 3 years (got As in all my classes at college). Don't have shadowing still but will get to it this semester. Research yes but not wet lab. I have green card but am Brazilian.

Do I have a shot at an MD or should I take mcat again? No preference of schools or state, will move wherever they Accept me.

Thanks
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Lyra26 said:
I think you are right, I might retake it. Can't believe will have to go through that again. Sucked enough the first time around.
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But before you retake try to figure out why you scored low the first time. The CARS score might be attributed to ESL if that applies to you! Don't retake until you are consistently scoring at your goal on practice rests. You don't want another low score.


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efle said:
Would you share some examples?? I've been very curious about this but haven't seen the data on any of the school sites I perused when interview prepping
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I always use this one because it was a few months ago when I looked at these and its the one I remember specifically. Loyola has it published on their website, fairly easy to find.
 
AnatomyGrey12 said:
I always use this one because it was a few months ago when I looked at these and its the one I remember specifically. Loyola has it published on their website, fairly easy to find.
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Hm so looks like for them it went from a 30 to a 28 equivalent.

That's shocking! A 28 is their 10th percentile in the most recent MSAR!
 
efle said:
Hm so looks like for them it went from a 30 to a 28 equivalent.

That's shocking! A 28 is their 10th percentile in the most recent MSAR!
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really shocking, but it's good news! shows they care about your whole app and personality
 
efle said:
Hm so looks like for them it went from a 30 to a 28 equivalent.

That's shocking! A 28 is their 10th percentile in the most recent MSAR!
Click to expand...
Dr.Kat said:
really shocking, but it's good news! shows they care about your whole app and personality
Click to expand...
efle said:
It will be very interesting to see how widespread this phenomenon is, I bet some places walk the walk (like loyola) and others claim to be holistic but keep medians at the same percentile
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hopefully the new MSAR that will be out sometime in the spring can provide us with the much needed information
 
Another point to make was that the MCAT median score for the entire population had been inching upwards to the tune of about 2 points. The new test was supposedly reset that creep .
 
@Lyra26 this is great news for you! I took a chance and applied with a lower MCAT and have been accepted to 7 MD medical schools. (I am half URM [Mexican] keep that in mind).
 
Lyra26 said:
Not sure what this means. I'm so lost guys it's hilarious. What's 10th percentile mean in this case?
Also, I'm Brazilian but I am white, I'm a girl too (not relevant but just felt like mentioning haha)
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Basically there are some schools out there that are less demanding about MCAT scores on the new version. I think for you with the strong GPA and very low CARS retaking is still sensible.
 
Lyra26 said:
Not sure what this means. I'm so lost guys it's hilarious. What's 10th percentile mean in this case?
Also, I'm Brazilian but I am white, I'm a girl too (not relevant but just felt like mentioning haha)
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sorry can't talk, we're too busy geeking out over data :bookworm::bookworm:

in all seriousness, supposedly, some US MD schools got more lenient and are accepting applicants with lower than average new MCAT scores, so you're not out of the running with a 504.
 
Lyra26 said:
I agree, what scares me is not improving the overall grade significantly for schools who average them or scoring lower in other sections than the first time.
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yes that's the risky part. the question you need to ask yourself is do you want to go to any US medical school (including US DO) or only US MD school? as it stands, you have a strong chance at DO schools, but things become tricky for MD schools. some schools like Loyola apparently are more lenient to low MCAT scores because they're more interested in applicants as a whole to satisfy their mission statement and not too focused on numbers.

the MSAR that will be out in the spring (I think in sometime in April) will provide much needed information regarding the new MCAT statistics at US MD schools, so the conventional wisdom may change.
 
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