I know of a lot of pre meds out there who stand absolutely no chance of getting into med school (<3.0 gpa, no ec's, Party every night, etc). What would ypu say the acceptance rate is for students who take college seriously is?
i know of a lot of pre meds out there who stand absolutely no chance of getting into med school (<3.0 gpa, no ec's, party every night, etc). what would ypu say the acceptance rate is for students who take college seriously is?
I know of a lot of pre meds out there who stand absolutely no chance of getting into med school (<3.0 gpa, no ec's, Party every night, etc). What would ypu say the acceptance rate is for students who take college seriously is?
Interesting
of 117,000 applicants, about 11,000 have below a 3.0. People with less than a 3.0 make up about 10% of applicants. I think this table also considers historically black schools and the Puerto Rican schools which have lower stats than most MD schools. That means the acceptance are probably slightly higher.
60% of applicants will have to reapply
in my opinion, most people who go through the application process are taking themselves somewhat seriously, whatever it may mean to them.
the kids that are failing usually change their career goals or get straightened out when you aren't looking
I recall a statistic of 37% for people applying. I'm not sure if that's just MD schools or it includes DO.
You'll quickly find that partiers with <3.0 won't stick with the whole "pre-med" thing. It's a cool thing to say freshmen year, but then reality hits that they actually have to do a little work. Most give up by sophomore or junior year.
The people applying to medical school are already the cream of the crop. And since there are limited slots and everyone has about the same qualifications, it's a huge crapshoot. So you could have a 3.8, a 35 MCAT, and excellent ECs and not get in anywhere just by chance.
No, I strongly disagree with this. It is often said that medicine is a "crapshoot" or that there's no rhyme or reason to why some "good" applicants get rejected. This is not true.
Things to consider:
- The student may have not applied BROADLY. This is a common reason for applicants with a 3.8, 35 (who think they're guaranteed one of the tops) to not get accepted anywhere.
- They applied late.
- They're terrible at interviewing
- There is some other glaring deficiency in their application
This process is NOT a crapshoot. High GPA and MCAT scores guarantee you nothing. What a great EC entails is often misinterpreted. Personal interviewing is very important at many schools. The Adcoms don't just toss up their hands and randomly pick from applications. There is a process of weeding out the poor applications from the good ones, and simply having high scores does not make you a good application...it gets you closer to being a good application, but you are hardly finished. Also keep in mind that Harvard's "Good" application is different from Podunk's "Good" application.
Can't stand the constant suggestion here that it's mostly luck and random. Preparation preparation preparation.
I know of a lot of pre meds out there who stand absolutely no chance of getting into med school (<3.0 gpa, no ec's, Party every night, etc). What would ypu say the acceptance rate is for students who take college seriously is?
No, I strongly disagree with this. It is often said that medicine is a "crapshoot" or that there's no rhyme or reason to why some "good" applicants get rejected. This is not true.
...
(many good observations deleted for brevity)
...
Can't stand the constant suggestion here that it's mostly luck and random. Preparation preparation preparation.
I got rejected from every school I applied to in the 2007-2008 cycle. Looking at my stats (see MDApps), I'd hardly think you'd say I didn't take college seriously.
Undergraduate College: University of Colorado at Colorado Springs
Being just another bio major doesn't help, unfortunatelyUndergraduate Area of Study: Biological/Life Sciences
Nice MCAT score!MCAT: BS 13, PS 12, VR 11, R
GPA is awesomeOverall GPA: 3.98
Science GPA: 4.00
No research may have hurt you some.Brief Profile:
Minor in history, major in biology.
Volunteered in Peds Playroom of Hospital for 1 year
Premed society 3 years (inc. 1 year as shadowing coordinator and mentor)
Worked in Pediatrician's office for just over a year doing filing and insurance work.
Student Affiliates of American Chemical Society 2.5 years (including volunteering for various science programs for children)
President of national non-profit organization since Jan '09; staff since April '07, member since Sept '06.
RHA Representative, 2 years; Leadership award '08
Phlebotomy certification with externship experience.
Phlebotomist position at hospital since Jan '09.
No research experience.
Much of my credits are AP/IB credits, so I graduated in 3 years (easily; I started with 46 credits). I have advanced classes in biology, but I only took the physics labs in university, not the lectures. As such, I am excluded from applying to some schools, including SLU, Rochester, Columbia, etc.
AMCAS submitted: 6/2/2009
I got rejected from every school I applied to in the 2007-2008 cycle. Looking at my stats (see MDApps), I'd hardly think you'd say I didn't take college seriously.
On a quick glance, your MDApps looks pretty good...
Where did you apply?
Is this a satellite of UC-Boulder? I'd guess some might wonder what a 4.0 from here actually means.
20-30%I know of a lot of pre meds out there who stand absolutely no chance of getting into med school (<3.0 gpa, no ec's, Party every night, etc). What would ypu say the acceptance rate is for students who take college seriously is?
20-30%
Most of those party pre-meds never get to the point of submitting their AMCAS, and most of them don't even get to the MCAT.
No, I strongly disagree with this. It is often said that medicine is a "crapshoot" or that there's no rhyme or reason to why some "good" applicants get rejected. This is not true.
Things to consider:
- The student may have not applied BROADLY. This is a common reason for applicants with a 3.8, 35 (who think they're guaranteed one of the tops) to not get accepted anywhere.
- They applied late.
- They're terrible at interviewing
- There is some other glaring difficiency in their application
This process is NOT a crapshoot. High GPA and MCAT scores guarantee you nothing. What a great EC entails is often misinterpreted. Personal interviewing is very important at many schools. The Adcoms don't just toss up their hands and randomly pick from applications. There is a process of weeding out the poor applications from the good ones, and simply having high scores does not make you a good application...it gets you closer to being a good application, but you are hardly finished. Also keep in mind that Harvard's "Good" application is different from Podunk's "Good" application.
Can't stand the constant suggestion here that it's mostly luck and random. Preparation preparation preparation.
This post nails it. Not a crapshoot. Not random. And the interview is very important, where many "socially marginal" applicants who otherwise look good on paper get nixed.
You can see from my MDApps where I applied. I have both application cycles listed there.
No, we are not affiliated with UC-Boulder. We are a completely different school with a completely different administration, just under the University of Colorado system. It's like UC-Irvine vs. UCLA. We also have another campus in Denver, which is what the medical school is affiliated with.
I'm perfectly aware why I did not get in, which is why I spent a year getting my application together before I applied again. And it worked, because I got two acceptances this year. Might've gotten more had I cared enough to try to get more (LOIs and whatnot), but I was perfectly happy with my first acceptance, so I didn't really bother after that.
I was just illustrating that even people with stellar grades and MCAT scores will still get rejected. It's not like the people who are rejected are the ones who don't take college seriously. Other people have posted to say basically the same thing (that people who apply usually are the ones that take being a pre-med seriously), but statistics make a little more impact when you can relate them to a specific person.
Can't stand the constant suggestion here that it's mostly luck and random. Preparation preparation preparation.
Pride and sloth are the two killers of good applicants.
Well, from my experiences, getting an interview offer is sometimes completely luck and random. Especially since I've been rejected by schools which I interviewed at a previously year (even after I've improved entire application, including a 4 pt mcat boast, graduate degree, clinical experiences, publication etc).
But this is expected, especially if a school receives 6000+ applications. It's probably hard to be completely consistent.
"Luck is when preparation meets opportunity" -Seneca, of Rome
Interesting of 117,000 applicants, about 11,000 have below a 3.0. People with less than a 3.0 make up about 10% of applicants. I think this table also considers historically black schools and the Puerto Rican schools which have lower stats than most MD schools. That means the acceptance are probably slightly higher.
30-32 MCAT, 3.80-4.0 GPA White Applicants, according to AAMC, 83% of them are accepted. I'm not sure where this 20-30% is coming from...
*shrugs*
LOL
That's like taking taking 50 people with perfect ACT scores, looking at their college GPAs, and saying "wow, just about EVERYONE gets a 3.9+ in college!"
a 30+ MCAT is in the top 15% of students who apply to medical school, as is a 3.8. Yes, you SHOULD have an 83% acceptance rate at that point on the curve. That's an entire SD to the right on BOTH the GPA AND MCAT curves!
To OP - this thread combined with the friends vs grades thread is just depressing. If you're trying to justify staying in your room/the library every night while other pre-meds go out and socialize then I've got some bad news for you - your odds don't go up that much by "taking college seriously". Also, what does that even mean? Do I take college seriously if I celebrate thirsty thursday and hang out with friends on the weekend but still study enough to pull an A on my embryo test the following monday?
In my experience, which may not count for much, the "party" pre-meds (not necessarily those that drink, but those that are social) who make it to their junior year are there to stay, and usually have a decent shot at getting in. Can't wait to see your face when the first night after med school orientation you see one of your classmates rocking a cardboard bud select crown
if you see my OP, it indicates what I think a person who doesn't take college seriously is. In no way did I ever say that people who are social don't get into medical school.
SD to the right = 1 standard deviation to the right of the mean score of applicants (im guessing the std is 3, and the mean is 27?)
However, looking at the chart, It doesnt seem like only 15% of people get 30+..
SD to the right = 1 standard deviation to the right of the mean score of applicants (im guessing the std is 3, and the mean is 27?)
However, looking at the chart, It doesnt seem like only 15% of people get 30+..
SD to the right = 1 standard deviation to the right of the mean score of applicants (im guessing the std is 3, and the mean is 27?)
However, looking at the chart, It doesnt seem like only 15% of people get 30+..
Oh, gotcha. I'm still not sold on the 15% figure, though.Sorry, I worded that incorrectly earlier. The numbers cited were about 1 SD above the mean GPA for applicants and mean MCAT overall. The mean MCAT is approx. 24 w/ SD=7. Mean GPA of applicants is 3.4 w/ an SD of like 0.25 (I'd have to check to be sure... I know some of the SDs are like 0.40 and others 0.25... but I don't recall exactly what's what off the top of my head... the mean MCAT for applicants, btw, is about a 28)
Oh, gotcha. I'm still not sold on the 15% figure, though.
31+ is 15% of the population that took the MCAT, which is generally accepted to be the population intending to apply to med school (i.e., that took "premed" seriously enough to make it through 3 yrs of med school prereqs and college coursework).
I misread what you said earlier. Sorry!
My percentile (for my MCAT says) ~86th percentile. Seems right on.
Where can we find that accurate of a GPA percentage, one other than a big separation of 0.2 in 3.8-4.0? Thanks!
When you look at the most recent chart, applicants with a 30+ MCAT OR a 3.6 GPA stand a more than 50% chance of being accepted.
While I understand that there are a lot of factors that go into this, and a lot of overlap, I think that's comforting. Also, is the chart just MD or does it include DO schools?
I believe the "about half get in at all" statistic applies to MD schools, but I may be mistaken.
Also: "Of all people who apply to law school nationally, about 55 to 60 percent are accepted at one or more schools. In other words, about 40 percent of all applicants to law school arent able to go because they arent admitted anywhere." source
Now I realize these are different things, etc. etc. But that's all people who took the LSAT, and who "took pre-law seriously". I never hear pre-law kids worried about getting into law school period. I hear them worried about getting into a T-14 law school. I'm not saying the situations are necessarily equal, just that it's interesting considering that the stats aren't that hugely different. (when I started college I was planning on law school.)
When you look at the most recent chart, applicants with a 30+ MCAT OR a 3.6 GPA stand a more than 50% chance of being accepted.
While I understand that there are a lot of factors that go into this, and a lot of overlap, I think that's comforting. Also, is the chart just MD or does it include DO schools?
I believe the "about half get in at all" statistic applies to MD schools, but I may be mistaken.
Also: "Of all people who apply to law school nationally, about 55 to 60 percent are accepted at one or more schools. In other words, about 40 percent of all applicants to law school aren't able to go because they aren't admitted anywhere." source
Now I realize these are different things, etc. etc. But that's all people who took the LSAT, and who "took pre-law seriously". I never hear pre-law kids worried about getting into law school period. I hear them worried about getting into a T-14 law school. I'm not saying the situations are necessarily equal, just that it's interesting considering that the stats aren't that hugely different. (when I started college I was planning on law school.)