Acceptance and under 28 MCAT?

[tanny]

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Did anyone get in to med school with under 28 MCAT? What school did you get into and how many interview did you get? I will shoot for the highest but for encouragement.

 

[RySerr21]

Yes people will be accepted to MD schools with lower than a 28 MCAT. There are also DO schools, which will have people under that score as well. Make sure the rest of your app is as stellar as possible.

 

[han14tra]

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[236116]

People do it, just get 8+ across the board and be otherwise stellar.

 

[slick27]

pretty slim. I think its more luck to get in with under 28 than anything. Most out of state schools won't consider you. If you have under 9 in an area, I think it would be really lucky than.

 

[DrSno]

Many of the Texas schools will let quite a few people in with less than a 28.

 

[Doc Henry]

I got in with a 27, I think it helped a lot that it was balanced though 9-9-9

 

[SB25]

I also was accepted to my state school with a 27N-8 verbal, 9-physical, 10-biological.

 

[rocketbooster]

yea, it happens all the time at state schools. i know several ppl who got into my state school, yes it's an MD school, with 23s and 24s. I know, it's pathetic. and i only got waitlisted. bull****. haha

generally, though, the ppl with lower MCATs have stellar GPAs (at least 3.8+) OR are minorities (african american, hispanic, or native american) OR are reapplicants. you get in a lot easier as a reapplicant since it shows your dedication to medicine to reapply and all that jazz.

 

[mcatgirl]

Hey!

Hopefully, I can offer a bit of encouragment to you. I received 8 allopathic interviews and 3 allopathic acceptances with a 27 MCAT (8,9, 10). I had a 3.65 cum gpa. By the way, these were all out of state schools. I had really good ECs, personal statement, and letters of recommendation, so I am sure that all helped. PM me if you want the names of the schools or if you need any help at all. Id be more than glad to help. I am super thankful for my acceptances and to everyone who helped me and I would be more than glad to be of any assistance to you. I always recommend to retake just to improve your chances, but go ahead and apply if you feel you have a good enough package. Good luck!!

 

[drizzt3117]

yea, it happens all the time at state schools. i know several ppl who got into my state school, yes it's an MD school, with 23s and 24s. I know, it's pathetic. and i only got waitlisted. bull****. haha

generally, though, the ppl with lower MCATs have stellar GPAs (at least 3.8+) OR are minorities (african american, hispanic, or native american) OR are reapplicants. you get in a lot easier as a reapplicant since it shows your dedication to medicine to reapply and all that jazz.

I don't think this is true, I think it's pretty accepted that if you don't improve your application substantively that it will be difficult to get in as a reapp.

 

[chiz2kul]

yea, it happens all the time at state schools. i know several ppl who got into my state school, yes it's an MD school, with 23s and 24s. I know, it's pathetic. and i only got waitlisted. bull****. haha

generally, though, the ppl with lower MCATs have stellar GPAs (at least 3.8+) OR are minorities (african american, hispanic, or native american) OR are reapplicants. you get in a lot easier as a reapplicant since it shows your dedication to medicine to reapply and all that jazz.

lol uhhh...no.

To the OP: I know someone that got in at OSU (oklahoma state) with like a 23, 24ish MCAT n ~3.7GPA. It happens (esp. if u're instate), but thats pretty rare.

 

[BORNagainSTDENT]

pretty slim. I think its more luck to get in with under 28 than anything. Most out of state schools won't consider you. If you have under 9 in an area, I think it would be really lucky than.

Are state schools suppost to be easier than other schools? Or do you mean no all school in addition to state schools? I'm a newb

 

[236116]

Are state schools suppost to be easier than other schools? Or do you mean no all school in addition to state schools? I'm a newb

Most staties show preference to their residents and will consider lower numbers if needed to hit their quota. CA is not one of them.

 

[supergumbo]

Definitely. State schools come to mind. However, it would still be difficult and the odds are greatly against you obviously. Honestly, I would gear myself towards D.O. schools more with mcat scores less than 28 unless title is too important of a factor (or getting a very competitive residency spot).

 

[FSAP]

I know two people who got in with a 24. One URM, other is not, so it's definitely possible.

 

[Red Leader]

Yes but only if you are one of the following:

1) URM
2) Disadvantaged somehow (economically or orphaned at 4 yrs old to wolves)
3) Child of the Dean

 

[bquillera13]

I got in with a 27 and 3.62 GPA. I was a reapplicant and I am a Hispanic female. I only applied in Texas, but I got 5 interviews. It's definitely possible.

 

[rocketbooster]

lol uhhh...no.

To the OP: I know someone that got in at OSU (oklahoma state) with like a 23, 24ish MCAT n ~3.7GPA. It happens (esp. if u're instate), but thats pretty rare.

OSU is a DO school with averages of 26 MCAT and 3.6 GPA. that's a perfect match for your friend.

 

[rocketbooster]

I don't think this is true, I think it's pretty accepted that if you don't improve your application substantively that it will be difficult to get in as a reapp.

OH trust me, it's DEFINITELY true. i know sooo many reapplicants who got into my state school with terrible MCAT scores. they didn't retake their MCAT or anything. since all the decisions went out last month, I've been hearing of more and more reapplicants who got in with 23 MCATs. it's very disconcerting, and depressing for me lol. it's cool, i'll be in their boat next year as a reapplicant. 🙂 and HOPEFULLY a badass MCAT if things go according to my practice tests in a few weeks. 😀

what they did to improve was do better in their interview and show more medical involvement, like volunteering in a clinic or doing research.

 

[batman1983]

Yes but only if you are one of the following:

1) URM
2) Disadvantaged somehow (economically or orphaned at 4 yrs old to wolves)
3) Child of the Dean

4)Not a California resident

Your state of residency plays a big factor in admissions to medical school, especially if you are applying with weaker MCATs/GPAs since you can often fall back on your state school. Some states give automatic invites to instate residents that meet some low GPA/MCAT threshold(I heard Kansas, Washington, and Indiana do that). However, if you are from Cali, its pretty hard to get into a state school with <28 MCAT unless you are URM/disadvantaged. ****, its pretty hard to get into a Cali school with strong stats😡.

 

[DrJosephKim]

It definitely happens, especially if you have stellar academics. Also, keep in mind that it depends on your other MCAT scores (if you take it more than once).

 

[DrDre2001]

being that the average for MD schools is around a 31....im sure many people are in there with 28's. For every 34 there will be a 28 (not really, but kinda)

 

[drelizabeth292]

absolutely. i had a 27N ( PS=9 BS=11 V=7) and a 3.8 gpa. yes im a URM but i had a HELL of a lot of EC's and other things to make me stand out. I received 4 acceptances and had over 10 interview requests (although I only actually went to the 4 first interviews due to $ concerns). you can get it but you have to work hard and choose schools which you have an actual chance at. i did NOT apply to any DO schools. good luck

 

[drizzt3117]

OH trust me, it's DEFINITELY true. i know sooo many reapplicants who got into my state school with terrible MCAT scores. they didn't retake their MCAT or anything. since all the decisions went out last month, I've been hearing of more and more reapplicants who got in with 23 MCATs. it's very disconcerting, and depressing for me lol. it's cool, i'll be in their boat next year as a reapplicant. 🙂 and HOPEFULLY a badass MCAT if things go according to my practice tests in a few weeks. 😀

what they did to improve was do better in their interview and show more medical involvement, like volunteering in a clinic or doing research.

Anecdotal evidence ftw? lol

AAMC doesn't seem to break out applicants, reapplicants, and first time applicants like they do for the match, unfortunately, but I'd like to see real data on the acceptance rate for reapps. My guess is that it's substantially lower. We've already had adcoms come on here and say that it flags your application for further review if you are a reapp, some schools may throw those apps away out of hand if there weren't signifcant improvements.

 

[tanny]

Would I be considered a reapplicant? I appiled twice without a score (first apply not ready 2007 ) and did not submit my score ( second apply)? I'm retaking myMCAT.

 

[236116]

Would I be considered a reapplicant? I appiled twice without a score (first apply not ready 2007 ) and did not submit my score ( second apply)? I'm retaking myMCAT.

If you have ever submitted AMCAS, you are a re-applicant.

 

[slick27]

Would I be considered a reapplicant? I appiled twice without a score (first apply not ready 2007 ) and did not submit my score ( second apply)? I'm retaking myMCAT.

That was probably not a smart decision.

 

[tanny]

I did not go through the interview process. I did not know I was not going to be ready. Why is that bad?

 

[aggieallure]

I was accepted with a 27 MCAT. If it was impossible, the average score would be higher. Regardless, you need a good GPA to balance a low MCAT score.

 

[Excelsius]

pretty slim. I think its more luck to get in with under 28 than anything. Most out of state schools won't consider you. If you have under 9 in an area, I think it would be really lucky than.

Yes but only if you are one of the following:

1) URM
2) Disadvantaged somehow (economically or orphaned at 4 yrs old to wolves)
3) Child of the Dean

And you get your information from??

OP, over the last three years, 34.16% of all NON-URM acceptees had MCATs below 29. So all these people here making these claims are wrong. Look at the data, people.

And if you're URM, your success probability is 74.15% out of the URM pool. (Before anyone jumps to any more erroneous conlusions, that entire 74.15% still makes up only 11.15% of the entire applicant pool [URM+non-URM]).

 

[Red Leader]

And you get your information from??

OP, over the last three years, 34.16% of all NON-URM acceptees had MCATs below 29. So all these people here making these claims are wrong. Look at the data, people.

And if you're URM, your success probability is 74.15% out of the URM pool. (Before anyone jumps to any more erroneous conlusions, that entire 74.15% still makes up only 11.15% of the entire applicant pool [URM+non-URM]).

Please post where you got your stats from.

If you're URM 29 will not exclude you from many schools. If you're non-URM consider DO or Caribbean, retake MCAT, or try your luck.

 

[Excelsius]

Please post where you got your stats from.

If you're URM 29 will not exclude you from many schools. If you're non-URM consider DO or Caribbean, retake MCAT, or try your luck.

All you have to do is just look around. If you don't know where to obtain statistics, ask questions. Better than posting misinformed answers. Here you go:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=606875
http://www.aamc.org/data/facts/

 

[batman1983]

And you get your information from??

OP, over the last three years, 34.16% of all NON-URM acceptees had MCATs below 29. So all these people here making these claims are wrong. Look at the data, people.

And if you're URM, your success probability is 74.15% out of the URM pool. (Before anyone jumps to any more erroneous conlusions, that entire 74.15% still makes up only 11.15% of the entire applicant pool [URM+non-URM]).

While I agree with Excel that nonURM's with MCAT<29 still get into medical school, I believe his/her data does show the weight that that URM status can play in admissions, esp when considering that those accepted URMs with <29MCAT also had lower GPAs than nonURMs. Unfortunately, the data is not detailed enough to make specific conclusions about factors such as URM, disadvantaged, and legacy, other than they do help in the process. Moreover, state of residency I think plays just as big a factor as URM status in the medical admissions. Compare the avg stats for California and Mississippi acceptees. So, is it doable to get into to med school with less than a 28? Yes, but having one of those factors mentioned can significantly help your chances.

 

[Red Leader]

All you have to do is just look around. If you don't know where to obtain statistics, ask questions. Better than posting misinformed answers. Here you go:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=606875
http://www.aamc.org/data/facts/

How is my answer misinformed? It's common sense, plus your data supports what I said. Go look at your graph again...I am amazed you took the time to do that.

I am also amazed you think this 34% chance of getting accepted somehow proves your point...that is a terrible chance.

 

[HrryUpNwait]

Took the MCAT twice with a 27 then a 26! White male with a GPA of 3.65. Not the child of the dean. Accepted into a private univeristy. It can definitely be done.

 

[spellie11]

In with 27. 7 interviews. 4 in-state for me, 2 state schools OOS for me, 1 private. 3 acceptances and 4 waitlists. It can be done. Just be prepared to have all other parts of your application make up for the lower MCAT (high GPA, great EC's, ect.) and have good interviews. You'll be fine. Don't let anybody deter you.

 

[236116]

the dead horse we're beating. let me show you it:

 

[DocDrakeRamoray]

There should be a thread like this. Otherwise one only hears about some stellar MCAT score on SDN. I'm glad there are people with low MCAT score having chances of getting in.

 

[BORNagainSTDENT]

In with 27. 7 interviews. 4 in-state for me, 2 state schools OOS for me, 1 private. 3 acceptances and 4 waitlists. It can be done. Just be prepared to have all other parts of your application make up for the lower MCAT (high GPA, great EC's, ect.) and have good interviews. You'll be fine. Don't let anybody deter you.

is the order of best shot.. in-state then OOS and where does private fit in? is in state private easier than out of state private. thanks

 

[236116]

is the order of best shot.. in-state then OOS and where does private fit in? is in state private easier than out of state private. thanks

depends on the school.

CA schools, Hopkins, Mayo: no one has a chance. Others, this may vary.

 

[Excelsius]

While I agree with Excel that nonURM's with MCAT<29 still get into medical school, I believe his/her data does show the weight that that URM status can play in admissions, esp when considering that those accepted URMs with <29MCAT also had lower GPAs than nonURMs. Unfortunately, the data is not detailed enough to make specific conclusions about factors such as URM, disadvantaged, and legacy, other than they do help in the process. Moreover, state of residency I think plays just as big a factor as URM status in the medical admissions. Compare the avg stats for California and Mississippi acceptees. So, is it doable to get into to med school with less than a 28? Yes, but having one of those factors mentioned can significantly help your chances.

I understand your concern, but I don't completely agree. Of course, URM does play a role, but the data is separated for non-URMs, so you can't say that URM status is one of the missing details. Same goes for legacy. How many people do you think get into MEDschool with legacy? If they don't have the numbers, they likely won't (remember the Florida medschool case?). Legacy is too insignificant to be relevant. Non-URM disadvantaged? Again, how many people do you think are below poverty level and are white? Again, not a big factor. I could make the data easier to understand, but I haven't had the time. I will tease it out by summer, I hope.

By the way, your idea about CA students is unfounded as well. You can see here that the overall acceptance rate for CA students is pretty much the same as in places like the north. It is a little tougher in CA, but when you combine OOS, things get pretty much cancelled out.

 

[Excelsius]

How is my answer misinformed? It's common sense, plus your data supports what I said. Go look at your graph again...I am amazed you took the time to do that.

I am also amazed you think this 34% chance of getting accepted somehow proves your point...that is a terrible chance.

Wrong again. My data does not support your claim that it is almost impossible to get into medschool with MCAT below 28. Keep in mind that the percentages I gave you included everything BELOW 29 - that means 25s, 23s, and even below 20s. It is common sense that if we look just at the range of 27-29, the data will be even more supportive than just thirty something percent success rate. Read the table correctly.

And so 34% is not good enough for you? Did you know that the national average is about 42%? Ok...

Actually the real amazing thing is to spread misinformation without taking the time to look at the data. There is no need to be surprised.

 

[batman1983]

I understand your concern, but I don't completely agree. Of course, URM does play a role, but the data is separated for non-URMs, so you can't say that URM status is one of the missing details.

?????? Sorry, Im kinda of confused as to what your point was. If anything the data you are referring to (MCAT/GPA of accepted nonURMs and URMs) does show that URM status plays a pretty big role in admissions, which I said earlier and you disagreed with.
My argument was that the data available on the AAMC FACTS tables is not detailed enough to include other possible confounding variables such as disadvantaged status, state of residency, etc. While some of those variables are examined on their own in other tables, there isnt one table (at least I couldnt find one) that factored in on any combination of URM, disadvantaged, and state of residency vs MCAT/GPA data. Thus, you can not exclude them or say that they dont play a role in admissions based on the simplistic view and data you have provided.

Non-URM disadvantaged? Again, how many people do you think are below poverty level and are white? Again, not a big factor.

Alot(23 million white ppl in America are below the poverty line)... Just because a person is white, it does not mean they cant be poor. While I agree that URMs do have higher rates of poverty in terms of percentages, nonetheless, on an absolute scale, whites are the largest group below the poverty level. Thus, if you believe that medical schools examine disadvantaged status without regard to race (debatable in my opinion), then non-URM disadvantaged should play a big role as well.

By the way, your idea about CA students is unfounded as well. You can see here that the overall acceptance rate for CA students is pretty much the same as in places like the north. It is a little tougher in CA, but when you combine OOS, things get pretty much cancelled out.

I think selectivity rate is a flawed metric when making this comparison. While the selectivity rate for CA applicants is slightly below the national avg, I think it is also misleading since you must also consider the facts that the avg GPA/MCAT for accepted CA applicants is among the highest in the nation and that CA applicants are forced to apply to many more schools than applicants of other states. Thus, if anything, this demonstrates that CA applicants are at a significant disadvantage as compared to other non-CA applicants.

 

[Red Leader]

Wrong again. My data does not support your claim that it is almost impossible to get into medschool with MCAT below 28. Keep in mind that the percentages I gave you included everything BELOW 29 - that means 25s, 23s, and even below 20s. It is common sense that if we look just at the range of 27-29, the data will be even more supportive than just thirty something percent success rate. Read the table correctly.

And so 34% is not good enough for you? Did you know that the national average is about 42%? Ok...

Actually the real amazing thing is to spread misinformation without taking the time to look at the data. There is no need to be surprised.

hmm ok I see reasoning doesn't work with you. All your data supports my point about URMs and all of it is irrelevant to my comments about legacy and being disadvantaged.

No 34% is not good enough for me. I guess a seatbelt that only works 34% of the time is good enough for you though.

 

[drizzt3117]

hmm ok I see reasoning doesn't work with you. All your data supports my point about URMs and all of it is irrelevant to my comments about legacy and being disadvantaged.

No 34% is not good enough for me. I guess a seatbelt that only works 34% of the time is good enough for you though.

The original question was "Has anyone gotten into med school with a 28 or lower MCAT?"

You said, no unless they are legacy, URM, or disadvantaged.

Someone showed evidence that 34% of non-URM people with 28 or below MCAT get into med school, so obviously it's possible without meeting one of your three standards.

If you're making the argument that it's not as likely to get into med school with a 28 or below MCAT, I don't think anyone is going to argue with you, but clearly lots of people get in every cycle without being URM and having less than 28 MCAT.

 

[Red Leader]

The original question was "Has anyone gotten into med school with a 28 or lower MCAT?"

You said, no unless they are legacy, URM, or disadvantaged.

Someone showed evidence that 34% of non-URM people with 28 or below MCAT get into med school, so obviously it's possible without meeting one of your three standards.

If you're making the argument that it's not as likely to get into med school with a 28 or below MCAT, I don't think anyone is going to argue with you, but clearly lots of people get in every cycle without being URM and having less than 28 MCAT.

Yes thanks for clarifying my point. Clearly the OP wants to know if there's a good chance of getting in with sub-28 MCAT. Everybody knows somewhere outwhere someone has gotten in with super crappy numbers so yes it is possible. It is also possible Jesus is floating outside my window, but I read into the OP's question and basically said don't count on it unless you meet one of the 3 criteria I had. Iguess a 4th criteria should be "extremely lucky."

 

[jbobcat05]

Hey guys, I'm kinda new to this whole thing and tying to catch up on all the lingo: What's a URM?

 

[Excelsius]

?????? Sorry, Im kinda of confused as to what your point was. If anything the data you are referring to (MCAT/GPA of accepted nonURMs and URMs) does show that URM status plays a pretty big role in admissions, which I said earlier and you disagreed with.
My argument was that the data available on the AAMC FACTS tables is not detailed enough to include other possible confounding variables such as disadvantaged status, state of residency, etc. While some of those variables are examined on their own in other tables, there isnt one table (at least I couldnt find one) that factored in on any combination of URM, disadvantaged, and state of residency vs MCAT/GPA data. Thus, you can not exclude them or say that they dont play a role in admissions based on the simplistic view and data you have provided.


Alot(23 million white ppl in America are below the poverty line)... Just because a person is white, it does not mean they cant be poor. While I agree that URMs do have higher rates of poverty in terms of percentages, nonetheless, on an absolute scale, whites are the largest group below the poverty level. Thus, if you believe that medical schools examine disadvantaged status without regard to race (debatable in my opinion), then non-URM disadvantaged should play a big role as well.



I think selectivity rate is a flawed metric when making this comparison. While the selectivity rate for CA applicants is slightly below the national avg, I think it is also misleading since you must also consider the facts that the avg GPA/MCAT for accepted CA applicants is among the highest in the nation and that CA applicants are forced to apply to many more schools than applicants of other states. Thus, if anything, this demonstrates that CA applicants are at a significant disadvantage as compared to other non-CA applicants.

URM does a play role, but not a big role. Like I said, that 74% makes up only about 11% of the entire applicant pool. I don't want to go over the numbers again, but if I compared that 74% with the total aggregated number of admissions, it would be much lower. Affirmative action is also gradually waning.

You are going into all these possible variables that might exist and you are assuming that all of them are significant. Unless I see some data as to what percentage apply as non-URM disadvantaged, I am not going to assume that this criterion plays a significant role. This is the same ideology as the wrongful assumption with URM. Of course, there are people of different nationalities, including white, who are disadvantaged, but for now the majority of the students who apply to medical school seem to be either average or affluent. You don't often see a child whose family can barely make ends meet grow up and suddenly decide to become a doctor. I would also argue that a lot of disadvantaged situations are going to belong to students who are URM. So you have an overlap of data.

Again, state of residency matters, but not to the point that you may think. When I brought you the numerical break down of CA, you claimed that CA applicants apply to more schools. What makes you think that CA applicants apply to significantly more schools than NY applicants? What about those applicants with no state schools? This is pointless since we can complicate this ad infinitum. The fact is that CA applicants have the same probability of getting into at least one medical school as most of the nation/coasts.

Anyway, I don't want to go into much more detail here for now. I will try to remember some of the arguments I encounter along the way and digitalize them when I redo the data in that thread.

 

[Excelsius]

Yes thanks for clarifying my point. Clearly the OP wants to know if there's a good chance of getting in with sub-28 MCAT. Everybody knows somewhere outwhere someone has gotten in with super crappy numbers so yes it is possible. It is also possible Jesus is floating outside my window, but I read into the OP's question and basically said don't count on it unless you meet one of the 3 criteria I had. Iguess a 4th criteria should be "extremely lucky."

Well, some people don't get it even after numerous tries. For the last time, 34% is pretty close to the NATIONAL AVERAGE of 42%. It is not the same as you being struck by lightning or having Jesus help you with the PS section on your MCAT. And if for you 34% is almost nothing, which means 34%=~0%, be prepared to get rejected from every US medschool because if you're anything shy of the stellar candidate, your average numbers (assuming you have at least 3.7, 31, and regular LORs and ECs) will "only" get you 42% probability of getting in. Then, since 34% of that =0%, your chances drop to just 8%. And since 8%<34% (I hope you agree here) that means that 8%<<0% and therefore you have no chance of getting into any US medschool. HOWEVER, I have heard great things about Ross and SGU.