Thanks Tomi, great advice. I'll keep all these in mindI have only finished my freshman year of undergrad and am not a genius when it comes to knowing how med school admissions work but I know enough to state that med schools are highly competitive. I am going to strongly agree with Agent B with top tier medical schools being a crapshoot. There are applicants with 4.0 / 40 that get rejected from these schools. Nobody on this thread is discouraging you from your dream, they are just asking you to be realistic with yourself. We dont want you to set yourself up for a huge disappointment. I believe that top med schools look for something unique to add to their class. Ask yourself this: What do I posses that would make a top medical school want me in their class? I am not saying its impossible but by the time you apply you want to present yourself as a strong well rounded applicant that can bring in something unique.
I would also suggest you also ask yourself what your goals truly are, if you really want to be a doctor, why would it matter what school you attended? By the time I apply in the 2015 cycle, I would be extremely grateful to ANY school that accepts me in the US. Its not uncommon for people with decent stats to apply to many schools and not got accepted to any. There are people right now on waitlists hoping for the chance of an acceptance. That is why like many others have said it is essential to apply broadly.
Anyway, good luck with your dream of attending a top tier medical school! Just, dont be close-minded because there are many good schools that are not top tier.
~*There is absolutely no correlation between winning raffles and medical school admissions*~
Any success stories of top-tier admission + mediocre gpa/mcat
- Thread starter Jumoke
- Start date
Thanks Tomi, great advice. I'll keep all these in mind
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I see. jr93, you must be attending a low-tier
This is how you fail exams. I said high 100s. that is not equal to 100k
From your post, i suspect you are a low-tier kindda dude
I'm very curious as to how you will interview.
As others have said, it's possible but a pretty large uphill battle.
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But the OP has won so many raffles. Surely random luck will get him into HMS, or Hopkins at least.
Better yet, OP, start buying lottery tickets. With your luck, you'll win the jackpot and need not apply to med school.
Seriously, with a 3.4, you're going to have trouble getting into many med schools, unless there's something unique about your app-- veteran status, URM, related to a donor to the school, etc.
I am working on improving that 3.4 and all these factors should work in my favor if you know waramin
Hey silly
you can't judge this by my posts here. Life is too short to be all so serious all the time. I don't take myself very seriously as you can tell.See, after many rejections in my life, i have learned to interview.
The interview part is the least of my worries. I interview VERY well and i can teach you a thing or two - help u to step up your lame interviewing skills if u'd like, i won't charge u
I forgot to tell u this.
Thing is, if i win the lottery, i'll still be attending med school. That's a decision that has nothing to do with money.
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Make sure to put that in your PS broooo
How do you know that i am a "broooo" and not a "sissss"? Did i discuss gender in this thread or is everyone on this forum automatically a "brooo"?
I'd rather you refer to me as "broosiss"
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Hahahaha your funny.
Wow. People are still entertaining this guy. Btw, I do go to a state school and if you use some stupid rank list, it's maybe top 75 and doesn't get much nih money and I'm happy. The 2 schools I turned down are ranked better if you care about that stuff.
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what other factors may play a role in a 3.4 having a shot at a top tier? does disadvantaged status also work in ones favor, particularly, if one's mcat is within the schools range (38-40) and all the ecs are in check?
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Read this entire thread. Not sure why, perhaps because I am putting off pre-writing my apps
Anyways, Jumoke, people on here can be really harsh and very immature. Don''t even try to reason with them. It is very easy to tell the serious and kind-hearted from the rude, pointless, bored people who are just on here to stir things up and piss people off. I say don't even bother to respond to the latter, but help and encourage the former as much as possible.
Although it does seem to me that you may be a little bit obsessed with the concept of "high tier" = best, it is grounded in fact. I think that with your stats you need to put a lot of focus into improving one critical aspect of your application if you are hoping for a top 10. You are clearly a non-trad as well. My advice is to use your intuition, pick something you are passionate about, quit your job if money really isn't an issue, and focus 100% on doing that one thing for a year in order to improve your app. On the side, take a few graduate level post bac classes in order to improve your GPA.
Never allow yourself to be a dandelion... just floating on the wind whichever way you will flow. Take charge, make hard decisions, stand by your intuition, and you will go far. The older you are, the more you should trust that intuition. Always aim high; I think you are wise to aim for a top 10... it sounds to me like you know what it means to struggle... it seems that you use humor to try and hide your insecurities... and it also seems like you are a fighter and not about to give up anytime soon. Props to you.
All in all, I think you are doing the best you can. Keep yourself informed, but please do not put too much weight into the opinions of certain characters on SDN. All of the really bad ones seem to pack together and they have a ball with each other, egg each other on, and seem to think they are really decent people. I just try to ignore them... though it can be hard for me because I tend to have a feeling of needing to make the world a better place one person at a time... but this forum is not the place to do that (as I have discovered). Without a face, identity, or visible emotion, these people can nag, whine, and berate people as much as they like with no repercussions. Just let it be. I say it but sometimes I can't even hold back...
Anyways, I just wanted to give my thoughts on the matter. Keep on trudging! I think you have a good shot if you give yourself time to improve your application.
Feel free to PM me if you would like
Best,
C
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ha, when I said that range, I meant that these scores are in the 90% or higher for any school. I would really like to know if an MCAT that is this high will give someone a shot with a 3.4?
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It will, if the rest of your app is strong.
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I think top 25 you have shot with a good app, top 10 would probably be a bit of a stretch. But I would apply to a few anyway. You never know.
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In the OPs defense, it was other posters who initally attacked him for wanting to attend a top tier med school.
All people value different things. For some people, they want to attend school close to family. For others, they want a cheap med school. And yet for others they want a prestigious school.
It is not anyone's place to judge the motivations of another. There is nothing wrong with the OP wanting to go to a top school. Heck, who wouldn't want to go to a top tier school if they had the option?
As far as admissions goes, OP I would advise you to get a copy of the MSAR. Most of the top schools have 10th Percentile GPA at a 3.5-3.6 range, so it will be very difficult to get into those schools.
A 34 MCAT is within range for top schools, but unfortunately many other applicants will have that same score coupled with a 3.8-3.9 range GPAs.
The best thing you can do it to apply to your dream schools AND apply to realistic options. Then just see what happens.
Good luck on your admissions cycle!
All people value different things. For some people, they want to attend school close to family. For others, they want a cheap med school. And yet for others they want a prestigious school.
It is not anyone's place to judge the motivations of another. There is nothing wrong with the OP wanting to go to a top school. Heck, who wouldn't want to go to a top tier school if they had the option?
As far as admissions goes, OP I would advise you to get a copy of the MSAR. Most of the top schools have 10th Percentile GPA at a 3.5-3.6 range, so it will be very difficult to get into those schools.
A 34 MCAT is within range for top schools, but unfortunately many other applicants will have that same score coupled with a 3.8-3.9 range GPAs.
The best thing you can do it to apply to your dream schools AND apply to realistic options. Then just see what happens.
Good luck on your admissions cycle!
In the OPs defense, it was other posters who initally attacked him for wanting to attend a top tier med school.
All people value different things. For some people, they want to attend school close to family. For others, they want a cheap med school. And yet for others they want a prestigious school.
It is not anyone's place to judge the motivations of another. There is nothing wrong with the OP wanting to go to a top school. Heck, who wouldn't want to go to a top tier school if they had the option?
As far as admissions goes, OP I would advise you to get a copy of the MSAR. Most of the top schools have 10th Percentile GPA at a 3.5-3.6 range, so it will be very difficult to get into those schools.
A 34 MCAT is within range for top schools, but unfortunately many other applicants will have that same score coupled with a 3.8-3.9 range GPAs.
The best thing you can do it to apply to your dream schools AND apply to realistic options. Then just see what happens.
Good luck on your admissions cycle!
Agree, particularly with the bolded part!
Read this entire thread. Not sure why, perhaps because I am putting off pre-writing my apps
Anyways, Jumoke, people on here can be really harsh and very immature. Don''t even try to reason with them. It is very easy to tell the serious and kind-hearted from the rude, pointless, bored people who are just on here to stir things up and piss people off. I say don't even bother to respond to the latter, but help and encourage the former as much as possible.
Although it does seem to me that you may be a little bit obsessed with the concept of "high tier" = best, it is grounded in fact. I think that with your stats you need to put a lot of focus into improving one critical aspect of your application if you are hoping for a top 10. You are clearly a non-trad as well. My advice is to use your intuition, pick something you are passionate about, quit your job if money really isn't an issue, and focus 100% on doing that one thing for a year in order to improve your app. On the side, take a few graduate level post bac classes in order to improve your GPA.
Never allow yourself to be a dandelion... just floating on the wind whichever way you will flow. Take charge, make hard decisions, stand by your intuition, and you will go far. The older you are, the more you should trust that intuition. Always aim high; I think you are wise to aim for a top 10... it sounds to me like you know what it means to struggle... it seems that you use humor to try and hide your insecurities... and it also seems like you are a fighter and not about to give up anytime soon. Props to you.
All in all, I think you are doing the best you can. Keep yourself informed, but please do not put too much weight into the opinions of certain characters on SDN. All of the really bad ones seem to pack together and they have a ball with each other, egg each other on, and seem to think they are really decent people. I just try to ignore them... though it can be hard for me because I tend to have a feeling of needing to make the world a better place one person at a time... but this forum is not the place to do that (as I have discovered). Without a face, identity, or visible emotion, these people can nag, whine, and berate people as much as they like with no repercussions. Just let it be. I say it but sometimes I can't even hold back...
Anyways, I just wanted to give my thoughts on the matter. Keep on trudging! I think you have a good shot if you give yourself time to improve your application.
Feel free to PM me if you would like
Best,
C
I've noticed this alot too. There are alot of people on this site who are malicious to others when they are seeking honest advice.
The OP asked a legitimate question and this thread took a turn for the worse. I am all up for trolling, but there was nothing wrong with the OP's question. And helpful advice (as seen in the first couple of responses) should be provided.
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Chances are the people are do are not on this site or that MDApps site
let's be honest the people here are of a specific breed, it's basically those with super high stats for the most part who like to brag
I just want to say there's more to the applicant outside of the numbers...also these top schools are looking for certain type of applicants
and by certain type they aren't necessarily looking for the cookie cutter ones
Bio Major
3.9/4.0
36 MCAT (unbalanced, lowest in verbal)
Volunteer experience (1000 hours)
Shadowing (1000 hours)
Honestly, those people tend to make me even cringe. Sure he'll get into a school, but probably not the one of his choice. Again, I'm being really stereotypical, but you know what I'm talking about
Sure we'll all become doctors, but we aren't all supposed to necessarily take the same path to get there
The thing it comes down to is "why not you?"
For undergrad admissions, there were kids, even at my school who had higher scores than me
I still got accepted to 6/10 of the schools [apparently reach schools] I applied to. Including Columbia, Duke, Emory, Carnegie Mellon, Yale, Georgetown
Do your own thing and be proud of it...if they don't like you then screw them. They don't deserve you
You got to start believing you are enough, who cares what the person next to you is...maximize yourself and realize anything is possible.
Again, I haven't gone through medical school admission...but honestly. I'm going to trust the process like I always do. Don't be so worried about the results, trust the process it will treat you kindly if you do. Don't force things and be awesome and love what you do, and of course take risks
Edit:
Also this is a great article
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/yingying-shang/an-open-letter-to-suzy-lee-weiss_b_3041458.html
Funny enough she basically says the same thing I say
"In the long run, colleges are looking for people who have real passion, real interests, and real humility. In other words, what we all look for in people."
"Find something you love and do well, and do it. Also: be yourself. Be the best version of yourself you can be. You can still watch Real Housewives besides."
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Let me put it to all of you this way: Does it really matter whether you will be accepted into an ivy league med school or any med school at all? If you graduate from an IL (ivy league) school and you become one of those a-hole doctor who thinks the world is beneath him, than you are no worse than a metastatic cancer cell. You practically just shamed the world of medicine. It only matters what can you do for the community and the people who need you most after you complete your trainings. Will you also be addressed respectfully as Dr. So-and-so same as the one graduated from Harvard or any IL school? Or will he be called Dr. Harvard instead of his real name just because everyone must know that he graduated from there. To me, it's all relative and the same. What you will do when you become that doctor you so proudly advertised in your personal statement in your application matters most? Or will you so blindly praised your ideas of a doctor med schools always look for just to get an admission so at the end you just want to rip your patients off with your ridiculous unnecessary tests because you will claim that you went to Harvard and that you know what you are doing better than the doctor next door who graduated from a Caribbean med school? I beg the differ and I experienced it first hands with those IL docs and they have no respects for anyone but themselves. Not everyone of them are like that but majority of the ones I have worked with are.
So please don't be bummed out about getting into only IL med schools and just try to get acceptance to as many schools as you can (MDs and DOs, US and Foreign). Remember: it is what you will do outside of school matters.
So please don't be bummed out about getting into only IL med schools and just try to get acceptance to as many schools as you can (MDs and DOs, US and Foreign). Remember: it is what you will do outside of school matters.
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Oh lol noob SDN user is noob
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Well, there was the 3.4/34 who arrived for the interview riding a unicorn. That's one of my favorites....
