Anyone have great MCATs and get rejected/barely accepted?

BU Medical Sciences
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Q

qweewq11

Smiley orgy organizer
7+ Year Member
15+ Year Member
20+ Year Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2002
Messages
942
Reaction score
16
Did anyone here have great MCAT scores and either get rejected from all their schools or accepted to only one? :)
Members don't see this ad.
 
i got a 36 and didnt receive an interview from a U.C.

i still got several acceptances however.
 
Glad to hear you were accepted. Are you a cali resident tho? The UCs are tough for out of staters!
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Originally posted by nuclearrabbit77
i got a 36 and didnt receive an interview from a U.C.

i still got several acceptances however.
Click to expand...


Are you from Ca? If so, what school did you go to? What was your Gpa? Where did you get accepted?
 
I got a 13,13,13Q and got into one school off the waitlist. I only applied to three schools though (two UT's and Baylor).

I was repeatedly told that with my score, I would be a shoo-in. Not true. Don't count on it to pull you through if other parts of your app are weak.

Of course, I'm thrilled to have been accepted. See the thread entitled "not accepted yet SDN'ers" (or something like that). Lots of people on that list had excellent stats.
 
One person at my undergrad had a 12, 13, 14 (39) and didn't get in anywhere in two years of trying. Pretty sad really, but it proves that scores (MCAT anyway) aren't everything.
 
do you have any guesses as to why that guy w/ the 39 didn't getin anywhere after 2 yrs?
 
Originally posted by dr kevin40
do you have any guesses as to why that guy w/ the 39 didn't getin anywhere after 2 yrs?
Click to expand...

He was probably a major tool.
 
the more likely explaination is that he bull****ted you about his MCAT score...unless i actually see someone's record, i'd never buy whatever he tells me
 
I got a 36 but only got accepted to one school, my state school. All of the schools that I applied to besides my state school were in the top ~15 though. I would recommend that people not do what I did though, even if you have a good shot at your state school you should still apply to a couple other "easy" private schools in case you put your foot in your mouth during the interview or something.

And I also know a student who got a 39-45 (he got the highest score, a range score) and was not accepted to his Illinois state schools. A high MCAT score certainly doesn't guarentee you anything. He ended up getting into Wash U though.
 
Wash U? Figures they only care about one thing...and its not sex.
 
Originally posted by ckent
I got a 36 but only got accepted to one school,
And I also know a student who got a 39-45 (he got the highest score, a range score) and was not accepted to his Illinois state schools. A high MCAT score certainly doesn't guarentee you anything. He ended up getting into Wash U though.
Click to expand...

I think some lower tier schools are suspicious of students with really high stats. It's my guess that some of these schools reject students with high stats on the basis of "there's no chance he/she is coming here anyway... why waste an acceptance?"
 
Members don't see this ad :)
My Kaplan teacher got a 41 and I don't think he got into med school yet...still waitlisted at 2 schools. But I think I heard that he had a low GPA...
 
i agree with sluox - second-hand reports may not always be reliable.
 
geez, this thread is scary...you people did so well on the mcat and had trouble getting into!

why do you guys think that CA med schools are so much harder to get into? also, do you agree that CA med schools look more at the whole package vs. stats (GPA/Mcat score) than other med schools?

i personally want to go to a CA med school so anyone with any tips and suggestions on how to do that would good =D

well, gotta get back to studying for the mcat. adios!
 
Originally posted by sluox
the more likely explaination is that he bull****ted you about his MCAT score...unless i actually see someone's record, i'd never buy whatever he tells me
Click to expand...

True, a lot of people might lie to sound good to others. But it is also highly possible that people who are very good test takers or who are very smart and can get a 39 on the MCATs just never did work in college and so they had a low gpa and/or a weak list of activities.
 
these type of threads are exactly why my glucocorticoid levels are through the roof! maybe i should invest in diapers.
 
I am for the theory that people with high MCAT and low GPA's probably just didn't study in their classes.

But comon people, if someone got a 39, they obviously know alot more than their material, and even if they didn't study too hard (as they say) in their classes, they should have done awesome anyways.

My two cents. Details may vary. Exceptions will occur. You may be the exception (Read this part very very fast).

X
 
One of the things that I've always thought about are people with really high GPA's and MCATs. With stats like those, state schools and other "low tier" schools will probably not even offer them an interview because they know they're backup And for that same person applying to top schools, he/she's going against people of the same caliber...and if they don't make the interview cut, what do they do then? ;)

- Focus
 
Originally posted by Bonds756


True, a lot of people might lie to sound good to others. But it is also highly possible that people who are very good test takers or who are very smart and can get a 39 on the MCATs just never did work in college and so they had a low gpa and/or a weak list of activities.
Click to expand...

Or they went to a school or were in a major where it's very rare to have GPA > 3.5. Or they worked 30+ hours a week while taking a heavy courseload. Or, they had a couple of bad semesters due to family problems.

Don't be so quick to assume people are lazy. Maybe you just don't know the whole story.
 
Spacecadet, I'm with you. I think I PM'd you about this, but quite true there are people who have faced adversity as an undergrad. I worked full time because of a very sick father, while double majoring in physics and physiology at UCLA (undoubtedy one of the the most grade competitive (fizz) and most difficult material-wise (physics) majors there). My last year I has a 3.8 because I think financial aid finally felt sorry for me and gave me a huge grant (I still worked 20 hrs a week), but it was only enough to pull my GPA to a 3.0. Now as a grad student in biomedical physics I want to go to med school. I also got a high MCAT score (11V, 13B, 13P, R) but even with my high grad GPA, great EC's (Africa volunteer, published, physics TA) I will be surprised if I get even one interview. I'm from Cali so I don't have a state school back-up, and what school wants someone with a 3.0? So, I might end up on this thread next year. If I do (lets pray not), you all will know why someone with a great MCAT couldn't get in anywhere (and I'm applying to a decent range).
 
Originally posted by spacecadet


Or they went to a school or were in a major where it's very rare to have GPA > 3.5. Or they worked 30+ hours a week while taking a heavy courseload. Or, they had a couple of bad semesters due to family problems.

Don't be so quick to assume people are lazy. Maybe you just don't know the whole story.
Click to expand...

Didn't mean to cut the list of possibilities short. That is absolutely true. My point was just that we shouldn't be so quick to assume people lied about their MCAT scores. People with a 39 on the MCATs can be denied admission for other reasons (gpa, etc).
 
physicsmd,

that's really tough luck. i hope you get more than a few interviews and that you go somewhere u want to. good luck
 
Thanks Dr. Kevin,
I would love to go to a New York school since I love cancer research and my boyfriend and some family live there, but all great schools so we shall see. Perhaps I should have everyone on this forum cross their fingers for me.;)
 
people with high scores that don't get into medical school either:

1- are really bad at interviews...
2- don't have a high score.

i'm done.
p
 
Don't forget two other explanations:

bad ECs

applied only to top 10 schools
 
or...

they think a 39 means 39th percentile...
p
 
physicsMD, I have no doubt that if you explain your situation to them in your essays or interviews, you'll do fine in the application process. I almost guarantee you'll get in somewhere if you apply to enough schools.

Think about it...the only weakness in your app is your GPA, and that has a perfectly reasonable explanation. Everything else in your app seems outstanding.

Originally posted by physicsMD
Spacecadet, I'm with you. I think I PM'd you about this, but quite true there are people who have faced adversity as an undergrad. I worked full time because of a very sick father, while double majoring in physics and physiology at UCLA (undoubtedy one of the the most grade competitive (fizz) and most difficult material-wise (physics) majors there). My last year I has a 3.8 because I think financial aid finally felt sorry for me and gave me a huge grant (I still worked 20 hrs a week), but it was only enough to pull my GPA to a 3.0. Now as a grad student in biomedical physics I want to go to med school. I also got a high MCAT score (11V, 13B, 13P, R) but even with my high grad GPA, great EC's (Africa volunteer, published, physics TA) I will be surprised if I get even one interview. I'm from Cali so I don't have a state school back-up, and what school wants someone with a 3.0? So, I might end up on this thread next year. If I do (lets pray not), you all will know why someone with a great MCAT couldn't get in anywhere (and I'm applying to a decent range).
Click to expand...
 
3. Have no extracurrics whatsoever.
4. Letter of rec is scathingly negative.

Originally posted by poloace
people with high scores that don't get into medical school either:

1- are really bad at interviews...
2- don't have a high score.

i'm done.
p
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Next unread thread

Similar threads

A
Has anyone been rejected post secondary so far? 2023-2024?
Replies
13
Views
3K
kath00
K
S
  • Question
Would getting rejected from ED hurt me as a reapplicant?
Replies
6
Views
799
LizzyM
LizzyM
J
MD 4.0 GPA, 516 MCAT REJECTED. Help!
Replies
15
Views
2K
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
A
don’t know what to prioritize as my most meaningful experience out of several great activities
Replies
3
Views
257
cj_cregg
cj_cregg
L
Paper rejected do I need to update schools about that
Replies
10
Views
1K
SurfingDoctor
SurfingDoctor
Top