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Hey everyone,
I am new to this forum and I am currently looking into podiatry. Researching schools and reading through these threads I've discovered that podiatry stats are significantly lower than MD/DO. According to this link: (http://www.aacpm.org/html/careerzone...ng Class.pdf and View attachment Podiatry_Score_Ranges - Copy (1).xls, some pod schools are accepting student with 18 sometimes even 15 mcats, not to mention lower gpas (even the top Caribbean MD schools: Ross, AUC, SGU and SABA would not touch applicants with these stats)
So my question is how much does the mcat ACTUALLY predict success with the APMLE as oppose to the USMLE? There are obviously not many people who could answer this based on experience but perhaps you had some insight. Is mcat for pod school just a way of filtering out applicants since most have low gpa's anyways? I understand that both are extremely difficult exams and pod schools is not any easier than an MD program. Some ppl on this forum are angered that students with sub-par mcat and gpa get admitted so that schools can collect money. I have two issues with this,
1. Why would a school want people to fail and not collect tuition for the later years, wouldn't that mean they are losing money. From a business sense a school would want to graduate every student they admit (maximize profits for all 4 years and have bragging rights about have awesome their student are!).
2. The numbers in terms of board pass rates and mcat ranges do not add up. As of last year in 2011 84% of test takers passed part 1 of the APMLE, and two years before that in 2009 when those students were "admitted" the mcat ranges were about the same for all schools (avg 21-22 for all schools; http://www.aacpm.org/html/statistics/PDFs/MatrStats/Matriculant_MCAT.pdf). I am also aware that the stats have only gone up and thats not saying much, so in the beginning years you could get in with a much lower gpa and mcat (and those students are probably finishing their residencies by now) So the idea that all the other people saying anyone with sub-par mcat is going to fail is technically wrong based on statistics alone.
My concern is based on the fact that I do not know much about podiatry and I am simply looking into it but I am very interested. I also have not taken the mcat yet but I've done my research about this field before starting this thread.
How much does the mcat ACTUALLY predict success on the APMLE? I know why an MD program in thre U.S or top Carib schools would never admit a student with 18 mcat no matter how good the rest of their application was; because of the USMLE and any admissions adviser would tell you the same. I am also aware that pod schools is just as difficult and strenuous as MD/DO but the APMLE is very different than the USMLE based on the type of questions asked Any answers or opinions would be much appreciated by anyone in the field from pre-pods and pod students to residents and practicing DPM's.
Thanks in advance and sorry for the long post.
I am new to this forum and I am currently looking into podiatry. Researching schools and reading through these threads I've discovered that podiatry stats are significantly lower than MD/DO. According to this link: (http://www.aacpm.org/html/careerzone...ng Class.pdf and View attachment Podiatry_Score_Ranges - Copy (1).xls, some pod schools are accepting student with 18 sometimes even 15 mcats, not to mention lower gpas (even the top Caribbean MD schools: Ross, AUC, SGU and SABA would not touch applicants with these stats)
So my question is how much does the mcat ACTUALLY predict success with the APMLE as oppose to the USMLE? There are obviously not many people who could answer this based on experience but perhaps you had some insight. Is mcat for pod school just a way of filtering out applicants since most have low gpa's anyways? I understand that both are extremely difficult exams and pod schools is not any easier than an MD program. Some ppl on this forum are angered that students with sub-par mcat and gpa get admitted so that schools can collect money. I have two issues with this,
1. Why would a school want people to fail and not collect tuition for the later years, wouldn't that mean they are losing money. From a business sense a school would want to graduate every student they admit (maximize profits for all 4 years and have bragging rights about have awesome their student are!).
2. The numbers in terms of board pass rates and mcat ranges do not add up. As of last year in 2011 84% of test takers passed part 1 of the APMLE, and two years before that in 2009 when those students were "admitted" the mcat ranges were about the same for all schools (avg 21-22 for all schools; http://www.aacpm.org/html/statistics/PDFs/MatrStats/Matriculant_MCAT.pdf). I am also aware that the stats have only gone up and thats not saying much, so in the beginning years you could get in with a much lower gpa and mcat (and those students are probably finishing their residencies by now) So the idea that all the other people saying anyone with sub-par mcat is going to fail is technically wrong based on statistics alone.
My concern is based on the fact that I do not know much about podiatry and I am simply looking into it but I am very interested. I also have not taken the mcat yet but I've done my research about this field before starting this thread.
How much does the mcat ACTUALLY predict success on the APMLE? I know why an MD program in thre U.S or top Carib schools would never admit a student with 18 mcat no matter how good the rest of their application was; because of the USMLE and any admissions adviser would tell you the same. I am also aware that pod schools is just as difficult and strenuous as MD/DO but the APMLE is very different than the USMLE based on the type of questions asked Any answers or opinions would be much appreciated by anyone in the field from pre-pods and pod students to residents and practicing DPM's.
Thanks in advance and sorry for the long post.