Applying to 22 schools - am I wasting my time and money?

[CavsFan2016]

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I'm applying to a broad range of schools - 6 in-state (Ohio) and 16 out of state schools that fit my stats/interests. I have a 27 (1st take old MCAT) and 517 (re-take on new MCAT) and a 3.59 cGPA/3.65 sGPA. Should I cut out 5 or 6 out of state schools and save my money? There's just so many great schools I want to take a shot at, and I feel like I would regret if I didn't apply.

 

[studentdocftw]

Depends on your finances. If you can afford it, why not go for it? Your new MCAT is a 35..so your average is 31. Make sure you have a good amount of schools with average MCATs of 30-33. As long as you don't have too many reaches, and assuming your application is otherwise well rounded, you'll have some success.

 

[CavsFan2016]

thanks!

 

[Danny L]

Depends on your finances. If you can afford it, why not go for it? Your new MCAT is a 35..so your average is 31. Make sure you have a good amount of schools with average MCATs of 30-33. As long as you don't have too many reaches, and assuming your application is otherwise well rounded, you'll have some success.

If you take the MCAT twice they average your score?

 

[studentdocftw]

If you take the MCAT twice they average your score?

Not all schools abide by the same rule..some average, some take most recent, some take the highest. The best way to have a successful application cycle is to go ahead and average it, since that's what the AAMC recommends. Either way, ultimately it's unknown how an individual school let alone individual adcom will evaluate multiple mcat scores. Easier to just average, make that the meat of your app and throw in a few reaches with your highest mcat.

 

[CavsFan2016]

Do you think they will still average the MCAT scores even if one is on the old scale and the other on the new scale?


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[studentdocftw]

Yes. It isn't too difficult to translate your new score to old and vice versa. I know they are two different tests with different content, but in the eye of an adcom, percentiles are percentiles. Of course this may not be the case everywhere, just understand it is a possibility. So don't frame your app with the assumption you have a 35, going with a 31-32 range will provide you a better chance of getting accepted. Of course if you want to do some extra work, give your top choices a call and see what they say regarding evaluating a student with a new and old mcat score and you'll get an answer.

 

[CavsFan2016]

True - thanks for the advice. That's another reason why I'm applying to such a broad range of schools - it's impossible to know for sure how adcoms are going to look at my scores for each school


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[QuestionsAnswers]

It seems like a reasonable amount of schools to me.

 

[studentdocftw]

Post in the WAMC thread if you haven't already. You'll get some feedback regarding a school list.

 

[Goro]

One doesn't sneeze at a 517. If you wish to be conservative, average the %iles of the two exams and target OOS schools whose median MCATs are close to your average.

But for starters, ALL OH schools (including Case) should be on your list!!!

I'm applying to a broad range of schools - 6 in-state (Ohio) and 16 out of state schools that fit my stats/interests. I have a 27 (1st take old MCAT) and 517 (re-take on new MCAT) and a 3.59 cGPA/3.65 sGPA. Should I cut out 5 or 6 out of state schools and save my money? There's just so many great schools I want to take a shot at, and I feel like I would regret if I didn't apply.

 

[CavsFan2016]

One doesn't sneeze at a 517. If you wish to be conservative, average the %iles of the two exams and target OOS schools whose median MCATs are close to your average.

But for starters, ALL OH schools (including Case) should be on your list!!!

Averaging MCAT scores puts me at the 78th percentile and around a 30 MCAT - combined with my mediocre GPA (3.59) that makes me pretty worried about my chances at most schools...

 

[Goro]

For a conservative estimate, I recommend:

ALL OH schools (still including Case)
Rush
NYMC
Creighton
Albany
Rosy Franklin
Drexel
Temple
Loma Linda (but read their list of don'ts)
MCW
WVU
Jefferson
Tulane
Loyola
U Miami
Wake Forest
EVMS
VCU
Netter
Oakland-B
Uniformed Services University/Hebert (just be aware of the military service commitment)
Any DO program , starting with OHCOM, MUCOM, CCOM, LECOM and MSUCOM

Averaging MCAT scores puts me at the 78th percentile and around a 30 MCAT - combined with my mediocre GPA (3.59) that makes me pretty worried about my chances at most schools...

 

[studentdocftw]

OP, your academics won't seal your future. The rest of your app will. You've got this!

 

[LoveBeingHuman:)]

Averaging MCAT scores puts me at the 78th percentile and around a 30 MCAT - combined with my mediocre GPA (3.59) that makes me pretty worried about my chances at most schools...

Figure out which ones will average and which ones will give more, if not most/all, of the weight to the higher one, and apply to the latter category