asian with moderate grades/MCAT

[deziballer]

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I am an Asian with (i)a GPA of 3.55 (3.4 science GPA) (ii) MCAT scores of 9 V, 11PS, writing sample=R, 11BS (iii)some volunteer and research experience and significant nonmedical extracurriculars.
I was wondering how competitive I would be considering that I'm competing with other Asians with 3.9s and 4.0s, and if my verbal score of 9 will be viewed negatively by ad committees.

 

[Arti]

Deziballer

You will be very competitive, your grades are good and your MCAT are also very good. What matters now big time is your essay. Lots of people don't understand how important it is to have a solid essay. My advice if you already did not send your AMCAS away, is too concentrate on your essay and give it to as many people as you can to read and give you feedback. You have to realize that when 50-100 people apply for 1 spot, grades/MCATs only help you to be in a running, but to be that one person who gets selected you must be able to show committees your individuality.


Arti

 

[Matrix]

There are also other factors that are impotant ... is that 3.55 from an Ivy league or high tier school or from a low tier school?? do you have US citizenship/green card?? your mcat is moderate considering you're an asian (yes, i know it's unfair for it to be considered moderate just because you're asian) but that's the reality ... also, do you live in a state that is considered very competitive to get in (e.g. New York + California ... especially California, i hear that's the hardest state to get into) ... that 9 in the verbal won't hurt you that much. i think your R in writing will cover it up alittle (but not significantly because i hear that the committee does not really pay attention to the writing section .. some don't even know how the section is scored!) .. write a good essay in your application and do good on the interview to prove that you're not lacking in english. also, if you have a english or socio prof who can write you a good recommendation, that will certainly be a plus! the rest of your MCAT scores are impressive Overall, i think you have a pretty good chance ... so push on and keep your head up!!

 

[deziballer]

Thanks a lot for the replies. Just to clarify, I am a US citizen, presently a NC resident at U of NC, chapel hill.
I always hear about how grades from harvard are given more weight than grades from a little "podunk-state" college (as one book described it), but which end of the scale does carolina fall in this equation?

 

[deziballer]

Thanks a lot for the replies. Just to clarify, I am a US citizen, presently a NC resident at U of NC, chapel hill.
I always hear about how grades from harvard are given more weight than grades from a little "podunk-state" college (as one book described it), but which end of the scale does carolina fall in this equation?

 

[raindodger]

You might be able to use this as a guide. Someone from the PR board posted it. Although it's highly controversial, many of my classmates and old high school friends swear it's fairly accurate in the east coast schools. Hope this helps.

-raindodger

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okay..here is the deal I heard on undergrad rankings. An interviewer at a top 20 NE school told me this.

They group schools in to 6 different categories.

In the first category there are 8 schools. They are the big three ivies (Harvard, Yale, ???), duke, stanford, caltech, mit, and Cal.

The second category contains 18 schools. This category is made up by the rest of the ivies except for penn. Then you have the usual second tier schools rounding out the list- nyu, tufts, vandy, emory, gtown, NW, etc.

The third category is made up of mainly solid state schools- UCLA, UNC, Michigan, Virginia, etc

The fourth category contains large state schools which don't measure up to those in category 3- UF, UGA, Michigan State, Illinois, etc. Bascically any state university with 15,000+ people and an avg entering class with mean sat scores of between 1140-1260.

The fifth category contains smaller lesser known private schools which don't measure up to those listed in category 2 [i'm assuming he means category 4 instead]. Decent, but top students usually would not go there. Avg student profile for an entering freshman would probably be something like 3.4 gpa, 1080 SAT score.

The sixth category contains crappy regional state schools and crappy smaller private schools. You know what I mean.

Okay, here is how they weigh/adjust the grades.

If you are in category 1 you get .20 points added to your gpa.
If you are in category 2 OR 3 you get .10 points added to your gpa.
If you are in category 3 you get .05 points added to your gpa.
If you are in category 4 you get .05 points taken away from your gpa.
If you are in category 5 you get .15 points taken off your gpa.

And if you are in category 6 you are taken off the list and your application is immediately discarded. This school in question will still send out a secondary (I think at $85) to most anyone however, but they will only open it to get your check.

So we see that the adjustment between a student at NYU and a student at Penn State, for ex, would be a net of .15 points, after .10 is added to the nyu guy and .05 is subtracted from the PSU guy.

I have the list with me of which school is in what category, but obviously don't want to type the whole thing out. If you are curious to know how your school is weighted by this med school, just post the name of your school.


Source: (http://discuss.review.com/forums/Index.cfm?CFApp=100&Message_ID=829392)

 

[deziballer]

wow, its amazing that some schools can have such specific GPA adjustments. anyway, so assuming this kind of list is used at some med schools, would UNC(as in the north carolina tar heels) get a 0.1 or 0.05 boost?

 

[Arti]

Deziballer:

Although it is hard to believe, most med schools really don't spend that much time trying to add on 0.2 or 0.02 to your GPA. Once your application goes through AMCAS, ussually a 2nd or 3rd year medical student will review your essay, spending minimum time on your GPA and undergraduate school. IF he or she likes your essay, you will get an interview if not then you will not. In my opinion GPA only hurts when it is very low (regadless of the school) or help when it is insainly high with very hard courses. Only some school will use your GPA to reject you right away, and I don't think you have that problem. For most people with GPAs from roughly 3.2-4.0 what will really make a difference is the essay and how you are able to express your self, your individuality, maturity and decision to go into medicine.

Don't waste time trying to second guess the formula admission committees may or may not use. Spend time writing a kick ass statement, giving it to lots of people to review for feedback.

Arti