Ask LizzyM (Almost) Anything 2012 edition

Started by LizzyM
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Get help with your application

Use all the free resources available to you from SDN: articles, guides, expert advising, forums discussions, and school research.

Browse articles Compare schools My application plan Read Interview Feedback
Practice for interviews Ask an Advisor
Status
Not open for further replies.
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
Thanks again for doing this LizzyM 🙂 please forgive me if these have been asked before.

1. I did a program about 2 years ago where I was able to do some research and produce a poster presentation out of it. The PI no longer works there and I have lost contact. I know that top schools request LOR's from all of your PI's. I have several other projects I am working on at the moment and by the time I apply I will have 3 other PI's write LOR's for me, one of which I had another poster presentation with. Do you think it's okay to exclude the former PI that I did my poster presentation with? We got along well but it has been a long time since we have spoken.

2. Do you think an LOR from the chemistry department chairperson carries more weight than from any other professor considering all other factors are equal? Or is it too minuscule to notice?

3. What would you do if somebody ever found out that you are LizzyM?
 
LizzyM,
Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions.

I'd like to think I have above/above average proficiency in Spanish, but I've never had my fluency "documented" by a proficiency exam. I'm sure a number of applicants at your school have high marks on a proficiency exam on their AMCAS application. Can you recommend a reputable or commonly used exam that rates the testtaker's proficiency? I've done some Googling but I'd like to get your opinion.
 
Thank you, LizzyM, for doing this.

I have been forced to take medical withdrawal three times due to a rare autoimmune disease (causes severe orthostatic hypotension, severe gastroparesis, etc). I was diagnosed after the three medical withdrawals and have took the past year off for treatment. The good news is that the disease is not degenerative and I am responding to treatment. I actually found the name of the disease googling on my phone and told one of my doctors, who subsequently tested me for it. I have no doubt that my disease is going to clear up (antibodies cleared from my body) given treatment and most importantly, time.

I have a 3.2 cGPA and a 3.4 sGPA with 50 hours left for my undergraduate degree in electrical engineering.

1. If I work for a few years full-time as an EE, take a proper post-bacc coursework at a formal program, go out of my way to do great ECs, and get an amazing MCAT score, and have my disease be in remission for at least 3 years, would an AdCom be wary of me?

2. What would be a decent course load at as a full time practicing engineer going on the post-bacc track?
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
Hey LizzyM. I got a question that your kind of addressed in a previous thread of mine, but I'd like a bit more clarification on.

1) I've been volunteering at a local hospital for ~600 or so hours from my sophomore year of high school. Next year I'll head off to college. During my summers, I plan to come back to my home town and volunteer for many more days and get even more hours. Will med schools look at the total hours as a positive thing? Or will they view the already 600 hours a negative thing because I would be including that on my AMCAS? You stated that the continuity and faithfulness at a single place is a good thing so that's why I was wondering if med school would view it favorably that I continued to volunteer at a single place for over 5 years even though some of the hours were during my high school year. Or would the hours/week split basically even things out?

2) Second question, in terms of shadowing, what should I be looking for in terms of quantity? Clearly 20 hours with one physician isn't as great as 100 hours total with three different specialties. So who should I shadow? I've read somewhere on this forum to go with an IM, surgeon and an FM/other specialty. But I'm not sure if this is the right thing to do.
 
Another question, Lizzy

Although you said your medical school does not deal with these applicants much, should one in general worry about having to explain C grades in an interview?
 
Lizzy, I'm curious more than anything, but have you ever been able to identify SDN members in your applicant or interview pool?
 
Hi LizzyM, thanks for doing this. A University of Michigan adcom was recently very candid with me. He said they were not impressed with my undergraduate institution and they don't care much for community college degrees and that my research experience was meaningless given the quality of my institution. He said that was especially true because I was interested in the MD-PhD program. He suggested I take "challenging science classes at some very challenging school". When I asked him, "How about <the state school in my state where I can pay in-state tuition>?" he said to me, "I said challenging school and not an easy party school". So I now need to take challenging classes at some good school. My problem is such challenging research universities or top schools or whatever you would want to call them are not exactly cheap - at least the ones I checked. And my family isn't exactly rich and we are already drowning in loans. Can you suggest a challenging research university or top university which won't kill me financially when I take classes there as a visiting student? Or do you have any other suggestions for me? Thanks Lizzy and hope you have a great Holiday season!!!!!!!!
 
Completely hypothetical question: Suppose your school was allowed to choose a student based on one parameter only. ONLY one parameter (assume the school is told that the student DOES meet the minimum on all other parameters but beyond this no further information is given to the school).

So if you look at GPA, you are not allowed to know anything about this person's MCAT score or interview or anything else. Likewise, if you are given the student's MCAT score, you are not permitted to know his GPA or anything else. If you look at recommendation letters, then that's the only information you are allowed to have. ETC.

If the decision making was constrained in this manner, in your guesstimate,
- what parameter would a typical research medical schools look at?
- what parameter would a teaching medical school choose?
 
Last edited:
Hi LizzyM,

I have a question regarding accommodations on the MCAT, legitimate accommodations for a disability.

If a student applied to your school with a good application, but had accommodations on the MCAT, would you personally think less of this MCAT score? It's interesting to hear what your opinion is because many people say your MCAT won't be considered as good as it actually is, but everyone saying this usually knows nothing and has the mind set that accommodations help a student get a better score, which isn't actually the case for legit accommodations.

Also I read a post you made before about how you rarely see MCAT scores come through w/ accommodations, but I am wondering what you personally would do in this case.
 
Hi LizzyM!
First of all, thanks for being so cool! 😎

I have four questions:

Do early decision programs give you a better chance of being accepted? If so, do you know of a percentage or anything?

Why do you like to do this on SDN?

If I could only do either volunteering or research, (shadowing will be included with either), which activity is the most beneficial?

Do you know what the maximum amount of credit hours you can have for a bachelor's degree? I know the minimum is about 122, but what is the max before financial aid or the school says no more? (If it's not a universal thing, could you just tell me the limits at your own school?

Thanks again!!~ 😍
 
One more question Dr. Lizzy. I asked a professor to write a letter of recommendation for me and he said he would be honored to do so. That's the word he used. This professor loves me. He also sent me a copy of his letter. Unfortunately English is his second language so the letter is quite badly written. He was a very eminent researcher in Russia but moved to America two years ago. There are many grammatical errors. The letter is also very short. Just one short nice but factual paragraph. In his email he said this was the first letter of recommendation he has written - hardly anyone from my college goes on to graduate school. What is the best way for me to approach this situation? If I write something myself, the professor will surely sign off on it. But that seems inappropriate.
 
Hi LizzyM! Thanks for doing this!

You said that you would be concerned if an applicant takes less than 30 credit hours per year.

If a student takes an average of 26-28 credit hours per year, but it's because:

1.) They have 3 jobs + very involved in their school.

2.) They have acquired 32 hours of AP credits, so they don't have to take classes like US History, English, Government, etc that most freshmen-sophomore take. They also don't plan on graduating early because of organizational/research involvement.

Do adcoms take those factors into consideration?
 
identical ECs, LORs, major, caliber of undergrad, everything else

Applicant A: 3.7 cGPA, 3.6 sGPA, 31 MCAT
Applicant B: 3.4 cGPA, 3.2 sGPA, 40 MCAT
Applicant C: 3.6 cGPA, 3.3 sGPA, 36 MCAT

you can ONLY pick one to accept, which one?
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
aspiring20 said:
identical ECs, LORs, major, caliber of undergrad, everything else

Applicant A: 3.7 cGPA, 3.6 sGPA, 31 MCAT
Applicant B: 3.4 cGPA, 3.2 sGPA, 40 MCAT
Applicant C: 3.6 cGPA, 3.3 sGPA, 36 MCAT

you can ONLY pick one to accept, which one?
Click to expand...

A = C > B?

That's just me, personally. MCAT only tests you on prereqs and nothing else. This is how you see all those people going from 20 to 35+. GPA can't be changed that quickly
 
aspiring20 said:
identical ECs, LORs, major, caliber of undergrad, everything else

Applicant A: 3.7 cGPA, 3.6 sGPA, 31 MCAT
Applicant B: 3.4 cGPA, 3.2 sGPA, 40 MCAT
Applicant C: 3.6 cGPA, 3.3 sGPA, 36 MCAT

you can ONLY pick one to accept, which one?
Click to expand...

B has highest LizzyM score. She referenced earlier that highest scores were put "higher on the staircase"

But no reference to sgpa anywhere I could find..
 
fluidityt said:
B has highest lizzyM score. She referenced earlier that highest scores were put "higher on the staircase"

But no reference to sgpa anywhere I could find..
Click to expand...


LizzyM scores fail to be predictive at GPA/MCAT extremes. I think everyone can agree that a 3.7/33 is much better than a 3.0/40. Applicant A is probably the best (imo) since none of those numbers are really subpar.
 
Si Se Puede said:
If club/organization officers are not seen as good sources of leadership, then what would be seen as good leadership? What about SI "leaders" and housing resident assistants? I can't think of anything more outside clubs/organizations.
Click to expand...

As I wrote a short while ago:
Take leadership roles in a fraternity or sorority or on a varsity team, in a faith community or in a musical group, organize activities on campus or off for Red Cross and similar NGOs (initiating and running blood drives, bone marrow drives, service projects ), be hired or promoted to a supervisory position on a job or in a volunteer position. Not every demonstration of leadership will be listed on your application as "leadership". Some "employment, military", for example, has a huge leadership component but would be listed under the "employment" heading rather than as "leadership".

Resident Assistants are thought of as leaders... somewhat although they don't organize a group of peers toward a common goal. I don't have any experience with SI "leaders" but I think that's more teaching/tutoring than leading peers toward a common goal.
 
LizzyM said:
In what may become an end of the year tradition (if you do it twice, is it tradition?), here's the 2012 edition of Ask LizzyM Anything.

I will be answering over the next 10 days or so but I'll also be baking, cooking, singing, sleeping, feasting, and drinking 😀 so it may take a few hours to get to you. Thank you for your patience.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=877807
Click to expand...

Hi LizzyM!

I am fortunate enough to be accepted to multiple allopathic medical schools for this cycle. In my acceptance packets, I notice they request all transcripts for ALL institutions attended since high school. I attended a foreign university during my undergrad for one year. I took first year courses and never transferred them to any US institution. Consequently, I did not have to report grades or obtain a transcript for AMCAS. I wanted a transcript for myself so in October I begin requesting transcripts from them. After wiring money and over a dozen emails, I have not be successful. I am worried they will not ever send my transcript to me nor my chosen medical school in the Spring. I am unsure if medical schools will want this transcript anyways. What is the most appropriate course of action to take in my current situation? Thanks and Merry Christmas!!!
 
Lollygag said:
Thanks again for doing this LizzyM 🙂 please forgive me if these have been asked before.

1. I did a program about 2 years ago where I was able to do some research and produce a poster presentation out of it. The PI no longer works there and I have lost contact. I know that top schools request LOR's from all of your PI's. I have several other projects I am working on at the moment and by the time I apply I will have 3 other PI's write LOR's for me, one of which I had another poster presentation with. Do you think it's okay to exclude the former PI that I did my poster presentation with? We got along well but it has been a long time since we have spoken.
Click to expand...

With the internetz you still can't find this person? Me thinks you are not trying hard enough. That said, with so many more recent letters, this one might not be missed.
2. Do you think an LOR from the chemistry department chairperson carries more weight than from any other professor considering all other factors are equal? Or is it too minuscule to notice?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't notice. I think that it would be rare for anyone to notice. (How would they know you had a relationships?)

3. What would you do if somebody ever found out that you are LizzyM?
Click to expand...

A few trusted people know and they respect my privacy.
 
Hello Dr. Lizzy,

This is about MCAT versus GPA.

Grading varies very widely from college to college and professor to professor. At my sister's Harvard Extension ALB degree program, you are considered extremely lucky if you get a B in a writing course like Expo-25. Almost nobody gets an A in the other classes. Students take only 8 credits (2 classes) a semester for the ALB and if you take more the advisor emails you and asks you if you are crazy because the work load is impossibly difficult at the ALB program. On the other hand, at my college, everyone gets A's because grades are given out like candy. I have an email from a professor that says "If you missed the final, come and talk to me. Don't get all stressed out about it. I will ask you to translate 3 to 5 sentences in French and that will make up for your missed final. Don't get all freaked out and stressed". Everyone, including myself, got an A in French. People work full time and take as many as 23 credits a semester while working full time.

And it is not just grading that varies.

My sister's professor compared Math final exams from 78 different colleges. He found great variability in the level of difficulty in these exams across various colleges around the country. These exams were attempted by graduate students in Physics and some professor colleagues. The most difficult Math finals were by Harvard, Princeton, Harvard Extension, UCLA and Berkeley and apparently even the professors got some of the answers wrong. At the other end of the spectrum were the ridiculously easy final exams by some unknown colleges across the country. So it is not just grading that varies but also the level of difficulty of the coursework.

Some universities had 4 midterms and a final plus weekly homeworks while others had only group or take-home work. The quantum of work and expectations vary too. For instance a course by Prof. Alex Aiken on Compiler Design at Stanford specifies 8-10 hours/week plus 10-20 hours/week of programming assignments in the syllabus while the exact same course at a certain university in Michigan expects only 2 hours of work every week. 30 hours per week is vastly different than 2 hours a week.

Furthermore, someone who majors in Math puts in far more work that someone who majors in pottery design. Some majors are ridiculously easy. Some are extremely difficult.

Don't medical schools realize this? Isn't it a form of academic corruption to look at the non-standardized GPA when a standardized and validated measure like MCAT is available?
 
heartshaped box said:
LizzyM,
Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions.

I'd like to think I have above/above average proficiency in Spanish, but I've never had my fluency "documented" by a proficiency exam. I'm sure a number of applicants at your school have high marks on a proficiency exam on their AMCAS application. Can you recommend a reputable or commonly used exam that rates the testtaker's proficiency? I've done some Googling but I'd like to get your opinion.
Click to expand...

On the AMCAS, proficiency is self-reported. We don't check... maybe some schools do (conduct part of the interview in a foreign language). I know nothing of tests of proficiency.
 
Sorry for being redundant, but Lollygag mentioned one interesting point. Do top schools really request LOR's from all PI's? Somehow, that doesn't make much sense since I thought there's a maximum letter of 4 or 5 letters. I could be wrong, so please clarify. Thanks.
 
Hi LizzyM,

Thanks for doing this!

Do most applicants send in update letters post-interview? Would not sending one be seen as a lack of interest? I am a senior, and I don't have much to add to my application, since I've pretty much just continued with the same activities. I am working on a new research project in place of my old one, and did mention this on the secondaries for most schools, but nothing substantial has come out of it yet. Would it be appropriate to send an update letter mentioning the new project and to say I've continued with so and so activities?

Also, should fall semester grades be sent in to schools? I took a very light semester because of interviews (only 12 credits, some of which are research credits, and a 100 level course), but have maintained my GPA, so I was wondering if the light course load would look poorly to schools.

Thank you!!!
 
Last edited:
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
Is it better for applicants to do something really meaningful and beneficial such as full time research internship at another university, full time job etc. during the summer when you turn in apps?



Is 2 science classes (or math classes) with 15 to 16 credits total per semester considered a good course load?
 
moco89 said:
Thank you, LizzyM, for doing this.

I have been forced to take medical withdrawal three times due to a rare autoimmune disease (causes severe orthostatic hypotension, severe gastroparesis, etc). I was diagnosed after the three medical withdrawals and have took the past year off for treatment. The good news is that the disease is not degenerative and I am responding to treatment. I actually found the name of the disease googling on my phone and told one of my doctors, who subsequently tested me for it. I have no doubt that my disease is going to clear up (antibodies cleared from my body) given treatment and most importantly, time.

I have a 3.2 cGPA and a 3.4 sGPA with 50 hours left for my undergraduate degree in electrical engineering.
1. If I work for a few years full-time as an EE, take a proper post-bacc coursework at a formal program, go out of my way to do great ECs, and get an amazing MCAT score, and have my disease be in remission for at least 3 years, would an AdCom be wary of me?
Click to expand...

This looks like a hypothetical question or a "what are my chances". I really don't have a crystal ball.
2. What would be a decent course load at as a full time practicing engineer going on the post-bacc track?
Click to expand...


Start with one course, then try two at a time. That can end up being 2 or 3 nights a week which is a heavy load.
 
Eon said:
Hey LizzyM. I got a question that your kind of addressed in a previous thread of mine, but I'd like a bit more clarification on.

1) I've been volunteering at a local hospital for ~600 or so hours from my sophomore year of high school. Next year I'll head off to college. During my summers, I plan to come back to my home town and volunteer for many more days and get even more hours. Will med schools look at the total hours as a positive thing? Or will they view the already 600 hours a negative thing because I would be including that on my AMCAS? You stated that the continuity and faithfulness at a single place is a good thing so that's why I was wondering if med school would view it favorably that I continued to volunteer at a single place for over 5 years even though some of the hours were during my high school year. Or would the hours/week split basically even things out?
Click to expand...


You are a HS senior? Go to college and decide in 2014 what you want to do with your first summer out of college. Don't plan your life out this far in advance. Volunteering in the same hospital every summer rather than taking the opportunity to go out of town for a research project or a service project may not be the best choice but time will tell.
2) Second question, in terms of shadowing, what should I be looking for in terms of quantity? Clearly 20 hours with one physician isn't as great as 100 hours total with three different specialties. So who should I shadow? I've read somewhere on this forum to go with an IM, surgeon and an FM/other specialty. But I'm not sure if this is the right thing to do.
Click to expand...

Shadow whoever will let you. Don't make it a check box. If you get a chance, grab it. It doesn't really matter who you shadow as long as you get a rough idea of what a career in medicine involves, warts and all.
 
Ansar said:
Another question, Lizzy

Although you said your medical school does not deal with these applicants much, should one in general worry about having to explain C grades in an interview?
Click to expand...

I'd worry about getting the interviews... but most people are not going to ask about your "zits", my term for the ugly but obvious things on your application.

It is more likely that you'll be asked about your study habits, your self-identified weaknesses, your greatest concern/fear about medical school.
 
saveourpens said:
Lizzy, I'm curious more than anything, but have you ever been able to identify SDN members in your applicant or interview pool?
Click to expand...

Yes. The guy was a non-traditional applicant with a very unusual background and very active on the pre-allo board ~5 years ago. He was admitted to my school and many others and didn't matriculate at my school. A while after his interview at my school, I told him that we'd met on interview day... we are still Facebook friends.

That's the only one in 7+ years.
 
noncon said:
Hi LizzyM, thanks for doing this. A University of Michigan adcom was recently very candid with me. He said they were not impressed with my undergraduate institution and they don't care much for community college degrees and that my research experience was meaningless given the quality of my institution. He said that was especially true because I was interested in the MD-PhD program. He suggested I take "challenging science classes at some very challenging school". When I asked him, "How about <the state school in my state where I can pay in-state tuition>?" he said to me, "I said challenging school and not an easy party school". So I now need to take challenging classes at some good school. My problem is such challenging research universities or top schools or whatever you would want to call them are not exactly cheap - at least the ones I checked. And my family isn't exactly rich and we are already drowning in loans. Can you suggest a challenging research university or top university which won't kill me financially when I take classes there as a visiting student? Or do you have any other suggestions for me? Thanks Lizzy and hope you have a great Holiday season!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...

Without knowing your state or anything more about you, it is hard to suggest specific schools. There are summer research programs at top schools that don't require that you pay any tuition and you get an opportunity to work in a specific lab for the summer. There are some "public Ivies" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Ivy and I don't know if any of those would be feasible for you.

To be a viable candidate for a PhD program, you do need to come out of a research powerhouse with strong skills and some evidence of your scientific prowess (usually demonstrated by presentations and publications).
 
noncon said:
Completely hypothetical question: Suppose your school was allowed to choose a student based on one parameter only. ONLY one parameter (assume the school is told that the student DOES meet the minimum on all other parameters but beyond this no further information is given to the school).

So if you look at GPA, you are not allowed to know anything about this person's MCAT score or interview or anything else. Likewise, if you are given the student's MCAT score, you are not permitted to know his GPA or anything else. If you look at recommendation letters, then that's the only information you are allowed to have. ETC.

If the decision making was constrained in this manner, in your guesstimate,
- what parameter would a typical research medical schools look at?
- what parameter would a teaching medical school choose?
Click to expand...

I don't do hypothetical questions.
 
Dear Lizzy,

First of all, thanks so much for devoting your time and answering all our questions, it's really amazing what you do here.

Secondly, after my interviews, while waiting for decisions; is there anything to do that would be benificial such as sending a letter of interest or anything.

Also what do you recommend sending anything or taking some action to schools that I haven't heard from at this point or put on preinterview hold ?

Thanks
 
cmc474 said:
Hi LizzyM,

I have a question regarding accommodations on the MCAT, legitimate accommodations for a disability.

If a student applied to your school with a good application, but had accommodations on the MCAT, would you personally think less of this MCAT score? It's interesting to hear what your opinion is because many people say your MCAT won't be considered as good as it actually is, but everyone saying this usually knows nothing and has the mind set that accommodations help a student get a better score, which isn't actually the case for legit accommodations.

Also I read a post you made before about how you rarely see MCAT scores come through w/ accommodations, but I am wondering what you personally would do in this case.
Click to expand...

I would have some concerns about the applicant's ability to function as a physician. I would note the accommodation on my assessment form. If the applicant got to the point that we discussed it at a meeting, I would see the opinions of faculty members and adminstrators regarding our school's experience with the success of students similar to the applicant before us that day.

Given that we rarely interview students who score lower than the 90th percentile on the MCAT, seeing applicants in that range (>35) who had accommodations is highly unusual.
 
ribbondino said:
Hi LizzyM!
First of all, thanks for being so cool! 😎

I have four questions:

Do early decision programs give you a better chance of being accepted? If so, do you know of a percentage or anything?
Click to expand...

My school doesn't do that so I know nothing about those program.s
Why do you like to do this on SDN?
Click to expand...

When I wandered in 7 years ago in search of some ideas for interview questions, I found a lot of people stumbling around in the dark with some very mistaken notions about what adcoms want. I chimed in and now you can't shut me up. 😉
If I could only do either volunteering or research, (shadowing will be included with either), which activity is the most beneficial?
Click to expand...

Medicine is always about service and sometimes about research so I think that volunteering is more essential but not having research as well could hurt your chances at the schools that highly value research experience.
Do you know what the maximum amount of credit hours you can have for a bachelor's degree? I know the minimum is about 122, but what is the max before financial aid or the school says no more? (If it's not a universal thing, could you just tell me the limits at your own school?

Thanks again!!~ 😍
Click to expand...

I have never heard of a maximum but I can't say I've ever sought out information on the topic.
 
AdrianVeidt said:
Is the URM advantage nearly as pronounced as many believe?
Click to expand...

I don't know of this advantage. You are what you are. If you are in the top 40% (holistically, not just scores/grades) within your race/ethnicity then it is very likely you will get admitted somewhere. This is true for URM and non-URM. You can't be something you aren't so there isn't any point in wishing you were URM if you aren't.

There are still disadvantages to being URM in America and it isn't always as easy to be a member of those groups. Why do you think we have health disparities in America?
 
noncon said:
One more question Dr. Lizzy. I asked a professor to write a letter of recommendation for me and he said he would be honored to do so. That's the word he used. This professor loves me. He also sent me a copy of his letter. Unfortunately English is his second language so the letter is quite badly written. He was a very eminent researcher in Russia but moved to America two years ago. There are many grammatical errors. The letter is also very short. Just one short nice but factual paragraph. In his email he said this was the first letter of recommendation he has written - hardly anyone from my college goes on to graduate school. What is the best way for me to approach this situation? If I write something myself, the professor will surely sign off on it. But that seems inappropriate.
Click to expand...

Get 3 more letters but leave that one in. In all likelihood, his name is sufficiently ethnic that we'll get the idea when we read it that English is not his native language and that he doesn't understand our cultural norms for LORs, but as long as it is not critical of your character, it is fine to leave it in.

I'd avoid offering to re-write the letter.
 
wasabee said:
Hi LizzyM! Thanks for doing this!

You said that you would be concerned if an applicant takes less than 30 credit hours per year.

If a student takes an average of 26-28 credit hours per year, but it's because:

1.) They have 3 jobs + very involved in their school.

2.) They have acquired 32 hours of AP credits, so they don't have to take classes like US History, English, Government, etc that most freshmen-sophomore take. They also don't plan on graduating early because of organizational/research involvement.

Do adcoms take those factors into consideration?
Click to expand...

The questions remains, can this applicant handle the work load in medical school and is this applicant as strong as an applicant who took 32 hours per year and had 3 jobs and was involved in school activities?

Some reviewers will carefully compare work history in the experience section with the section of the AMCAS that shows semester hours but others won't.

Some people use AP credits to go further (take advanced classes) rather than to take a lighter load or graduate early.

You do what you have to do and hope that it is good enough.
 
shahcoco said:
How about if its 2+ months in on-the-ground community health education? Can longer duration make it a bigger plus?
Click to expand...

So your question is are 2 months of community health education a useful "experience".

I'd say it would be a minor plus if done abroad and a bigger plus if done in the US if you are applying to US medical schools.
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
EyeDonor said:
Hi LizzyM!

I am fortunate enough to be accepted to multiple allopathic medical schools for this cycle. In my acceptance packets, I notice they request all transcripts for ALL institutions attended since high school. I attended a foreign university during my undergrad for one year. I took first year courses and never transferred them to any US institution. Consequently, I did not have to report grades or obtain a transcript for AMCAS. I wanted a transcript for myself so in October I begin requesting transcripts from them. After wiring money and over a dozen emails, I have not be successful. I am worried they will not ever send my transcript to me nor my chosen medical school in the Spring. I am unsure if medical schools will want this transcript anyways. What is the most appropriate course of action to take in my current situation? Thanks and Merry Christmas!!!
Click to expand...

Don't ask LizzyM, ask the schools that admitted you.
 
noncon said:
Hello Dr. Lizzy,

This is about MCAT versus GPA.

Grading varies very widely from college to college and professor to professor. At my sister's Harvard Extension ALB degree program, you are considered extremely lucky if you get a B in a writing course like Expo-25. Almost nobody gets an A in the other classes. Students take only 8 credits (2 classes) a semester for the ALB and if you take more the advisor emails you and asks you if you are crazy because the work load is impossibly difficult at the ALB program. On the other hand, at my college, everyone gets A's because grades are given out like candy. I have an email from a professor that says "If you missed the final, come and talk to me. Don't get all stressed out about it. I will ask you to translate 3 to 5 sentences in French and that will make up for your missed final. Don't get all freaked out and stressed". Everyone, including myself, got an A in French. People work full time and take as many as 23 credits a semester while working full time.

And it is not just grading that varies.

My sister's professor compared Math final exams from 78 different colleges. He found great variability in the level of difficulty in these exams across various colleges around the country. These exams were attempted by graduate students in Physics and some professor colleagues. The most difficult Math finals were by Harvard, Princeton, Harvard Extension, UCLA and Berkeley and apparently even the professors got some of the answers wrong. At the other end of the spectrum were the ridiculously easy final exams by some unknown colleges across the country. So it is not just grading that varies but also the level of difficulty of the coursework.

Some universities had 4 midterms and a final plus weekly homeworks while others had only group or take-home work. The quantum of work and expectations vary too. For instance a course by Prof. Alex Aiken on Compiler Design at Stanford specifies 8-10 hours/week plus 10-20 hours/week of programming assignments in the syllabus while the exact same course at a certain university in Michigan expects only 2 hours of work every week. 30 hours per week is vastly different than 2 hours a week.

Furthermore, someone who majors in Math puts in far more work that someone who majors in pottery design. Some majors are ridiculously easy. Some are extremely difficult.

Don't medical schools realize this?
Click to expand...
yes
Isn't it a form of academic corruption to look at the non-standardized GPA when a standardized and validated measure like MCAT is available?
Click to expand...

Funny thing: undergrad gpa is a good predictor of success in med school so it gets used in the decision-making process.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.