Assorted questions from a newbie

[stateproxy]

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As a total newbie, I have some assorted questions about the medical school admissions process. Many might be wondering about these issues too:

- what exactly do the Carribean schools need? A 1.0 gpa, 2.0, 3.0? What kind of pre-reqs do they need? What MCAT scores do they need?
- what kind of tuition would one need to pay in the Carribean?
- similarly, what do the DO schools demand in terms of MCAT scores?
- all 6 doctors in town I wanted to shadow blew me away. The next closest town is several hours away. What do I do now?
- is a calculator allowed on the MCAT?
- I am told a Caculus-based Physics course is better than an Algebra-based Physics course but the MCAT has only algebra. Do you still recommend calculus-based physics?
- I was told by a Stanford professor that Stanford rejected all perfect-score GMAT applicants for their MBA class. Of course, all other schools in Stanford's league accepted every perfect GMAT applicants into their MBA program. If I had a 45 MCAT will the med schools overlook my other weaknesses?
- Do schools weigh MCAT verbal scores as heavily as scores in the biological and physical sciences? Because that seems dumb.
- What is the highest MCAT score anyone's ever got?
- Has anyone heard firsthand from a medical admissions officer about how they view courses at a community college?
- what post-bac programs virtually guarantee admission to a med school?
- Why do people talk about Carribean schools but not about schools in countries like Russia, or English-speaking areas like New Zealand, India, Australia, etc?

Thanx!!

 

[vman51]

A lot of your questions can be answered by Google, but I'll try to play nice

- what exactly do the Carribean schools need? A 1.0 gpa, 2.0, 3.0? What kind of pre-reqs do they need? What MCAT scores do they need?

depends on the school, but big 3 (SGU, AUC, Ross) still need a decent gpa (3.0+, mid-upper 20's MCAT atleast)..theres a lot of other Carribean schools that accept lowers stats, but then they may have less connections with US Hospitals, so it may be rougher to get a good residency

- what kind of tuition would one need to pay in the Carribean?

Google

- similarly, what do the DO schools demand in terms of MCAT scores?

From what I know, its MD>DO>Carribean in terms of stats, but for DO, I'd still say upper 20's+..its still not a cakewalk to get in, just a bit easier than allopathic

- all 6 doctors in town I wanted to shadow blew me away. The next closest town is several hours away. What do I do now?

Nearby hospital? Where do you live?

- is a calculator allowed on the MCAT?

No

- I am told a Caculus-based Physics course is better than an Algebra-based Physics course but the MCAT has only algebra. Do you still recommend calculus-based physics?

Calc-based necessary for the MCAT, so its your call really

- I was told by a Stanford professor that Stanford rejected all perfect-score GMAT applicants for their MBA class. Of course, all other schools in Stanford's league accepted every perfect GMAT applicants into their MBA program. If I had a 45 MCAT will the med schools overlook my other weaknesses?

Other than me never hearding of a 45 on the MCAT, generally with any test, the higher the better, but schools will still look at the entire application (ie a 40+ MCAT score isn't a guarantee, but most people who get 40+ also have steller GPA's and well-round EC's, great rec's, etc)

- Do schools weigh MCAT verbal scores as heavily as scores in the biological and physical sciences? Because that seems dumb.

Well, its on the MCAT for a reason, and no, I don't think its dumb. I'm not an adcom, but I can't see why they'd weigh it any less

- What is the highest MCAT score anyone's ever got?

I've heard of (friend of a friend's mailman's son's best-friend in middle school's teacher's great aunt's niece once scored) a 44

- Has anyone heard firsthand from a medical admissions officer about how they view courses at a community college?

Can't comment on that one

- what post-bac programs virtually guarantee admission to a med school?

I think you might be referring to SMP's, which are affiliated to a med school and if you get a certain GPA, you may pretty much be in..but also I can't comment to much on this

- Why do people talk about Carribean schools but not about schools in countries like Russia, or English-speaking areas like New Zealand, India, Australia, etc?

Theres 3 strata when it comes to getting residencies (someone correct me if I'm wrong)
But its U.S. Med school graduates > Carribean Schools with US affiliants (The Big 3 as I mentioned earlier) > Other Foreign Medical Graduates

Its just harder for foreign grads to get U.S. residencies, thats why programs in other countries arn't talked about as much

 

[LiveUninhibited]

.

 

[akinetopsia]

A lot of your questions can be answered by Google, but I'll try to play nice

[snip]

Calc-based necessary for the MCAT, so its your call really

Calc-based physics are not on the MCAT. The conceptual questions may be more readily answered if you took calc-based physics but it is not a requirement. The equations used are all derived using calculus, but you don't need to take calculus to understand how they were derived, for the most part.

- I was told by a Stanford professor that Stanford rejected all perfect-score GMAT applicants for their MBA class. Of course, all other schools in Stanford's league accepted every perfect GMAT applicants into their MBA program. If I had a 45 MCAT will the med schools overlook my other weaknesses?

I'm not sure how b-school at Stanford applies in this situation. Admissions to business school and medical school are two different animals. It's true that in some business schools, a high GMAT can really make up for a low GPA, but those schools are rare. Even more rare is the med school that allows an astronomically high MCAT (i.e. 40-42+) to make up for a poor undergraduate GPA. The successful people that get in with a low GPA and high MCAT are outliers, not the norm, and they probably more than make up for the low GPA in their ECs, clinical experience, volunteer work and CV.

Considering how difficult the MCAT is and what the average test-taker scores, you're setting up yourself for disappointment if you think you will be way above an average score. I'm not trying to be a Debbie Downer, but I'm also not trying to be a Pollyanna and say everything will be fine when the odds are stacked against being fine.

- Do schools weigh MCAT verbal scores as heavily as scores in the biological and physical sciences? Because that seems dumb.

I'm not sure why you think verbal scores being weighted heavily is dumb. They are not going to be weighted the highest, but there's a reason the section is included on the MCAT, along with a writing section. You have to be an effective communicator in at least the written word - being able to read and analyze complex literature in the medical field and communicate with your colleagues, and if your verbal score is low, it can be pretty damning if your other scores are average. I think the best reason for a low verbal score is if English is not your first language, and you have not been speaking, reading, and writing it for a long time.

 

[schrizto]

I'll try answering these questions too because my answers would differ a little from the people who already answered.

- what exactly do the Carribean schools need? A 1.0 gpa, 2.0, 3.0? What

It depends on the Caribbean school... some will take anyone

kind of pre-reqs do they need? What MCAT scores do they need?

I think pretty much the bare bones of what many U.S. schools require. Some do not even require MCAT.

- what kind of tuition would one need to pay in the Carribean?

Visit ValueMD.com for this, they have the tuition listed for schools.

- similarly, what do the DO schools demand in terms of MCAT scores?

I agree with vman, probably at least 20+

- all 6 doctors in town I wanted to shadow blew me away. The next closest town is several hours away. What do I do now?

that's kind of surprising. is there a hospital nearby?

- is a calculator allowed on the MCAT?

nope.

- I am told a Caculus-based Physics course is better than an Algebra-based Physics course but the MCAT has only algebra. Do you still recommend calculus-based physics?

I don't think calc-based physics is needed at all, and it's not a huge advantage to take calc based vs alg based

- I was told by a Stanford professor that Stanford rejected all perfect-score GMAT applicants for their MBA class. Of course, all other schools in Stanford's league accepted every perfect GMAT applicants into their MBA program. If I had a 45 MCAT will the med schools overlook my other weaknesses?

Better start doing some serious studying...

- Do schools weigh MCAT verbal scores as heavily as scores in the biological and physical sciences? Because that seems dumb.

Yeah, they do. The writing score isn't as heavily weighed I don't think.

- What is the highest MCAT score anyone's ever got?

I've heard of a 45Q... I don't think anyone should expect that for themselves though.

- Has anyone heard firsthand from a medical admissions officer about how they view courses at a community college?

I remember reading in a recent thread LizzyM saying that CC courses were acceptable but not optimal.

- what post-bac programs virtually guarantee admission to a med school?

You still have to do well in a postbacc to get linked schools to look at you. I would say one of the best postbaccs is Bryn Mawr's with its many linkages with med schools.

- Why do people talk about Carribean schools but not about schools in countries like Russia, or English-speaking areas like New Zealand, India, Australia, etc?

Caribbean schools try to prepare you especially for practicing in the US, medical schools in foreign countries such as England, Australia, will prepare you for practice in their own country so you might have to study for the USMLE on your own.

 

[flip26]

Troll deluxe. In another thread this same poster claims to have a super high GPA from MIT and Princeton along with a dead husband and toddler aged twins who were seriously injured in the "Honda" crash that killed her hubby...

Don't bite on this one, folks. :troll:

 

[stateproxy]

Thanx so much for such useful responses! Some more follow up questions:

- What Carribean schools accept just about anybody?
- What Carribean schools don't need the MCAT?
- A friend told me that Bryn Mawr is/was only for women. If I get into their post-bacc, will I be just with women?
- How are medical schools ranked? Is MCAT one of the parameters used to rank medical schools? Are grades of matriculating students also used as a variable in ranking medical schools? (I am trying to assess the relative importance of grades and MCAT to a medical school - obviously if MCAT scores are used to rank medical schools, schools might lean heavily on the MCAT)
- I was wondering how tough the USMLE is. American medical school graduates don't need to write the USMLE and only foreign graduates need to write this test?
- I would not mind living for the rest of my life in a country like Ireland, Australia or New Zealand, or even English-speaking parts of Western/Northern Europe, if I can directly enter their medical school without spending two more years on pre-med tuition and coursework. Does anyone know about medical school entry requirements in such countries?
- Cutnell-Johnson is widely used by universities as a text for their Physics pre-med students. This text uses calculators. If calculators are not allowed on the MCAT why do universities use calculator-based texts?
- I am thinking of writing "challenge exams" and getting some of the MCAT pre-reqs done, thus saving on time, traveling money and tuition. Do adcoms look upon such challenge exams favorably or unfavorably?
- Is there an article that outlines how adcoms select students for their incoming class?

Apologies again for the totally clueless and elementary questions. I want to thank all those who replied because your responses saved so much of my time and energy in googling answers to all my questions. Thanx guys (and gals)!!

 

[wanderer]

Thanx so much for such useful responses! Some more follow up questions:

- What Carribean schools accept just about anybody?
All of them.
- What Carribean schools don't need the MCAT?
All of them.
- A friend told me that Bryn Mawr is/was only for women. If I get into their post-bacc, will I be just with women?
Yes.
- How are medical schools ranked? Is MCAT one of the parameters used to rank medical schools? Are grades of matriculating students also used as a variable in ranking medical schools? (I am trying to assess the relative importance of grades and MCAT to a medical school - obviously if MCAT scores are used to rank medical schools, schools might lean heavily on the MCAT)

- I was wondering how tough the USMLE is. American medical school graduates don't need to write the USMLE and only foreign graduates need to write this test?
It's a complete joke. Americans don't need to take it (although they often do take it) because it is a given that they will all pass. FMGs need to take it to prove that they actually learned something in med school.
- I would not mind living for the rest of my life in a country like Ireland, Australia or New Zealand, or even English-speaking parts of Western/Northern Europe, if I can directly enter their medical school without spending two more years on pre-med tuition and coursework. Does anyone know about medical school entry requirements in such countries?

- Cutnell-Johnson is widely used by universities as a text for their Physics pre-med students. This text uses calculators. If calculators are not allowed on the MCAT why do universities use calculator-based texts?

- I am thinking of writing "challenge exams" and getting some of the MCAT pre-reqs done, thus saving on time, traveling money and tuition. Do adcoms look upon such challenge exams unfavorably?
No. In fact they will probably rank you highly, because writing these exams demonstrates ability to learn on your own, as well as being smart about your finances.
- Is there an article that outlines how adcoms select students for their incoming class?
No.
Thanx again and apologies for the totally clueless and elementary questions.

~