Auto-rejection of high stats app from lower tier school?

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kegar99

kegar99

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I heard recently that if you have high stats as an applicant, you shouldn't apply to lower-tier safety type schools because they will likely just reject your application outright on the assumption that you will likely get accepted and a more prestigious school and go there instead. Is there any truth to that?

For example, I have a 3.84 gpa and a 524 on the MCAT with 2.5 years of research and then what I think are average ECs after that. I was told that I should drop some of the lower tier schools I was planning on applying to for this reason.

Thanks for your feedback, anything from someone who's actually been on an adcom would be especially appreciated!
 
I don't know for sure but it seems like that could happen. But if you have a good reason for applying you should make that known- like your parent went there, you live close by and you have a family you don't want to uproot etc.. It's all kind of a crap,shoot anyway. Good luck.


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They just won't be high yield for you. Do you think that adcoms at these schools are going to believe you'll come to a school with a median MCAT of 31 when you have a 41 and likely will have more prestigious options?

If you have a sincere interest in a lower stat school and would attend there over a top school, then by all means apply, but if you're using them as "safeties" you're better off with a more targeted application. A well crafted and appropriate list is a better "safety" than a lower stat school where you aren't the target applicant.
 
My gpa is on the lower side and I have the same MCAT and was told the same. Apparently the "low tier" schools know that we are not likely to matriculate so we are essentially screened out.
 
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candbgirl said:
I don't know for sure but it seems like that could happen. But if you have a good reason for applying you should make that known- like your parent went there, you live close by and you have a family you don't want to uproot etc.. It's all kind of a crap,shoot anyway. Good luck.


Sent from my iPad using SDN mobile app
Click to expand...

I like this advice. I think if you have a good reason for wanting to go to a few of them or match the mission of the school well an application might be worthwhile.
 
gyngyn said:
Even admissions deans can calculate a "yield per MCAT."
Without a strong reason to believe that you will attend (your public school/cheap tuition for example) there is no reason to waste the interview slot.
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Why don't these schools take into account the fact that perhaps some people's GPAs [when there is a discrepancy between the GPA and MCAT] will not be competitive for the "mid" or "top" tier schools?
 
glasseagle said:
Why don't these schools take into account the fact that perhaps some people's GPAs [when there is a discrepancy between the GPA and MCAT] will not be competitive for the "mid" or "top" tier schools?
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They do. But then they have to consider whether the higher MCAT is worth the risk associated with the dissonance.
 
gyngyn said:
They do. But then they have to consider whether the higher MCAT is worth the risk associated with the dissonance.
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I wonder if this places the applicant in a bad place when lower tier schools don't extend the II because of the high MCAT and higher tier schools are wary of the low GPA.
 
WedgeDawg said:
They just won't be high yield for you. Do you think that adcoms at these schools are going to believe you'll come to a school with a median MCAT of 31 when you have a 41 and likely will have more prestigious options?

If you have a sincere interest in a lower stat school and would attend there over a top school, then by all means apply, but if you're using them as "safeties" you're better off with a more targeted application. A well crafted and appropriate list is a better "safety" than a lower stat school where you aren't the target applicant.
Click to expand...
Ok, I can see the logic there, but then where do you draw the line of what's a "safety" lower stat school? I've got an MCAT above the 90th percentile at every school, but I know that doesn't by any means mean I can just go where I want. So what kind of schools should be at the 'lower' end of my app?

Thanks for everyone's thoughts so far, and I know I'm super fortunate to even have the need to ask this question.
 
kegar99 said:
Ok, I can see the logic there, but then where do you draw the line of what's a "safety" lower stat school? I've got an MCAT above the 90th percentile at every school, but I know that doesn't by any means mean I can just go where I want. So what kind of schools should be at the 'lower' end of my app?

Thanks for everyone's thoughts so far, and I know I'm super fortunate to even have the need to ask this question.
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Your public state schools.
 
gyngyn said:
Your public state schools.
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Ok, but what if you don't really have those? I'm a Canadian citizen (currently in the process of getting permanent residency, should have it by the time I go out for any interviews). I am graduating from a US college, and the one public state school in that same state has seats reserved for OOS that have done undergrad in-state, but that's the only one. And I feel like it would be a bad plan to apply to only top 20 programs other than that one.
 
kegar99 said:
Ya, that's an interesting take. Maybe the mindset varies from school to school? Or this whole notion is just a pre-med rumor like the guy in this thread says?
Click to expand...

Gyngyn has confirmed that this is not a rumor. I think you may be somewhat right about it varying from school to school though?
 
kegar99 said:
Ya, that's an interesting take. Maybe the mindset varies from school to school? Or this whole notion is just a pre-med rumor like the guy in this thread says?
Click to expand...
We want to interview the best applicants that are likely to attend.
The resources to evaluate them are limited. There may be schools who can afford to interview all the high stats applicants who apply. I have not seen an MD school yet that chooses to do this. Part of the reason has to do with varying views of "best."
 
gyngyn said:
It does.
Click to expand...

But then doesn't it stand to reason also that low tier schools would extend IIs to low GPA/high MCAT applicants since they may be rejected from higher tier schools due to GPA and higher tier schools would also extend IIs to these applicants due to their MCAT scores?
 
aldol16 said:
But then doesn't it stand to reason also that low tier schools would extend IIs to low GPA/high MCAT applicants since they may be rejected from higher tier schools due to GPA and higher tier schools would also extend IIs to these applicants due to their MCAT scores?
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They might, but they may not want the risk associated with the dissonance.
 
gyngyn said:
They might, but they may not want the risk associated with the dissonance.
Click to expand...

I guess it's too individual-specific to answer. Maybe depends on the mood the guy is in when he's reading your app. Since a low GPA/high MCAT applicant whose low GPA is in the range of the low tier school, if matriculated, would boost that school's average MCAT score which is good.
 
aldol16 said:
I guess it's too individual-specific to answer. Maybe depends on the mood the guy is in when he's reading your app. Since a low GPA/high MCAT applicant whose low GPA is in the range of the low tier school, if matriculated, would boost that school's average MCAT score which is good.
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It will depend on the degree of dissonance and the perceived explanation.
 
No one is going to reject you for being too smart. Everyone wants smart students. But there's more to it than just numbers. My school is decidedly middle tier but there were plenty of people with 4.0s and high 30s. Adcoms are making a class that will serve their community and are looking for people who will fit their mission and with one another. They are interviewing for the class, not just individuals.

When you have 5000 students and 100 spots, a lot of well qualified applicants are going to get left in the cold. You can only interview so many people.

Also some high stats people are weird
 
Psai said:
No one is going to reject you for being too smart. Everyone wants smart students. But there's more to it than just numbers. My school is decidedly middle tier but there were plenty of people with 4.0s and high 30s. Adcoms are making a class that will serve their community and are looking for people who will fit their mission and with one another. They are interviewing for the class, not just individuals.

When you have 5000 students and 100 spots, a lot of well qualified applicants are going to get left in the cold. You can only interview so many people.

Also some high stats people are weird
Click to expand...
I was about ready to like this post...until the last line. There are plenty of odd people in every stat range.
 
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kegar99 said:
Ok, I can see the logic there, but then where do you draw the line of what's a "safety" lower stat school? I've got an MCAT above the 90th percentile at every school, but I know that doesn't by any means mean I can just go where I want. So what kind of schools should be at the 'lower' end of my app?

Thanks for everyone's thoughts so far, and I know I'm super fortunate to even have the need to ask this question.
Click to expand...

I'd also add other OOS schools where tuition is really cheap -- ex. Texas, if you can come up with a good reason why you'd want to go there. It is my suspicion that schools with high IS requirements use selective OOS admissions to boost averages.
 
DokterMom said:
It is my suspicion that schools with high IS requirements use selective OOS admissions to boost averages.
Click to expand...
Is it even a suspicion really? Eg Oregon Health and Sciences explicitly says they want out of state applicants to have a 3.70+ / 513+. Their overall medians are 3.7 / 31 so they're outright requiring OOS applicants to be bringing up their numbers.
 
efle said:
Is it even a suspicion really? Eg Oregon Health and Sciences explicitly says they want out of state applicants to have a 3.70+ / 513+. Their overall medians are 3.7 / 31 so they're outright requiring OOS applicants to be bringing up their numbers.
Click to expand...

On my part, it actually was just a suspicion. Looks like I was right. 😎😛
 
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