Believe the stats?!?!

[Carter2361]

Do the stats given by USNEWS and other sources mean much? I selected my schools by first seeing which ones I liked location wise and general reputation, and then looked at their stats to see if I was competitive. With a 3.85 Zoology/Math GPA and a 10.3 MCAT average, I considered myself to be fairly competitive for my number one choice (Dartmouth)and several others (Boston & Tufts for example), but I have not heard a thing (from anything except my state school where I already interviewed). I have a friend with an 11 average and 3.8 GPA that has not heard from anyone except state schools. We are about ready to go crazy because we have not heard a thing (rejection, interview, etc.).

Is anyone in the same boat where they are at a school's "average," but have not heard anything. Average to me means that there are some with stats below that! Hopefully they do not discriminate agaist Okies!

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[Original]

I'll let you in on a secret that almost no one knows about. The USNEWS publishes averages for accepted applicants. This is ALWAYS higher than the averages for actual matriculants. WashU for instance often accepts as many as 60 MD/PhD applicants who usually have significantly higher stats than the general pool. Of this 60 (which is almost 50% of their class size), only about 20 will matriculate. So when you see an 11.9 average, close your eyes really tight, fill your mouth with lots of salt and sugar, gulp a bucket of distilled bottled water, and SWALLOW really hard Numbers-wise, you're even more competitive than you think! there may be other factors involved.

 

[Ranger Bob]

Carter, I'm in the same boat as you. I sometimes wonder why I haven't heard from schools where my stats are above the school average. Unfortunately, what's missing from US News are the stats on students who were rejected. If such stats were available, we'd probably find that they're not much lower than the stats for those who are accepted. Which leads to the conclusion that many on SDN have already come to: medical school admissions are a crapshoot.

 

[Hopkins2010]

Dartmouth definitely does NOT discriminate against Okies, since I got accepted there and I'm as Okie as they come.

I'm assuming you got accepted to Univ. of Oklahoma. How did you like it there and what did you think of their program?

Has your AMCAS been verified yet? I would check at those schools to make sure your file is complete. At Dartmouth, dont worry too much yet, I dont think that they give out very many acceptances early on. So even though they are rolling admissions, I dont think it hurts you as much to interview later there than it would at some other schools.

 

[GoatBoy]

Originally posted by Ranger Bob:
•\Which leads to the conclusion that many on SDN have already come to: medical school admissions are a crapshoot. •••

I have nothing constructive to add I just like the word crapshoot.

 

[Carter2361]

I agree, the most frustrating thing is that it's difficult to compare with other people. You're not real sure why some people already have interviews and you don't. I assume that some of them have already sent out rejections; therefore, if you have not been rejected your okay.

Well, I'll keep stressing.