Career Changer GPA/SAT

[fizzlestickz]

Does anyone have any insight into what a competitive GPA/SAT combination would be for any of the one year career changer post-baccs?(Bryn Mawr, Goucher, JHU, Tufts, Scripps, Temple... the usual suspects) From past threads it sounds like 3.6+/1400+ is typical, but the sample size on the forums is pretty small. I did see that JHU actually made a graphic showing the average matriculant GPA. (3.8ish) Any first hand knowledge from alums would be appreciated.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[connerm]

.

 

[DrMidlife]

Nope.

The OP is asking about programs such as Bryn Mawr, Goucher, Scripps et al. These are for high GPA undergrads who didn't take the prereqs yet. Usually people call these programs "career changers" or "formal structured postbacs with linkage". The MCAT makes no sense here; no prereqs have been taken yet. These programs take SAT scores or GRE scores.

 

[ksyhe]

Does anyone have any insight into what a competitive GPA/SAT combination would be for any of the one year career changer post-baccs?(Bryn Mawr, Goucher, JHU, Tufts, Scripps, Temple... the usual suspects) From past threads it sounds like 3.6+/1400+ is typical, but the sample size on the forums is pretty small. I did see that JHU actually made a graphic showing the average matriculant GPA. (3.8ish) Any first hand knowledge from alums would be appreciated.

My sense is that admissions to these competitive programs are quite holistic. If you're just a year or two out of college and have run-of-the-mill work/volunteer/extracurriculars, then yeah, you probably need a 3.6+/1400+ to be competitive. But for every solid/meaningful experience, you can probably chip away at those numbers and still be competitive. Hypothetical examples: a Peace Corps Volunteer would be competitive with a 3.5. A Peace Corps Volunteer with an MPH could probably get away with a 3.4. A Peace Corps Volunteer with an MPH and 5 years working as a community organizer would likely be competitive with a 3.3, etc., etc.

The thing with that published "average" GPA is that the vast majority of candidates to these programs are recent graduates who need those high numbers to be competitive, which skews the stats. There just aren't that many "true career changers" applying these days -- and you can bet that nearly all them are the ones who are featured in profiles on these schools' websites. I'm betting that these profiles will probably never feature the "average" one-year out of college 3.9 GPA student. You're seeing the former professional ballet dancer with a 3.4, or the former Green Beret with a 1200 SAT. How do I know this? I got into several of the top postbacs, and was actually interviewed for one of these profiles, and my numbers are definitely below the "average."

Hope this is helpful!

 

[crayonsarefun]

Anyone have any more thoughts on this situation? Submitted Bryn Mawr and Goucher so far... and pretty stressed to hear back.

And yes, first time poster.

 

[musicalfeet]

I think there tends to be a range in the top post-baccs; the process definitely seems holistic. But, if you're super hung on statistics, my class avg GPA was a 3.7 (apparently it's one of the higher cGPAs they've ever received), and the average SAT breakdown is about 700 per section.

That being said, I had nothing close to the cGPA and I was admitted (3.4), but a pretty decent SAT breakdown (perfect math section--apparently which is what got me admitted..lol...). I also was a professional musician when I applied--and pretty much had absolutely nothing to do with medicine my whole life.

It seems like the big thing about the application is that it needs to prove that you're going to be capable of excelling in your classes + MCAT. I'm not going to lie--it was more of a struggle for me than the rest of my class (and if you looked at my app, I was one of the weaker applicants in my pool year), so it was expected that I wouldn't do as well as everyone else.

 

[jcapua2]

Anyone have any more thoughts on this situation? Submitted Bryn Mawr and Goucher so far... and pretty stressed to hear back.

And yes, first time poster.

Did you hear back from Bryn Mawr so far? I also applied.