- Joined
- Jul 13, 2016
- Messages
- 81
- Reaction score
- 10
Deleted.
Last edited:
Deleted.
- Thread starter Meticulouslykiwi
- Start date
D
deleted972488
Your ECs are good. You should focus on bringing up your GPAs as much as possible and scoring high on the MCAT.
D
deleted972488
To be competitive for “top” schools, you need to stand out in some way. But GPA and MCAT are also important, so focus on that for now.Do you know why they said that the OP's EC's aren't good enough for T20 schools on the other thread? From what I'm seeing, my EC's are similar to the OP's.
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2015
- Messages
- 2,411
- Reaction score
- 11,395
My thoughts:
- Unless there is a strong upward trend, your 3.6 GPA is below average at most 'top' schools. Until you know your MCAT score, no one can give you a realistic idea of your chances.
- As a general rule, good ECs do not make up for non-competitive GPAs and MCATs, hence others' advice to focus on those first. Provided you do well on the MCAT, your ECs are sufficient to get you in the door somewhere.
- It's difficult to gauge the strength of your ECs when everything is so vague -- it's not just about the hours, it's also about what you do and accomplish with them. e.g being a student leader in a nationally-recognized organization who spearheaded initiatives to help the poor, hungry and homeless is different than being a student leader of a club of 5 people who held monthly meetings all to just organize a yearly bake sale.
- Someone who has dedicated time to a few select organizations can usually tell a more coherent and compelling story than someone who has dabbled in a bit of everything. Someone who has participated peripherally in many organizations may appear like they're padding their CV and just going through the motions.
- "Top" schools have the luxury of picking from a large group of very accomplished applicants. Having a compelling story helps separate one from the crowd. The applicant you referenced would have benefited from some additional hours in either clinical or research experience, but they otherwise had a very solid app. I wouldn't be surprised if he/she did end up getting some T20 offers.
- Admissions is ultimately about probabilities. Just create the best application that you can instead of comparing yourself to others.
- Unless there is a strong upward trend, your 3.6 GPA is below average at most 'top' schools. Until you know your MCAT score, no one can give you a realistic idea of your chances.
- As a general rule, good ECs do not make up for non-competitive GPAs and MCATs, hence others' advice to focus on those first. Provided you do well on the MCAT, your ECs are sufficient to get you in the door somewhere.
- It's difficult to gauge the strength of your ECs when everything is so vague -- it's not just about the hours, it's also about what you do and accomplish with them. e.g being a student leader in a nationally-recognized organization who spearheaded initiatives to help the poor, hungry and homeless is different than being a student leader of a club of 5 people who held monthly meetings all to just organize a yearly bake sale.
- Someone who has dedicated time to a few select organizations can usually tell a more coherent and compelling story than someone who has dabbled in a bit of everything. Someone who has participated peripherally in many organizations may appear like they're padding their CV and just going through the motions.
- "Top" schools have the luxury of picking from a large group of very accomplished applicants. Having a compelling story helps separate one from the crowd. The applicant you referenced would have benefited from some additional hours in either clinical or research experience, but they otherwise had a very solid app. I wouldn't be surprised if he/she did end up getting some T20 offers.
- Admissions is ultimately about probabilities. Just create the best application that you can instead of comparing yourself to others.
D
deleted972488
Essentially. I would also spend some time thinking about why you are aiming for “top” schools. What are your career goals? Can you achieve them by obtaining an MD from one of your state schools?
If your career goals really require an MD from a “top” school (I can only think of a few examples of where this may be the case and it primarily has to do with research interests), spend some time after undergraduate gaining experience that will make you more competitive.
Last edited by a moderator:
