Discrepancies based on undergrad school

[drctother]

Hey guys,

Over and over i read on SDN some pre-med with a 3.6+ gpa and a less then 25 GPA. Clearly the general theme here is grade inflation. Some schools are A LOT easier than others. I am not trying to hate on your folks, but how do you get a A- average through a science undergrad and not score around 30 on the MCAT. Does anyone actually know if MCAT is looked at more closely then GPA?

I make this assumption based that the MCAT is a standardized exam. I remember Jaggerplate once saying he thinks this is the case, anyone else agree?

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[crazynate]

I wonder about this as well....although I just chalk it up to test taking skills.....or I'm just bitter about my 3.4 GPA (grr) and 30 MCAT....

 

[drctother]

Ya i have a low GPA but a 30R MCAT.... My school was really hard (which is part of the excuse) but im assuming everyone will say the same.

I have read on SDN (aka not official) that people who do well on MCAT usually do well on USMLE and COMLEX. Thus I HOPE MCAT is taken more into consideration than GPA

 

[Poliscidoc]

Hey guys,

Over and over i read on SDN some pre-med with a 3.6+ gpa and a less then 25 GPA. Clearly the general theme here is grade inflation. Some schools are A LOT easier than others. I am not trying to hate on your folks, but how do you get a A- average through a science undergrad and not score around 30 on the MCAT. Does anyone actually know if MCAT is looked at more closely then GPA?

I make this assumption based that the MCAT is a standardized exam. I remember Jaggerplate once saying he thinks this is the case, anyone else agree?

I think it's all about the person, in my case the college I go to isn't known for the sciences so I could easily get by with a 3.8 and not really learn anything at all and then not score well on the MCAT. Also like sad above some people are really bad test takers. I think more importantly the sGPA builds up to knowledge and the MCAT is everything all at once.

 

[judasreznor]

I didn't have to study for my science courses much and got As. I needed to study for the MCAT, but didn't, because I work all the time, so my score is lower than it should be.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Because the mcat is all about self studying. If you got an A in all your pre-requisites but never studied for the mcat. Then your going to probably get a 24.
Mcat is measured completely on the basis of how much time you spent studying. How you did in your pre-requisites plays only a foundation role.

 

[aspiringOSTEO]

1

 

[drctother]

I love these threads, they are comical. Stop worrying about other people and worry about your stats. No sense in trying to degrade someone because they have a great GPA, yet a poor MCAT score. I am one of those people and work my butt off in undergrad for my 3.85 GPA and currently have a poor MCAT score. GPA is 3 years of work, MCAT score is one day. Oh, and the average MCAT for individuals into DO school is only like 26.19 with a SD of like 3 so I guess the majority of people who get into DO school are idiots....please. Get off your high horse

First of all chill buddy. Kiss my ass its an online forum. What high horse am i on? I dont have a 4.0 and a 45 MCAT and I am not saying my stats are better then anyones. Did i say people who get into DO are dumb? Why would i be trying for DO if this was the case?! Im just saying i find it a little odd when people have very high gpa's but low MCATs. Things dont add up. Work ethic's dont add up. In many cases its grade inflation, im not sure why you dont realize that. Most of the people here commented "its easy for students to get an A in my science classes". Thats called grade inflation.

What I was getting at (if u would like me to spell it out) is will a Harvard student with a 3.3 be favored over some community college student with a 3.9 (as a rough example)?

 

[DOwnage]

It's not fair to attribute high GPA + low MCAT entirely to grade inflation. You could make an equal argument that some schools participate in grade deflation. Some people I know at smaller schools, especially smaller private schools with little name recognition, experience grade deflation. This is because the school is 1) trying to prove its reputation to others which ends up hurting their own students' competitiveness in things like med school applications and 2) top-level administrators displaying a huge insecurity in their own programs. edit: by insecurity, I mean the fact that often the school tries to express its academic superiority over its perceived competitors, when nobody outside the school is even aware of said competition.

Also, it's not fair to say that we all perform well under pressure. Some of us are fragile people while others are Michael Jordan in a tight situation. I know plenty of very smart people who get completely crushed under pressure and choke.

 

[Isoprop]

What I was getting at (if u would like me to spell it out) is will a Harvard student with a 3.3 be favored over some community college student with a 3.9 (as a rough example)?

No.

 

[aspiringOSTEO]

1

 

[slarveson]

in my opinion, regardless of how hard your school/teachers were or how hard you studied, you're probably not going to do good on the MCAT without putting a couple months at least into studying for it. Too much time goes by regardless of your work ethic in school to do excellent on the MCAT (for the average student) without putting in a lot of studying. I bet an average student who never even took any of the pre-req's and studyied their butt off for 6 months to a year could do as good or better then the average student who works their butt off and takes it with minimal to no studying.

 

[drctother]

Your either a gunner or Troll...

Yes you caught me you tool, I am a troll. Watch out for my pointy horns. A gunner with gpa? I dont think so

Thanks for coming out.

But yes i do agree with some of the points above

 

[nicgb24]

also, Harvard is known for grade inflation.
just one source http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2006/2/13/c-minus-prof-to-give-more-as/

 

[drctother]

also, Harvard is known for grade inflation.
just one source http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2006/2/13/c-minus-prof-to-give-more-as/

I wonder if they do that to keep their reputation of having super smart students? Who knows. Thanks for posting!