I'm getting secondaries from a lot of schools I thought were reach schools. My MCAT is 3-5 points below their average and my GPA is .2-.3 below their average. Do most schools sends secondaries to everyone for extra cash or is there a screening process before.
-
Latest SDN Article! Moonlighting as a Resident Physician
Many do. The pre-secondary screening process varies widely across schools
Most Common
1)Some get your contact info only from AMCAS and send out secondaries unscreened prior to primary application or verified
2)Some send out secondaries unscreened when they receive transmitted primary app from AMCAS
3)Some do a preliminary basic screen with a predetermined MCAT/GPA "forumla". This could simply mean they look at "outstanding" candidates first before sending secondaries to the next batch.
Less Common
4)Some do a full review of primary before sending out secondaries to candidates it has voted on
5)Extending the above, some send secondaries out only to those it will invite to interview.
Most schools send most of their students secondaries. More $$ that way. Some schools (such as UCSF as I've heard) only send secondaries to a smaller proportion of their applicants whom they're more likely to interview.
I consider most secondaries to be a tax on the hopelessly optimistic, if not pathologically naive.
A tax that I would gladly pay to open up a door somewhere lol. At this point in the admissions process, all I have it hope.
I shotgunned my application and got into a public school in a state I have no ties to. <10% OOS matriculation. Turned out it would my only acceptance. Why they accepted me I have no idea and don't care to know.
Just do whatever you feel is right. Can't predict the future.
Just do whatever you feel is right. Can't predict the future.
Last edited:
@GapingBagina there is a tendency for SDNers to see "10%" and read "0%".
10% of a class is 5 - 25 people depending on the school.
10% of a class is 5 - 25 people depending on the school.
Understandable though, I'm sure for most, the availability of resources can make that 10% look like 0%. I took a loan for my app year. Didn't want to self select myself out by making cost a limiting factor. I got lucky.
Last edited: