don't get in

[lazgirl24]

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Are there a lot of people who apply to med school but never get in? Are there some school in the US that accepts most students who apply with reasonable grades and MCAT scores?

 

[Dr Chooch]

Every year, slightly less than half of the total med school applicants get accepted somewhere. Don't rely on statistics though. If you really want to go to med school, you can almost always find a way if you are motivated (many reapply and improve their application if they don't get in the first time they apply).

But for stats, "reasonable" is a very relative term. Of course, there are schools that accept students with a wide range of MCAT scores and grades. To get an idea where you stand (or may stand if you haven't MCATed yet), go to www.MDApplicants.com. It's a site created by an SDNer, and it contains full profiles of (currently) 740 med school applicants....with grades, MCATs, activities, etc.....and where people applied and interviewed and everything. Check it out. 🙂

 

[lazgirl24]

what does the other 50% of the student do?

 

[....]

Go to DO school, become nurses, chiropracters, podiatrists, physicians assistants (good money)

Shoot themselves in the face....that will be me 🙂

 

[commy-superman]

me too🙂 i cant imagine what i would do if i dont get in a med school <sigh>

 

[chapinsita]

Originally posted by hightrump
Go to DO school, become nurses, chiropracters, podiatrists, physicians assistants (good money)

Shoot themselves in the face....that will be me 🙂

not getting in is NOT an option for me. I don't know what I would do, I'd probably go with hightrump's last alternative.

 

[pyau03]

If possible, speak with someone on the admissions committee at the schools that you interviewed with to find out your area of weakness. If it turns out that the numbers are the culprits then retake the MCAT & do a post-bac program to pull up the science GPA. If you are lacking extracurricular activities, get out there and do some community service. If you really have your heart set on medicine you will definitely reapply. Remeber: don't apply in to med schools in consecutive years, adcoms like to see improvements & that you put in efforts to strengthen your application. Not getting in is the end of the world. Life is full of setbacks, what matters is how you deal with it. Good luck! 🙂

 

[aphistis]

Originally posted by hightrump
Go to DO school, become nurses, chiropracters, podiatrists, physicians assistants (good money)

Shoot themselves in the face....that will be me 🙂

Thanks for not including dentistry in there 😀 Dental admissions are becoming increasingly brutal by the year, and it's nice to see someone realize we're a bona fide medical specialty, not just a collection of MD dropouts 😉

 

[lazgirl24]

I have always wanted to be a doctor, but i am scared now. I don't know what i will do if i don't make it. The competition is so high. hehe

 

[BushBaby]

Originally posted by hightrump

Shoot themselves in the face....that will be me 🙂

Okay this is kinda funny in a twisted way.

 

[thackl]

In TX, only 1/3 of applicants get in 😱

 

[lazgirl24]

are there any schools that accepts ppl with below avg scores and gpa

 

[lazgirl24]

thank you, what about MD schools? i am just curious. Which schools are less competitive.

 

[....]

finch
nymc
drexel
to name a few

 

[UCLAMAN]

Originally posted by hightrump
finch
nymc
drexel
to name a few

I disagree...Those schools may have lower avg mcats and avg gpas but they usually receive a ton more applications. As a result those schools are still very competitive to get into. I was waitlisted at Drexel. I declined my offer to interview at nymc and I didn't get an interview offer from Finch. Don't dismiss the schools with lower avg stats as being "easy" or "less competitive." There is no "easy" medical school to get into. There are only schools that accept people with lower avg stats. But then those schools usually get a ton of applicants with those kinds of stats. If you think about it there are a ton more people out there with 30's on the mcats than there are people with 35+'s.

 

[....]

"Those schools may have lower avg mcats and avg gpas but they usually receive a ton more applications. As a result those schools are still very competitive to get into"

falacy.

They recieve apps from people who have no business applying to any school. Half of the AMCAS's sent to them are never completed with a secondary, even thought he schools dont screen. It is also well known that applicant that are high about their averages dont get interviewed becasue the school doesnt want to waste time with somone who will ultimatly accept a better school (like you). Also, it is well known that though only 100 students end up going, sometimes at many as 400 acceptances are given, but are simply turned down. Saying a college gets 7000 apps for 100 spots is simply a schools way of trying to impress you.

 

[UCLAMAN]

Originally posted by hightrump
"Those schools may have lower avg mcats and avg gpas but they usually receive a ton more applications. As a result those schools are still very competitive to get into"

falacy.

They recieve apps from people who have no business applying to any school. Half of the AMCAS's sent to them are never completed with a secondary, even thought he schools dont screen. It is also well known that applicant that are high about their averages dont get interviewed becasue the school doesnt want to waste time with somone who will ultimatly accept a better school (like you). Also, it is well known that though only 100 students end up going, sometimes at many as 400 acceptances are given, but are simply turned down. Saying a college gets 7000 apps for 100 spots is simply a schools way of trying to impress you.

I didn't have high averages. My mcat was pretty anemic actually.

My point is this...take that "easy" school to get into stuff you hear with a grain of salt. There is no such thing IMO.

 

[emtji]

Originally posted by hightrump
Go to DO school, become nurses, chiropracters, podiatrists, physicians assistants (good money)

Shoot themselves in the face....that will be me 🙂

it's probably not a good idea to say this if you don't mean it. if you do mean what you say, you have some serious issues.

 

[....]

"it's probably not a good idea to say this if you don't mean it. if you do mean what you say, you have some serious issues."


Your right, humor is so overated 🙄


"I didn't have high averages. My mcat was pretty anemic actually. "

Why did you get in?



"My point is this...take that "easy" school to get into stuff you hear with a grain of salt. There is no such thing IMO."

I agree.

 

[UCLAMAN]

Originally posted by hightrump

Why did you get in?

Your guess is as good as mine.

 

[thewzdoc]

What I was most surprised by was the number of students that are actually in a med school graduating class. I thought it would be thousands (well at least more than a thousand).

these are 1998 stats
UCSD had over 4500 applicants.......just under 300 were actually accepted. This is nowhere near 50%. The statistics didn?t show if all of these people were actually qualified or not, I would like to assume they were otherwise it would be a waste of money. (But you know what they say about assumptions)

The average science GPA was 3.68 with an average MCAT of 11

Maybe UCSD is the exception and not the rule?

I removed the data regarding URM's because I didn't want to cloud the issue with people screaming about special considerations.

(MOVED FROM THE EVERYONE FORUM)

 

[thewzdoc]

lazgirl24,

In the other thread (EVERYONE) you were curious about the seemingly low MCAT score. Let me clarify this a little.

The 11 that you see is not just the average of all the students it is an average of the 3 areas of the MCAT itself.

Let's say that you get an 11, 11, 11 on the 3 sections of the MCAT

VR (Verbal Reasoning)
PS (Physical Sciences (physics and general chemistry))
BS (Biological Sciences (biology and organic chemistry))

There is a writing sample too but it isn't given a number "grade".

So your average MCAT score is an 11 but your total MCAT score is a 33.

 

[thewzdoc]

Originally posted by lazgirl24
thank you, what about MD schools? i am just curious. Which schools are less competitive.

You will be hard pressed to find a position even if you meet the bare minimum. There are simply more qualified students than there are available positions. The bar for medical school is very high.

 

[calebho501]

Originally posted by hightrump
It is also well known that applicant that are high about their averages dont get interviewed becasue the school doesnt want to waste time with somone who will ultimatly accept a better school (like you).

Geez that makes me feel like I'm screwed both ways. I'm a foreign applicant with no green card, so it's harder for me to get into any school in general. If my safety schools decide not to even give me a chance, I'll end up being school-less next year 🙁

 

[Gleevec]

Originally posted by calebho501
Geez that makes me feel like I'm screwed both ways. I'm a foreign applicant with no green card, so it's harder for me to get into any school in general. If my safety schools decide not to even give me a chance, I'll end up being school-less next year 🙁

Private schools are much more likely to accept a non-US citizen than public schools. So as long as you kept that in mind I think you are OK. Also I dont know much about this, but would you be considered in-state resident of the state youre from even if you are not a US citizen? That can help you out, as long as you dont have to be a citizen to be a resident. But I know private schools are pretty good about accepting non-residents.

 

[calebho501]

Originally posted by Gleevec
Private schools are much more likely to accept a non-US citizen than public schools. So as long as you kept that in mind I think you are OK. Also I dont know much about this, but would you be considered in-state resident of the state youre from even if you are not a US citizen? That can help you out, as long as you dont have to be a citizen to be a resident. But I know private schools are pretty good about accepting non-residents.

Even among private schools, some accept foreign students and some don't. The schools that accept the most foreign students are also the most competitive ones (Harvard, Hopkins, Stanford, Yale, Columbia). And nope I'm not considered an in-state anywhere, so I can't even apply to all but 2 of the UC's, UCSF and UCLA, which accept 1 student in the past 6 years and 0-2 students per year respectively (Talk about the odds against me!)

I've sort of accepted the reality, but I was hoping that my safety schools won't abandon me