God, what do I do? Please, some advice...

[ragingbull126]

Alright, i have taken the MCATs 3 times now, and my last score has shown little improvement. My first score was pathetic (21), and my last two scores were almost as bad (26). Here is the breakdown

MCAT 2: VR 6, PS 9, BS 11, Writing R
MCAT 3: VR 7, PS 11, BS 8, Writing R

My GPA is a 3.9 overall, I have done a few years of research, and I have decent EC's, but will have good recs.

My questions is, where can I go to Med School? I am by no means looking for an IVY, but it would be a dream to go somewhere in the top 50. Is Jefferson a possibility? UMDNJ? I am an indian female if that makes any difference. Please post with some suggestions for where I can go and what i can do. Thank you all so much. :-(

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[HomerJ]

Do you mean from India, or are you Native American? If you are Native American you have a great chance with any of those scores.
I'm not sure about the former.

Good luck!

Homer J

 

[Popoy]

WELCOME TO SDN!!!

URM vs. non-URM can make a difference at this point in the application....

Good luck....

 

[Azygous]

Originally posted by ragingbull126:
•Alright, i have taken the MCATs 3 times now, and my last score has shown little improvement. My first score was pathetic (21), and my last two scores were almost as bad (26). Here is the breakdown

MCAT 2: VR 6, PS 9, BS 11, Writing R
MCAT 3: VR 7, PS 11, BS 8, Writing R

My GPA is a 3.9 overall, I have done a few years of research, and I have decent EC's, but will have good recs.

My questions is, where can I go to Med School? I am by no means looking for an IVY, but it would be a dream to go somewhere in the top 50. Is Jefferson a possibility? UMDNJ? I am an indian female if that makes any difference. Please post with some suggestions for where I can go and what i can do. Thank you all so much. :-(•

By Indian, she means Asian Indian (from India). I heavily doubt that you can make it into a top 50 medical school. However, you do have a chance of making it into an allopathic medical school. Honestly, I don't think it really matters what medical school you go to, as long as it is one of the 115 or so approved, AAMC, blah blah schools in the US.

Being an Indian female will put you at a disadvantage, because nearly 10% of medical students are already Indian (when Indians barely make up 1% of the US population). Yeah, seems kind of unfair that Indians aren't considered an URM (under-represented minority).

Anyway, you might want to try some Osteopathic schools because the scores required for admissions are lower than allopathic schools. But don't sell out because you couldn't do allopathic. You probably won't be happy doing osteo in that situation.

Where are you from? I think it is generally easier to get into "State Medical Schools" as opposed to out of state schools. There are exceptions, the biggest one being California. It's nearly impossible to get into a California medical school. That's why east coast schools are flooded with Californians.

I would have recommended a post-bac program after your first MCAT score, but since you've already taken it 3 times, that really isn't an option. Why did you rush to take it so many times? I don't think that was a good move.

The bottom line, apply to any and all schools where you think you have a chance of getting in. Do this selection based on average entrant MCAT score, GPA, etc. etc.

Good luck.

 

[ragingbull126]

I am from New Jersey, so I guess UMDNJ is an option. I am not hung up on going top 50, but I do want to stay in an MD program if possible. Looking at the average mcats for some med schools, 9 and 10 seem to be the norm. I have a little above an 8. Isn't it possible for people to get accepted who fall a little below the average? I am not looking for hopkins med school, but at the same time, I want to stay MD, and in the country ( no caribbean island) BTW, i am indian, not native american.

 

[ckent]

Your scores will probably hurt your application but as long as you have other strong points to your application, you may still get accepted. Remember that when schools post their "average MCAT", there are people that got in with very high scores that are much higher than the average just as there are people that got in with very low scores that are much lower than the average.

 

[fishtolive]

a buddy of mine just got accepted off the umdnj newark waitlist and he had a 8VR, 10PS, 11BS and a 3.4...he was real borderline for newark and robert wood johnson turned him down immediately (then again, it's ranked pretty high for primary care)...however, this year's pool may be different...i'm not trying to rain on the parade, just giving you a reference point. also, as you are a person of indian descent, i believe you won't get any special consideration, you may get the opposite.

maybe a d.o. from stratford? i'd still give it a go if you have stellar ec's, etc.

 

[ragingbull126]

is it possible to mix and match mcat scores like the SAT's. If so, then I would have 11 BS, 11 PS, 7 VR.

 

[moo]

Originally posted by ragingbull126:
•is it possible to mix and match mcat scores like the SAT's. If so, then I would have 11 BS, 11 PS, 7 VR.•

Most schools don't do that.

 

[Mango]

Originally posted by Azygous:
•Yeah, seems kind of unfair that Indians aren't considered an URM (under-represented minority).•

Huh? In your post you correctly stated that Indian Americans make up only 1% of the US population, but almost 10% of medical students. By deffinition, this is OVER-representation!

Indians are a minority in the general population, but the fact that they make up a larger percentage of med school seats shows that they are NOT under-represented.

The flip side is African Americans and other URM's which have a lower percent representation in med school classes than in the general population. This is the deffinition of URM!

 

[ragingbull126]

alright, so it looks like i have a 26, case closed. Does anyone have some success stories of people they know who got into any allopathic med schools with a situation similar to mine? I am looking for some ray of hope here.

thanks.

 

[Jamier2]

Originally posted by ragingbull126:
•Does anyone have some success stories of people they know who got into any allopathic med schools with a situation similar to mine? I am looking for some ray of hope here.•

I had a friend get in last year with a 24. Another friend with a 39 didn't. The MCAT is not everything. Good luck.

 

[Azygous]

Originally posted by Mango:
•Huh? In your post you correctly stated that Indian Americans make up only 1% of the US population, but almost 10% of medical students. By deffinition, this is OVER-representation!

Indians are a minority in the general population, but the fact that they make up a larger percentage of med school seats shows that they are NOT under-represented.

The flip side is African Americans and other URM's which have a lower percent representation in med school classes than in the general population. This is the deffinition of URM!•

Yeah, I agree Mango. That statement was ******ed on my part. What I meant to say was that being Indian will hurt you in the admissions process, whether it be college or med school. I can assure you that much more than 10% of the Indian community wants to be doctors. But I'm sure most med schools set cut offs or some form to equalize the field. I'm not saying that's wrong or anything, just that it makes it harder to get in if you are Asian/Indian.

 

[Test Boy]

If your 3.9 GPA is from a prestigious school (you know the ones I'm talking about), then I would say you have an excellent shot.