Has anyone gotten into a top 20 with a 125 CARS?

[camb370]

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[snakeinmyboot]

Yes. Check schools' CARS 10%ile on MSAR.

 

[camb370]

Yes. Check schools' CARS 10%ile on MSAR.

yeah, a lot of them are 127 and a few (cornell, hopkins) are 126, but none are 125, which is why i'm curious

 

[snakeinmyboot]

yeah, a lot of them are 127 and a few (cornell, hopkins) are 126, but none are 125, which is why i'm curious

I'm mobile right now so I can't check, but I think Duke has a CARS 10%ile of 124.

 

[Chromium Surfer]

@LizzyM would know!

 

[LizzyM]

Of the applicants I interviewed last year, none had a score < 126 in any section. I did have someone with a 124 who retook for 131.

 

[camb370]

Of the applicants I interviewed last year, none had a score < 126 in any section. I did have someone with a 124 who retook for 131.

Hi LizzyM, thank you for the reply. If possible, what schools do you think I'd be competitive at? I'm worried I'll get rejected from top schools because of this while lower tiers will yield protect me, leaving me with not much to choose from. I was thinking that given my perfect bio and psych scores, and composite, that it wouldn't be smart to retake overall, so I'm really not sure what to do. I appreciate the help.

 

[Goro]

Hi LizzyM, thank you for the reply. If possible, what schools do you think I'd be competitive at? I'm worried I'll get rejected from top schools because of this while lower tiers will yield protect me, leaving me with not much to choose from. I was thinking that given my perfect bio and psych scores, and composite, that it wouldn't be smart to retake overall, so I'm really not sure what to do. I appreciate the help.

Sometimes you have to try an app a cycle with the app you have, warts and all.

While Harvard or NYU might down their noses at you, there's always your state schools and the Keck class schools.

What are your stats and list?

 

[camb370]

Sometimes you have to try an app a cycle with the app you have, warts and all.

While Harvard or NYU might down their noses at you, there's always your state schools and the Keck class schools.

What are your stats and list?

Hi Goro,
My stats are 517 cumulative MCAT (128,125,132,132) from a top 3 undergrad. My sGPA is 3.88 and cGPA is 3.86, and I have research with presentations/an upcoming pub, clinical experience, a good PS, all of that. The only thing is the CARS, which I really don't know if I could improve on a retake because I already put so much time into it 🙁. I don't have my school list since I'm on mobile but it includes top 20s, mid tiers, and my state schools for Florida. Thanks for the reply.

 

[Goro]

Hi Goro,
My stats are 517 cumulative MCAT (128,125,132,132) from a top 3 undergrad. My sGPA is 3.88 and cGPA is 3.86, and I have research with presentations/an upcoming pub, clinical experience, a good PS, all of that. The only thing is the CARS, which I really don't know if I could improve on a retake because I already put so much time into it 🙁. I don't have my school list since I'm on mobile but it includes top 20s, mid tiers, and my state schools for Florida. Thanks for the reply.

Go for it. Somebody has to be in the < 10th %ile...why not you?

Be sure to include U Miami, Dartmouth, Keck, U Cincy, BU, UCLA, Pitt, Emory, Hofstra, Tufts and Einstein.

Your best bets will be with the FL schools.

 

[UnassumingToad]

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[Lawpy]

Go for it. Somebody has to be in the < 10th %ile...why not you?

Be sure to include U Miami, Dartmouth, Keck, U Cincy, BU, UCLA, Pitt, Emory, Hofstra, Tufts and Einstein.

Your best bets will be with the FL schools.

wait is U Cincy receptive to OOSers? MSAR says the school considers OOS on a case by case basis (unlike Ohio State that's more receptive).

 

[Goro]

wait is U Cincy receptive to OOSers? MSAR says the school considers OOS on a case by case basis (unlike Ohio State that's more receptive).

Did you actually look at the Matriculation Data for First Year Class for IS vs OOS?????

3500 OOS apps; 331 IIs, 59 matriculants for a Class of 170.

I'd say they're rather OOS friendly.

 

[Lawpy]

Did you actually look at the Matriculation Data for First Year Class for IS vs OOS?????

3500 OOS apps; 331 IIs, 59 matriculants for a Class of 170.

I'd say they're rather OOS friendly.

Yeah I did, but I guess the case by case basis threw me off.

 

[camb370]

Go for it. Somebody has to be in the < 10th %ile...why not you?

Be sure to include U Miami, Dartmouth, Keck, U Cincy, BU, UCLA, Pitt, Emory, Hofstra, Tufts and Einstein.

Your best bets will be with the FL schools.

Hi Goro, I will definitely do this. Do you think I should address the CARS score in secondaries (or will this even make an appreciable difference)? Thank you.

 

[LizzyM]

@camb370 Is English your first language? Did you complete any of your K-12 education abroad? Were you in ESL classes in the US (even if US born)? Is there any obvious reason why you might not have done well on the CARS section based on your upbringing? If so, that might be taken into account. I usually try to find some clues when reviewing an application where the CARS (or Verbal) was lower than might be expected given undergrad performance.

 

[camb370]

@camb370 Is English your first language? Did you complete any of your K-12 education abroad? Were you in ESL classes in the US (even if US born)? Is there any obvious reason why you might not have done well on the CARS section based on your upbringing? If so, that might be taken into account. I usually try to find some clues when reviewing an application where the CARS (or Verbal) was lower than might be expected given undergrad performance.

Hi LizzyM, English is my first language, and I've studied in the US my whole life. I am considered economically disadvantaged, and explained why in the AMCAS statement, but there's no other concrete reasons for why I didn't do well. My practices ranged from 126-128 depending on the passages and questions, and since the passages on the real thing felt harder, I might've done subpar. My pre med advisor told me that if asked, I could say that it was an unfortunate fluke, and that my grades in my humanities/social science classes support my verbal abilities better than just CARS does, but I feel like that won't be enough. Thank you all for the guidance, I really appreciate it.

 

[LizzyM]

Hi LizzyM, English is my first language, and I've studied in the US my whole life. I am considered economically disadvantaged, and explained why in the AMCAS statement, but there's no other concrete reasons for why I didn't do well. My practices ranged from 126-128 depending on the passages and questions, and since the passages on the real thing felt harder, I might've done subpar. My pre med advisor told me that if asked, I could say that it was an unfortunate fluke, and that my grades in my humanities/social science classes support my verbal abilities better than just CARS does, but I feel like that won't be enough. Thank you all for the guidance, I really appreciate it.

Economic disadvantage could have contributed to relatively poor reading comprehension and reading speed which plays a part in CARS, if I understand that section correctly. That may be taken into consideration if the application if viewed holistically.

 

[camb370]

Economic disadvantage could have contributed to relatively poor reading comprehension and reading speed which plays a part in CARS, if I understand that section correctly. That may be taken into consideration if the application if viewed holistically.

Hi LizzyM, great to know. Thanks so much for all of this help. If I may ask just one final question, do you think that I should apply to ~10 top tiers and ~20 mid/low tiers since I still have a good GPA/relatively good MCAT composite? My pre med advisors keep saying my CARS likely won't be a significant issue at a ton of places, but I just don't want to get yield protected by lower schools/immediately rejected by all reaches if being considered by them isn't even feasible. Thank you!

 

[begoood95]

@camb370 Not @LizzyM but I would say apply to the "top-20's" you want to go to (I'd pick 10-15), then add another 10-15/20 depending on how "safe" you'd like to be. Remember, only add the schools you would actually attend if accepted -- when applying, they add up quickly.

Secondly, we don't know your EC's and therefore can't advise you as well as we could. You're not eligible for "top-20's" solely with great stats -- you've got to have some nice EC's as well. Come back with a more detailed WAMC thread and then we can advise a little better!