highest score of some one who didn't get in...

[Golfing_Doc]

Just curious, what's the highest MCAT score you've heard of for someone who didn't get into any medical schools? One of my friends' brother (from CA) had a 35 and didn't get in anywhere. His gut feeling is that it was because he didn't do any research and when schools asked, he had nothing to say. Anyone else?

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[EddieIndy]

He probably didn't apply to the right school, because many schools don't even require research.

 

[vmc303]

He probably didn't apply to the right school, because many schools don't even require research.

What range of schools actually require research? I can't imagine it's much more than the top 10-15 places. Schools know that a fairly small percentage of the applicants who even claim to have research experience have actually done anything remotely substantive.

 

[SpinEcho13]

Most schools probably don't have a hard and fast "requirement" for research, but if you dont have it, there should be a damn good reason. IE interested only in primary care, therefore you have tons and tons and tons of clinical in underserved populations/countries/hospitals etc, and have really shined with LORs, wonderful stories, etc.

 

[EddieIndy]

Most schools probably don't have a hard and fast "requirement" for research, but if you dont have it, there should be a damn good reason. IE interested only in primary care, therefore you have tons and tons and tons of clinical in underserved populations/countries/hospitals etc, and have really shined with LORs, wonderful stories, etc.

I don't know about all schools, but from what I've heard from the IUSOM dean of admissions, no research is necessary. I think that if research was important he would have stressed it.

 

[SpinEcho13]

I don't know about all schools, but from what I've heard from the IUSOM dean of admissions, no research is necessary. I think that if research was important he would have stressed it.

Yes. I was referring to the top 20 or whatever the poster above me referenced earlier. Probably state schools, esp in the midwest, have a strong primary care orientation, and therefore will likely not worry too much about a lack of research.

 

[BlackBantie]

A classmate and coworker of mine got a 38 and didn't get in. He was having citizenship issues at the time.

 

[Neuronix]

All those years back when I took TPR, my teacher, and we only had one for everything because I was kinda in the middle of nowhere, had a 40 MCAT score but just under a 3.0 cumulative GPA. He was on his second attempt to get into med school when he was teaching.

 

[Dr Durden]

This essentially valedictorian of the liberal arts college on campus (4.0 42 ) only got in because the undergrad school raised hell with the medical school (same university). She was about to get denied everywhere.

http://www.mdapplicants.com/viewprofile.php?id=2081

 

[Darkshooter326]

Numbers will get you only so far. If you are a douchebag, then you no MCAT score can save you

 

[Creightonite]

there must've been shomthing really wrong with her.... Killers scores, no acceptances. Wow.

 

[EddieIndy]

Hey, she applied to the kind of schools that look beyond your MCAT scores... She didn't really have anything on her application implying that she wants to be a doctor. However, I bet she would get in to any non top-15 program in the nation regradless of her weak application.

 

[Dr Durden]

I'm guessing her lack of humanitarian and clinical work sunk her as opposed to arrogance (or douchebaginess ).

So for those of us who can't quite live up to the 4.0 and 42 combination, there's still hope for admissions afterall.

 

[Anastasis]

I think you'll find that no one person really has the PERFECT application. Med school adcoms will find something or another to nit pick at just to give them a reason to distinguish between applicants.


When a person gets denied, it could be numerical reasons, it could be lack of certain extracurriculars, it could be something in LORs, or perhaps something in your essays. For that matter it could be the interview itself.

Numbers will get you past cutoffs, but from that point you have to be able to present yourself as a worthy one via the other aspects of your resume and communication skills.

You sure know how to make a girl paranoid.

 

[mshheaddoc]

You sure know how to make a girl paranoid.

Like you have anything to worry about. *psssh*

 

[Beau Geste]

You sure know how to make a girl paranoid.

STOP IT VD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You are gonna be fine. If you're not careful, Q will come down on you for freaking out like she does with me (sometimes it's well deserved ).

Seriously, you've got the scores and the personality to back it up.

 

[lynn623la]

This essentially valedictorian of the liberal arts college on campus (4.0 42 ) only got in because the undergrad school raised hell with the medical school (same university). She was about to get denied everywhere.

http://www.mdapplicants.com/viewprofile.php?id=2081

Tell me more! Tell me the juice! That seems like it should be on the front page of the NY POST.

 

[QofQuimica]

there must've been shomthing really wrong with her.... Killers scores, no acceptances. Wow.

Guys, it's really not nice to sit here and bash Wiggy when she's not around to defend herself. She posted quite a bit about her saga the year before last when she applied, and she left her profile up in order to help future applicants who don't believe that good numbers alone won't get them in everywhere. I've actually met her, and she's not a douchebag. Nor is she unable to carry on a conversation. She's pretty normal, actually; I would have thought she was your regular sorority girl if I hadn't known who she was. There were a couple of things that she did wrong. Probably the biggest is that she didn't have much clinical experience, and that makes it hard to convince adcoms that you really want to go into medicine. The second is that she only applied to a handful of extremely competitive schools. If you want to know more about what happened to her, PM her, or search for her posts. She's very open about discussing it. But please don't bash her like this without hearing her side of things.

 

[Anastasis]

Guys, it's really not nice to sit here and bash Wiggy when she's not around to defend herself. She posted quite a bit about her saga the year before last when she applied, and she left her profile up in order to help future applicants who don't believe that good numbers alone won't get them in everywhere. I've actually met her, and she's not a douchebag. Nor is she unable to carry on a conversation. She's pretty normal, actually; I would have thought she was your regular sorority girl if I hadn't known who she was. There were a couple of things that she did wrong. Probably the biggest is that she didn't have much clinical experience, and that makes it hard to convince adcoms that you really want to go into medicine. The second is that she only applied to a handful of extremely competitive schools. If you want to know more about what happened to her, PM her, or search for her posts. She's very open about discussing it. But please don't bash her like this without hearing her side of things.

Thanks for that side of it, Q. I was wondering what happened there. She's just proof that sometimes you can't explain life logically.

 

[Dr Durden]

Sorry Q; looking back, that came off as much more gossipy than I intended. It's no real excuse, but our eerily similar mdapp profiles from the same school have me more spooked than even VD here. Here's to hoping she's a happy MS-2 at her alma mater and rocks Step 1.

 

[Anastasis]

Sorry Q; looking back, that came off as much more gossipy than I intended. It's no real excuse, but our eerily similar mdapp profiles from the same school have me more spooked than even VD here. Here's to hoping she's a happy MS-2 at her alma mater and rocks Step 1.

Funny thing is if any of you met me in real life, you wouldn't recognize me. I'm like laid back hemp/yoga type. But on here I sound like neurotic preppy girl.

 

[QofQuimica]

Sorry Q; looking back, that came off as much more gossipy than I intended. It's no real excuse, but our eerily similar mdapp profiles from the same school have me more spooked than even VD here. Here's to hoping she's a happy MS-2 at her alma mater and rocks Step 1.

Well, you can talk to her about it if you want; I'm sure she'd be willing to do that if she's in town. I talked to her last year at my Vanderbilt interview, and she only knew me from here on SDN up to that point.

Look, the best advice I can give to you is to go into this process with the understanding that you're not special just because you have stellar grades and MCAT scores and a BS from Vanderbilt. (Congrats to you on all of those things, BTW.) You still have to follow the same rules that everyone has to follow. Medical schools expect you to have clinical experience. Period. Most of them also want you to have volunteering experiences. No one can force you to do these things. But if you choose not to jump through the same hoops that all of your fellow applicants are jumping through, you will make your app process even harder than it would be otherwise, and you will possibly wind up not getting accepted at all. Finally, you need to apply wisely. If you're a Tennessee resident, make sure to apply to the U of Tenn. All applicants have the highest chance by far of admission at their state schools, so don't be so blinded by the numbers that you squander that opportunity. Take nothing for granted, because this process is brutal. to you.

 

[shraf]

This essentially valedictorian of the liberal arts college on campus (4.0 42 ) only got in because the undergrad school raised hell with the medical school (same university). She was about to get denied everywhere.

http://www.mdapplicants.com/viewprofile.php?id=2081

seems like the med schools just saw someone who up and decided to take the MCAT one day, did well and decided to go to med school....you definately need to show some prolonged interest in medicine besides having the numbers.

 

[happydays]

If you get a copy of the MSAR, you'll see that there are people with 3.9's or 39's who didn't get in anywhere (although they are a minority).

 

[googlinggoogler]

I just saw this thread. That must have been disappointing, and I appreciate her leaving her profile and being open about it. Is it possible that something went wrong with her letters of rec? Maybe one of her letters didn't come out strong? That's so confusing.