Holistical review schools, priority of grades and Mcat

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Mav-babe 2015

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I read this booklet that was published by the AAMC about medical schools feel is mod important for admission. Most schools of course said grades and Mcat as #1 but apparently some other schools did not. I also read the something similar on a different article. Problem is they did not list these schools so I'm wondering if anyone knows of any schools that look more holistically at your application or prioritize your activites and essay more.

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Contact the schools you are interested in and ask them directly.
 
Most schools try actively to recruit URMs, and there are also HBCU's such as Meharry, Howard, Morehouse, etc

I also don't think there are schools that would place a personal statement or ECs above GPA/MCAT. The way I see it, every applicant should demonstrate a level of academic competence before they can be evaluated based on experiences.
 
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MCAT/GPA still account for like ~75% of the value of your application, with the MACT having the most weight. Numbers get you in the door for interviews, then adcoms can be picky with your essays, ECs, other clinical experiences and LORs.
 
MCAT/GPA still account for like ~75% of the value of your application, with the MACT having the most weight. Numbers get you in the door for interviews, then adcoms can be picky with your essays, ECs, other clinical experiences and LORs.
This right here...

No matter what lies a school tells you or what kinds of sugar coating people lay on, the reality is that the initial way that school even choose to pick students is by MCAT and GPA. Proof? The fact that there are no US MD/DO schools that have 18 MCAT and 2.5 GPA averages. The reality is that no matter how great of a person you are and how altruistic towards humanity you are, you still have to be able to pass the licensing boards to be a practicing physician. These are tests that the school does not design themselves, and they must maintain above a certain pass rate or they can lose accreditation. Thus the primary factor that ALL schools look for is the students' ability to do well in school. Once you have proven that, then they will begin looking at the other parts of your app that make you special. A competitive applicant will have a solid app from both standpoints.

Mayyyybe some schools miiight look a tiny tiny bit more holistically at your app compared to another school, but realistically there is no list where is like "column A - schools that only care about grades, column B - schools that only care about you as a person." Maybe naturopathic medicine?

Now what you need to be asking is what kind of schools take in students like YOU? You a non-trad? Canadian? Big into community service? Religion? Research? THOSE are things that at some schools can give you a tiny bump up if you fit into their mission (so long as the grades are good to begin with).
 
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Grades and Mcat matter because they can predict to some degree your ability to pass or fail. No school will overlook a 3.0/20 because most schools understand you'll almost certainly encounter complications or worse fail out and put the school itself at risk of issue.

But if you're a 3.4/25 and have good volunteering that's a different story. If you're applying to KYCOM and have tons of rural that's a boon to your application. If you've got work place experience as a CNA,Scribe, Hospital Tech, etc most DO schools will sincerely put you on a high pedestal.
 
To add to what others have said, there are a lot more applicants than seats so schools can afford to be picky. When they have a big pile of apps with great numbers, great essays and great ECs, they likely aren't going to put much time in on apps with big flaws no matter how holistic they claim to be.
 
I never said GPA and MCAT weren 't important guys, nor are my grades bad. I was just simply curious. Just like everyone I also want to increase my chances of getting in and I just thought that maybe schools who look more holistically might be a good approach.
 
I never said GPA and MCAT weren 't important guys, nor are my grades bad. I was just simply curious. Just like everyone I also want to increase my chances of getting in and I just thought that maybe schools who look more holistically might be a good approach.
So the answer is no school looks more holistically. But you can be strategic and apply to schools where you match their mission, that will help you for sure.
 
I think the school's mission is huge and pretty high up there. Most students are going to have a little bit of everything after MCAT/grades: volunteer work, research, clinical experience, etc. How much each school values each of those is extremely varied, and I think that is what makes certain people better/worse fits for certain schools. It's also important to note that the value/threshold for MCAT/grades isn't the same for some schools. Obviously the high tier schools want super high GPA/MCAT, but other schools that still value these metrics lower their threshold for them.

For a holistic review, I would look up schools focused on community involvement and start from there. For MD schools, Commonwealth in PA, Quinnipiac, and many state schools should be considered. I feel as though most DO schools would fit this as well (of course some are more number-centric than others).
 
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I never said GPA and MCAT weren 't important guys, nor are my grades bad. I was just simply curious. Just like everyone I also want to increase my chances of getting in and I just thought that maybe schools who look more holistically might be a good approach.

The best advice I can give you is to look up the mission statement of the schools you are applying to.

If you can show in your application that you mesh well with their mission statement then you will do well. I spoke to an applicant who got into almost every school he interviewed at. He knew the mission statement of every school he applied to.

You have to remember these guys are looking for students with certain qualities. Don't apply to a school that has a big emphasis on primary care when you have logged 500 hours shadowing plastics/derm/ortho. They have a few minutes to look at your profile and get a gut feeling about you.

Trying to find holistic schools is a shot gun approach.
 
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The best advice I can give you is to look up the mission statement of the schools you are applying to.

If you can show in your application that you mesh well with their mission statement then you will do well. I spoke to an applicant who got into almost every school he interviewed at. He knew the mission statement of every school he applied to.

You have to remember these guys are looking for students with certain qualities. Don't apply to a school that has a big emphasis on primary care when you have logged 500 hours shadowing plastics/derm/ortho. They have a few minutes to look at your profile and get a gut feeling about you.

Trying to find holistic schools is a shot gun approach.

Quick question. Would shadowing specialists like cardiologists and gastro guys be considered primary care? Or is primary care only considered hospitalists and internal medicine?
 
Quick question. Would shadowing specialists like cardiologists and gastro guys be considered primary care? Or is primary care only considered hospitalists and internal medicine?


No. PC is Peds, IM, FM. Sometimes you can call Psych and Ob/Gyn PC, but the first three are the big ones and lack issues with shadowing.
 
The best advice I can give you is to look up the mission statement of the schools you are applying to.

If you can show in your application that you mesh well with their mission statement then you will do well. I spoke to an applicant who got into almost every school he interviewed at. He knew the mission statement of every school he applied to.

You have to remember these guys are looking for students with certain qualities. Don't apply to a school that has a big emphasis on primary care when you have logged 500 hours shadowing plastics/derm/ortho. They have a few minutes to look at your profile and get a gut feeling about you.

Trying to find holistic schools is a shot gun approach.

I think this is huge. If you have no Primary care volunteering experience but tons of research and even some pubs, Nova might look at you differently than KYCOM.
 
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