Originally posted by swaroop1
thanks, smw for correcting me! sorry, xaelia...
as for the only people at hopkins being those who have 3.95 GPAs and 38+ MCATs... that's pretty much ridiculous. spreading misinformation is not cool. we've got a wide range of people with differing scores, different experiences, etc.... just like any other med school.
LIZARDKING!! spreading love to my reed hall people...
take care all, and good luck with everything
swaroop
If you feel that I spread misinformation, that's fine. It is your opinion. Same as I have my opinion
Re-read my posts. I deliberate used the word "many" (in capitals) instead of "all" or "only."
Some of you may wonder why your app's aren't looked at favorable and spew out numbers such as 3.8+ and 36+. Well, I offered an explanation, which is that seriously, those numbers just don't cut it. The people I know who have gotten interviewed or accepted @ Hopkins, Yale, Penn, Duke, etc. in the last couple years have 3.9+ GPA and 38+ MCAT (the ones with 4.0 GPA can have MCAT as low as 33 and still do fine). That's the reality I see. You guys are underestimating the number of applicants out there with near 4.0 GPA!
Of course, EC's and Research count, right? True, but unless you open some clinic in South America or have done research for 2-3 years while taking full-course load and get your names on several paper (first authorship won't hurt), then I don't see how they can make you stand out.
Honestly, the good old fashion way of getting into top 10 med schools relies heavily on your numbers.
And then of course, in my experience during the last couple years looking at SDN, many applicants countered my point of view with "Oh....this [fill in the name of a top 10 school here] school looked beyond the number! I had 3.6 and 32, and GREAT EC's + recommendations. So they asked me for an interview last week!!! And I am going to go to the interview and impress the heck out of them!"
I usually have nothing to say but check back a few months later on SDN, most of these people eventually get placed on the waitlists while other cookie cutters with 3.95 and 38 + normal premed EC's get accepted outright and have their first pick. that's the reality of things.