How ADCOMs correlate GPA with MCAT

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Simple question:

Let's say I have a pretty sweet GPA (3.9-4.0) from some no-name university. So I'm feeling pretty good about myself, then a bust out an MCAT score (let's say 27) which does not really fit with my GPA. What do admission committees think:

a) This dude's school was way to easy, how could someone who got a 3.95 only get a 27. Let's base our academic assessment of him more on his MCAT scores.

b) Whatever, dude could have had a bad day. Forget the MCAT, GPA is from 4 years of testing, not just one lousy, big test

c) They don't care about the discrepency. They have some magical formula which they used to calculate stuff anyway.

Obviously this type of question depends on the school you're applying to, so this is one of those "more in general questions". As a side note, this "candidate" does not represent me, but I started thinking when I saw lots of the mdapplicants.com folks with 3.9s and 27 MCATs...what's going on?

 

[Pinkertinkle]

I'd have to lean towards choice A. Especially if the applicant refuses to retake.

 

[willthatsall]

Definitely A, I see it time and time again

 

[CarlosMielefan]

Definitely A, I see it time and time again

No one on here knows the answer to that... otherwise, they wouldn't be on here. They'd be doctors sitting on admissions committees and not endlessly reading silly posts on student doctor. So, I'd lean towards asking people on admissions committee not know-it-all applicants, who are not unlike yourself - not doctors yet!

 

[iamgoaloriented]

People will think what they will. You could either choose to retake and do better or just apply and hope they don't hold it against you. Some will and some won't, regardless of whether they are right or wrong.

With such numbers you would still be a competetive applicant and get in somewhere as long as the rest of your application was decent. It might hurt you at some of the top schools, but since people at top schools often have absurdely high scores, obviously that means people will get in with numbers below the average as well.

 

[Medikit]

I personally would think that either A is probably true or that the person is a slow reader.

 

[IndyZX]

well, choice C doesn't really go with "What do admission committees think" since it implies a big formula that gets plugged in, but other than that, i'd say choice A (ding ding ding!)

 

[striped sweater]

this does not exactly answer the question, but it could shed a little light on the topic indirectly.

I worked for a doctor on an admissions committee. she told me of a student with a low-ish GPA (3.2) from yale who had applied to her school. the student was denied admission, and his parents (who were friends of the doctor) asked her why, suggesting that his 3.2 might be lower but that--after all-- he did go to yale and that should count for something. the doctor said that while his GPA was mediocre, it was still in an acceptable range. however, his MCAT score validated his GPA and that was why he was denied admission.

sooooo... i suppose it could be that if there is a discrepancy such as the one you have mentioned where the MCAT yields a less than complimentary result, it will be questioned. i would bet that the MCAT is used by many institutions to validate the GPA and put the applicants on a more level playing field.

on the other hand... a higher GPA from a well known school (with a particularly rigorous academic reputation) is not as likely to be questioned by that lower MCAT.

 

[chiripero]

No one on here knows the answer to that... otherwise, they wouldn't be on here. They'd be doctors sitting on admissions committees and not endlessly reading silly posts on student doctor. So, I'd lean towards asking people on admissions committee not know-it-all applicants, who are not unlike yourself - not doctors yet!

That's why it's implied we want your opinion, obviousuly no one knows for sure, a-hole.

"They'd be doctors sitting on admissions committees and not endlessly reading silly posts on student doctor"
...Hypocrite

 

[mfcus]

this does not exactly answer the question, but it could shed a little light on the topic indirectly.

I worked for a doctor on an admissions committee. she told me of a student with a low-ish GPA (3.2) from yale who had applied to her school. the student was denied admission, and his parents (who were friends of the doctor) asked her why, suggesting that his 3.2 might be lower but that--after all-- he did go to yale and that should count for something. the doctor said that while his GPA was mediocre, it was still in an acceptable range. however, his MCAT score validated his GPA and that was why he was denied admission.

sooooo... i suppose it could be that if there is a discrepancy such as the one you have mentioned where the MCAT yields a less than complimentary result, it will be questioned. i would bet that the MCAT is used by many institutions to validate the GPA and put the applicants on a more level playing field.

on the other hand... a higher GPA from a well known school (with a particularly rigorous academic reputation) is not as likely to be questioned by that lower MCAT.

I talked someone that sits on an admissions committe and each school has a different way of looking at the grades and test scores. From what I was told some schools have formulas which consist of course work on the undergrad level, graduate level and MCAT scores. If your scores and your grades are both good then you end up with a good score and will likely be invited for an interview but most schools have a cut-off and if you are lacking in area such as the MCAT or a low GPA then you will not make it to the interview. It sounds like ECs are waited in after they calculate out our score to see what kind of person you are and if you would fit in with their med school.

 

[bigdan]

My thought would be most similar to mfcus' post; I think that the combination is only a portion of the picture...EC's and the rest have to be taken into account. I had a combo that was quite similar to the hypothetical situation that you proposed; I'm in at 7 of the 8 schools that I applied at. But I have what I consider to be unique ECs, and so that must have weighed in somewhere...

Some schools do use a weight assignment for the GPA - Upstate in NY does, for example. So a 3.8 from my alma mater (Utica College) doesn't receive the strength of a 3.8 from a Harvard or Princeton.

dc