How far does a high MCAT score take you?

[IndyZX]

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I was wondering how far really good MCAT scores (and GPA) will take an applicant? Will it pretty much seal the deal if the interview goes ok, or is it really only good for getting those interviews, at which point, everyone is qualified academically?

 

[stinkycheese]

A friend of mine on an AdCom said that once you hit interview status, the acceptance is yours to lose. They like you on paper, will they like you in person? If no, a 4.0/40 won't save you. If yes, you can in with a 3.5/28.

 

[hypersting]

to medical school

 

[Pinkertinkle]

Not too far if you dont have proven motivation and good understanding of what you're going into.

 

[IndyZX]

what if your email address had all the S's replaced with $'s... do they like that?

 

[Mr. Rosewater]

A friend of mine on an AdCom said that once you hit interview status, the acceptance is yours to lose. They like you on paper, will they like you in person? If no, a 4.0/40 won't save you. If yes, you can in with a 3.5/28.

sorry, but your friend is lying to you. most schools interview WAY more pple than they accept. also, most schools have large adcoms, so even if your interviewer liked you very much, if the majority of adcom members don't like you on paper, you're done.

 

[mellantro]

it takes you far. i'm sure you are competent enough to decently interview, and honestly if you asked anyone if they could have a high gpa/mcat with ok activities versus awesome activities and an okay gpa/mcat, most sane people would choose the former. i feel like people with high scores and gpa's that don't get in are just inept in some way, socially or in showing their interest in medicine. if you've come this far, i'm sure you've figured out a way to make yourself stand out vis a vis your interest in medicine.

you should be confident in your numbers, and just know to seal the deal at the top top tier schools, you just have to come off nominally competent in the interview/essays. dont worry.

 

[Medikit]

what if your email address had all the S's replaced with $'s... do they like that?

Only if the rest of your application is in l33t sp34k dud3r1z0rz

 

[stinkycheese]

sorry, but your friend is lying to you. most schools interview WAY more pple than they accept. also, most schools have large adcoms, so even if your interviewer liked you very much, if the majority of adcom members don't like you on paper, you're done.

Very true. For this particular school, I believe they accept or waitlist all interviewees, and my friend believes that your place on the acceptance or wait lists depends pretty much solely on your interview. However, each school is certainly different.

 

[kmnfive]

what about that guy who appiled to 63 schools and didnt get a single acceptance?

he had like 3.6, and a 36 on the mcat.

(although he was an engineer for 7 years which might have something to do with it )

 

[Pinkertinkle]

I think he must have had some personality problems, criminal record, etc...

 

[principessa]

to the stars

 

[junathon]

what if your email address had all the S's replaced with $'s... do they like that?

lol 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀

 

[TRUE]

what about that guy who appiled to 63 schools and didnt get a single acceptance?

he had like 3.6, and a 36 on the mcat.

(although he was an engineer for 7 years which might have something to do with it )

There is no way to know a) if this is true and b) more importantly, what his other factors were. He might have been a dunce in the interviews. He might have killed 3 people. He might have been mute. There is no way to know what medical schools didn't see in him.

 

[kmnfive]

There is no way to know a) if this is true and b) more importantly, what his other factors were. He might have been a dunce in the interviews. He might have killed 3 people. He might have been mute. There is no way to know what medical schools didn't see in him.

didnt he have a website? i think he had a site and he transposed all of the rejection letters and reserved a section of his homepage to it.

 

[kmnfive]

here it is.

http://www.i8u.org/

 

[Catalyst]

sorry, but your friend is lying to you. most schools interview WAY more pple than they accept. also, most schools have large adcoms, so even if your interviewer liked you very much, if the majority of adcom members don't like you on paper, you're done.

this is probably one of the more telling statements about how admissions seemed to work this past year... an applicant's credentials on paper are extremely important, much more so than the secondary/interview I think (esp. if the applicant has a very high GPA)... I've repeatedly seen more people with really high numbers get into top schools after "blowing" the interview than people with mediocre numbers getting into these schools "nailing" the interview.

 

[W222]

I agree with CATALYST. I had average numbers and got eight interviews, of which I absolutely nailed a couple of them. I had some people telling me during my interviews that I would be a great pick for their school, ect. Well, I got one acceptance after being on the wait list. Meanwhile, others I met and others I know seemed to get in everywhere and it all seemed to come down to the MCAT score. I had a friend with great numbers but a lower MCAT score and she got hosed from several admissions committees. Then I met several on interviews who were throwing out their numbers and I know they got it.

 

[racystacey07]

Numbers can only take you so far if you do not have the life experiences to back them up. I have a friend who applied with a 3.9 and a 35. Although she is brilliant, she was rejected from every school she applied to. She has never held a job, did no extra currics in college, and also has never worked or volunteered in a hospital. I believe that this doomed her application.

 

[Catalyst]

Numbers can only take you so far if you do not have the life experiences to back them up. I have a friend who applied with a 3.9 and a 35. Although she is brilliant, she was rejected from every school she applied to. She has never held a job, did no extra currics in college, and also has never worked or volunteered in a hospital. I believe that this doomed her application.

This is an extreme case of an applicant not being interesting enough to be admitted. From my own experience, I have not seen many applicants like this since the ones who are anal enough to achieve high numbers tend to also be anal about choosing the "right" extracurricular/volunteer activities...

It's all one big rat race.

 

[adamj61]

I know someone witha 33 and a 4.0...didnt get into his state school, or anywhere for that matter. I guess he couldn't apply to many since he had physics in HS. Point is, he was a tool. I think had some EC's...but I bet he bombed the interview/LOR part of the app.

 

[Celestron2000]

I don't know... I had okay numbers (low GPA and high MCAT) and was offered 4 interviews out of the 14 schools I sent seccondaries to. I attended 2 of those interviews and was accepted at both schools without being put on a wait-list. It's hard for me to believe that my numbers got me in so quickly, my sense was that the numbers were good enough to get me a few interviews but the interviews got me in (it's hard to believe it was my 3.3 GPA or my good-but not steller MCAT.)

 

[bewitched1081]

it will at least get you recruitment letters from some schools

 

[medicomel]

here it is.

http://www.i8u.org/

Does he list his MCAT score anywhere? I can't find it.
Maybe that's where he screwed up.

Scary site, by the way.

 

[gary5]

here it is.

http://www.i8u.org/

An amazing web site. I applied to 15 schools and submitted 12 secondary applications. I do not believe that a person can do quality work on 50+ secondary applications. I also can't imagine why someone would apply to SO MANY schools! Each school has a typical range of MCAT/GPA scores that they choose, so this guy should have been more selective with where he applied.

I would expect that his 36 MCAT and 3.3 GPA would be good enough. (The typical matriculant has 30 and 3.5.) My guess is that he blew it with his personal essay, secondaries, and interviewing. I don't view it as schools rejecting people. To me, they're choosing someone else who's better. That's how people get left out.

 

[gary5]

I was wondering how far really good MCAT scores (and GPA) will take an applicant? Will it pretty much seal the deal if the interview goes ok, or is it really only good for getting those interviews, at which point, everyone is qualified academically?

It all depends. If your numbers are 4.0/39, then all you have to do is not piss anyone off and you're in at tons of schools (as my advisor described it, "as long as you don't punch your interviewer"). If your numbers are 3.5/30, then you have to impress people when you interview - they have to like you. If your numbers are 3.0/25, then you can't interview well enough. You could launch fireworks from every orifice, and they won't be impressed.

 

[Kazema]

My guess is that he blew it with his personal essay, secondaries, and interviewing.

Of course this is pure speculation, but I noticed he blames both not getting into med school and not being able to land a good job after coming back from Japan on poor timing. Also, it seems like each job he gets is worse than the last job he had.

I have a feeling his multiple rejections were due to more than just "bad timing".

 

[willthatsall]

Does he list his MCAT score anywhere? I can't find it.
Maybe that's where he screwed up.

Scary site, by the way.

It's on there: 36N 11VR and a 12 on one science with a 13 on the other, I believe.

 

[arisunomori]

Good Grief...
How much of this process is one big luck-o-the-draw?

 

[jhk43]

Does he list his MCAT score anywhere? I can't find it.
Maybe that's where he screwed up.

Scary site, by the way.

obviously, it was his N on the writing sample that did him in.