How high of an MCAT would be sufficient enough to balance a low GPA?

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EdwardElrich

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I know the classic formula, that if 10(GPA) + MCAT = ~70, there's a decent chance for medical school admission.

But, HYPOTHETICALLY speaking, what if an applicant with a relatively low GPA, around 3.4ish did amazing on the MCAT. By AMAZING, I mean like ~43? I know this sounds ridiculous but I'm talking about a hypothetical situation here.

Would a godly MCAT score make up for a rather low GPA?

Thanks all for your input :D

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So few people end up in this situation that your sample size is tiny, even if you had access to perfect data. Also, if you've got the smarts to get a 43 on the MCAT but a low GPA, there was probably something going on that explains the discrepancy between these outcomes. Depending on what it is, it could make for the sort of good story that adcoms often like. Your story will make a big difference. Also, where you got your 3.4 (which isn't even that low of a GPA) is important - if it's from a prestigious school well known for a lack of grade inflation (Caltech, say, or MIT) it'll look a lot better. Also, what's the rest of your application?

If you're soliciting anecdotes, I got accepted to 1 MD program this past year with a 3.23 and 42 on the MCAT. I also turned down one interview offer (because I had already been accepted to a school I liked better) and withdrew from one waitlist. There was one waitlist I stayed on but was not accepted from. So I didn't exactly have astoundingly good luck, and was in fact uncomfortably close to not getting in anywhere. I also had a lot of other strong aspects to my application. In the end, how much weight was put on my GPA and MCAT? It's hard to know.

This whole discussion is kind of moot. If you've already got a lousy GPA, you should obviously focus on making every other aspect of your application as good as you can. If you legitimately think you can get in the 40s on the MCAT, of course you should go for it. What's the alternative? That you should slack off an not do that well?
 
Didn't you post this like 3 weeks ago? :confused:

I'll be starting college in a week! I'm very excited and I'm pretty much set on pre-med. I will be attending an Ivy (I don't know if this matters). I'm currently registered for Biomedical Engineering but I was considering Psychology because of all the horrible things I've head about BME on this forum :confused:
 
Wow...apparently OP's GPA went down REAL fast! :laugh:

Nice find, nice find.
:confused: OP said hypothetically, not that he/she is in this situation now or expects to be in the future.

I'd say, the OP's most likely still deciding between majors and is trying to gain insight into what the chances of med admission would be in the case of a difficult major+weak GPA and high MCAT.
 
:confused: OP said hypothetically, not that he/she is in this situation now or expects to be in the future.

I'd say, the OP's most likely still deciding between majors and is trying to gain insight into what the chances of med admission would be in the case of a difficult major+weak GPA and high MCAT.

Ahhh, thanks for clearing that up ^^
 
:confused: OP said hypothetically, not that he/she is in this situation now or expects to be in the future.

I'd say, the OP's most likely still deciding between majors and is trying to gain insight into what the chances of med admission would be in the case of a difficult major+weak GPA and high MCAT.


Probably about 90-95% of the time when someone says "HYPOTHETICALLY SPEAKING" (just like when they are talking about "a friend") they are really talking about themselves. The other 5-10% is basically just a waste of our time.
 
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