But do people who are that level of mediocre get into med school in the end? I think they do, more often than not, and SDN makes it seem like they don't.
Do people with no shadowing get in? Yes, but they probably worked as a scribe for over a year. Do people with no volunteering get in? Yes, but they probably had military service or worked as a hospice nurse for X years. Do people with no clinical exposure AT ALL get in? Yes, but they probably have a substantial amount of non-clinical volunteering, were a patient themselves, are URM...
Overall, people with missing ECs do get in, but they are going to have some substantial stand out part of their application.
As far as just being subpar in most ECs? I would wager that those types of applicants, while they do get in, probably don’t get in a whole lot Save for if there is something else stand out about them.
Think about it: there are 50,000 applicants and only 20,000 seats. If we don’t even think about stats and JUST look at ECs, the top 40% of ECs are going to get in. Now let’s factor in stats. If you fall in the top 10 percent of stats then there are still 5,000 people just like you or better. Now what if you are in the top 10 percent of stats and the bottom half of ECs? That means there are still 2500 people that are better than you. Now, you aren’t competing for all 20,000 seats - you are in the top 10% of stats and are likely competing for the top 10% of seats. There are 2500 people better than you and you are competing for 2,000 seats. If you just have so-so ECs, there are 2,500 people who are looked at more favorably for those 2,000 seats.
That is why it is always better to be the best applicant you can be. Who cares about ‘what are the minimums I need to compete”? Just do all that you can.
Also, plenty of clinical activities involve face-to-face contact with patients, but not when a doc/nurse is present. Is that your definition of mediocre? I think you're being a little harsh here.
As far as clinical goes, Let me put it like this:
You are a roller coaster operator. The theme park has a free day just for cancer patients and their families. No strings attached. You are benefiting the well being of cancer patients. Is that clinical work?
Not trying to be harsh, just realistic.
Roller coaster operator would still be a cool and stand out EC, but it would not be clinical.