HOW TO know if a school SCREENS

[Chew Man]

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Hey everyone,

What is the best way to find out if individual schools screen the overall MCAT score or individual sections of the MCAT or neither? THANKS!!!!

 

[Pacna]

Hey everyone,

What is the best way to find out if individual schools screen the overall MCAT score or individual sections of the MCAT or neither? THANKS!!!!

Many schools have released the step-by-step process that they use to screen, select interviewees, and accept/reject.

I recall reading that Mayo did something like GPAx10 + MCAT must be above 72 to be considered for an interview. I'm sure other schools have other methods. You'll have to search around on their website. They often have a gigantic PDF to go through.

 

[Gauss44]

You might be able to get an idea about some of the cut-off points from the MSAR. My old version of the MSAR has a gray bar to indicate the range of MCAT scores of accepted students for each subject area.

 

[Espadaleader]

Lol, that's a little high. I don't think any school screens that high. That's pretty much an impossible screen that would most likely hurt the school.

 

[Chew Man]

I was looking at the MSAR and saw the gray bar but that is only for 10th to 90th percentile. I feel like even if you are below tenth (within reason) people get accepted so I wanted to know if there was another way of finding out. The main reason I ask is because I have a 4.0 GPA and got a 33 on the MCAT with a freakin 8 on verbal. It was a fluke but everyone is telling me to not take it again so I was worried I would possibly get screened out by top 20 schools. Do you believe screening would be on some schools websites? Is this something I should call the school about?

 

[Lucky Louie]

Go back to the MSAR/select SOM/select application factors. It's there, in the same grid as the Total MCAT scores of accepted students. (Columbia's lowest verbal is a 10. Sorry.)

 

[Chew Man]

Go back to the MSAR/select SOM/select application factors. It's there, in the same grid as the Total MCAT scores of accepted students. (Columbia's lowest verbal is a 10. Sorry.)

Well thats the thing... their 10th PERCENTILE verbal is a 10... that has nothing to do with screening... people in the 1st to 9th percentile still have lower than a 10...

 

[Gauss44]

If you haven't done so already, another way to go about this is to do a super quick search of the websites of the schools you are most interested in for cut-offs. Then email your question to the admissions office. Some people aren't comfortable doing that out of concern that they could be judged or remembered for that question. In that case, you can always make an email account with a pen name or nickname. Good luck!

 

[darkjedi]

Well thats the thing... their 10th PERCENTILE verbal is a 10... that has nothing to do with screening... people in the 1st to 9th percentile still have lower than a 10...

Well technically 10 or lower, but you will be hard pressed to find those lower than a 10 there unless they had some jaw dropping ECs.

E-mail is your best bet, most schools are not that open with their admissions policies however.

 

[Chew Man]

Well technically 10 or lower, but you will be hard pressed to find those lower than a 10 there unless they had some jaw dropping ECs.

E-mail is your best bet, most schools are not that open with their admissions policies however.

Okay so forget about screening for one second. If I have GPA 4.0 so above 90th percentile for all schools, 13 PS which is normally above median if not the median, 12 BS which is normally the median if not one below, and 8 on VB which is normally one or two below 10th percentile.

Is it not worth apply to the top schools that have 10th percentile 10 on VB and only apply to ones that go down to 9?

 

[Espadaleader]

Your verbal isn't good, but considering how good everything else is your should be good. Go for it.

 

[Lexipi]

U of Utah screens anyone with a less than 7 MCAT subscore. They flat out rejected me cause of that. On the other hand, I was able to snag a interview at a school where their 10th percentile verbal is a 10. I have a 6 in verbal. Percentiles don't always give insight about a screening method

 

[Lucky Louie]

Well thats the thing... their 10th PERCENTILE verbal is a 10... that has nothing to do with screening... people in the 1st to 9th percentile still have lower than a 10...

Okay, so their 10th - 90th range is from 11-13 and their median is 11, how do you think they'll view an 8? I'd guess they might not view your MCAT scoring so highly, but as a fellow student, I don't have a clue what happens behind those closed doors.

 

[premed3445]

Many schools have released the step-by-step process that they use to screen, select interviewees, and accept/reject.

I recall reading that Mayo did something like GPAx10 + MCAT must be above 72 to be considered for an interview. I'm sure other schools have other methods. You'll have to search around on their website. They often have a gigantic PDF to go through.

I don't know where you heard Mayo's GPAx10 + MCAT score cutoff was above 72. I heard 62. 72 is really high.

 

[BlueLabel]

I don't know where you heard Mayo's GPAx10 + MCAT score cutoff was above 72. I heard 62. 72 is really high.

I'd tend to agree. Someone crack open the MSAR

 

[SunsFun]

I'd tend to agree. Someone crack open the MSAR

I remember their MCAT range is 30 to 38 I think. That would mean someone with 30 + <=4.0 got accepted. That would be below 70.

 

[BlueLabel]

I remember their MCAT range is 30 to 38 I think. That would mean someone with 30 + <=4.0 got accepted. That would be below 70.

Oh wait a minute, he was referring to cutoff. Yeah 72 is outrageous, I thought he was just talking about the straight LizzyM.

 

[Chew Man]

So what people are saying here for me is dont worry bout screening and still apply to top schools?

 

[LuciusVorenus]

Are you talking about screening prior to secondaries? If so, then the answer is very very few schools actually screen anything above a 27/3.0. UCs are really the only schools I can think of that perform a substantial screen (typically only 40-50% of applicants get a secondary). Some schools, like Medical College of Wisconsin and University of Vermont, will "small pool" you after you submit your secondary and then grant interviews to people from the small pool.

Mayo is kind of a really unique case. It has no secondary and the adcoms there don't even look at your application until you submit a processing fee. Once you submit the fee they will look at ONLY your activities and determine if they want you to send LORs. After you submit LORs they will then screen, read the rest of your application, and grant interviews.

 

[GoPelicans]

Mayo is kind of a really unique case. It has no secondary and the adcoms there don't even look at your application until you submit a processing fee. Once you submit the fee they will look at ONLY your activities and determine if they want you to send LORs. After you submit LORs they will then screen, read the rest of your application, and grant interviews.

Wow, very anti-holistic.

 

[LuciusVorenus]

Wow, very anti-holistic.

Yeah it really hurt losing that $125 knowing they didn't even read my LORs or PS 🙁 It kind of confuses me why they need so much money to just read activities when schools like the UCs do a more holistic screen with just the original $35 AMCAS fee. It would make sense if they charged you the fee after sending you an LOR request but nope. As you can see, I am kind of bitter about it

 

[Chew Man]

Yeah it really hurt losing that $125 knowing they didn't even read my LORs or PS 🙁 It kind of confuses me why they need so much money to just read activities when schools like the UCs do a more holistic screen with just the original $35 AMCAS fee. It would make sense if they charged you the fee after sending you an LOR request but nope. As you can see, I am kind of bitter about it

I mean you have reason to be. That is so messed up.

 

[jerseybae]

It's messed up and disrespectful. I know that as an applicant among many I don't have the luxury to be picky, but I've lost respect for some schools based on their admission policies. All schools should apply a rigorous screen at the primary stage, like Wake Forest. That way, when I hand them secondary $$, I don't feel like I'm tearing apart hundred dollar bills for the hell of it.

 

[BlueLabel]

Yeah it really hurt losing that $125 knowing they didn't even read my LORs or PS 🙁 It kind of confuses me why they need so much money to just read activities when schools like the UCs do a more holistic screen with just the original $35 AMCAS fee. It would make sense if they charged you the fee after sending you an LOR request but nope. As you can see, I am kind of bitter about it

Out of curiosity, would the $125 fee be covered by FAP? (not applicable to my situation)

I only ask because I heard FAP pays secondary fees, but apparently this is not a secondary fee. Just wondering.

 

[Doudline]

Submit numerous fake applications with the EXACT SAME (strong) extracurriculars, LORs, LOIs etc, but change the numbers (GPA/MCAT) slightly for each. You will then know when they start number slutting.

 

[Goro]

Jeeze, are you still fussing about getting into Columbia?? You have asked previously and been answered. My colleague gyngyn must have a sore hand from trying to smack some sense into you.

Frankly, Columbia gets so many quality applicants that they can afford to ignore you.

Concentrate on those schools that have a median MCAT score near or below yours.

Okay so forget about screening for one second. If I have GPA 4.0 so above 90th percentile for all schools, 13 PS which is normally above median if not the median, 12 BS which is normally the median if not one below, and 8 on VB which is normally one or two below 10th percentile.

Is it not worth apply to the top schools that have 10th percentile 10 on VB and only apply to ones that go down to 9?

 

[Chew Man]

Jeeze, are you still fussing about getting into Columbia?? You have asked previously and been answered. My colleague gyngyn must have a sore hand from trying to smack some sense into you.

Frankly, Columbia gets so many quality applicants that they can afford to ignore you.

Concentrate on those schools that have a median MCAT score near or below yours.

I was curious about schools in general and thought I would find better answers with this post. Thanks though...

 

[LuciusVorenus]

I mean you have reason to be. That is so messed up.

It's messed up and disrespectful. I know that as an applicant among many I don't have the luxury to be picky, but I've lost respect for some schools based on their admission policies. All schools should apply a rigorous screen at the primary stage, like Wake Forest. That way, when I hand them secondary $$, I don't feel like I'm tearing apart hundred dollar bills for the hell of it.

Yeah I totally agree. On the other hand, the admission boards for some schools have been absolutely great (UCs, Case, Dartmouth, USC come to mind).

Out of curiosity, would the $125 fee be covered by FAP? (not applicable to my situation)

I only ask because I heard FAP pays secondary fees, but apparently this is not a secondary fee. Just wondering.

I think it does actually.

 

[pietachok]

Hey everyone,

What is the best way to find out if individual schools screen the overall MCAT score or individual sections of the MCAT or neither? THANKS!!!!

Traditionally, schools are reported to screen out applicants with any subscore of 6/7/8 depending on the school. I have never heard of a GPA cutoff higher than 3.0, because there is so much variability between schools and majors.

With regard to total MCAT scores, I have worked for multiple medical schools and the cutoff would change year to year (I don't know the basis for the #s they'd pick -- it had to do with who was on the committee at the time, which rotated yearly at one of the schools I worked at). The year I was applying to medical schools, my PI was on the adcom at one of the NYC schools and they had an unpublished cutoff of 33, which made a bunch of people angry b/c it was so high, but that's what they stuck with. The only people who got around it were ones who checked off boxes indicating extenuating circumstances (disadvantaged, URM, etc. or who had some connection to a well-regarded physician at the school who could recommend re-review) -- those applications would get hand-reviewed after being screened out.

In contrast, schools like Utah were at the time basing their entire decision to offer an interview based on very strict (but lower) cutoffs. After you made the cutoff, they never looked at your MCAT or GPA again and made all further decisions based on PS and LORs.

Schools don't typically announce these things. I assume it's because it would drastically reduce the $ brought in by the application process, but that's just my 2 cents.

 

[LizzyM]

I suspect (but don't know for sure) that schools don't typically announce these things because there are exceptions to every rule and they don't want to be called on the fact that they interviewed a high ranking faculty member's kid despite really low GPA or a trustee's grandchild despite a very low MCAT. These may be "courtesy interviews" but they couldn't get away with this is there were hard & fast rules about not sending secondaries to anyone who asks. There are also cases of extenuating circumstances for which a hard cut-off by GPA would cut off someone who is quite stellar but who, due to tragic circumstances, had a wretched semester at some point.