How would you explain these admission results???

[libraryismyhome]

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State: Somewhere in South
School: First tier and #1 school in state


Friend A (Hispanic, female)
Approximately 3.8+ GPA and 33 MCAT
60 hours of hospital volunteering
2 research experience (1 clinical and 1 biological with poster presentation)
Decent leadership
Result: got interviews from mid tiers and instate but was waitlisted then was rejected from everywhere except for the lowest instate school

Friend B (Caucasian, female)
Approximately 3.98 GPA and at least 32+ MCAT
at least 60 hours of volunteering and shadowing
1 research experience for 2 years with 3 poster presentation
Result: got interviews from every instate but was waitlisted from everywhere then just got into the second best instate school

Friend C (Caucasian, female)
Approximately 3.85+ GPA and at least 30+ MCAT
started research during 4th year
good leadership experience
not sure what she did for volunteering
applied late
Result: rejected from everywhere

Friend D (Asian, male)
GPA 3.6+ and 29 MCAT
Research at Havard for 6 months (no publication or name recognition)
Research at own school with poster presentation
Volunteering and shadowing for about 100+ hours
Applied late
Result: got into the best instate school without getting waitlisted

 

[anbuitachi]

1) how many schools did they apply to?

there are many factors... their stats are very similar so the interviews prob played a BIG role.

truth is though, their stats aren't really "stellar"... the best stats is probably the 1st one compared to hispanic females...

I go to an ivy league school and most of the people who get into med school are those with 3.8+ with 35+ mcat... and even then there are always those who get rejected with 3.9+ and 35+. A lot of us get rejected to our state schools! your 4 friends aren't really out of the curve.

 

[DbDan]

Starts aren't everything?

You aren't taking into account LORs, Personal Statements, the way that things on their application are written and their interview skills. Stats will get you in the door, the interview can throw you out regardless of your stats.

 

[LizzyM]

Three out of 4 being admitted is about what I'd expect given the information provided. The one who was not admitted applied late, started research late, may not have had much if any volunteering. Nothing surprising here at all.

 

[sandys]

I go to an ivy league school and most of the people who get into med school are those with 3.8+ with 35+ mcat... and even then there are always those who get rejected with 3.9+ and 35+. A lot of us get rejected to our state schools! your 4 friends aren't really out of the curve.

Do you mean those with 3.9+ and 35+ got rejected at the top 20 med schools, or ALL schools? If it's the latter, I'm rather terrified now. (Not that I wasn't before.)

To the OP, I agree with what has been said. There are many factors that go into an acceptance. Maybe C is just terrible at interviews, etc.

 

[flip26]

I don't see anything surprising or unexpected in what you posted. The late applicant is the one who lost out, and that is not surprising. The others should count their lucky stars they got in somewhere, because their ECs were not all that impressive...

 

[NickNaylor]

Do you mean those with 3.9+ and 35+ got rejected at the top 20 med schools, or ALL schools? If it's the latter, I'm rather terrified now. (Not that I wasn't before.)

To the OP, I agree with what has been said. There are many factors that go into an acceptance. Maybe C is just terrible at interviews, etc.

Numbers alone aren't indicative of where you'll end up. If the only "good" thing you have on your application is a 3.9+/35+, I doubt you'll end up anywhere.

 

[RogueUnicorn]

it's all about the cool story, bro.

 

[anbuitachi]

Do you mean those with 3.9+ and 35+ got rejected at the top 20 med schools, or ALL schools? If it's the latter, I'm rather terrified now. (Not that I wasn't before.)

To the OP, I agree with what has been said. There are many factors that go into an acceptance. Maybe C is just terrible at interviews, etc.

I'm saying some 3.9 + and 35+ get rejected to ALL schools.(avg school applied was 18) Of course majority gets into at least one. But as stats goes down a lot of us dont get anywhere...

 

[CoolWhipp]

it's all about the cool story, bro.

the delayed bro, for added dramatization. love it, bro.

 

[libraryismyhome]

Ok, the best school in my state has 3.75 average GPA and 31.5 MCAT among accepted applicants

three of them with higher stats were wait listed then were rejected while one of them with lower stats was admitted

Friend A and B didn't apply early but not late
Friend C and D applied late
All of them applied to more than 5 schools I would say about 8.

LORs, I am sure they are all similar. They are all mediocre.
PS, don't know

 

[Dianyla]

Pre-interview rejections are more likely to be due to stats, extra-curriculars (or lack thereof), weak PS, or application timing.

However, once you've been invited to interview, to me this means that all of the above are at least acceptable to a medschool. I tend to think that post-interview rejections are because they got to know a candidate better and decided they didn't like what they saw or heard. It could be your personality, how well they think you fit their school/mission, or the occasional cranky interviewer.

Unless this is one of those state schools that grants interviews to all in-state applicants?

 

[Food]

Ok, the best school in my state has 3.75 average GPA and 31.5 MCAT among accepted applicants

three of them with higher stats were wait listed then were rejected while one of them with lower stats was admitted

Friend A and B didn't apply early but not late
Friend C and D applied late
All of them applied to more than 5 schools I would say about 8.

LORs, I am sure they are all similar. They are all mediocre.
PS, don't know

Is this by any chance Florida?

 

[christina30]

Research isn't all that impressive if you're not published or doing a lot of presentations. So the girl with 2 different research experiences but only 1 poster presentation.. well, what's so impressive about that? They must've both been short-lived - and research is something that really needs a lot of time if you're going to get meaningful results out of it in terms of an EC.

 

[Beta Cell]

Is this by any chance Florida?

Damn you, Food. I was just going to say that verbatim. The average stats of the top school sound a lot like the University of Florida, lol.

 

[lovemesomeTJ]

It's pretty much a crap shoot. They could've had mediocre interviewing skills, which lead to so many waitlists, average ECs that they weren't able to "liven up," etc. Above all, we don't know who is on these admissions committees to say yea or nay. I stopped trying to figure out this process a long time ago. I'll give 'em what I got and let the chips fall where they may.

 

[FuSoYa]

Couple of things come to mind.
1) 60 hours of volunteering is... not a whole lot of clinical exposure.
2) Research is not a requirement to get into med school.

There's definitely more to each applicant than you presented, but just from your quick overview I'll add these thoughts. It looks like the research and volunteering was done simply to cover all bases. Admissions people can tell when something was done just to build a resume, and when it was done b/c of real interest. So 60 hours of volunteering... eh. Starting research your 4th year... eh. For friend B, 1 research experience for 2 years, that's more like it.

Just my opinion.

 

[guyski79]

i'm going to echo what some others have said. i don't see anything shocking or anything that needs explanation.

 

[Salt and Lime]

Ok, the best school in my state has 3.75 average GPA and 31.5 MCAT among accepted applicants

three of them with higher stats were wait listed then were rejected while one of them with lower stats was admitted

Friend A and B didn't apply early but not late
Friend C and D applied late
All of them applied to more than 5 schools I would say about 8.

LORs, I am sure they are all similar. They are all mediocre.
PS, don't know

I don't think that's a lot of schools. I was rejected by 8 schools but still got accepted to 5 (and declined interviews at a few more.) So that might have something to do with it, too.

 

[flip26]

Ok, the best school in my state has 3.75 average GPA and 31.5 MCAT among accepted applicants

three of them with higher stats were wait listed then were rejected while one of them with lower stats was admitted

Friend A and B didn't apply early but not late
Friend C and D applied late
All of them applied to more than 5 schools I would say about 8.

LORs, I am sure they are all similar. They are all mediocre.
PS, don't know

Applying to only 5 to 8 schools, with those stats and ECs, etc., is idiotic. Your friends are lucky they got in somewhere.

 

[eatinglightning]

Applying to only 5 to 8 schools, with those stats and ECs, etc., is idiotic. Your friends are lucky they got in somewhere.

Seriously? Near 4.0 GPA's and above 30 MCAT scores and 8 schools isn't enough?
This is a real question

 

[flip26]

Seriously? Near 4.0 GPA's and above 30 MCAT scores and 8 schools isn't enough?
This is a real question

Dead serious for the applicants that the OP profiled living in the state of Florida.

The average applicant applies to 13 schools, and this includes people who live in states like Louisiana where they can get away with applying to only 2 schools, the 2 LSU med schools. California residents commonly apply to 20 to 30 schools because of the heavy competition instate.

So let me qualify what I said to the OP for applying to anyone else with "it depends" but for most applicants in most states, applying to only 5 or so schools is like playing russian roulette.

 

[libraryismyhome]

thank you guys. Well indeed my home state is Florida and these friends of mine are one of the most competitive premeds whom I respect so much. Therefore I was somewhat frightened cause I thought that they were all qualified. It is likely that they applied to more schools than 8 and they have done more than what I know.

 

[fahimaz7]

Med schools are competitive.. Shocker there.

Tier one schools, if there is such a thing, are hard to get in to. With an average GPA of a 3.8 and a 34 MCAT, what do you expect?

Not every 3.8/32 is going to get in.

 

[mvenus929]

Do you mean those with 3.9+ and 35+ got rejected at the top 20 med schools, or ALL schools? If it's the latter, I'm rather terrified now. (Not that I wasn't before.)

I've been rejected to all the med schools I've applied to before, and I wasn't only applying top tier (in fact, one was pretty darn close to low tier, if it wasn't already). I had a 3.9+ and a 35R.

Seriously? Near 4.0 GPA's and above 30 MCAT scores and 8 schools isn't enough?
This is a real question

Depends on where those 8 schools are, whether you're in-state or out-of-state, etc. Applying to 8 schools in Texas as an in-state applicant is a lot different than applying to 8 AMCAS schools when you're from California.