If invited for interview, do your stats (MCAT GPA) still matter?

[Californicator1]

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I dont know if this has been touched upon, but i was wondering if it is generally assumed that if you are invited for an interview at a school, then issues with GPA and MCAT (general stats like these) no longer matter (or matter dramatically less) in terms of gaining admission to those schools.

 

[crunchymilk]

depends widely on the school

some schools may use the interview just to get weird of people that wouldn't fit in, some schools may rely entirely on the interview once you get it.

 

[brsboarder]

well, schools are still going to interview the kids who have 4.0 and 39's but they are most likely going to accept them unless they were horrible in the interview. So, yes it matters, not everyone is on an equal playing field starting at the interview

 

[drizzt3117]

I dont know if this has been touched upon, but i was wondering if it is generally assumed that if you are invited for an interview at a school, then issues with GPA and MCAT (general stats like these) no longer matter (or matter dramatically less) in terms of gaining admission to those schools.

It depends on the school, but your stats will likely still matter to some degree at most schools. That said, getting an interview is a good sign and means that the school is showing enough interest in your to bring you in. In most cases, it means your numbers are sufficiently competitive to at least warrant an interview. At some schools, the interview isn't that important and only counts as a LOR, while at some, it's essentially 2/3 or more of the decision. In any case, you have no control over your numbers at this point so do your best on the interview.

 

[etf]

depends widely on the school

no, it doesn't. all schools use your interview performance (or lack thereof) as one of the factors they use to evaluate your candidacy. at the end of the day (i.e. when the committee meets), they don't just hear about how you did at your interview - they see your grades/test scores, etc. and although everyone invited to an interview is potentially admissible, you can bet that the 3.9/39 has an edge over you if you're the 3.4/34. that's how i see it, and i'm pretty sure i'm not that far off.

 

[drizzt3117]

no, it doesn't. all schools use your interview performance (or lack thereof) as one of the factors they use to evaluate your candidacy. at the end of the day (i.e. when the committee meets), they don't just hear about how you did at your interview - they see your grades/test scores, etc. and although everyone invited to an interview is potentially admissible, you can bet that the 3.9/39 has an edge over you if you're the 3.4/34. that's how i see it, and i'm pretty sure i'm not that far off.

I agree with some of what you said, but schools do vary a lot in their policies. UW and other schools consider the interview to have the same value as a LOR, in which case, your scores count significantly more. Other schools count the interview as 65-75% or more of the decision (OHSU, others) in which case the interview is significantly more important than your scores once you've been selected.