If you got an interview

[BoilerWolverine]

I've started to get a few interviews and was curious what people thought. I had a horrible UGPA (2.9/2.7BCMP), but have spent considerable time out of school.

If you get an interview, are they basically saying they are willing to overlook your grades if everything else goes ok, or are you still at a disadvantage?

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[Kiara08]

i think your stats still matter.

i had numerous (closed file) interviewers tell me that i interviewed well and that as long as my stats were up to par that i should expect an acceptance

overall, i think that they still go back and look at your stats when they make a decision

 

[armybound]

if they interview you, they obviously think you're capable of finishing the curriculum. you may need to do some explaining to further convince them though

 

[Powdermonkey]

Yeah, I dont think they are willing to "overlook" your grades. But getting an interview means that they think you have something, and they want to get the whole picture before they say yes/no.

 

[Bre]

I'm in the same boat with a low GPA. I think getting an interview just means that the rest of my application is good enough that they find me interesting and want to see which parts of my application actually reflect who I really am. But I think the stats definitely still matter after the interview.

 

[cyclingmo]

I've started to get a few interviews and was curious what people thought. I had a horrible UGPA (2.9/2.7BCMP), but have spent considerable time out of school.

If you get an interview, are they basically saying they are willing to overlook your grades if everything else goes ok, or are you still at a disadvantage?

How was your MCAT? Maybe if your MCAT's really good they feel that you have grown and are more dedicated to your cause now.

 

[BoilerWolverine]

Had my first interview today, and this was the first thing he asked about. After talking about it for about 10 minutes, he basically said he got the big picture and that my grades shouldn't be a problem for me getting in. Only time will tell I suppose.

(I got a 36O)

 

[nick_carraway]

I agree with the others. An interview invitation (to me) means that the school believes that you're competitive enough for medical school or at the very least, that they have some questions they want answered before they make a decision.

For example, rather than turning a blind eye to my 3.3/32, my interviewer asked me to explain a cluster of Cs that I had in one quarter.

 

[LikeClockWork]

I've started to get a few interviews and was curious what people thought. I had a horrible UGPA (2.9/2.7BCMP), but have spent considerable time out of school.

If you get an interview, are they basically saying they are willing to overlook your grades if everything else goes ok, or are you still at a disadvantage?

At my UofL interview, they out-and-out told us that they don't give out interviews to candidates unless they had stats the school could live with. I have borderline stats as well, so that was a big relief. The interviews were academically closed file, so they could see all my ECs but not GPA/MCAT. I don't know how many schools work this way, but if one does, it's not a far cry to think that more might.

 

[BoilerWolverine]

After actually going through a few interviews, I have a new perspective on this. I think they don't care that much about grades after the interview, as long as you can explain any bumps along the way. Some of my interviewers came right out and said, "why were your undergrad grades so terrible?" I explained it, and we moved on. They at least seemed satisfied.

 

[dcgirl2007]

each school has a finite number of interviews the can give out. they are costly and time consuming for them. they would never give an interview to someone they would not accept. that said, they don't forget about your record, but you can definitely persuade them that you are worth accepting.

at least you are likely to get a waitlist until they see who else is out there.

just my common sense view. i have no idea what they really do!!!!

 

[st0w]

My transcript is a bit marred, and it has come up at interviews. But my interviewers have all said that they don't invite people to interview if they don't feel they're capable of handling the workload. They did all want an explanation, of course.

With that said, just because they think you're capable doesn't mean the grades go out the window. Very few schools base your entire decision on just the interview - most of them review your entire file again, along with the commentary from the interviewer (who is sometimes there and presents your application to the rest of the committee). Depending upon the school, some go as far as to assign numerical values to your application, ECs, grades, MCAT, interview, etc, and then choose people based strictly upon their numerical score. Other schools review and discuss and hold a vote based on that.

So if you got an interview, it means the grades won't necessarily keep you out - but they aren't ignored, either.