Info about med schools?

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mc4435

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I am trying to figure out which schools I'm going to send my primary to, and I need some good resources. I know I probably should break down and buy some huge book with all the stats, etc., but I'm wondering if there are any free online sources anyone knows of that will help with this type of thing? I'm looking for just basic information about each school to figure out if I have a shot or not. Thanks in advance!

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I am trying to figure out which schools I'm going to send my primary to, and I need some good resources. I know I probably should break down and buy some huge book with all the stats, etc., but I'm wondering if there are any free online sources anyone knows of that will help with this type of thing? I'm looking for just basic information about each school to figure out if I have a shot or not. Thanks in advance!

While you can get a ton of info off the web, it probably pays to pick up a copy of MSAR, or TPRs guide to med schools etc. It will save you a ton of effort and time.
 
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I'd agree - stick with the books - its a small cost for so much time saving you from bunging around on the internet.
 
Thanks everyone! I went ahead and bought the book in addition to the links above. :)
 
2 books: MSAR and US News Ultimate Guide to Medical School. Both great resources.
 
2 books: MSAR and US News Ultimate Guide to Medical School. Both great resources.

yeah, also check out med school websites. Like today, I found out that OHSU avg is 31.1 and 3.67. MSAR list is as 33 and 3.7 :thumbdown:
 
hmm 2 MCAT points and .11 GPA is not that much? I would gladly pay $200 to take them if someone offers them to me :D
if you're prepared to compete against a 33 and 3.7 why would you be upset to find out their averages are really 31 and 3.6?

btw the difference between 3.67 and 3.7 is only 0.03
 
Isn't there the whole thing about how the MSAR uses medians and USNews is averages?

I don't understand it. The MSAR throws out some weird info. For example, I'm interested in UT Southwestern. MSAR gives me a median score of (11V, 11PS, 12BS), but UTSW tells me averages are (10.2V, 10.9PS, 11.2BS). While both are probably right, what the heck are the MCAT numbers the MSAR gives me useful for? It's also really annoying when some schools go to great lengths to hide class stats, if they even bother to put them up on ther website at all! It's all SHADY business to me.

I wish all schools would be rather forthcoming with info about their matriculating class. Maybe they just want people to apply, give them money for secondaries and reject them outright afterwards, I think the system is messed up sometimes.
 
Isn't there the whole thing about how the MSAR uses medians and USNews is averages?

I don't understand it. The MSAR throws out some weird info. For example, I'm interested in UT Southwestern. MSAR gives me a median score of (11V, 11PS, 12BS), but UTSW tells me averages are (10.2V, 10.9PS, 11.2BS). While both are probably right, what the heck are the MCAT numbers the MSAR gives me useful for? It's also really annoying when some schools go to great lengths to hide class stats, if they even bother to put them up on ther website at all! It's all SHADY business to me.

I wish all schools would be rather forthcoming with info about their matriculating class. Maybe they just want people to apply, give them money for secondaries and reject them outright afterwards, I think the system is messed up sometimes.

The median and mean are best used together. The median shows the middle score of all accepted, so it isn't as strongly influenced by outliers, whereas with a mean, one SUPER LOW score can bring it way down. So using them together, if the mean is a lot lower than the median, there were some outliers on the low end (thus improving your chances if you're worried about your stats for that particular school). If the mean is higher, then there were some high end outliers.

I'm only working on about 45 minutes of sleep here, though, so I'd wait to see what everyone else says. I could dead wrong here.
 
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