Is an uneven, but high MCAT score still good for top schools?

[dukemed92]

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I have an uneven MCAT score, but it was still relatively high: 13 PS, 9 VR, 13 BS - 35 total

My GPA is a 3.6 and I have a relatively good list of extracurriculars. Would a 3.6/35 be good enough for top 20s or UVA? (specifically) (not sure if its in top 20s?) (but its instate so i want it)

thanks

 

[Captain Sisko]

I think gpa is the more limiting factor for top schools.

 

[darkjedi]

The reason that unbalanced scores are usually bad is because there is the possibility that one of your subsections may fall below a school's cutoffs.

That being said, only a very small set of schools actually screen scores 9 or below, and even if they do, if you send letters of updates/interests, it can be overlooked.

a 35 is a great score, I wouldn't worry too much about your 9 in VR.

I think gpa is the more limiting factor for top schools.

I would argue that because GPA can vary so much from school to school, there is more leeway given for GPA than for MCAT. Either way, once you have a good GPA/MCAT, they start focusing on your ECs more than your stats.

 

[Lil Mick]

That was my situation. Had a solid gpa (3.8ish), though. A friend with a 7 and 13's and a similar gpa didn't fair so well at the top schools, though, so I think the screening is less than 9 for those schools. Try to bring up your gpa, and you should be fine. The 3.6 is probably going to hurt you at some of those schools unless you had exceptional circumstances (starting nonprofit, veteran, D1 athlete...). Others may not care.

 

[Goro]

My gut tells me that you'll be fine for U VA if you're a VA resident, but the VR 9 might hurt you at the top 10. Remember, they get so many apps from qualified people that they can afford to ignore applicants like you.
But overall, even if the Ivies and Stanford sneer at you, you'll be fine elsewhere.

I have an uneven MCAT score, but it was still relatively high: 13 PS, 9 VR, 13 BS - 35 total

My GPA is a 3.6 and I have a relatively good list of extracurriculars. Would a 3.6/35 be good enough for top 20s or UVA? (specifically) (not sure if its in top 20s?) (but its instate so i want it)

thanks

 

[xroc]

My gut tells me that you'll be fine for U VA if you're a VA resident, but the VR 9 might hurt you at the top 10. Remember, they get so many apps from qualified people that they can afford to ignore applicants like you.
But overall, even if the Ivies and Stanford sneer at you, you'll be fine elsewhere.

I had a 9 in VR and not only got accepted to a top 10 school, but got interviews from like 3 out of the 6 top 10s that I applied to.