is there a better way?

[dr_pepper]

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A recent thread criticized the current application process as a "cuthroat game of numbers." I disagreed with the author, but it did get me thinking.

Is it a bad thing that schools rely so heavily on GPA and MCAT to determine their acceptances (and therefore the next generation of doctors)?

Are the students who get accepted to the top schools the ones that were best at playing the numbers game, or are they simply the most intelligent, hardest working students who excelled during their undergrad years?

What criteria should med schools should place more emphasis on in place of GPA/MCAT to make the process better for the students, the school, and society?

I know there's a lot there, but I wanted to get everyone's thoughts...

 

[Sarikate]

I think schools are beginning to wake up to this issue. I think what is attracting medical schools these days are non-traditional applicants who have taken a little more time to investigate what medicine is truly about and what kinds of issues the next generation of doctors will be facing. They want to see that you have not kept your head in the sand for the past few years, to see that you have outside interests and passions, that you will be adaptable, open-minded. Doctors are increasingly expected to understand social work, law, business, and other humanities because it is a field that is constantly undergoing renovation. Having some background in other fields makes you more attractive in this way.

I think it's inevitable that there will always be a numbers game, because there has to be some objectivity to the process. A medical student has to be a diligent student and able to take eight-hour tests under pressure. But I definitely think that schools are beginning to see beyond these numbers to the intrinsic capability of students in more ways than their GPA may reveal.

 

[Khenon]

Obviously when you have so many applications compared to positions available there needs to be a screening/cutoff that will exclude some. In the case of medical schools, that usually means a certain GPA and MCAT score. Would it be worth it to staff enough people, office space, resources, etc to look at each and every application thoroughly (for stuff other than scores)? I don't know. Unless there's a problem with the current pool of doctors (ie there's reason to need to look beyond the numbers) I doubt many schools are going to change their policies which will take more money out of their already tight budgets. I know some schools are trying to look beyond numbers, but there are limits to even that. I mean how low of a GPA and/or MCAT score are they going to accept? It seems there would almost always be some kind of cutoff. Anyway, I'm rambling. I guess my point is we have to accept that when you're in such a competitive process there has to be those that get "left out" without much consideration, even if they might "overall" be a better candidate. It's not necessarily fair, or the right choice, but it is life. We just have to decide how hard we want to work towards these goals and if it's worth it for us to "play the game." 🙂