"less selective" or "selective" med school

[korea111]

---

Members do not see this ad.

hey just a quick question. I am from Philly and I plan on applying to boston, DC, and chicago area for my med school (and some more i didnt really think of yet...) but i read on these threads about how people say such schools selective while other schools are less selective... can anybody actually name some school who are known to be very selective or less selective?? and what do you mean by selective? thanks!

 

[alibai3ah]

I would purchase the MSAR (the new one comes out in a few months) and you can gauge the difficulty of all the nationally accredited medical schools through that. It shows the average MCAT (by section) and GPA (bcpm & cgpa).... In my personal opinion, despite what people here say, there is much more to medical school admissions than what the MSAR delineates; however, it is a good starting point.

 

[nabeel76]

They are all selective, there is no such thing as a non-selective med school - at least not in the US. Some schools like Harvard, Hopkins, Penn, Columbia, Cornell etc. tend to have students with higher GPA's and MCAT scores but the difference in averages might be something like a 3.8, 34 as opposed to a 3.6, 31 so obviously ec's and other factors including your personal statement, letter of rec's etc. come into play. Take a look at the average numbers to the schools you apply to and if you are within those numbers you stand a chance assuming your ec's are up to par.

 

[rama kandra]

Well Philly has one of the most selective (Upenn) and I would consider Drexel/Jefferson to be less selective. Thats just your city - but each city has its group of schools - some are public schools which are inclined to their own state residents and the privates which dont care. Get the MSAR and start readin!

 

[anoncurious]

They are all selective, there is no such thing as a non-selective med school - at least not in the US. Some schools like Harvard, Hopkins, Penn, Columbia, Cornell etc. tend to have students with higher GPA's and MCAT scores but the difference in averages might be something like a 3.8, 34 as opposed to a 3.6, 31 so obviously ec's and other factors including your personal statement, letter of rec's etc. come into play. Take a look at the average numbers to the schools you apply to and if you are within those numbers you stand a chance assuming your ec's are up to par.

What are you talking about? That's not true at all..the poster above me just named two. Also - you can go to DO schools with some pretty low stats... Obviously you can't have all C's in school and get a 25 on the mcat or something like that, but it's not as difficult as these people on SDN make it out to be. If you're reasonably intelligent you can make at least a 30 on the mcat and if you didn't get drunk every night in college you can get at least a 3.4--that's more than sufficient to get you into many schools.

Obviously the better schools take the better applicants.

 

[Handy388]

What are you talking about? That's not true at all..the poster above me just named two. Also - you can go to DO schools with some pretty low stats... Obviously you can't have all C's in school and get a 25 on the mcat or something like that, but it's not as difficult as these people on SDN make it out to be. If you're reasonably intelligent you can make at least a 30 on the mcat and if you didn't get drunk every night in college you can get at least a 3.4--that's more than sufficient to get you into many schools.

Obviously the better schools take the better applicants.

even albany's average student stat is 3.7 and 31ish. Albany is probably considered one of the "least selective school".

 

[silverlining1]

A lot of people on SDN will say that there is no "safety" or "non-selective" school. I'd say that this is true, but with a caveat...

There is almost certainly no school that you can rely on getting into. (Contrast this in undergrad, when it was relatively easy to predict where you would get in.) Even if your stats are better than the average accepted candidate, it doesn't mean you're going to get in. First of all, there are more factors than just numbers; secondly, there are more qualified candidates than there are spots.

However, I think it would be silly to imply that every school is equally selective or difficult to get into. I agree that the MSAR/average accepted stats is a great place to start in looking for a school that might be a better match for you. I don't personally know about East Coast schools; perhaps someone else can comment on the whole LizzyM score dealio? Anyways, the whole process can seem really random and illogical (i.e. "How on earth did I get into this amazing school?" and "How could this state school not have accepted me?"), but looking at stats can give you some idea.

 

[nogolfinsnow]

even albany's average student stat is 3.7 and 31ish. Albany is probably considered one of the "least selective school".

Instead of less selective, I would say something like "you can get in with lower stats assuming the rest of your ducks are in a row and you still get lucky." Albany gets about 9,000 applications for 100 spots (so maybe 300 or so offers). While the avg stats are definitely lower, a <10% acceptance rate assumes some sort of selection is going on.

 

[xanthomondo]

What are you talking about? That's not true at all..the poster above me just named two. Also - you can go to DO schools with some pretty low stats... Obviously you can't have all C's in school and get a 25 on the mcat or something like that, but it's not as difficult as these people on SDN make it out to be. If you're reasonably intelligent you can make at least a 30 on the mcat and if you didn't get drunk every night in college you can get at least a 3.4--that's more than sufficient to get you into many schools.

Obviously the better schools take the better applicants.

...just curious, what year do you plan on applying?

 

[silverlining1]

Instead of less selective, I would say something like "you can get in with lower stats assuming the rest of your ducks are in a row and you still get lucky." Albany gets about 9,000 applications for 100 spots (so maybe 300 or so offers). While the avg stats are definitely lower, a <10% acceptance rate assumes some sort of selection is going on.

Good point.

 

[Siverhideo1985]

I think it comes down to that being "selective" does not necessarily only mean GPA and MCAT. You have to consider your whole application.

I would say (from my experiences with advisors,fellow pre-meds, medical schools, and asking schools about my application and its weaknesses) that GPA and MCATs are "gateway" stats. Along with your PS and the short description of your activities (a.k.a. is this a real person?) they will get your foot in the door. MCAT and GPA in the right range will get you in the "we'll look at your file again" pile. These "cutoffs" are different for different schools, if you have a 3.2 gpa, Hopkins is more likely to toss your file than, lets say, your state school with lower mean gpa's and mcat's.

But to get accepted at most medical schools (if not all) you have to demonstrate to them that you are more than numbers, you have to convince them that you are a human being with a passion for helping others.

I've seen people get rejected (post-interview) with gpa's of 3.9 and 36 form schools such as Drexel and even DO schools. And I have seen people with low stats get into schools that are "out of their league".

It comes down to being well rounded...have a solid base with your MCAT and GPA, mix it with real medical experience, slap some research on top, squeeze some community service on the side, finish it off by sprinkling a little human compassion on top and you'll be a sure bet at one of your top-choice schools.

Oh, and apply broadly...that always helps...

 

[anoncurious]

...just curious, what year do you plan on applying?

i already applied--got 6 acceptances so far. Why do you ask? In any case, that's irrelevant. Don't get me wrong--I am certainly not trying to play down ECs..they are one of the most important things w.r.t your application, but I was just referring to stats in my previous post. Obviously with no ECs/bad essay/bad Lors/etc, it becomes a whole different ballgame.. In fact, I have relatively low stats (well, low gpa anyway) compared to the averages of the schools that admitted me, so trust me I know the importance of ECs/LORs/Essays/etc..

 

[vadd0]

Most state schools are more selective than privates. If you do not believe me, apply to both Miss and Wisconsin. You'll be more likely to get into an Ivy.

 

[bluesmd]

all schools are selective in there own ways and all schools have pretty low acceptance stats. the odds are against you!

 

[flaahless]

I think it comes down to that being "selective" does not necessarily only mean GPA and MCAT. You have to consider your whole application.

I would say (from my experiences with advisors,fellow pre-meds, medical schools, and asking schools about my application and its weaknesses) that GPA and MCATs are "gateway" stats. Along with your PS and the short description of your activities (a.k.a. is this a real person?) they will get your foot in the door. MCAT and GPA in the right range will get you in the "we'll look at your file again" pile. These "cutoffs" are different for different schools, if you have a 3.2 gpa, Hopkins is more likely to toss your file than, lets say, your state school with lower mean gpa's and mcat's.

But to get accepted at most medical schools (if not all) you have to demonstrate to them that you are more than numbers, you have to convince them that you are a human being with a passion for helping others.

I've seen people get rejected (post-interview) with gpa's of 3.9 and 36 form schools such as Drexel and even DO schools. And I have seen people with low stats get into schools that are "out of their league".

It comes down to being well rounded...have a solid base with your MCAT and GPA, mix it with real medical experience, slap some research on top, squeeze some community service on the side, finish it off by sprinkling a little human compassion on top and you'll be a sure bet at one of your top-choice schools.

Oh, and apply broadly...that always helps...

Count it