LizzyM vs WARS

[Dr.K124]

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The parameters you input into WARS are objective: one year of volunteering is one year of volunteering, but it can vary based on how you write about it. For example, one year working with a battered women's shelter and a strong narrative of empowering women is much stronger than spending a year with meals on wheels when it's the only community service you have.

Either way, I think it's not a bad idea to subtract 5-10 points from WARS to adjust for 'inflation'. Perhaps even add 3-5 points more for URM if you're African American this year. I'm not too sure how the LizzyM algorithm determines the chance of acceptance since any given LM would be 'worth' less every upcoming year.

While I agree that different types of volunteering are valued differently, Meals on Wheels during this pandemic is an exceptionally good volunteering activity.

 

[LizzyM]

While I agree that different types of volunteering are valued differently, Meals on Wheels during this pandemic is an exceptionally good volunteering activity.

It's all how you sell it. Just like volunteering in a a shelter for women who have been abused and talking about empowering women, you can spin Meals on Wheels as related to an interest in the nutritional status of the frail elderly and in decreasing isolation in vulnerable populations during this time of shelter in place.

 

[Student189045]

regarding T20 UG to MD admissions, i've always been confused as to how the vast majority of students at Ivy's / T10's etc. don't end up at similar-tier med schools. Didn't they need like near perfect GPA's/SATs/strong ECs in high school to even get into those in the first place? in which case their GPA/MCAT/ECs will probably be similarly strong / not significantly worse. idk

It's much harder to achieve a high college GPA and MCAT than high school GPA and SAT (and I'm not talking about the objective difficulty increase of the MCAT vs SAT, but rather the percent of testers who are actually trying to get a high score, which is way higher for the MCAT). At least at my average public high school, you were in the minority if you actually studied for the SAT, most just took it cold. Thus, there are a lot of really smart kids that didn't achieve 99th percentile SAT's simply because they didn't try and weren't gunning for an elite undergrad. The MCAT is much different in that most serious applicants are studying hundreds of hours and thus those smart kids at state schools who had no desire to attend an ivy undergrad (and thus scored lower on the SAT) are now going to score high on the MCAT, making it much harder to receive a high MCAT because everyone is trying to score high vs the SAT where many take it cold.

Also, at my high school (and I assume many public high schools) almost everyone didn't care about going to an ivy undergrad. I never once thought of doing activities to bolster my college application, or even thought of college applications at all until senior year. This contrasts the fact that most premeds are trying to have the best app possible since early college, making med school admissions substantially more competitive than undergrad.

TLDR: It's easier to get into a top undergrad than a top med school because a much lower percent of college applicants are trying to maximize their applications competitiveness in comparison to med school applicants, where a high percent are trying to maximize competitiveness from all tiers of undergrads.

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

It's much harder to achieve a high college GPA and MCAT than high school GPA and SAT (and I'm not talking about the objective difficulty increase of the MCAT vs SAT, but rather the percent of testers who are actually trying to get a high score, which is way higher for the MCAT). At least at my average public high school, you were in the minority if you actually studied for the SAT, most just took it cold. Thus, there are a lot of really smart kids that didn't achieve 99th percentile SAT's simply because they didn't try and weren't gunning for an elite undergrad. The MCAT is much different in that most serious applicants are studying hundreds of hours and thus those smart kids at state schools who had no desire to attend an ivy undergrad (and thus scored lower on the SAT) are now going to score high on the MCAT, making it much harder to receive a high MCAT because everyone is trying to score high vs the SAT where many take it cold.

Also, at my high school (and I assume many public high schools) almost everyone didn't care about going to an ivy undergrad. I never once thought of doing activities to bolster my college application, or even thought of college applications at all until senior year. This contrasts the fact that most premeds are trying to have the best app possible since early college, making med school admissions substantially more competitive than undergrad.

TLDR: It's easier to get into a top undergrad than a top med school because a much lower percent of college applicants are trying to maximize their applications competitiveness in comparison to med school applicants, where a high percent are trying to maximize competitiveness from all tiers of undergrads.

Lot of smart kids don't go into medicine so not sure about your argument. As I always said it comes down to how competitive your HS was and your work ethic. Easy As in HS and holistic UG admissions trip up lot of students not the increased competition.

 

[LizzyM]

It's much harder to achieve a high college GPA and MCAT than high school GPA and SAT (and I'm not talking about the objective difficulty increase of the MCAT vs SAT, but rather the percent of testers who are actually trying to get a high score, which is way higher for the MCAT). At least at my average public high school, you were in the minority if you actually studied for the SAT, most just took it cold. Thus, there are a lot of really smart kids that didn't achieve 99th percentile SAT's simply because they didn't try and weren't gunning for an elite undergrad. The MCAT is much different in that most serious applicants are studying hundreds of hours and thus those smart kids at state schools who had no desire to attend an ivy undergrad (and thus scored lower on the SAT) are now going to score high on the MCAT, making it much harder to receive a high MCAT because everyone is trying to score high vs the SAT where many take it cold.

Also, at my high school (and I assume many public high schools) almost everyone didn't care about going to an ivy undergrad. I never once thought of doing activities to bolster my college application, or even thought of college applications at all until senior year. This contrasts the fact that most premeds are trying to have the best app possible since early college, making med school admissions substantially more competitive than undergrad.

TLDR: It's easier to get into a top undergrad than a top med school because a much lower percent of college applicants are trying to maximize their applications competitiveness in comparison to med school applicants, where a high percent are trying to maximize competitiveness from all tiers of undergrads.

There is a spot in a college for everyone who wants to matriculate. There are only about 46 schools that are very competitive for admissions and the rest take far more than 50% of applicants (some take 100% of applicants). This is far different than medical school where there are not enough seats for all who wish to attend and 57% end up turned away in a given year.