Low MCAT High GPA

[Pasisto91234]

I always hear about people with the opposite problem of having a low GPA and a high MCAT but what about the reverse? If you want to an academically rigorous T20 undergrad and had a really high GPA but your MCAT is much lower (506-508), how is it construed by adcoms?

Are there ways to overcome it?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

There are many similar threads on this topic (I see them below!).

 

[doctor_tangerine]

It would be viewed the same way as high MCAT low GPA. Considering you're from TX, the 10th percentile MCAT for Baylor is 511, so I doubt a 508 will even make it through the screening. This is assuming you are a trad overrepresented applicant without any significant life experiences. I would suggest retaking the MCAT if you have the time to re-study, since it seems like the rest of your application is solid (research productivity, thousands of service hours, initiative).

 

[LizzyM]

High MCAT, low GPA often means someone who can rise to the occasion for a high stakes, one-day exam but falters on the day-to-day grind of assignments, quizes and the like over many years. Or it could be someone who was not pre-med at the start and had a lukewarm GPA before deciding on medicine. (in which case, look at upward trend and sGPA). Rarely this is a student or grad of a school with no grade inflation (we have a mental list of these schools - sometimes a committee letter will discuss the distribution of GPA of students at this school or of pre-meds at the school or otherwise put the GPA in context)

Low MCAT, high GPA often means that someone suffers from test anxiety in a high stakes situation or has taken a very undemanding undergraduate major (look at list of courses taken) or has attended a school with rampant grade inflation (we know some of these schools by reputation).

 

[Goro]

Low MCAT, high GPA often means that someone suffers from test anxiety in a high stakes situation or has taken a very undemanding undergraduate major (look at list of courses taken) or has attended a school with rampant grade inflation (we know some of these schools by reputation).

Another differential is a test taker who takes the exam when not ready (ie, some people actually take the MCAT "cold", thinking's it's like the SAT and they can just retake it and the first try doesn't count), or they get sick or have some either life event right before or during the exam and refuse to void, or simply not take the exam.

 

[YCAGA]

Why do you think you were able to maintain a very high GPA at T20 undergrad but then would do poorly on the MCAT? Or if this is already what happened, why do you think it happened?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Take away the presumption that a T20 education is significantly better than an education at any other university (of comparable accreditation, so not talking about for profits). That would be a different subject.

Overcoming a low test result is easier than repairing a low GPA. It still can change the way an application is viewed on first blush, and it can be sensitive to mysterious testing conditions. But in the end,we see you put in a result regardless of these problems. We assume you did your best (maybe with accommodations though we don't know this) unless a better result comes through.

The easiest way to overcome a low score is to go get a significantly higher score. That's it.

 

[ShinNohara]

High MCAT, low GPA often means someone who can rise to the occasion for a high stakes, one-day exam but falters on the day-to-day grind of assignments, quizes and the like over many years. Or it could be someone who was not pre-med at the start and had a lukewarm GPA before deciding on medicine. (in which case, look at upward trend and sGPA). Rarely this is a student or grad of a school with no grade inflation (we have a mental list of these schools - sometimes a committee letter will discuss the distribution of GPA of students at this school or of pre-meds at the school or otherwise put the GPA in context)

Low MCAT, high GPA often means that someone suffers from test anxiety in a high stakes situation or has taken a very undemanding undergraduate major (look at list of courses taken) or has attended a school with rampant grade inflation (we know some of these schools by reputation).

Would you be able to disclose the list of schools with grade inflation?

 

[MyOdyssey]

Would you be able to disclose the list of schools with grade inflation?

Or those with tough grading reputations?

 

[LizzyM]

Would you be able to disclose the list of schools with grade inflation?

Or those with tough grading reputations?

Nope. Not going to get into naming names.

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

Or those with tough grading reputations?

MIT, Cornell, JHU, Princeton and most big state flagship public universities (UCB, UCLA, UT etc.,)

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

Would you be able to disclose the list of schools with grade inflation?

Harvard and Stanford.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Usually the prehealth advisors can tell you if they know their school has struggled with grade inflation issues. Or they should.

 

[MyOdyssey]

Usually the prehealth advisors can tell you if they know their school has struggled with grade inflation issues. Or they should.

In what form would this struggle take?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

In what form would this struggle take?

I will hear about certain classes that are curved so that a very limited number of people earn A's, or I see a breakdown of grade distribution for required courses.