Medical school admissions... Random process?!?

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Spiderman [RNA Ladder 2003]

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I read many threads about Med school admission and how random this process seems to be. I do not think it is that completely random. We do not really know what people with 4.0 GPAs and 40 MCAT scores wrote in their essays and how they behaved on the interviews. They might have written their essays for an hour and sent it in.

The looks matter a lot too. Among some people you can tell that they are smart just looking at them, and some have empty eyes. I can often tell whether a person is an a$$hole just from looking at him/her. I know that it is very judgmental attitude but so far it have worked for me.

I think that a person who really wants to get into med school just have to pay a lot of attention to details of the application. If you have great stats, ECs and got rejected by 15 schools it mean that you have done something wrong in your application process and you need to look back into the application and try to correct your "errata".

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Honey, there could honestly be no "error" made. There are a ton of really well qualified applicants out there, all of whom will make great doctors. The fact remains that there a limited number of spots, and too many applicants for those spots.

I honestly don't know why you posted this thread. All you seem to be saying is that there is something wrong with the people who have not gotten in, which is far from the truth. Or that they have not gotten their application right? That is rediculous. Just wait until you get to go through the process of applying and see how tough it is, and you might rethink how random it actually is.
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by RNA Ladder 2003:
•I read many threads about Med school admission and how random this process seems to be. I do not think it is that completely random. We do not really know what people with 4.0 GPAs and 40 MCAT scores wrote in their essays and how they behaved on the interviews. They might have written their essays for an hour and sent it in.

The looks matter a lot too. Among some people you can tell that they are smart just looking at them, and some have empty eyes. I can often tell whether a person is an a$$hole just from looking at him/her. I know that it is very judgmental attitude but so far it have worked for me.

I think that a person who really wants to get into med school just have to pay a lot of attention to details of the application. If you have great stats, ECs and got rejected by 15 schools it mean that you have done something wrong in your application process and you need to look back into the application and try to correct your "errata".•••••Hmm...you look like an a$$hole to me :D :) :D

It's pretty random. I can tell you that without any doubt. :)

Good luck :) ,

Adam
 
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It is random, but one need not worry about being rejected because an unqualified applicant "took their seat". This process is about selling yourself. Whoever presents the best "advertisement" will get the nod. People should really take a marketing class or two before applying to med school. It could save them the hassle of reapplying.

Can you make a plate of feces look like a filet mignon? If so, you can get into med school. :D
 
I may be mistaken. Sorry if it had offened anyone. It cannot be a like lottery, right? They would have a computer that would pull names from the list by random. It would be kind of funny though.
I think that if a person does not get from three trials into med school with 3.8 and 36 MCAT, there is something wrong with the application.
 
Oh, how I miss the search function! :(

A few weeks ago there was a great post from interviewfeedback.com by an admissions member. It was all about how they had to reject VERY qualified applicants, because there were just too many of them--no other reason.

I'm sorry to say, but this process IS very random. Therefore, no matter how competitive an applicant you are, you have to apply to a wide range of schools, and to many of them. Even that will not insure an acceptance, though.

What? Did someone say crapshoot? I think so! :wink:
 
It is not like I am trying to offend anyone. I am just trying to understand the whole admission thing.
 
Well I guess the only thing we can do is to pray the Lord. He is going to make right.
 
I think what my fellow SDNers are trying to tell you is that there is NO WAY to understand this process. As we have all witnessed while going through and experiencing this process first-hand, incredibly great applicants can be waitlisted at a mediocre school, then rejected from a crappy school, then accepted with open arms from places like Harvard and UCSF. I have TWO friends who got rejected from almost every school they applied to and they both got accepted to Harvard. Although you can do a lot to improve your chances by having good grades and MCATs, taking time to have well written essays, practicing your interview skills, and of course, applying to a wide variety of schools, even if you are the greatest applicant earth, some schools will still find a reason to reject you (while others will accept you).
So my dear fellow SDNer, just do your best to be the best applicant you can, apply to a good number of schools and don't worry about understanding what is an incomprehensible process!
 
It looks like its kinda random b/c commitees pick the students who get to enter each medical school, and not everybody is totally objective. Also each school is looking for a different type of applicant, so what can you do? apply to a wide range of medical schools and hope for the best!!!!
 
I think that one of the things which makes this process seem really random is how, as you said, seemingly "overqualified" applicants sometimes don't get in ANYWHERE! But I question what is meant by this term. Typically most of us think about applicant quality in terms of the things that show up on paper, like GPA and MCAT scores, as manifested in the first post in this thread. But this ISN'T the way adcoms think about applicants, from what I've gathered.

I've heard from a number of reputable sources that typically, once a student is granted an interview, from this point on the interview becomes absolutely critical. So, while GPA/MCAT might be important in actually GETTING you an interview, once you're there you still need to be coherent, interesting, etc. A number of committee members have told me that typically all interviewed applicants are students who, on paper, the school would be very happy filling their class with, and that in part, the interview is a tool to help them ascertain whether or not the applicant knows how to relate to people, communicate well, etc., which are important skills for a physician to have.

So, while it may seem random and unfair that a number of 4.0/40 applicants don't get in, quite often there's a reason for it, from the adcom's point of view. If you apply to 15 schools, get 15 interviews, and get NO acceptances, it's likely that you're doing something wrong in the interview. Sometimes there's no one to blame but yourself. I doubt all 15 schools would make the same "mistake."

Anyway, I hope that's not offensive to anyone...I'm just trying to be helpful, and tell you what I've heard from adcom members. Of course, I've made a number of generalizations here, which are only useful and applicable to a certain degree. Don't shoot the messenger :)
 
The best defence against the randomness of the process is to make yourself a very well rounded applicant and make them take notice. Most have a good GPA. Most have a good MCAT score. Most have letters or rec. Make your essays shine and most importantly get some solid medical experience. Show the Adcoms that you've really seen what you're getting into and still love it. If you haven't seen the "real side" of medicine you need to take a look. For instance take the show ER. I don't watch it anymore. It's too sensational. I want to see the episode where the Docs come into work and the whole ED smells like poop and alcohol! Now that's real medicine. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" />
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by TommyGunn04:

I've heard from a number of reputable sources that typically, once a student is granted an interview, from this point on the interview becomes absolutely critical. So, while GPA/MCAT might be important in actually GETTING you an interview, once you're there you still need to be coherent, interesting, etc. A number of committee members have told me that typically all interviewed applicants are students who, on paper, the school would be very happy filling their class with, and that in part, the interview is a tool to help them ascertain whether or not the applicant knows how to relate to people, communicate well, etc., which are important skills for a physician to have.

•••••I think the interview means a lot less than people think. Schools know that even the biggest a$$ can probably be decent for 30 minutes. Once you get through the interview, then they look at everything again. If they have 100 people of your "type" (for example 22yr old biochemistry major with high stats, lots of research) to chose from and then only take 90 of that type (for their "well-rounded" class), you just might be out of luck. Maybe you are from an otherwise over represented state, or they already have offers out to too many women in that catergory. Whatever. At this point it has absolutly nothing to do with your performance or scores and everything to do with luck. Which is why everyone says it's "random". I absolutly agree with ValleyGal, you really don't have any concept of how random it can be until you're going through it.

Good luck to you!
 
So what if you're not a 22 year old biochem major with the standard, "stellar" resume on paper? Does that mean you have a better chance? I ask this because I'm a 30 year old married woman with humanities background, and am confounded by the process upon which I'm about to embark, too.
 
I won't be surprised if Medical school had a computer lottery for qualified applicants. All their computers are connected to one main frame in the Silicon Valley. I would imagine that it is all part of a big computer concspiracy against human race. We are led to the extinction, people. Some may argue that UFOs have something to do with it.
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by RNA Ladder 2003:
•Well I guess the only thing we can do is to pray the Lord. He is going to make right.•••••Umm...yea....that must be the answer....
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by Fredonia:
•So what if you're not a 22 year old biochem major with the standard, "stellar" resume on paper? Does that mean you have a better chance? I ask this because I'm a 30 year old married woman with humanities background, and am confounded by the process upon which I'm about to embark, too.•••••Fredonia, I PMed you.
 
It's simple. It's both systematic and random. There is an initial system of screening applicants, as you have heard with many schools and criteria depends on the school (e.g. GPAs, MCATs, state of residence, etc.). But acceptances are somewhat random, and it is based on the "mood" of the reviewers... one might like your background, another might be impressed with the interview, etc.

So essentially it's like the lottery, but with a definite method of INCREASING your chances.
 
Just a general interest bit, regarding the lottery: For a while the Netherlands used to do admissions to professional schools like a real lottery. Once you passed a certain quantitative cut-off in scores and things, you entered the admissions lottery. It was completely random. As any medical ethics-crazed individual will tell you, that's the only truly fair way of apportioning scarce resources.
 
Take a look at how many applicants there are. The best schools tend to have less applicants but still numbering in the thousands. Given they have only at most 200 spots and limited number of adcom members, you see the dilemma. Try reading several thousand essays or figuring out what makes one 4.0 differ from another 4.0. Considering each member of the committee is different, some people like some things and some people like another. If things work in your favor, the person who sees your file likes everything you have to show.
 
My friend and I figured this whole admissions process out, so I will let you know how it is done.
In a secret room in a hidden location, the admission's departments meet and go very carefully through all the applications. How, you ask?

By throwing darts at a wall covered in all our applications. If a dart hits yours, well... there you go... you are in.

Case closed, mystery solved. <img border="0" alt="[Laughy]" title="" src="graemlins/laughy.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[Laughy]" title="" src="graemlins/laughy.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[Laughy]" title="" src="graemlins/laughy.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[Laughy]" title="" src="graemlins/laughy.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[Laughy]" title="" src="graemlins/laughy.gif" />
 
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