MSAR - Accepted vs. Matriculated stats

[flatearth22]

---

Members do not see this ad.

So I see that the MSAR posts stats of applied-interviewed-matriculated but only supplies stats for the accepted students (including and not including matriculated).

Would you say that the MSAR stats for some of the mid to lower tier schools are inflated a bit because they accept many more students than they have space for (anticipating many students will go to another med school) and often times (but not always) the students who are accepted but do not matriculate go to a "better" med school due to their higher GPA/MCAT?

Thoughts?

 

[swamprat]

Yeah most likely the matriculated students overall GPA and MCAT would be lower than the average of all accepted students... how much? Who knows, some schools have a very narrow range between the low and high and a lot of low/mid tier schools don't always like to interview applicants with 36/4.0's because they know they are a backup and/or they will get into a better school and not consider them anyway.

 

[LizzyM]

You can't get admitted without an interview and the stats needed to get an interview are higher than the stats of those who matriculate.... so where does that lead you as you try to select a group of schools where you will apply?

 

[flatearth22]

You can't get admitted without an interview and the stats needed to get an interview are higher than the stats of those who matriculate.... so where does that lead you as you try to select a group of schools where you will apply?

Well I am an "average" applicant (3.6/32 with average EC's) so I will be applying broadly regardless...I don't have access to scores of interviewees (I think only Adcoms like you do ) so I was just going by the stats of accepted students I see on the MSAR. Since I am applying to many of these schools in my target GPA/MCAT range I was just wondering if there was a discrepancy between accepted and matriculated students.

 

[drdandelion]

So I see that the MSAR posts stats of applied-interviewed-matriculated but only supplies stats for the accepted students (including and not including matriculated).

Would you say that the MSAR stats for some of the mid to lower tier schools are inflated a bit because they accept many more students than they have space for (anticipating many students will go to another med school) and often times (but not always) the students who are accepted but do not matriculate go to a "better" med school due to their higher GPA/MCAT?

Thoughts?

Use the stats only for background knowledge on where you "could" stand. Otherwise, just focus on what you can do to make your application strong. At the end of the day, the adcom has the final say on your application, not stats in a book.

 

[MilkmanAl]

You can't get admitted without an interview and the stats needed to get an interview are higher than the stats of those who matriculate.... so where does that lead you as you try to select a group of schools where you will apply?

Uh...that isn't accurate. The stats of people who were interviewed are higher than the matriculant average, but that doesn't mean the stats required for an interview are higher than the matriculant average. The latter is a nonsense situation.

Basically, OP, there are a bunch of 4.3/47 superstars who will get interviews just about everywhere and will also get a ton of acceptances, jacking up many (most?) schools' acceptance stats signifcantly. In other words, you can count on the stats for all schools being inflated at least a little bit. The effect is probably more pronounced at the Harvards and Wash U's of the world.

 

[LizzyM]

Uh...that isn't accurate. The stats of people who were interviewed are higher than the matriculant average, but that doesn't mean the stats required for an interview are higher than the matriculant average. The latter is a nonsense situation.

Basically, OP, there are a bunch of 4.3/47 superstars who will get interviews just about everywhere and will also get a ton of acceptances, jacking up many (most?) schools' acceptance stats signifcantly. In other words, you can count on the stats for all schools being inflated at least a little bit. The effect is probably more pronounced at the Harvards and Wash U's of the world.

My mistake. I should have said the average of people who are interviewed are higher than the average of those who matriculate. I thnk that the effect is less pronounced at Harvard & Wash U because those are the schools that actually land the big fish.

So, what this means is that you are in an interview room with 9 other people who have MCATS between 32 and 44. In fact, 2 have MCATS less than 35 and those two will wind up on the waitlist and eventually get off the waitlist. The offers will go to 5 applicants who have MCATS between 35 and 44 and the two off the waitlist also get counted in the stats for admitted.

So, admitted 32, 34, 36, 37, 38, 40, 44 for a median of 37 and a mean of 37.3 but the mean and median for matriculants is 33!

Of course, the admission decisions are based on more than MCAT but this just gives you an idea about how one particular stat can vary greatly between interviewed/offered and matriculated.