MSAR exaggerated

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is it just me or does the school information on the MSAR about GPA and MCAT seem unrealistically high? I know that median is usually higher then the mean, but still. Or is this just all in me head?

 

[JackInTheBox]

is it just me or does the school information on the MSAR about GPA and MCAT seem unrealistically high? I know that median is usually higher then the mean, but still. Or is this just all in me head?

Two reasons:

- They report the median
- The numbers are for accepted students, not matriculated

How much difference that makes depends on the school. If you're really concerned, most schools post that kind of info for their entering classes on their websites.

 

[droshan]

They tend to round up. Schools I've been to for interview have reported their averages lower every single time.

 

[DrYoda]

It's in your head, standards at even "low tier" schools are fairly high.

 

[mmmcdowe]

The fact that it reports the median of all ACCEPTED people makes a huge difference for schools that accept more than double their graduating class. NYU has a MSAR Median of 35, but they report the matriculant average at a 32 on their website.

 

[nick_carraway]

The MSAR has little reason to exaggerate.

Eventually, I came to the realization that I suck and my dreams died on that oddly beautiful Spring day in a Border's next to a snickering comic book reader.

My lesson? Don't stare too long at school numbers or it'll make you sad.

 

[airplanes]

Man...you guys are doin work today. 👍

Biggest difference is the fact that the MSAR reports the data for everyone accepted. So the guy with a 3.9 and 40S who gets into 10 schools is pulling all their averages way up even though he only matriculates into one of them.

 

[236116]

The MSAR has little reason to exaggerate.

Eventually, I came to the realization that I suck and my dreams died on that oddly beautiful Spring day in a Border's next to a snickering comic book reader.

My lesson? Don't stare too long at school numbers or it'll make you sad.

😍

 

[Dr Lyss]

Man...you guys are doin work today. 👍

Biggest difference is the fact that the MSAR reports the data for everyone accepted. So the guy with a 3.9 and 40S who gets into 10 schools is pulling all their averages way up even though he only matriculates into one of them.

my bad 🙂

 

[airplanes]

my bad 🙂

I had a feeling it was you

 

[Lukkie]

does MSAR exaggerate more than SDN?

 

[deleted74029]

does MSAR exaggerate more than SDN?

 

[funkymunkytoes]

Looking at the MSAR is humbling. Perusing the SDN website is depressing.

 

[nick_carraway]

Looking at the MSAR is humbling. Perusing the SDN website is depressing.

If it's depressing to a 4.0/35 applicant with 2 acceptances and 5 interviews, imagine how the rest of us feel 😉

 

[funkymunkytoes]

'Tis true, 'tis true.

 

[batman1983]

I asked about that same question early in regards to the differences between the data reported on MSAR, schools' websites, and us news.
As far as I can tell, there are multiple reasons for the MSAR data being different:

1. MSAR data uses accepted students
2. MSAR rounds up numbers for the MCAT and GPA
2. Some schools' websites use historical class avgs(I know Princeton Review does it with their data and I think US News use to)
3. Im guessing most schools probably have a 2 hump GPA/MCAT distribution graph for their accepted candidates because of the usage of nonacademic factprs in the decision process such as legacy status, connections, disadvantaged/URM status, and etc. Most accepted students are probably skewed towards the high stat end(based on the data seen on mdapplicants.com), but a small minority with relatively lower stats bring down the mean such that there ends up being a noticeable difference between the median and mean.