MSAR Question

[TurkDorian]

I read on this forum that the stats for MSAR are slightly skewed because the represent the stats for all individuals who were accepted and not just matriculated and as such, it was advised that it would be fine to apply to schools whose stats were slightly above yours. Thus, I was wondering how large this discrepancy was. For example, with a 30 MCAT, would I have a decent shot at schools whose median MCAT on the MSAR was 33?

Thanks!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[UCUCUC]

It is skewed, but it doesn't necessarily matter. You want to be part of the accepted group. You might also want to consider the 10-50-90 %tile distribution. You'll probably get different advice from other people, but I personally tried to make sure I was at least above the 10th %tile for a realistic chance.

 

[Lucca]

The general opinion seems to be that if your stats fall under the bottom 10% of the accepted stats then you probably don't have a shot at that school provided there is not something extraordinary sitting somewhere else on your application. Other factors are important too. Where does your GPA fall in their spectrum of acceptances? Are you IS or OOS and does this school care about that? Does this school have a specific mission statement that aligns closely with characteristics demonstrated in your app?

I have no way of telling you how big the discrepancy is but it is largely unimportant. You should use your personal judgement and not just a single factor when deciding to add a school to your list or not, given that you understand that any school where your stats are less than the median will be longer shots than others.

 

[ridethecliche]

Yeah, the fact that it's all admitted students is fine. Just look at the percentiles. To have a shot at all you have to be above the 10%, and if you're above the 90% then you're probably a low yield applicant for the school.
A 'good match' is in the 50% range.

 

[TurkDorian]

It is skewed, but it doesn't necessarily matter. You want to be part of the accepted group. You might also want to consider the 10-50-90 %tile distribution. You'll probably get different advice from other people, but I personally tried to make sure I was at least above the 10th %tile for a realistic chance.

For most of the schools I am looking at, I am at least 1 or 2 points above the 10% score.

The main reason I was asking is that there are a couple schools that I really want to apply to and they all have a median of a 33 MCAT whereas mine is 30. I wasn't sure if my 30 MCAT would be too low to even be consdered by these schools

 

[Lucca]

For most of the schools I am looking at, I am at least 1 or 2 points above the 10% score.

The main reason I was asking is that there are a couple schools that I really want to apply to and they all have a median of a 33 MCAT whereas mine is 30. I wasn't sure if my 30 MCAT would be too low to even be consdered by these schools

In those cases I would say you have a shot but should not get your hopes up.

 

[TurkDorian]

The general opinion seems to be that if your stats fall under the bottom 10% of the accepted stats then you probably don't have a shot at that school provided there is not something extraordinary sitting somewhere else on your application. Other factors are important too. Where does your GPA fall in their spectrum of acceptances? Are you IS or OOS and does this school care about that? Does this school have a specific mission statement that aligns closely with characteristics demonstrated in your app?

I have no way of telling you how big the discrepancy is but it is largely unimportant. You should use your personal judgement and not just a single factor when deciding to add a school to your list or not, given that you understand that any school where your stats are less than the median will be longer shots than others.

For all of the schools I was looking at, my GPA was the same as or higher than their median. Also, I'm Canadian, so I think that makes me international.

Yeah, the fact that it's all admitted students is fine. Just look at the percentiles. To have a shot at all you have to be above the 10%, and if you're above the 90% then you're probably a low yield applicant for the school.
A 'good match' is in the 50% range.

What do you mean by a low-yield applicant? isn't it better to be above the 90% mark than the 50% mark?

 

[UCUCUC]

What do you mean by a low-yield applicant? isn't it better to be above the 90% mark than the 50% mark?

From a school's perspective, low yield means the applicant will most likely NOT matriculate at said school even though accepted. For example, why would I go to low tier school when I can attend Harvard.

 

[Doug Underhill]

The rule on SDN is that you have to be above the 10th percentile to have a shot at the school.

Looking at MDApps, the low yield applicant thing is absolutely true, ESPECIALLY for schools that get a bajillion applications like Georgetown. They could send out all their acceptances to high-stat students, but if they did that, their acceptance rate would probably not be less than at capacity.

 

[ridethecliche]

No Doug, no!

 

[gyngyn]

For all of the schools I was looking at, my GPA was the same as or higher than their median. Also, I'm Canadian, so I think that makes me international.

There are a relatively small number of US MD schools that will accept applications from international applicants.
Of the 65 MD schools that do, most of them matriculate 0-2. In addition to aiming for schools where your MCAT and gpa are a bit higher than the median, try to focus on those that have matriculated more than a couple of regular MD internationals in the last year, not MD/PhD's.

 

[TurkDorian]

Thank you for the responses everybody!

 

[TurkDorian]

This is my list so far, what do you guys think?

My stats are:

3.80 cGPA
3.77 sGPA

30 MCAT (12/8/10) (PS/VR/BS) - I feel my VR score is really hurting me here.

• Around 100 hours of hospital volunteering
• Approximately 100 hours of volunteering at another clinic
• Varsity high school sports
• Intramural sports in university
• Been playing an instrument for around 10 years
• Exec position in a club
• and a few more

1. Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University

2. Central Michigan University College of Medicine

3. Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science

4. Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth --> Reach

5. George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences

6. Georgetown University School of Medicine

7. Medical College of Wisconsin

8. Michigan State University College of Human Medicine

9. New York Medical College

10. Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine

11. Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine

12. Saint Louis University School of Medicine

13. Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University

14. State University of New York Upstate Medical University

15. The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University

16. Tulane University School of Medicine

17. University of Colorado School of Medicine

18. University of Kentucky College of Medicine

19. University of Maryland School of Medicine

20. University of Minnesota Medical School

21. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine

22. University of Utah School of Medicine

23. Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine

24. Wayne State University School of Medicine

25. University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine

26. Case Western Reserve University (I know of a lot of Canadians with similar stats who have been accepted here)

 

[TurkDorian]

duplicate post

 

[gyngyn]

Looks good. Some obvious reaches (UNC!), but that's normal.

 

[Goro]

I suggest


1. Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University

2. Central Michigan University College of Medicine

3. Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science


7. Medical College of Wisconsin

9. New York Medical College

10. Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine

12. Saint Louis University School of Medicine

13. Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University

16. Tulane University School of Medicine

23. Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine

 

[TurkDorian]

Looks good. Some obvious reaches (UNC!), but that's normal.

Thank you!

I suggest


1. Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University

2. Central Michigan University College of Medicine

3. Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science


7. Medical College of Wisconsin

9. New York Medical College

10. Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine

12. Saint Louis University School of Medicine

13. Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University

16. Tulane University School of Medicine

23. Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine

Thanks