New Club: 'Just Average' Applicants (JAAC)

[Irene Adler]

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Members don't see this ad.

Join the "Just Average" Applicants Club!

Eligible members must have:

1. MCAT score below 31, and no higher than 11 in each individual area

2. science GPA less than 3.8

3. does not have a PhD, a Pulitzer, or an Olympic gold medal in figure skating.

4. has not volunteered 200 hours a week, published in "Science", or found the cure for cancer.

5. Did not bother to apply to Harvard.

6. is working their butt off because they just want to be a doctor.


Sign up now!!!

 

[mackaikai]

CAN I JOIN?!! 😀

all of those apply to me ;o

8-6-2003 !!

 

[damntexan]

woooo wooooo!

average and proud!
see all of you in med school!

 

[Allygator89]

Okay. I know I start on Monday, but can I still join? I am soooo average, but still got in. I needed this club last year!!!! Congrats to all the average people out there!

 

[Irene Adler]

Allygator89

Congratulations on your entrance to medical school!!! We fellow JAACers are enormously proud and inspired by your success.

Tell us, how did you do it?

 

[voltron77]

what a great addition to the pre-md forum!!!! it goes to show you that there is a lot more to med school admissions than numbers (GPA and MCAT)!!!! Good luck everyone and don't get discouraged from others during the application cycle. Stay positive.

 

[Jonkst]

Alright, I broke one rule... Can I play anyway?

 

[Irene Adler]

Jonkst

What? You applied to Harvard? 😉

 

[ivyleague22ny]

Hey, I was totally your soooooooooo average
candidate (probably less than average, since it
seems like the average candidate at my undergrad
published a milliion articles, got the Rhodes, became the
Ministry of Health of a developing republic,
and was #1 in all their classes) and i'm starting
med school next week, so I totally have this
"can i trust the admission committee on selecting?"
complex.

any other fellow avg. applicants who got in for this
fall also feel this way?

 

[Irene Adler]

ivyleague22ny

Congratulations!!! How did you do it? Where will you be attending medical school?

 

[dmitrinyr]

I am totally average. I only have one question, can I try to break that 31 on MCAT rule. Still, I can say that I am so average in the numbers in my application.

 

[DrHuang]

Im in!

 

[AverageMan]

Can I get a provisional membership? I only exceeded the MCAT requirement by 1.

 

[Squat n Squeeze]

Can I join?

 

[Irene Adler]

Dear Applicant: AverageMan, dmitrinyr--

Thank you for submitting your application to the Just Average Applicant Club (JAAC). We've received many fine applicants for the few spots in our 2003 entering class, and were most impressed with their overall quality. Unfortunately, we have not selected your application for further review, as you have not completed all of the requirements for entry. We thank you for your application and wish you the best in your future endeavors.

Sincerely,

JAAC Applications Committee



sorry, but a 31 on the MCAT is a damn good score, and I am green with envy. Therefore, you do not qualify as being an "average" applicant. However, we may be able to make an exception, provided you remain appropriately humble about it. 🙂

By any chance, do you have a low science G.P.A.? 'Cause that would balance things out a bit and make me feel better. *g*

 

[dara678]

ayo302, i sent you a PM.

 

[MDmiracle]

Originally posted by Irene Adler
Dear Applicant: AverageMan, dmitrinyr--

Thank you for submitting your application to the Just Average Applicant Club (JAAC). We've received many fine applicants for the few spots in our 2003 entering class, and were most impressed with their overall quality. Unfortunately, we have not selected your application for further review, as you have not completed all of the requirements for entry. We thank you for your application and wish you the best in your future endeavors.

Sincerely,

JAAC Applications Committee

Oh my god that is freakin' hilarious. By the way what if I have an over average MCAT, but a below average GPA. Can I play, or is it like school when I didn't fit into any group. Wha... is that a violin I hear?😀

 

[Nanon]

Oh, I'm SO in this club... however, I do plan to apply to Harvard so I can frame the rejection letter. 😀

Nanon

 

[AverageMan]

Originally posted by Irene Adler

By any chance, do you have a low science G.P.A.? 'Cause that would balance things out a bit and make me feel better. *g*

I have a 3.7 science GPA with B's in both semesters of Organic Chemistry and lab. That's gotta make me competitively average 🙂

 

[momof2]

Most of ya'll still sound above average. If it is strictly average (or below) - I am in.

 

[thackl]

I like you guys better. Can I be an honorary member 🙁

 

[Ruby27]

I meet all the qualifications! Yay
Hopefully this is not the only thing that I will be admitted to this year😀

 

[cmudan]

I am so average its not even funny. Its scary to think that I'm going through all of this work filling out the amcas app with only a slight hope of getting in. Of course I have heard unusual success stories with people getting in with a 24 mcat or a 3.3 sgpa, but what are the chances that it will be me?

These are constant thoughts running through my head.

Tell me if you could sleep at night!! 😕

 

[sounddiver]

Can I get in??????????????

So.......What happens next? Do we just keep posting to this thread with any application successes?

 

[....]

Can I join I have a 35 MCAT and a 3.35 SGPA.....I think those balance!

 

[ivyleague22ny]

hey guys,
the secret to getting in as an "average applicant" (as in numbers)
is to

1. make your AMCAS essay stand out
2. get awesome recommendations
3. stand out in your secondaries
4. ace the interview

For any setbacks, don't make excuses, but rather use that experience as a catalyst to your drive for success.

good luck!

 

[Enkindu]

Originally posted by hightrump
Can I join I have a 35 MCAT and a 3.35 SGPA.....I think those balance!

How about a 38 and a 3.15?

 

[cmudan]

Wow Mattorama, I am VERY impressed with your entry. I could not agree with you more. I get sick when people are just trying to outdue each other when what actually should matter is if you are happy. I think some people confuse their own happiness with other things that don't really make them happy.

I share in all of your views on averagism and have to say WOW to great post.

What stage are you at in the journey to med school?

Dan

 

[mattorama]

Dan,

Thanks. 🙂

Right now I am waiting on AMCAS to finally verify my primary (I submitted five weeks ago and have been active for the past 3 weeks). Are you applying now? Best of luck

 

[cmudan]

5 weeks????

That's not what I want to hear. I am just now finishing up my primary hopefully sending it in next week. I am having some trouble writing summaries for post secondary experiences, any advice?

 

[mattorama]

Dan

The post secondary experience summaries were the hardest for me too. Some of mine were only a two sentence summary. For the more important ones you might want to add a few sentences about why the experience was valuable. Sorry I don't have much beyond that. Just make sure you send in your transcripts TODAY if you haven't already done so. It took them two weeks to acknowledge having mine, so that might speed things up at least a little bit. I am still trying to figure out if my not being verified yet/getting secondaries is really a big deal. It seems like the average SDNer had theirs sent in in early June, but I don't know about the average applicant. We may still be ahead of the game.

 

[Lys726]

Count me in...I am so average ...however, I hope to break the 31 MCAT next week!!

 

[Paws]

I'd like to join, I was feeling a little lonely out there by myself in the midsts of 35's, 3.68's and "I just got published ..." 🙁

I have worked my little butt off and left my job to go to school full-time and do some research projects and volunteer. Lots of sacrifices and hard work, and now I am debating if I should use my rent money to send out these four secondaries ... so I am a POOR candidate as well. (Maybe we should also start a "How Poor are you Thread ... ?")

I would like to hang with you guys during this year as we get beaten by the gales and vicissitudes of application year ...

 

[mattorama]

🙂 welcome 🙂

 

[mattorama]

Okay...I am starting to feel like I have been sucked into SDN. I have a final tomorrow morning (gross anatomy), yet I have been sitting here browsing SDN for the last several hours. Yikes! I may just have to ditch the computer when I (hopefully) go to med school.

 

[exmike]

i violated one rule (the mcat) but my gpa is welllllllllllllllll below so I think it balances out.

Actually i dont think i qualify for JAAC because im a BELOW average applicant given my GPA. Can i still join?

 

[Irene Adler]

Fellow JAACers

There have been several requests to either raise the MCAT score possible to be eligible for JAAC, or to allow a below-average science GPA balance out an MCAT greater than 30.

As President and Founder of JAAC, I'm open to the suggestion, provided someone smarter than me can come up with a decent algorithm/formula to determine eligibility for JAAC. How low a science GPA is needed to balance out how high an MCAT score and still make one eligible for JAAC?

And as folks pass through the application process, I hope you continue to update everyone on your progress. I'm still in line waiting for my AMCAS application to be verified, and I got a secondary from NYMC, but jeez, $100?

And I agree with a lot of what mattorama said--I just want to be an average doctor living in a nice town, where I have an outstanding relationship with my patients and an above-average husband. Maybe mattorama and I should meet. 😉

Lys726--good luck next week!!! You can do it!!

Paws--welcome to the club. We are kindred spirits. I returned to school after three years, but had to attend grad school to get a teaching license so I could afford to pay for the pre-req classes, which I attend at night while working full time. I have very average stats, if you include my undergrad science scores.

Welcome to--Slickness, Paws, cmudan, sounddiver, momof2, thackl, Ruby27!!! Congratulations on your admittance to JAAC!

Our motto? "MS1 or Bust!"

😀 Slogan Contest: Come up with a better motto for JAAC than the pathetic one I mentioned above. 😀

Notice to all applicant who do not fit the listed requirements due to (unfortunately) outstanding MCAT scores or high GPA's) I am willing to permit you to submit a secondary application if you can answer the following questions:

Why you should be admitted to JAAC? What qualifications do you possess that exemplify a member of JAAC?

You are limited to 5300 characters. If you go over 5300 characters, an error message will appear. 😉

 

[thackl]

Thanks for letting me in. I do have a 3.85/32 (bad day). I'm not good enough to hang with the "sat/mcat correlation" (SMC) crowd (not that I want to). I want to be in your club, and just to prove it, I won't take my o-chem2 final next week which means I will get a "C".

Will this be enough to show my loyalty?

 

[Irene Adler]

thackl--No, no, no--don't skip your exam. Just tell us what makes you an 'average' applicant, and try not to remind us too often of your outstanding numbers😀

What? you aren't eligible for JAAC? We must launch an investigation!!! (knew we should have required certification before the transmission of your application) Can you give us three references that can verify your eligibility to join? 😛

Why the bad day? More importantly, why would anyone with a 3.85 and a 32 MCAT even HAVE a bad day?

 

[Nanon]

Originally posted by Irene Adler
Fellow JAACers


Lys726--good luck next week!!! You can do it!!

Paws--welcome to the club. We are kindred spirits. I returned to school after three years, but had to attend grad school to get a teaching license so I could afford to pay for the pre-req classes, which I attend at night while working full time. I have very average stats, if you include my undergrad science scores.

Welcome to--Slickness, Paws, cmudan, sounddiver, momof2, thackl, Ruby27!!! Congratulations on your admittance to JAAC!

😕 🙁

I really, really am average enouph for JAAC: Lessee, below average gpa, some volunteer work (because I actually really like it and it keeps me sane), applying to mostly low and middle end schools next year (Harvard aside, no hope of ending up there, just for the giggles), no insane research (I work for a public health study for the cash and because I actually like being there), and to top it off, I'm a boring, happily married non-traditional! Must I beg? PLEASE let me into JAAC! I fully embrace your principles! 😀

Nanon

 

[bpit]

Finally some people that want to become doctors to treat people not just look good. I came back to school 2 years ago with a three month old daughter and a fulltime job. I wanted to become a doctor because of the ability it provided to tend to the most basic human need of health, not to make money. The stress the career change has put on me and my family is only worth it because of the alturistic side of medicine, and not the percieved notion that some people have that it makes you somehow better than your fellow man. I like this club. I hope you will let me in although my mcat score is just barley high.

 

[Lux Aeterna]

Wooo I wanna join!! I got nauseous reading that SAT/MCAT thread. 🙄 I have a 33T MCAT but a 3.4 (lol..that's rounded up 😉 ) science gpa (2.38 freshman science gpa 😱 ) I hope we can keep each other updated on the app process! Good luck !! 🙂

 

[Irene Adler]

Lux: you got a T on your writing sample? There's nothing average about that. WOW.

I guess we'll have to provisionally raise the MCAT limit to 33. Anybody with an MCAT under 34 is eligible to join JAAC on a probationary basis. But that's it. NO MORE!


Congratulations to our probationary JAACers:

Lux Aeterna, exmike, thackl, Enkindu, Jonkst, dmitrinyr, AverageMan, MDmiracle, hightrump, bpit



And congratulations to our official JAAC members--post your membership number in your signature with pride!

#1 Irene Adler--President and Founder
#2 mackaikai
#3 damntexan
#4 Allygator89 (honorary member and MS1)
#5 voltron77
#6 ivyleague22ny (honorary member and MS1)
#7 gintien
#8 ayo302
#9 Nanon
#10 momof2
#11 Ruby27
#12 cmudan
#13 sounddiver
#14 mattorama
#15 Lys726 (provided her MCAT scores are average--GO Lys726!)
#16 Paws
#17 Slickness

"Working Our Butts Off And Still Stuck In The Lower 65th Percentile"

Be Proud!



--Irene Adler---JAAC Member #1 President and Founder

 

[AverageMan]

Wooo, probationary membership. :::sniff::: This is the most average day in my entire life 🙂

5300 character essay? Doh!! I'll put in the ever growing pile of essays I have to do 😀

 

[farrago]

Originally posted by bpit
Finally some people that want to become doctors to treat people not just look good. I came back to school 2 years ago with a three month old daughter and a fulltime job. I wanted to become a doctor because of the ability it provided to tend to the most basic human need of health, not to make money. The stress the career change has put on me and my family is only worth it because of the alturistic side of medicine, and not the percieved notion that some people have that it makes you somehow better than your fellow man. I like this club. I hope you will let me in although my mcat score is just barley high.

Yeah, keep telling yourself that academic mediocrity and, gosh darnit, just wanting to be a doctor to "help people", is treading on some kind of Noble Path, while pursuing your interests, and excelling academically, is only for those obnoxious, evil people that are wastes of a spot in medical school. 🙄

Some people are competitive. Big deal. It's the competitive, driven people that usually get things done. There is nothing shameful in wanting to be the best, and there is nothing wrong with sharing your ambitions with people who will appreciate them.

 

[premyo2002]

I would like to join; however I have not yet taken the mcat. If I promise to share my score could I have a conditional acceptance? I would really hate being on probation; lets just say bad memories...

I am so average- it seams like it's the only thing I'm really good at... I've always felt like the king of mediocrity, even in this club I feel average- So does that make me above average in being average?

😕 😕 😕 😕

 

[AvgApplcnt]

Hi all,

Given that my name is Avg Applcnt I think I should be member #17. I don't meet all of the requirements but my 2 quarters of straight C's are pretty solid. Not only did I not apply to harvard, I looked up the top 15 schools and crossed them off the list. Enough schools want my money to send a rejection. I don't think people with 3.6 Sci GPAs should be allowed in JAAC, unless they have <25 on the MCATs. I want to be an average applicant, but with some JAACers I still feel below average 🙁
The dude who said he wants to be an average doc who knows his patients well was damn right. I don't want no nobel prize, building named after me, or even the foremost expert in my field. I just want people who trust me and bring their kids to see me when the kid's got a soar throat.

 

[AvgApplcnt]

Originally posted by hightrump
Id like to correlate my foot and your a$$

Even though High Trump has a 35 and 3.35 Sci GPA which makes me feel below average even in the club, since the above quote is about Squat and Squeeze, he deserves to be Honorary Vice-President.
Who votes for this? as long as the real pres doesn't care

 

[mattorama]

Originally posted by farrago
Yeah, keep telling yourself that academic mediocrity and, gosh darnit, just wanting to be a doctor to "help people", is treading on some kind of Noble Path, while pursuing your interests, and excelling academically, is only for those obnoxious, evil people that are wastes of a spot in medical school. 🙄

Some people are competitive. Big deal. It's the competitive, driven people that usually get things done. There is nothing shameful in wanting to be the best, and there is nothing wrong with sharing your ambitions with people who will appreciate them.

Coming to the defense of a fellow JAAC member....

I think you have missed the whole point of JAAC. It is not about academic mediocrity. It is about being an academically (and psychologically) "average" applicant to medical school. Big difference Farrago. Overall I would say there is a very tight distribution of talent/academic ability among pre-meds (and all the more among med students in general). Being among the average of a group like that is far from academic mediocrity. I could administer IQ tests to a group of Nobel laureates in physics and some of them will be "average" among Nobel laureates. Does this make them mediocre?

I think it is great that there are people who are super hardcore die-hard pre-meds/medical students/residents. However, you need to realize that not everyone aspires to be neurosurgeons/CT surgeons/cardiologists/derms (I still don't understand why it is so competitive...). I am glad that there are people who really want to get into that kind of stuff (especially if I ever need a heart transplant or brain tumor removed...). A lot of pre-meds don't give a rip about the ultra-competitive med schools/specialties/etc..(no matter what their academic abilities....my FP graduated from his undergrad in 3 years (chemistry), graduated at the top of his med school class, honored everything he did, and what do you know...wasn't interested in the "glory" stuff. He has had his solo practice for around 25 years with a patient base whom he loves/loves him). SDN tends to attract those diehard type of people who just want to be at the "top" no matter what. More power to them/you, just realize that not everyone has the same ambitions. JAAC is for the rest of the applicants who tend to be underrepresented on SDN and who want to share with like-minded people.

There is nothing shameful in wanting to put other things above medicine (yet still be a highly competent physician), and there is nothing wrong with sharing these ambitions with people who will appreciate them.

 

[momof2]

I still think above 3.5 and/or 31 should be excluded....they have way more advantages in the applications process even though we all know it's the whole package that counts.