I took a tour of NSU a couple weeks back and I was told by an admissions advisor that their new cutoff MCAT for 2010 is 27. I haven't heard of anything like this before or after - was she just misinformed? 27 sounds more like an average!
New NSU MCAT cutoff?
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really?? i hope that's not true. maybe you could email admissions and tell them what the tour guide told you and see what they say.
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AdemTD
I highly doubt it. They would be cutting a lot of people out of their prospective applicant pool by doing that.
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That was just a misunderstanding. A 27 would be their average, not their cut-off. Don't worry. 😉
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Yea, a 27 cutoff would be ridiculous for a lot of schools. I know many of the allopathic schools have a cutoff of 25 or 26, but that isn't even to interview that is just the acceptance cutoff.
I wouldn't be surprised if the average crept up to 29 or 30 in the not so distant future.
I wouldn't be surprised if the average crept up to 29 or 30 in the not so distant future.
I actually called and talked to the admissions. She basically said the cut-off IS at 27, which was determined by the average of last year's entering class. I told her I had a lower MCAT and she told me to retake.
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Why would one make the cutoff the equivalent of last year's admitted average? Do they really expect to make that large up of a jump of their incoming class standards? Not that I don't believe you, I just think that sounds crazy. Even though I would make that cut off, that would be worrisome if that was true because if you didn't admit anyone with below a 27, would their average jump up to 32 all of a sudden? Would they even have enough of an applicant pool to move their standards up that much is the other question?
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Yeah, it does sound ridiculous. It's the only thing that is keeping me from applying. But, unless I heard wrong, I remember her saying specifically a 27.
However, few others in this thread should call and get more consistency with this requirement and do us all a big favor. Speculation wastes precious application time 🙂
Either I'm re-assured that I'm right or I am wrong. I hope it is the latter.
However, few others in this thread should call and get more consistency with this requirement and do us all a big favor. Speculation wastes precious application time 🙂
Either I'm re-assured that I'm right or I am wrong. I hope it is the latter.
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AdemTD
There ARE other ways to make up for lower numbers without being URM.
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I guess there are other ways, but everybody has research, clinical experience, volunteering activites, blah, blah. Its hard to make up for low numbers.
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This thread scares me.
Your not the only one. I hope other schools don't raise it that high, I mean wow that's just intense.
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AdemTD
They'll get it when their entering class sizes are suddenly half as large.
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This seems so unlikely. Wouldn't making the cutoff a 27 mean that half of their accepted class last year would not have been accepted this year??? Seems crazy. Did they give you a score break down?? What if you have a 13, 12, 2 ?? Does that cut it?? I'm confused.
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Of course, to be competitive, or to feel more 'comfortable' with your chances, but remember SDN is a very skewed pool. I know this doesn't cover DO schools but just look at the AAMC's data on acceptances for gpa/mcat ranges, and its rather surprising - and you can get race/ethnicity specific data to rule out the URM status (for the most part, yes there are east-asian or white disadvantages students, I'm not denying that).
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There's no way that the cut-off is 27, I mean comon for a DO school? They'll loose a significant amount of money on secondary application fees alone.
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Wouldn't that make the school even more desirable and attract the better quality DO applicants? It already has a bunch of other positives, I'm sure a 125 student M1 class would be a huge plus for many.
I have no idea if the cutoff is actually 27, but it'd be pretty awesome if they ended up letting in the statistically superior applicants. Sure would add some perceived value to my degree. After all, I'm going there.
(SDN threads are rumor. Just apply if you want to go there.)
I do remember them saying at my interview in December that it was very competitive to get a seat for incoming class of '09. And like an above poster said, everyone has done the research, shadowing, volunteering, etc. So they need a way to set people apart. A higher MCAT cutoff would do just that. I know they would still get enough people to fill a 200 seat class.
Now that I've said that, I want to make it clear I don't agree its a good way to pick future docs. I got accepted to this years NSU class (turned down my seat), and w/ a 27 cutoff, would not have. More than half of what you here on SDN is rumor, exaggerated, or straight false. I don't know how many times I've asked questions on here, heard one thing, and then contacted the source directly and heard the total opposite.
Now that I've said that, I want to make it clear I don't agree its a good way to pick future docs. I got accepted to this years NSU class (turned down my seat), and w/ a 27 cutoff, would not have. More than half of what you here on SDN is rumor, exaggerated, or straight false. I don't know how many times I've asked questions on here, heard one thing, and then contacted the source directly and heard the total opposite.
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what was their cut-off before? also, don't worry too much because all schools will increase their score requirements as scores continue to improve but in the end, if you wanna be a doctor, you will become a doctor---where there's determination, there is always a way🙂
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AdemTD
How about unique life experiences? That also makes candidates stand out.
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AdemTD
Well the entering class of 2008 had an average MCAT of 26.4. I would assume the median would be right around that as well. To suddenly make the minimum acceptable score 0.6 points higher would eliminate roughly half their class and would eliminate a lot of revenue for them as well. Also, medical schools have been moving in the direction of expansion, not downsizing.
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That's what my argument is. I mean this is no disparaging way, as I'll be an AACOMAS applicant eventually, but with that applicant pool, they would not fill a 200 seat class for next year if half of the previous year's matriculated students would be ineligible for the following application year if they had applied in that application cycle. This isn't about quality of candidates, its about the math. I doubt they were rejecting the majority of people with 30+'s previously, so they would essentially be decreasing incoming class size which goes against the current trend of increasing class sizes to fill the demand of the projected PCP shortages in the US.
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i have to go over to the HPD building tomorrow to have them fill out a form so I'll stop by the office and ask. even though I still feel that they meant that 27 is the average and not the cutoff
I met with Linda in person and she said the 27 was a CUTOFF several times. I asked her to clarify and she confirmed it. We need to ask someone else.
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The University of Miami and Florida State Medical School doesn't even have a cut off that high. Albeit, you wont be extremely competitive with a 27 at those schools but I know a handful of people with a 27 or lower who attend there. Anyway, I think Linda may have misinterpreted her information because a 27 cutoff is highly unlikely. Apply anyway...
Agreed. Just apply, and see if they interview you. Then you'll know whether it's true or not. You won't be out that much money by adding them to your AACOMAS.
I just called and asked for someone else. Here's what I got... The average for 2009 was 27 and that's what they're looking to keep it at at least for 2010. It's a "starting" point she said for a competitive score for 2010. Hope this clears everything up. 👍
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scores aren't everything...nova is all about interview and they want to learn about teh whole applicant...so while a mcat score and gpa are important...other stuff is much more important and I love the school....planning on entering Fall 2011!!!!
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Good for NSU.
It's about time we raised the admission standards to some of these schools. A 27 is not exactly that hard to get, and won't get you into most schools. I think having a cut off above the national average will raise the quality of applicants, and raise the overall quality of the school, weeding out the MCAT of 19s-but I really love patients and volunteer at the vet clinic-gonna go family practice or die types.
It's about time we raised the admission standards to some of these schools. A 27 is not exactly that hard to get, and won't get you into most schools. I think having a cut off above the national average will raise the quality of applicants, and raise the overall quality of the school, weeding out the MCAT of 19s-but I really love patients and volunteer at the vet clinic-gonna go family practice or die types.
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While I am also agree to some extend that the trend of gradual inc in acceptance avg for whether in mcat or gpa does show that DO school are being known more - hence more students applied some perhaps with much better than eligible stats according to previous years (mark wise).
However, I seriously dislike that ppl tend to generalize the quality of a school base on the highest entrance gpa / mcat. Just because they only accept high mark students does not guarantee all students are high quality b/c every university is different. It also does not say much about a school's teaching or training quality base on how well students do on their mcat. Those criteria that make a school great just don't correlate a whole lot, albeit it does a little. But to assume a school is better base on student entrance marks, i think is very mistaken. 🙄
