O.K. honestly....

[spyyder31]

I am really curious, what is the "range" of stats at schools like Harvard, Columbia, Stanford, etc? Myself, I did not apply to these schools (I'm not into throwing my money away) but I have done a lot of reading and although these schools boast their average matriculant stats to be outstanding, they also give mention to the fact that there is some variation. Well, my question is, how large is this variation, really? I mean, are there really students with close to 3.0s and average MCATS? I know that a great MCAT can help a meger GPA, and visa versa, but I was wondering if there are matriculants who got in to these types of programs with both low GPAs and..well lets be realistic... say 29-30 MCATS? In retrospect, I kinda wish that I had put in my app to these kinds of schools, just to see. But what the hey...I'm broke! Just a little meaningless curiosity

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[Nanon]

Actually, I heard something interesting about this lately. I note that your post says matriculated students, so this may not relate to what you're talking about. But, usually when a school reports their GPA and MCAT they're talking about accepted students. Most schools accept more students than will actually attend, and the average stats of accepted students are higher than matriculated students.

Now, you are talking about high-end schools, so I'm going to guess that, say, Harvard's matriculated vs. accepted stats are pretty similar. But, on the other hand, I also know that the "cut-off" for numbers at Harvard is a 3.0 and something like a 26 MCAT, according to literature I picked up last weekend. Of course, to be accepted with numbers like that, I figure you pretty much need to have opened a medical clinic in the Andes Mountains...

Personally, I will be applying to Harvard... I'm planning on framing the rejection letter!

Nanon

 

[spyyder31]

"Personally, I will be applying to Harvard... I'm planning on framing the rejection letter!"

You are right. I am sorry for the bad wording in the question. I really guess that the stats of real interest would be the "accepted" stats...or both really. What I am curios about also is the number of peope who get in (if any!) with lower stats and did not single handedly eradicate a disease in a 3rd world country I know a lot of people want to know ranges such as these, and I know that eralistically thesy mean nadda. Personally,I think some schools are embarassed to list the stats of some of their aceptees/matriculants.

 

[Samoa]

Originally posted by spyyder31
Personally,I think some schools are embarassed to list the stats of some of their aceptees/matriculants.

But they certainly aren't embarrassed to trumpet those same students achievements in their subsequent careers, are they? That's exactly why those kind of students get admitted--because the school knows that despite their stats, they will be successful and make a difference in their field, and their success will reflect positively on the school.

 

[uclachris]

That makes sense.

 

[Nanon]

scienceriot, exactly. I'd never thought about it that way, either, until someone pointed it out to me. But, in the end, especially when you're talking about top 10 schools, I think it's fair to assume that the stats for accepted students is relatively close to the stats for matriculated students. I mean, if you have a 3.8 and a 40 MCAT, and get accepted to Harvard, more than likely, you'll go to Harvard. But for other schools, I'm sure it helps improve their rankings somewhat.

Nanon

 

[pathdr2b]

I have a personal friend that finished Stanford with a 2.5 GPA (yes, you read it right) got a 36 on the MCAT, and today is an anesthesiologist (residency at Harvard). He went to UF and this was years ago. He was also a jock (football), his Dad is a well known neurologist and he is a URM, so I'm sure all of these factors helped too.