No they still matter.
I will give you an example that does not apply to any specific medical school but illustrates how the concept of evaluation is "mechanically" applied to the admission process. Also
@LizzyM "stair case" example is another way to think about it
Imagine that all parts of your application; stats, EC (grouped in classes by various medical schools) . Essays, Secondary, are read, reviewed, evaluated and broken down in essentially a scoring system that assigns a value for each part. While the criteria a reader is looking for in each part is different, they essentially boil down to classifications from Outstanding, Superior, Above Average, Average ,Below Average, subpar, unqualified. So score from 6 to 0. Academic metric may scored separately or together as combination of GPA, MCAT, grade trends, selectivity of institution, etc. or perhaps they do that separately. Lets say your GPA is scored above average (4) your MCAT was also above average so a 4, but they give you an additional point for upward grade trend and one for selective undergraduate school. So out of 12 points you get 10 for academic metric. Lets say your ECs have good patient contact hours/experience, community service, leadership, research so 5 out of 6. PS is well expressed, show motivation, commitment, desire, it gets 4. So out of 24 you get 19. Secondary may get say 10 of 12. so you now have 29 of 36, consider this number your interview priority and get interviewed first wave. You do only so-so with both interviewers and you get 4 by each of them, for 8 of 12. Often there will something will call "bonus points" (ie peace corp, veteran, prestigious fellowship) point max is 50.
So you have 37 out of 50 points. That is your priority/evaluation when the adcom does a final review. Each adcom member may not have read your application but they will now see your "sheet" which can referred to as cover sheet, summary, review, evaluation, scoring, which will include comments from all the reader, interviewers, evaluators. This is where then will refer to parts of the application in questions, comments from readers, interviewers and vote for acceptance or rejection. WL is not typically voted directly rather, but your score is now your acceptance priority. our of the few to several hundred accepted, acceptance may be first sent out to the highest 200 scores first with WL to the next set. If you have been accepted but have a lower score, you may get a WL initially.
So to answer the OPs question, everything still matters but obviously the ratio and balance changes and the scoring system is as much a priority for when you get reviewed for admissions as it is evaluation. The committee that votes will still be arguing subjective on the merits of the applicant. And unlike the myth that many students have, there is virtually no time when applicants are directly compared, nor are the individual pieces (such as GPA and MCAT) are compared.
I would also like to add that generally your GPA and MCAT are reviewed 3 times in 3 different ways (this is for those questions on those who have multiple MCAT scores). The initial review when your primary first shows up, usually takes the highest score, particularly for screened secondaries. Second when your academic metric is being looked over, here they are more likely to average. And finally at the final admissions review where it becomes more subjective about the candidate.
