questions about gpa/mcat screening

[chloroform2009]

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Some questions I need answered in regards to medical schools that screen applicants:

1) What is the most common range of gpa and/or MCAT cutoff scores?

2) Which gpa do these schools screen for? Is it just BCPM? Or is it both BCPM and the overall?

 

[Mattabet]

This stuff varies a lot from school to school; you're not going to find good data on it, for a few reasons:

• Adcoms want to stay nimble, any of this can change from year to year
• Institutions want money from people who don't make their cutoff, so it's not in their best interest to scare them off
• Very few of these cutoffs are absolute. I'm sure exceptions are made (again, depending on variant policies)
• The people who end up admitted generally do better than to just meet the minimum numbers

All you can do is max your numbers anyway, right? Try the 'what are my chances' forum if you want to get an idea of where you stand.

 

[apumic]

You could, however, check the *average* scores for last year's accepted applicants. You're not going to get much that way in terms individual schools but you should really be shooting high anyway. Average MCAT scores of admitted students to US allopathic schools generally seem to hover somewhere around 30-31 composite (w/ a min. of probably 8-9 in each section as unbalanced scores don't tend to look good). Average cumulative GPA scores hover in the 3.6-3.7 range (with science GPA being a little lower, at around 3.5-3.6). It should be remembered that while you probably have a good chance if your MCAT and GPA are "average" for a matriculating student, students have been rejected even with excellent objective scores. A 4.0/38S may just about guarantee you an interview at just about any school to which you apply (assuming your PS and LORs weren't awful), but a poor interview could ruin the chances of even such an objectively "perfect" applicant. The package is what matters, so make sure you go far above any imaginary cut-offs people say a school has.

 

[nontrdgsbuiucmd]

Can't comment on GPA cutoffs (I was OK in this area) but in my experience, MCAT section score cutoffs are widely used when schools decide who to automatically exclude from interviews. Very few schools had cutoffs for issuing secondary applications; typically schools would accept a secondary (and the associated fee) and then inform the applicant that they would not be offered an interview.

I learned more about this (that many schools have automatic interview cutoffs/thresholds) through requesting informational interviews at every school that turned me down. The required minimums of the 15-20 mid-tier schools I'd spoken with originally a few cycles ago were mostly 8s, although a few schools had 9 minimum score for any MCAT section, one school said they had 10 minimums, although I know that school (a public school, this threshold was for non-instate candidates) made exceptions if you were close.

 

[camaras2480]

Some questions I need answered in regards to medical schools that screen applicants:

1) What is the most common range of gpa and/or MCAT cutoff scores?

2) Which gpa do these schools screen for? Is it just BCPM? Or is it both BCPM and the overall?

1. Buy the MSAR book. It will give you all the average GPAs and MCATs of last year's entering class (of each school). On average, the GPA tends to be 3.7 (both cGPA and sGPA), and the MCAT tends to be about 30-31.

2. GPA screening is almost never publicized. There are, however, several schools that will automatically reject GPAs below 2.8, and there are some that will throw out applicants below 3.0. MCAT cutoffs are generally at 8, as someone before me said. 7s are rarely accepted.

The above refers to allopathic medical schools in the US only.

 

[zerial]

1. Buy the MSAR book. It will give you all the average GPAs and MCATs of last year's entering class (of each school). On average, the GPA tends to be 3.7 (both cGPA and sGPA), and the MCAT tends to be about 30-31.

2. GPA screening is almost never publicized. There are, however, several schools that will automatically reject GPAs below 2.8, and there are some that will throw out applicants below 3.0. MCAT cutoffs are generally at 8, as someone before me said. 7s are rarely accepted.

The above refers to allopathic medical schools in the US only.

What other useful information does the MSAR offer besides average gpa/mcat? Is it worth buying for other things?

 

[camaras2480]

What other useful information does the MSAR offer besides average gpa/mcat? Is it worth buying for other things?

MSAR also reports the number of total applicants, number of applicants from in state, number of applicants from out of state. Also, they report same set of data for number of interviews, and number of matriculants (total, in state, out of state).

The show a range of MCAT scores accepted, not just the average. The GPA range is not shown.

The breakdown of ethnic backgrounds of the matriculated students is also reported.

Then there is just some general information (that is already available online) for each school, including deadlines, secondary fees, and contact information.

 

[LAman10]

At what LizzyM score would you say one is "safe" from being screened out? And at what point would you say one is pretty much gonna get an interview at (most) every school?

 

[swamprat]

1. Buy the MSAR book. It will give you all the average GPAs and MCATs of last year's entering class (of each school). On average, the GPA tends to be 3.7 (both cGPA and sGPA), and the MCAT tends to be about 30-31.

2. GPA screening is almost never publicized. There are, however, several schools that will automatically reject GPAs below 2.8, and there are some that will throw out applicants below 3.0. MCAT cutoffs are generally at 8, as someone before me said. 7s are rarely accepted.

The above refers to allopathic medical schools in the US only.

It's actually the median scores for each school. **

 

[TurkSurg]

what is the gpa screening for top schools, 3.8? 😀

 

[futuredoctor10]

^Yes, I would like to know if anyone has information about top schools and what their GPA/MCAT minimums are when screening for interviews (if they screen).

I do know people with ranges of GPA/MCAT who have interviewed at top schools so I am guessing there is no strict cutoff?

 

[witness23]

At what LizzyM score would you say one is "safe" from being screened out? And at what point would you say one is pretty much gonna get an interview at (most) every school?

to answer your second question, i would say nothing is "guaranteed". mdapps is an easy source of examples

 

[camaras2480]

It's actually the median scores for each school. **

Good call, thanks**

 

[camaras2480]

^Yes, I would like to know if anyone has information about top schools and what their GPA/MCAT minimums are when screening for interviews (if they screen).

I do know people with ranges of GPA/MCAT who have interviewed at top schools so I am guessing there is no strict cutoff?

Some may employ the 3.0 undergrad GPA cutoff. That's all I have heard.

 

[LizzyM]

^Yes, I would like to know if anyone has information about top schools and what their GPA/MCAT minimums are when screening for interviews (if they screen).

I do know people with ranges of GPA/MCAT who have interviewed at top schools so I am guessing there is no strict cutoff?

Correct. Some schools may shunt applications below a cut-off to a separate review group that looks at the entire application so as not to miss out on exceptional applicants who had a catastrophic event that affected gpa/MCAT. It may be highly unlikely to get an interview (1 per 100 rather than 15 per 100) but it isn't impossible.