School list strategy with unbalanced stats?

[Hendeaux]

Hey folks,

I wanted to ask for advice when making a school list. I graduated in 2010 and worked for four years in political campaigns before returning to school for the post bac. Here are some stats:

uGPA: 3.34 (English major) Post bac: 4.0 cGPA: 3.54 sGPA: 3.79 MCAT: 524

What I'm seeing is that at many schools where my sGPA and MCAT is around the median, my cGPA is below the 10th percentile. At schools where my cGPA is closer to the median, my MCAT is well above the 90th percentile.

I'm still working on putting a list together, but I'm wondering if anyone has general advice for a strategy with this type of profile? I think it's tempting to think about this as if the post bac/MCAT is the only thing that counts because it's most recent, but I don't believe that's totally realistic.

Thanks in advance!

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[esob]

Do you have some viable reason to explain the discrepancy between the MCAT/Postbac cumulative and the undergrad and sGPA? I think the consensus is generally that you can't "get lucky" on the MCAT like you can on tests like the LSAT. You're high MCAT coupled with a low sGPA would normally suggest either you had some event(s) that destructed your GPA (death of a family member, etc during school) or that you are overly intelligent but not a hard worker (which bodes poorly for medicine).

 

[Hendeaux]

Do you have some viable reason to explain the discrepancy between the MCAT/Postbac cumulative and the undergrad and sGPA? I think the consensus is generally that you can't "get lucky" on the MCAT like you can on tests like the LSAT. You're high MCAT coupled with a low sGPA would normally suggest either you had some event(s) that destructed your GPA (death of a family member, etc during school) or that you are overly intelligent but not a hard worker (which bodes poorly for medicine).

Thanks. Just to clarify, I think it's the formatting that isn't clear. Stats are:

uGPA: 3.34 (English major)
Post bac: 4.0
cGPA: 3.54
sGPA: 3.79
MCAT: 524

So basically I had A's and B's primarily in college with a few legit blemishes, worked for four years, and then did a post bac (4.0) and MCAT 524. This leaves my cGPA relatively low.

EDIT: I guess the narrative really is that I was kind of an unfocused/inconsistent student in undergrad, and a few years of working and deciding to pursue medicine has made me into a very focused, consistent student.

 

[esob]

I see now. Was your UG school on a plus/minus system? That would work in your favor if your GPA is the result of grades that would have otherwise been counted higher in a non-plus/minus system. Are the grades dragging it down grouped? I know they were in undergrad but were they for example all in one year, or scattered?

 

[Law2Doc]

Hey folks,

I wanted to ask for advice when making a school list. I graduated in 2010 and worked for four years in political campaigns before returning to school for the post bac. Here are some stats:

uGPA: 3.34 (English major) Post bac: 4.0 cGPA: 3.54 sGPA: 3.79 MCAT: 524

What I'm seeing is that at many schools where my sGPA and MCAT is around the median, my cGPA is below the 10th percentile. At schools where my cGPA is closer to the median, my MCAT is well above the 90th percentile.

I'm still working on putting a list together, but I'm wondering if anyone has general advice for a strategy with this type of profile? I think it's tempting to think about this as if the post bac/MCAT is the only thing that counts because it's most recent, but I don't believe that's totally realistic.

Thanks in advance!

Bear in mind that it's not all about the numbers and I've seen people get into great places and no places with exactly your numbers. A lot of it is about the schools perspective of "good fit". So apply widely and broadly. Take a few (1-3) long shots, but have most of your applications centered around those where your cGPA is average. Bear in mind that pretty much all US allo schools are going to be adequate launching pads for any specialty so in the greater scheme getting in matters a bit more than whether you maxed out on your competitiveness.

 

[Hendeaux]

OK -- these are helpful thoughts. Thank you.

 

[brochacho123]

Do you have clinical experience/shadowing? This is particularly important for career-changers.

If you are from a friendly state and have the above covered, you can afford to apply to a couple of reach schools. Duke, Pritzker, Case, and UCSF are schools that come to mind

 

[Hendeaux]

Do you have clinical experience/shadowing? This is particularly important for career-changers.

If you are from a friendly state and have the above covered, you can afford to apply to a couple of reach schools. Duke, Pritzker, Case, and UCSF are schools that come to mind

Thanks for the thoughts. I'm from Virginia, and I have a fairly balanced EC list. I have worked in a clinical setting and have shadowing experience. In total, probably ~500-600hrs. I have some volunteering research experience but no publications, as the position was primarily EMR data extraction.


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[brochacho123]

Make sure to apply to UVA, EVMS, Virginia Commonwealth, and Virginia Tech. You have a decent chance at an interview from one of these schools. You also have a chance of getting some traction from some top 20 schools, like those mentioned above. Make sure you apply broadly.

 

[starspells]

These are not unbalanced stats. You will be fine for just about everywhere. Maybe the few schools that have a 10th percentile of 3.6 for accepted students might take issue with the cumulative GPA but those are just a handful of schools. I wouldn't be surprised if you got into some of them though.