Schools with emphasis on the numbers

[GoatBoy]

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I am wondering which schools are the ones that place a great emphasis on your GPA and MCAT and less on extracurricular activities?
I know all schools place emphasis on numbers but I'm sure that there are some schools out there that care more about numbers than other schools. In other words which schools can you get into without exceptional extracurricular activities and also without a 4.0?

 

[synite]

Wash U comes to mind....

 

[BlackPuma]

university of pittsburgh comes to mind

 

[GoatBoy]

How about schools like Tufts or Temple?

Thanks for the help keep posting if there are others(possibly any lower tier schools as well).

 

[Georgey]

Most Texas schools rank applicants by GPAs and MCATs. But I noticed you are from New York so that probably does not apply to you. In your neck of the woods, I would say it seems like Rochester, Columbia, NYU, Einstein, and Cornell are very number conscious. I think that lower tier schools for the most part are going to rely on numbers less than they are softer criteria like extra currics, essays, etc.

 

[jdub]

hey,

i would take a look at the msar book. unfortunately not all the schools list their stats, but if you look through there, you will see that some school averages are really high, like the average student has a 33/34 mcat and a gpa of 3.7 or something like that. i think it is fairly safe to assume that those type of schools place more emphasis on peoples numbers.

 

[tonem]

Actually Pitt puts a huge emphasis on extracurriculars.

 

[BlackPuma]

ur mistaken if you think pitts does that

This year, they gave out interview invitation to everyone above a 35 on MCAT and 3.75 gpa and above without even having the secondary!

I know at least 15 pple who got interviews WITHOUT sending their secondaries....makes the school look EXTREMELY Stupid and a wrong PR move! I know a lot of pple who decided against filling out their secondaries. Although I have VERY good stats, I don't want to be in a class with students who just got numbers and nothing else going for them...

I called AMCAS the next day and withdrew pitts as a designated school. Of course, I also know 20 other pple and they also did the same 😀

 

[tonem]

The reason Pitt is going with numbers at this point is because they don't have anything else to go on. Normally by this time they have thousands of COMPLETE applications to review instead of the 400 or so partial ones they have received from AMCAS so far. I'm sorry to hear you withdrew from consideration...Pitt's classes are extremely diverse and well-rounded. In fact they take great pride in the fact that they look beyond the numbers. If you don't believe me check out interviewfeedback.com, most of the posters on that website are extremely impressed by the "laid-back", "well-rounded", "normal" etc...students they meet when they come to Pittsburgh to interview. Anyway, good luck in the application process...I know this year is a mess and I don't envy anybody applying in this cycle.

 

[BlackPuma]

its obvious that your from pittsburgh and y ou have taken a "defensive" position.

Listen, pitts doesnt have anything to go by, and neither do the other 120 schools. IT HAS done itself a great deal amount of wrong, when it sent out interview invites to applicants who did not even complete their secondary application! ALL the other schools in question, at least waited for their respective secondaries!

That STILL places Pitts at a very BAD light. I have very strong statistics 33 MCAT gpa 3.8. Plenty of extracurricular and research, but I don't want to be in a class of pple who are orientated at breaking every curve, having >3.8 gpa and > 36 on the MCAT. I don't want to spend the rest of my 4 years, with students of that nature..

(ppl who received those kind of scores, please dont take offense. I am not singling out YOU in particular (the reader). You may or may not be well rounded)

But in general, students of that KIND 40 on MCAT and 4.0 GPA...RARELY have anything else going for them. YES I know 7 pple who are like that and are replying again this year.....

at this point, I have absolutely no interest in Pitts whatsoever, withdrew my application and made sure everyone else on campus became aware of it.

Sending a letter to a student saying

"We saw your record, and as such I persuaded the admissions committee to give you an interview" PLACES pitts in a huge negative light....to the point that one wonders if that is the only thing they care about...

at least all the other ivy league schools like john hopkins and colubmia still place an emphasis on research, volunteer work, and extracurricular events...

I want to be in a class with people for the next four years, and not numbers....

So please lets this conversation end there....I have no concern on whether or not you think your school is good or not....to me it played the numbers game and I am not interested.....take care

 

[tonem]

You've obviously made up your mind. Like I said before, I'm sorry you feel that way. Good luck.

 

[brhill]

Can we say, "get your bowels in an uproar"? 😱

 

[6 to 8 Weeks]

I know the interview invites are quite important, but just because they got interview invites doesn't mean that they will get in, even with their high numbers. According to MSAR, pitt invterviews about 800 and takes about 80 of those (out of state) so thats 720 gone. I doubt that they look at your application that closely for interview invites anyways because the criteria is so much looser. I love the humane focus at Pitt, and I would trust that they would continue their mission to produce well-rounded physicians despite the AMCAS troubles.

 

[coop]

whatchamacalit,
i am another pitt applicant with no ties to the school, and no reason to defend it other than what I have heard from interviewfeedback.com, brochures from the school, and advice from my premed advisors.

Clearly pitt sent out interviews to people with high numbers early, but pitt interviews about 1100 people, and I'd guess they've sent out at most 100 of those invites. At a point in this year's messed up process when most schools decided to sit back and wait for more info, pitt decided to start interviewing early. They still have tons of time to interview based on other factors, but if they can get some out of the way at the start, then why shouldn't they?

Lets face the facts, most people with those kind of stats get an interview almost everywhere they apply. This is even more true at schools outside the very, very top hopkins/harvard league. Giving an interview is not the same as an acceptance, pitt is not obligated to take any of these high # people (and if they are all numbers-only losers, they will not get in).

I have gotten the impression that pitt has a very coherent and forthcoming philosophy, about putting people first, and treating patients and med students like people (promoting their diversity of backgrounds and interests). Pitt remains a top school by also selecting intelligent people, and to say they don't rely on numbers would be silly. I think that you jumped to a conclusion without enough evidence.

 

[BlackPuma]

oh coop...

If I remember correctly, you got an interview offer from Pitts before you finished your secondary? how about letters of rec, or is that also not important 😀

What the heck, why did they bother even looking at your biography...they should have just asked the pple at MCAT to give them the highest scorers of they ear 2001

and please dont make up statistics...PITS (spelling on purpose) interviews 13% of out of state applicants (3,340) in the year 2000 which is around 400 pple. NOT 1100. They have already sent out invitation to around at LEAST 100 pple...that is 1/4 of their class...kind of goes against that philosophy of one of the faculty in their brochures....

"I once interviewed a guy with all A+ and a 38 on the MCAT, but we rejected him cuz he wouldnt talk...no personality"

no interviews are not a guarantee, but its closer than pple who haven't heard anything....

But, I want to thank you for your "unbiased" opinion.....I am sure the fact that you have a interview there has no bearing on the "well roundedness of the school" lol sigh 🙄 I am sure you will fit perfectly fine in that school with their respective mentality of "good physicians"....hehehe

just so you know, I have received an offer to interview in Columbia...so its not like I am jealous or anything from pple who got interview at PITS, of course, the pple at Columbia not only looked at my grades, but read my letters, and ACTUALLY read my secondary too...gosh now that is a scary thought...I mean why invest all that time when according to Pits, we can send out interview letters, without even knowing a single thing about you, other than your grade and gpa....

Come on now, you think we are all stupid...20 of MY friends, through my persistance also removed Pits from their designated school and the school hsa only tarnished its own image by its own actions....I have seen one of those letters "I decided to recommend you to our advisory committee without you having to turn in a secondary" and I can assure you a copy of that letter will reach another 40 or so students....

The school creates a false image of itself, and as such its going to face a backlash for pple who feel it is an extreme misrepresentation on its stand of hiring "well rounded" doctors. There is NOTHING wrong with chosing applicants with high gpa and mcat, but dont spread baseless propaganda that your school emphasizes extracurricular stuff when it is one of the ONLY schools to send out interviews with no secondaries and no letters of rec...

oh and by the way coop, I am sure your "no ties" to pits and the fact that you have an interview has no bearing on the fact that you think it is a "wonderful school"...Of course we can all come to that conclusion by not visiting the school either....what exactly made you come to that conclusion when you have not talked to any faculty or visited the campus?

thanks for your unbiased opinion 😉 the school reaks of hypocrisy

 

[BlackPuma]

I just read this in interviewfeedback.com

Everyone has been bashing the Dean because he supposedly said they would get in and then they didn't. He didn't tell me any of that and I DID GET ACCEPTED last tuesday (Feb 27). This is my first choice and I can't wait to go in the fall. So when you go to interview don't try to get any feeling from what some one tells you, just believe in yourself and give them your best.

hmmm how funny...I guess the pple at Pits have a reputation of saying something and doing something else lol 😉 oh well, glad I am no longer part of their applicant pool...

 

[BlackPuma]

more research for Pits and I found these quoates on interviewfeedback.com

if you dont believe me, go look them up yourself...

"Some advice:
Stay with a student. My hosts were awesome. They were sociable, normal, and cool. My interview experience was great, and I'm a bit disappointed that I got rejected last week. Perhaps they give preference to Pennsylvania residents (I'm from NY). Be careful about the 5 minute meeting with the Dean. I found him to be phony and was put off with him slightly. Be ready with questions. Maybe he's the reason I got rejected. Who knows?"


and here is another one...

Gosh these are so hilarious!

"Anonymous remark by an applicant submitted on 4 Mar 2001 (10:19 PM).
My interview with the dean went extremely well. He basically kissed my ass for 15 minutes, thanking me for coming and so on. This was my first interview (back in september) and I was totally shocked. I didn't even know what to say. He actually offered me an acceptance on the spot, with the stipulation that I withdraw from EVERY other school I applied to (I said no, then he said "well, I'm not actually supposed to do that.") He also asked how many and which schools I applied to, and rated them against Pitt. I actually thought he was really cool, but that's probably just because of how nice he was with me. I don't come from a big name school, and my MCAT's weren't astronomical or anything, so I still don't really know why he liked me so much (he sent me a letter last July giving me an interview before I had even submitted my secondary!) Anyway, I was accepted last week but I'm going to withdraw. Good luck."

wow, I guess then we can all come to the conclusion that this isnt the only year PITS has given interviews without reviewing secondaries....LOOOOL this is a riot.... 😉

 

[GoatBoy]

I have come to the conclusion that Pitt places a large emphasis on your numbers, how about any other schools.

 

[StitchEM]

Eastern Virginia Med School emp. the Science GPA then the MCAT then cum. GPA in that order, everything else follows. It's only considered "lower tier" b/c its young (1973 or76) but its working hard to increse its prestige.

 

[coop]

whatchamacalit,
your biggest backlash seemed to be against me saying that pitt was a "wonderful school" which you quoted me on, despite the fact that I never said anything like that. The closest I came was "I have gotten the impression that pitt has a very coherent and forthcoming philosophy," skewing that to "wonderful school" is, at best, quite a reach.

About the numbers I used, this time I'll site them, out of this years MSAR pitt intervied 1016 total of 4786 applicants, including 793 out of staters. Also we agree about 100 interviews given out is a fair estimate, but you count that as 100 acceptances, which I think is hasty.

I did receive an interview from pitt, and it was based on my numbers (since I hadn't gotten a secondary yet), I don't deny that. Further, you may very well be right, I have not interviewd at pitt yet, I don't know how true their propaganda will seem when I can evaluate it in person. However, you have not interviewed their either (correct?). And thus your opinion is as uninformed as mine. The difference is that I have not jumped to any conclusions, one way or the other. I think that the manner in which pitt presents itself is unique and clearly makes it stand out. I think that some of those stories on interviewfeedback.com are clearly very sketchy (esp. the one about the dean offering admission if he/she dropped all other apps.). If I get this slimy impression when I go to pitt then that will obviously outweigh their biased propaganda.

You seem to be on a crusade against pitt, and while you like to scrutinize my knowledge of the school (which I admit to be quite small), you refuse to examine your own knowledge. Do I think it's odd to give some interviews based soley on numbers? of course. But is that really enough information to condemn the school as only concerned with numbers? probably not.

I understand your point, and I was in no way attacking the validity of your application (you don't need to defend yourself saying you have an interview at columbia). But also remember that you don't know why any school is offering you an interview.

ok enough time wasted, I'll let you know what my impression of pitt is after sept 17th, until then, I'll suspend judgement.

 

[Katie]

to the person who asked about Tufts; I wouldn't say that it is a school with a tremendous emphasis on numbers. I got into Tufts with very average stats and a state school education, but had good extracurriculars and community service experience and great letters of rec. So far I love it here (OK, I'm a bit biased 😀 ). I hope you decide to apply here; everyone is really nice here.

 

[BlackPuma]

nope I dont have a crusade against pits, the same way I dont have a crusade against amcas..

if an organization spews out hypocrisy or creates an image of itself then I point it out....simple as that...

I never saw you complaining when I lashed out against AMCAS....simples as that as far as I am concerned this arguement is over....end of story 😀 I simply wanted to point out the fact that you have an "interview" and it could possibly skew a person's opinion when they say I have "no ties" to the school.....

 

[tonem]

I really don't understand how you can form such a strong opinion based on your very limited experience. I've been at Pitt for three years and have found it to be a great place to study medicine. My class-mates are a very well-rounded, interesting, and fun group of people. I maintain that you made a hasty decision to withdraw your application. If you had been invited for an interview you may have been pleasantly surprised. But I guess it's a free country and you're entitled to your opinion. Once again, I wish you the best of luck and I hope you're successful.