Schools within striking distance

[allre]

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If your MCAT is -3 than the median (but >10%ile) for a school, should you still apply? What about -4? How low can you go before you are donating money?

 

[LizzyM]

Where is your gpa in relation to the school's median or mean for accepted and/or matriculated?

 

[allre]

Where is your gpa in relation to the school's median or mean for accepted and/or matriculated?

Between 0 and .1 below their median.

 

[Zelda840]

I was wondering about this too. With a mcat of 29 and a gpa of 3.89, it's hard to figure out if it's worth applying to schools with average mcat scores in the low 30's but gpa's lower than mine.

 

[baxt1412]

I'll probably be in the same boat, but we will see what my MCAT score brings.

I think if one of the stats makes up for the other, then you stand a chance. Obviously if you are in say the 30th percentile for MCAT but in the 70th percentile for GPA, it theoretically balances out, but also depends on so many other things.

 

[Bin Rushd]

I'm also curious of this.

If a school's median is 33, 10%ile is a 30, aren't there students who get accepted with a 28 or 29? For instance, how do I interpret that gray area between 0%ile and 9.9%ile?

 

[gyngyn]

I'm also curious of this.

If a school's median is 33, 10%ile is a 30, aren't there students who get accepted with a 28 or 29? For instance, how do I interpret that gray area between 0%ile and 9.9%ile?

Yes, those are extraordinary applications in other ways.

 

[allre]

What's the consensus on this? Roughly @ median GPA and 3 below MCAT?

 

[sazerac]

I'm also curious of this.

If a school's median is 33, 10%ile is a 30, aren't there students who get accepted with a 28 or 29? For instance, how do I interpret that gray area between 0%ile and 9.9%ile?

If you assume a normal distribution, the SD is about 2.34 in this case.

The probability of a student having a score <29 are 0.0436, or approximately eight or nine students in a class size of 200.

 

[persumas]

What's the consensus on this? Roughly @ median GPA and 3 below MCAT?

I'm not sure there is a consensus. I think the best you can do is apply to a broad range of schools and focus on making those the best applications you can instead of splitting hairs on a something that is somewhat arbitrary. Personally, I would consider that a reach and therefore you would need to show something in the rest of your application that shows you are a good fit for the school, etc.

 

[Goro]

For me it depends upon the school. The higher the tier (say, Yale) the closer your score should be to their median. That's why, for example, I counsel someone with a 34 MCAT to try for USC or Pitt, but not for Harvard or Penn. For a -4, sometimes it's striking distance, especially if the range is wide, like at Dartmouth.

If your MCAT is -3 than the median (but >10%ile) for a school, should you still apply? What about -4? How low can you go before you are donating money?