SDN's Self Fulfilling Propechies

[JennaQ]

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Out of personal curiosity, does anyone think that the majority of the posters of this forum fall into a self-fulfilling prophecy by over-estimating the worth of their GPA / MCAT? After all, if the people here only have a competitive GPA / MCAT with extracurriculars they felt were "mandatory" then what else can the admissions committee really draw from the applicant in order to pull them apart from the other students?

I'm not denying that it's not a numbers game, but when you think about it, what's not in life? You can't just evaluate kids off of extracurriculars and neither should you evaluate applicants based solely on GPA/MCAT. It's always a mixed bag of worms. I think it's great that my fellow pre-meds care a lot about their scores. But sometimes I believe that they themselves attempt to find sympathy and victimize themselves around a system that they actually value. I'm sorry if I lost you. Just go back to the first question and that's basically what I'm asking.

 

[bunnity]

OK I read your post wrong the first time...
but no I don't think that's the case. Schools have a huge pool to pick from - it's not like they're sitting there thinking "oh this sucks, all we have is people with high numbers and no one with good experience and bad numbers, what are we going to do?"

 

[Appless]

I dont think so as there is a somewhat set limit about how low those numbers can be especially for schools who employ cutoffs. Also there are plenty of students who are interesting and have great life experiences or ECS or w/e the hell you want to call it that also have good grades. Its not like they are like damn we too many good students but they all have the same ECs what are we gonna do. Ive always looked at it this way. Your GPA and MCAT are going to get your foot in the door (i.e get you an interview) and your personality and interview skills are going to take you the rest of the way. With only primary applications numbers are really the only reliable way to cut down 10,000 apps to 900 or so you might interview.

 

[nick_carraway]

Out of personal curiosity, does anyone think that the majority of the posters of this forum fall into a self-fulfilling prophecy by over-estimating the worth of their GPA / MCAT?

FWIW, that's not a self-fulfilling prophecy. It would be one if those who overestimate their chances actually got in. It would also be one if those who underestimated their chances based on numbers alone failed to get in.

 

[LaCasta]

I would think that SDNers are overly negative about their numbers, myself included. On SDN, a 30 is a "low mcat," while most of the pre-meds that I speak with in real life wish they could get a 30. Tons of them get in the low to mid 20s. If you look at AAMC data as well, a 3.5 GPA and 30 MCAT has a decent chance of getting in.

Due to this SDN taint though, I am pretty nervous about getting in. But, I guess it's only natural when you read about so many people with near 4.0s and high MCAT scores.

 

[mildlyneurotic]

It's pretty easy to have a 4.0 and 40 mcat over the internet... which is what I really have, btw.

 

[WashMe]

It's pretty easy to have a 4.0 and 40 mcat over the internet... which is what I really have, btw.

lol, "mildly neurotic," huh? ...

On a side note, I wonder if any SDN regulars lie about their stats on their linked mdapps. There would be no reason to do so, but it might happen...

 

[dmblue]

lol, "mildly neurotic," huh? ...

On a side note, I wonder if any SDN regulars lie about their stats on their linked mdapps. There would be no reason to do so, but it might happen...

Well I would bet more people with high scores put their info up because they aren't embarrassed/want to show off. Even though it's anonymous, or mostly anonymous.

 

[witness23]

I agree that SDN can be a little neurotic. However, it is helpful to know where you stand. Its not the most random sample but it is (free) information. In the end, it really comes down to each individual applicant to evaluate oneself honestly and demonstrate whatever "excellence" to whichever med schools.

Everyone deserves to have some sort of confidence no matter where they stand. In fact, they should take some time to find confidence if they lack it. I just watched Hitch twice yesterday. TBS is a horrible channel that could be great sometimes.

 

[njbmd]

Out of personal curiosity, does anyone think that the majority of the posters of this forum fall into a self-fulfilling prophecy by over-estimating the worth of their GPA / MCAT? After all, if the people here only have a competitive GPA / MCAT with extracurriculars they felt were "mandatory" then what else can the admissions committee really draw from the applicant in order to pull them apart from the other students?

I'm not denying that it's not a numbers game, but when you think about it, what's not in life? You can't just evaluate kids off of extracurriculars and neither should you evaluate applicants based solely on GPA/MCAT. It's always a mixed bag of worms. I think it's great that my fellow pre-meds care a lot about their scores. But sometimes I believe that they themselves attempt to find sympathy and victimize themselves around a system that they actually value. I'm sorry if I lost you. Just go back to the first question and that's basically what I'm asking.

I can tell you that every application is quite different. It's isn't difficult to figure out which applicants we want to invite for interview and which of those that we interview, we will offer admission. Don't kid yourself, uGPA/MCAT are quite important. If those things are not there, you are not going to be invited for interview. After that, make every part of your application competitive. There are far more impressive competitive candidates than seats.

Data on Mdapplicants and SDN is self-reported but I can tell you that many of our applicants are very, very impressive and have performed at a high level on a consistent basis. If you want success, you have to keep your eyes on your goals day in and day out. In the end, you have essentially one shot to get this right. Scores and grades matter heavily for us and with our record number of applicants this year, we haven't had to hunt for applicants.

 

[RagOptUz]

SDN is great as long as you dont sit down and read through threads that start with "IS MY GPA/MCAT good: I got 3.99 with a 39. IM SO NERVOUS" They just make me feel bad 😳 But other than that over the few months ive been using it, although im only going into my sophmore year, ive received a lot of valuable information from here.