Some surprising stats for those of you who have been discouraged by a low GPA

[TrillyBassily]

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According to statistics provided by the AAMC website, almost half of applicants who applied with a GPA between 3.0-3.2 and an MCAT score of 36-38 were accpted to at leats one US medical school between 2010 and 2012. 31% of applicants who applied with a GPA between 2.8-3.0 and an MCAT score of 33-35 were accepted to at least one US medical school between 2010 and 2012. 24% of applicants who applied with a GPA between 2.6-2.8 and an MCAT score of 30-32 were accepted.

However, if you ask anyone on this forum what your chances are with a GPA of 3.0 and an MCAT score of 34, they'll tell you to find a new line of work because you have a better chance of being hit by lightning than getting accepted into an american medical.

As someone who has frequently been told to take a hike because of my less than stellar GPA, I'm interested in hearing a possible explanation as to how the students with the statistics I mentioned earlier were accepted. Do they have amazing extra curriculars? Do they have very heart warming personal statements? Did they bribe the admissions personel?

I'm honestly very interested in hearing how they pulled it off and how I can do the same.

Here are the stats I'm referring to, straight from the horses mouth:

https://www.aamc.org/download/321508/data/2012factstable24.pdf

 

[inycepoo]

Strong IS preference, personal circumstances, luck, and more factors than we could ever imagine. A discussion of factors would never be complete, and would thus not be as revealing as you'd think.

You have what you have already. Don't make excuses, be polite and respectful on the interview trail, and hope for the best. That's all.

That being said, though, less than half still ain't a great number to bank on.

 

[ChemEngMD]

According to statistics provided by the AAMC website, almost half of applicants who applied with a GPA between 3.0-3.2 and an MCAT score of 36-38 were accpted to at leats one US medical school between 2010 and 2012. 31% of applicants who applied with a GPA between 2.8-3.0 and an MCAT score of 33-35 were accepted to at least one US medical school between 2010 and 2012. 24% of applicants who applied with a GPA between 2.6-2.8 and an MCAT score of 30-32 were accepted.

However, if you ask anyone on this forum what your chances are with a GPA of 3.0 and an MCAT score of 34, they'll tell you to find a new line of work because you have a better chance of being hit by lightning than getting accepted into an american medical.

As someone who has frequently been told to take a hike because of my less than stellar GPA, I'm interested in hearing a possible explanation as to how the students with the statistics I mentioned earlier were accepted. Do they have amazing extra curriculars? Do they have very heart warming personal statements? Did they bribe the admissions personel?

I'm honestly very interested in hearing how they pulled it off and how I can do the same.

Here are the stats I'm referring to, straight from the horses mouth:

https://www.aamc.org/download/321508/data/2012factstable24.pdf

Those are undergrad GPAs. They could have repaired those GPAs in the eyes of the ADCOM by doing a Master's or PhD work. They also could be non-traditional students who are going back to college and have a lot of previous GPA damage from a previous degree and now have a strong upward trend.

They could also be outstanding applicants with great ECs and a great story.

These stats are nothing new to these boards and there are a hundred different ways that someone with a 3.0 and a 34 could get into medical school (hell the dean of admissions could be their Godfather or their dad's golfing buddy).

The question is: are you willing to take a bet that is only 31% likely? Especially if you are not someone who has those other factors (old GPA, repaired GPA, crazy life story, disadvantaged status, URM status). The house wins 69% of the time.

If you wanna take that bet then go for it, but remember you'll probably need to apply to upwards of 30 schools in order to stand any fighting chance.

 

[TrillyBassily]

Strong IS preference, personal circumstances, luck, and more factors than we could ever imagine. A discussion of factors would never be complete, and would thus not be as revealing as you'd think.

You have what you have already. Don't make excuses, be polite and respectful on the interview trail, and hope for the best. That's all.

That being said, though, less than half still ain't a great number to bank on.

I get that, but at a rate of almost 1 in 3 for stats that are pretty much very average, I assume there must be some sort of major underlying factor.

Also what is an IS preference? I'm not to familiar on all the lingo.

 

[chillaxbro]

Most people don't have a 34 let alone a 36-38 especially if they have a crappy GPA

 

[sinombre]

I get that, but at a rate of almost 1 in 3 for stats that are pretty much very average, I assume there must be some sort of major underlying factor.

Also what is an IS preference? I'm not to familiar on all the lingo.

In-state preference. Most public schools give preference to applicants from their state.

 

[TheBossDoctor]

Possibilities:

1. Live in states where the state school's average stats are low/acceptance rates are high (e.g. Univ of Vermont has a 50%+ acceptance rate for in state people).
2. URM- a large chunk of those applicants are URM do if you aren't URM, your chances are way lower
3. Includes acceptances for Puerto Rican schools and historically black schools. Although those are mostly URM from #2
4. People that claimed disadvantage on their application
5. Heavy ECs and really unique life experiences
6. Strong upward trend in GPA
7. Post-bac and/or SMP grades were good
8. Much higher science GPA

On a side note, a 30 on the MCAT is 75-80th percentile so it's not smart to bank on getting that score if your GPA is low (unless you consistently top that on your practice tests)

 

[t3705]

Looks to me like the LizzyM score for acceptances to med school is quite a bit different than scores needed for an interview. (I know there isn't a LizzyM score for acceptances.)

For acceptances... Percentages look more similar with different stats if the equations are adjusted. The equaton looks more like mcat score - 3 plus gpa + 3. Gpa looks more important than mcat scores.

An example would be something like an applicant with a 3.9 gpa and a 28 mcat score has the same chance of getting into medical school as somebody with a 40 mcat score and a 3.3 gpa.

I dont know if the minus 3 mcat plus 3 gpa holds for every mcat-gpa combination. . Something to look at.

I knew a 40 mcat-3.3 gpa would give an applicant a better chance than the average applicant to get into med school. A 40 mcat score is pretty rare.

I am surprised a 28 mcat-3.8+ gpa applicant has a 65 percent chance of getting into one school.

 

[survivordo]

When I look at some of the stats on that document it always makes me wonder who's daddy bought a new wing for the school library...

Survivor DO

 

[circulus vitios]

I can get into medical school with a 3.2 GPA if I score better than literally 95% of MCAT test takers.

[YOUTUBE]yCFB2akLh4s[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Goro]

Jeeze, I hate these stats as they are really misleading and give a lot of false hope to people who don't really understand the process.

Excluding URMs, those stats are for the US as a whole, and not any specific school. they are definitely skewed for reasons posted above. If you look at any individual school, the odds fall to <10% for people with those stats. Keep in mind that U KS's stats are very different from, say, U Pitt. Not all matriculants are equal.


We call those people "specials" or "legacies". They either have a large donation check in hand, or are related to alumni, Deans or faculty. They also may have an outstanding story to tell.

As pointed out in BossDoctor's post, there are other ways to get in with a low cGPA. There are definitely schools that reward reinvention.

IS means "in-state". The voters supplement your tuition at your state school, and so they have a vested interest at seeing you get a priority over someone from another state, especially one that's not nearby. Basically, they want to know that you'll practice medicine in-state. So if you're from rural eastern OH, there's a decent likelihood that if you get into U WV, that you'll stick around.

According to statistics provided by the AAMC website, almost half of applicants who applied with a GPA between 3.0-3.2 and an MCAT score of 36-38 were accpted to at leats one US medical school between 2010 and 2012. 31% of applicants who applied with a GPA between 2.8-3.0 and an MCAT score of 33-35 were accepted to at least one US medical school between 2010 and 2012. 24% of applicants who applied with a GPA between 2.6-2.8 and an MCAT score of 30-32 were accepted.

However, if you ask anyone on this forum what your chances are with a GPA of 3.0 and an MCAT score of 34, they'll tell you to find a new line of work because you have a better chance of being hit by lightning than getting accepted into an american medical.

As someone who has frequently been told to take a hike because of my less than stellar GPA, I'm interested in hearing a possible explanation as to how the students with the statistics I mentioned earlier were accepted. Do they have amazing extra curriculars? Do they have very heart warming personal statements? Did they bribe the admissions personel?

I'm honestly very interested in hearing how they pulled it off and how I can do the same.

Here are the stats I'm referring to, straight from the horses mouth:

https://www.aamc.org/download/321508/data/2012factstable24.pdf

 

[armybound]

Most people don't have a 34 let alone a 36-38 especially if they have a crappy GPA

this.

don't worry, if you're a bottom-quartile GPA student, all you need is a top 5% MCAT score!

 

[yehhhboiii]

the average applicant probably applies to about 15 schools. people with lower stats probably apply to 20 or more. when you see the acceptance rates, that means that that percentage of students got into at least one school. so everyone who didn't get in got rejected from every one of the 20 or so schools that they applied to

not great odds especially when you think about the time and money that go into applications

those who do get in with low stats probably have something going for them like 4 summers of taking care of people with hiv in africa