the 10th percentile -- who does that usually apply to?

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browneyefrenchfry

browneyefrenchfry

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Non-trad applicants? URM? People with good, inspirational stories? I'm looking at the 10th percentiles of some schools on MSAR, and I'm wondering -- what exactly are AdComs looking for with people who have 10th percentile stats?
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Those data points are taken in a vacuum so, yes it could be fit with school mission, disadvantaged, great upward trend, high scores for the other metric (high MCAT low GPA, high GPA low MCAT). The list goes on

edit: SDN sometimes does a bad job of conveying this, but you are so much more than your metrics. Don't get me wrong, metrics are important. But they will not get you accepted to medical school. They just get your application looked at, but the rest of your app and your interview secures the acceptance.
 
browneyefrenchfry said:
Non-trad applicants? URM? People with good, inspirational stories? I'm looking at the 10th percentiles of some schools on MSAR, and I'm wondering -- what exactly are AdComs looking for with people who have 10th percentile stats?
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As one of those 10th percentile students, I feel it has primarily to do with fit and what value adcoms feel we can add to the class (diversity of experiences, personal traits, etc.).
 
@browneyefrenchfry @Cornfed101 Yeah I definitely misinterpreted that sorry lol 🤣

I think those in the 10th percentile of one metric (gpa) generally have experiences geared towards the mission and other metrics (MCAT/ upward trend) that are at or above the school’s median.
 
I guess one of the criteria could be extravagant ecs like working in Army, Having thousands of hours in clinical and non clinical volunteering.
 
A combination of what has already been mentioned. Typically those with lower GPAs will have demonstrated a strong upward trend (usually as non trads). Significant life experiences and circumstances are also taken into account to create a balanced class.
 
Career changers: We hardly hold it against someone to apply with an undergrad GPA that is so-so when the degree was in trumpet or opera from a conservatory of music followed by a rigorous post-bac.

Catastrophy: there are those applicants who have a crash, followed by a crash in GPA as they get accustom to the new normal of living with a disability, followed by a strong comback.

Come-backs: there are those folks with strong upward trends, who follow the Goro path to reinvention but who have too many courses already on their transcripts to make the GPA budge. Some schools will take a look at those students and recognize their grit and determination.
 
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Ya girl was below the 10th percentile for GPA at every school I applied to...

But also above the 90th for MCAT. Plus upward trend, gap years, good ECs, etc. Like others have said, the "10th percentile" is not one group of students who all scored low on everything; it's likely a larger group of people who were weaker in one area and made up for it in others.
 
browneyefrenchfry said:
Non-trad applicants? URM? People with good, inspirational stories? I'm looking at the 10th percentiles of some schools on MSAR, and I'm wondering -- what exactly are AdComs looking for with people who have 10th percentile stats?
Click to expand...
Stats really don’t mean that much. It’s the story you tell and how you tell it.
 
Actual 10th %ile (GPA-wise) who got into my state MD school this cycle.

My interviews were great. I have held multiple jobs since I graduated college over 4 years ago, which has given me plenty of practice in interviewing. To me, unless you do an MMI (which I didn't,) it's pretty much like a job interview - why you're a good fit for a spot, what experiences bolster yourself, how you need to sell yourself without being arrogant, etc.

I really bolstered my application sans GPA repair after college. I made a 512 on the MCAT (which was average accepted MCAT for my school.) I got a ton of volunteer hours, and had a lot of shadowing hours with my research position. Speaking of, my current job gave me a TON of opportunities to grow in many ways; which came off in my primary app, secondary app, and interviews.

My huge upward trend was probably my best selling point. My first 2 semesters of crap in college made my GPA have a bad set point. I worked my butt off to get to a >3.2 sGPA and >3.4 cGPA. My GPA came up in my interview and had to sell myself. Not only what happened, but how I remedied it. Even though my transcripts SHOWED my trend, I still had to explain HOW I did it. They really wanted to know me and how I learned from my mistakes.

In all, I consider myself pretty lucky. I should have only been applying DO but I have a chance to become an MD. My GPA held me out of every other MD school to which I applied pretty much; please don't take my experience as a "I'll just apply MD cause this guy did it." GPA is still very important.
 
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FutureSurgical said:
Actual 10th %ile (GPA-wise) who got into my state MD school this cycle.

My interviews were great. I have held multiple jobs since I graduated college over 4 years ago. This has given me plenty of practice in interviewing. To me, unless you do an MMI (which I didn't,) it's pretty much like a job interview - why you're a good fit for a spot, what experiences bolster yourself, how you need to sell yourself without being arrogant, etc.

I really bolstered my application sans GPA repair after college. I made a 512 on the MCAT(which was >50th %ile.) I got a ton of volunteer hours, and had a lot of shadowing hours with my research position. Speaking of, my current job gave me a TON of opportunities to grow in many ways; which came off in my primary app, secondary app, and interviews.

My huge upward trend was probably my best selling point. My first 2 semesters of crap in college made my GPA have a bad set point. I worked my butt off to get to a >3.2 sGPA and >3.4 cGPA. My GPA came up in my interview and had to sell myself. Not only what happened, but how I remedied it. Even though my transcripts SHOWED my trend, I still had to explain HOW I did it. They really wanted to know me and how I learned from my mistakes.

In all, I consider myself pretty lucky. I should have only been applying DO but I have a chance to become an MD. My GPA held me out of every other MD school to which I applied pretty much; please don't take my experience as a "I'll just apply MD cause this guy did it." GPA is still very important.
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IDK if it was your experience, but the bright spot of a bad GPA during the early years (my freshman GPA was also ROUGH) is the inevitable interview question about it. I was able to prepare such a good answer about learning how to study efficiently, being flexible in study strategies, figuring out how I learned best in a time crunch, etc that I almost found myself wishing they would ask about the GPA instead of grilling me on something unexpected. Not to diminish the challenges of a low GPA, because I went through them, but it was my experience that if you get to the interview stage you can make it work for you.
 
ekmf27050 said:
IDK if it was your experience, but the bright spot of a bad GPA during the early years (my freshman GPA was also ROUGH) is the inevitable interview question about it. I was able to prepare such a good answer about learning how to study efficiently, being flexible in study strategies, figuring out how I learned best in a time crunch, etc that I almost found myself wishing they would ask about the GPA instead of grilling me on something unexpected. Not to diminish the challenges of a low GPA, because I went through them, but it was my experience that if you get to the interview stage you can make it work for you.
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I also had a great poor GPA answer, and when I used that response for “any red flags?” The interviewer said, “oh your gpa isn’t a concern”... uh... well I got nothing else haha
 
In addition to what many have already said, I know a handful of people who did well in a BMS program that had low stats (both mcat and gpa), and did well in that program and got in
 
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