The 2012-2013 Underdog Thread

Started by TriagePreMed
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mdny said:
i just spent the past 2 days calling every single damn school on the aacom school list... and here's all the schools that said "they screen for anything below a 7 or 8"

WesternU
RVU
KCUMB
TCOM
TOURO-NV


Most other schools said whether it's a 9, 9, 9 or a 11 5 11, they don't care.
I asked if they look at the writing score, "yes we view the whole application"
and a few said "what's that? :laugh:"
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That's odd, the lady at western said they don't screen mcat scores during my open house visit 😕
 
Haha always look forward to these underdog threads! Gives some hope to underdogs like me working to get out of the hole. Good luck to you all, I'll be keeping a look out for the future good news!
 
mdny said:
i just spent the past 2 days calling every single damn school on the aacom school list... and here's all the schools that said "they screen for anything below a 7 or 8"

WesternU
RVU
KCUMB
TCOM
TOURO-NV


Most other schools said whether it's a 9, 9, 9 or a 11 5 11, they don't care.
I asked if they look at the writing score, "yes we view the whole application"
and a few said "what's that? :laugh:"
Click to expand...
thanx for the helpful post
 
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miltown66 said:
Well, I'm not sure if I will be re-applying this year or not, as I am still on 3 wait lists, but I will have fairly bland GPAs (something like a 3.5 cGPA, 3.3sGPA) and an above average MCAT (30-O). The catch is that I had to take 17 credits this past semester to graduate along with interviewing at 3 schools. Needless to say, my sGPA for the semester was not the greatest. To make matters a bit worse, these were all upper level sciences, one of which was a B- and another probably a C. I am reporting on the application that I will be retaking cell bio and ochem 1 (taken sophomore year, got a C+).

Last year, I applied really late, as in wasn't complete with letters until Feb. I didn't interview at LECOM until Feb and AZCOM/CCOM until Apr. I only applied to four DO schools, and DMU was the only one to not give me an interview. I'm not sure if I will have the same success getting interviews this cycle. I hope that a bit of a limp to the finish line doesn't hurt me, but we'll see. I'm applying June 1st, and to pretty much any school that doesn't have a strong bias against out-of-staters.

I realize that I'm probably not an underdog, just an average applicant, but I'm curious to find out how a difficult semester will affect my chances.

Oh, and I have plenty of EC's, but shadowing hours are a bit thin (about 50 hrs or so) and I don't have any research experience (track took up a lot of time, didn't realize that washing dishes/counting nematodes in a lab was important for med school).
Click to expand...

Somehow I managed a miracle and pulled out B-'s in both trouble classes, and A's in the rest. So I am definitely not considering myself an underdog anymore. Good luck to everyone!
 
I know MCAT really matters.

But going by LizzyM score. My gpa is 3.78 so hypothetically 3.78*10 + 21 = 58%

But then again i guess it depends on the break down of the MCAT, also MCAT is weighted heavy

hopefully i can raise it before my test date on July 6th
 
torshi said:
I know MCAT really matters.

But going by Lizzym score. My gpa is 3.78 so hypothetically 3.78*10 + 21 = 58%

But then again i guess it depends on the break down of the MCAT, also MCAT is weighted heavy

hopefully i can raise it before my test date on July 6th
Click to expand...

you have a long way to go until July. a lot of time to get those scores up. good luck👍
 
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TriagePreMed said:
Nope. There is no evidence of age discrimination in medical school admissions.
Click to expand...

Do you think it could obv be an underlying factor, I always hear info about this? I know they're not suppose to by law, i hope not.... because I'm a young applicant
 
VBGLL said:
I'm an underdog I suppose. Everything is good except mcat score.

3.6cGPA sGPA 3.5

first MCAT was a 20O (will they look at the first score if i didnt apply with it last year?)

Retaking MCAT this thurs... have been scoring between 22-29..average of 24. Hit 22 or 23 everytime save 2.
Click to expand...

I'm sure they will look at all scores and choose the recent one. good luck on your retake and what's your breakdown if you don't mind?

Good luck! 👍
 
torshi said:
Would age be a factor in determining underdog status?
Click to expand...

You're 18, right? I think that might put you at a disadvantage because some may question your maturity. However, lots of traditional students work hard from the time they are 18 (or younger) all throughout undergrad and many of them claim to know they wanted to be physicians from a much younger age.

I think that when you interview, you will need to make a conscious effort to appear as mature as the rest of the candidates. It shouldn't keep you out though.
 
MedPR said:
You're 18, right? I think that might put you at a disadvantage because some may question your maturity. However, lots of traditional students work hard from the time they are 18 (or younger) all throughout undergrad and many of them claim to know they wanted to be physicians from a much younger age.

I think that when you interview, you will need to make a conscious effort to appear as mature as the rest of the candidates. It shouldn't keep you out though.
Click to expand...

Alright cool, yea i think it comes down to interview mainly so I can prove myself. Sounds gooood
 
umee1989 said:
3.05 cGPA, 2.8 sGPA, MCAT TBD August 17th. Underdog to the underdogs, however i still have 32 science credit hours remaining to take. Any recommendations on applying to PCOM and UMDNJ this cycle or should i till next cycle? Im in the asian category if thats at all important.

I see a lot of people with similar or even slightly lower gpas got into PCOM or UMDNJ so just thought id ask you guys your thoughts. and obviously i want to aim for the highest MCAT score i can get but would a 30+ even help me with such a low gpa at this point. and I can't take those additional 32 sci-credits till fall 2012 and spring 2013.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't bother applying this year if I were you. You're simply not competitive and your MCAT is late.
 
SLC said:
He's probably right, but know that I applied with the same GPA's and a later MCAT and got accepted first try. It can happen, but it's a definite risk.
Click to expand...

If you dont mind me asking what was your mcat and also school you got into. I'm just stressing out so much if I should do the gap year and apply after senior year. I have a good amount of credits to work with to boost my science gpa my senior year. And everyone here has given me the advice to wait but it's just a huge dilemma. Idk if I would want to take a year off but if I apply now with these scores and a very late mcat my chances are slim. I figured I'd apply to PCOM only this cycle and if I don't get in. Apply next cycle to multiple schools and PCOM again.
 
torshi said:
Do you think it could obv be an underlying factor, I always hear info about this? I know they're not suppose to by law, i hope not.... because I'm a young applicant
Click to expand...

I have noticed it more at MD schools than DO schools after going through the admissions process. For some reason newly minted MDs are on average younger. There are always exceptions though. It also may not necessarily be a policy but rather a consequence of the admission standards at MD vs. DO schools. It is less likely as a non traditional applicant coming from another profession that you will be the perfect MD applicant with a great undergraduate GPA, research, etc. The truth is it is very hard to go to an MD school if you didn't have your heart set on it the first year of college and you did everything right from the beginning. That's why DO schools are so important because there are so many IMO equally qualified people who wouldn't become physicians through the MD pathway.

In your case, though, I suspect you would need to demonstrate exceptional maturity if you were going to enter medical school at an age younger than 22. I have several friends and have heard of plenty of occasions where younger applicants who lets say finished their undergraduate degree in 3 years (as opposed to 4 years) did not get into their choice of medical school or any at all. One friend in particular had very good stats. Above average for the local MD school she wanted to attend, but she ended up going to a DO school instead. And of course there are always students who don't get in anywhere at all. I think there is a good probability that it is more reflective of their maturity and seriousness in the process than it is simply their age. With so many applicants why would a medical school choose the younger person out of two people with similar backgrounds unless that younger person had a significantly better profile. I have talked to people who didnt get in to schools that I was accepted to (MD and DO) who had better numbers than me. But of course, I have no idea what their profile is other than their GPA and MCAT and we all know it is much more than numbers in this process. This is all speculation and anecdotal evidence obviously but I just wanted to comment on the trends I have noticed. Seriously sometimes I feel like adcoms put all the applicants pictures on the walls, throw darts, and see where it lands to see who gets accepted. I'm sure (and hope) that there is some sense and order to all this madness. Stay on top of things and you should be a great candidate no matter what. Nice avatar btw.
 
Last edited:
VBGLL said:
What was your MCAT score?
Click to expand...

umee1989 said:
If you dont mind me asking what was your mcat and also school you got into. I'm just stressing out so much if I should do the gap year and apply after senior year. I have a good amount of credits to work with to boost my science gpa my senior year. And everyone here has given me the advice to wait but it's just a huge dilemma. Idk if I would want to take a year off but if I apply now with these scores and a very late mcat my chances are slim. I figured I'd apply to PCOM only this cycle and if I don't get in. Apply next cycle to multiple schools and PCOM again.
Click to expand...

I got a 30M.

It's important to realize that you really want to have all your ducks in a row before you apply (as much as possible). The rest of my application was really really strong, GPA was the only thing that was below average; the rest was well above average. I also like to think I was an excellent fit for the school I'm at based on my EC's and past work/volunteer interests. If you feel like you are in a similar situation, then try it.

The thing you don't want to do is apply, get rejected and have to re-apply; because then you have to be able to demonstrate tangible improvement to even be considered. Would an increase in GPA senior year provide such improvement? I don't know, and I wouldn't like to be the one who has to find out.
 
3.15c, 2.88s, MCAT TBD July 6th. Hoping strong ECs and drastic upward GPA trend will get me an interview. Good luck to all other underdogs out there. 🙂
 
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sdn name- cGPA, sGPA, MCAT
deeoh2be - 3.23, 3.43, 25Q

I am pretty sure I am an Underdog. I applied last cycle pretty late secondaries were in Nov/Dec, and got II's to LECOM- Seton Hill and ATSU-SOMA. But we are having a baby in a month and we decided to wait a year.

Good luck everyone!!
 
deeoh2be said:
sdn name- cGPA, sGPA, MCAT
deeoh2be - 3.23, 3.43, 25Q

I am pretty sure I am an Underdog. I applied last cycle pretty late secondaries were in Nov/Dec, and got II's to LECOM- Seton Hill and ATSU-SOMA. But we are having a baby in a month and we decided to wait a year.

Good luck everyone!!
Click to expand...
Yes just use the equation (GPA) x 10 + MCAT/2 = ...
 
we should make an underdog theme song 🙂

It is so strange to me that people have very high GPA's but poor MCAT scores or very low GPA's and high MCAT scores. Just seems bazare how that happens.
 
Sasha3 said:
we should make an underdog theme song 🙂

It is so strange to me that people have very high GPA's but poor MCAT scores or very low GPA's and high MCAT scores. Just seems bazare how that happens.
Click to expand...

ikr..
 
DrMediterranean said:
I have noticed it more at MD schools than DO schools after going through the admissions process. For some reason newly minted MDs are on average younger. There are always exceptions though. It also may not necessarily be a policy but rather a consequence of the admission standards at MD vs. DO schools. It is less likely as a non traditional applicant coming from another profession that you will be the perfect MD applicant with a great undergraduate GPA, research, etc. The truth is it is very hard to go to an MD school if you didn't have your heart set on it the first year of college and you did everything right from the beginning. That's why DO schools are so important because there are so many IMO equally qualified people who wouldn't become physicians through the MD pathway.

In your case, though, I suspect you would need to demonstrate exceptional maturity if you were going to enter medical school at an age younger than 22. I have several friends and have heard of plenty of occasions where younger applicants who lets say finished their undergraduate degree in 3 years (as opposed to 4 years) did not get into their choice of medical school or any at all. One friend in particular had very good stats. Above average for the local MD school she wanted to attend, but she ended up going to a DO school instead. And of course there are always students who don't get in anywhere at all. I think there is a good probability that it is more reflective of their maturity and seriousness in the process than it is simply their age. With so many applicants why would a medical school choose the younger person out of two people with similar backgrounds unless that younger person had a significantly better profile. I have talked to people who didnt get in to schools that I was accepted to (MD and DO) who had better numbers than me. But of course, I have no idea what their profile is other than their GPA and MCAT and we all know it is much more than numbers in this process. This is all speculation and anecdotal evidence obviously but I just wanted to comment on the trends I have noticed. Seriously sometimes I feel like adcoms put all the applicants pictures on the walls, throw darts, and see where it lands to see who gets accepted. I'm sure (and hope) that there is some sense and order to all this madness. Stay on top of things and you should be a great candidate no matter what. Nice avatar btw.
Click to expand...
I really appreciate the response, it is indeed helpful. Also, thank you about the avatar 👍
 
Sasha3 said:
we should make an underdog theme song 🙂

It is so strange to me that people have very high GPA's but poor MCAT scores or very low GPA's and high MCAT scores. Just seems bazare how that happens.
Click to expand...

Neither is that surprising to me, but I wish less people had low GPA/high MCAT.. It would make me stand out a little more 🙁

The way I see it there are lots of reasons for a high GPA/low MCAT:
1. Easy undergrad school
2. Easy major
3. Cheated throughout undergrad. I went to a reputable pre-med undergrad and know several kids who had 3.8+ but couldn't crack 25 on the MCAT.
4. Good at memorizing stuff, bad at understanding stuff.

Also reasons for low GPA/high MCAT:
1. Lazy
2. Family problems and other distractions during undergrad
3. Hard school
4. Hard major

At the end of the day I'm much much much more impressed by a 35+ MCAT than a 4.0 GPA. GPAs are not standardized, but the MCAT is.
 
MedPR said:
Neither is that surprising to me, but I wish less people had low GPA/high MCAT.. It would make me stand out a little more 🙁

The way I see it there are lots of reasons for a high GPA/low MCAT:
1. Easy undergrad school
2. Easy major
3. Cheated throughout undergrad. I went to a reputable pre-med undergrad and know several kids who had 3.8+ but couldn't crack 25 on the MCAT.
4. Good at memorizing stuff, bad at understanding stuff.

Also reasons for low GPA/high MCAT:
1. Lazy
2. Family problems and other distractions during undergrad
3. Hard school
4. Hard major

At the end of the day I'm much much much more impressed by a 35+ MCAT than a 4.0 GPA. GPAs are not standardized, but the MCAT is.
Click to expand...

I went to a competitive Undergrad, I had professors from ivy leagues schools saying that it was harder grading scales and harder classes at my school. Never cheated, worked my ass off during all 4 years, hard major (neurobiology), tons of EC, tutored bio, and I still got lower 20's and an awful score on BS.
 
Sasha3 said:
I went to a competitive Undergrad, I had professors from ivy leagues schools saying that it was harder grading scales and harder classes at my school. Never cheated, worked my ass off during all 4 years, hard major (neurobiology), tons of EC, tutored bio, and I still got lower 20's and an awful score on BS.
Click to expand...

Out of my curiosity, if the program was rigorous, why do you think you were scoring low?

Sent from my SCH-R910 using Tapatalk
 
TriagePreMed said:
Out of my curiosity, if the program was rigorous, why do you think you were scoring low?

Sent from my SCH-R910 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

It is a combination of things. Testing anxiety, this test will dictate my life lol. Also, I understand and comprehend the material, however, the passage format and the time restrictions really throw me off my game. Those are the biggest factors.
 
Sasha3 said:
I went to a competitive Undergrad, I had professors from ivy leagues schools saying that it was harder grading scales and harder classes at my school. Never cheated, worked my ass off during all 4 years, hard major (neurobiology), tons of EC, tutored bio, and I still got lower 20's and an awful score on BS.
Click to expand...

Well I've heard IVY schools have very easy grading scales in order to inflate GPAs and make students seem smarter when they go out into the world.

I'm a little curious why you got low 20s though you seem to have had good prep. I went to an undergrad known in the midwest for its pre-med program (and business school, though irrelevent here) and learned a lot once I actually started studying and working hard. Though I was 5-6 years removed from the bio pre-reqs I scored an 11 on BS and was averaging 11.8 on the practice AAMCs. I accredit that to my undergrad program who self reports that ~80% of graduating pre-meds matriculate into medical school the next year.

Do you struggle with standardized testing?
 
MedPR said:
Well I've heard IVY schools have very easy grading scales in order to inflate GPAs and make students seem smarter when they go out into the world.

I'm a little curious why you got low 20s though you seem to have had good prep. I went to an undergrad known in the midwest for its pre-med program (and business school, though irrelevent here) and learned a lot once I actually started studying and working hard. Though I was 5-6 years removed from the bio pre-reqs I scored an 11 on BS and was averaging 11.8 on the practice AAMCs. I accredit that to my undergrad program who self reports that ~80% of graduating pre-meds matriculate into medical school the next year.

Do you struggle with standardized testing?
Click to expand...

Yea, during undergrad I even hated scantron. I am much more of a blue book person. I like to be able to explain my answer, my mentality and how I came up with the answer. I have been working on testing confidence, and I think VR helped in it, but multiple choice always makes me want to contradict my self and find scenarios where the "correct answer" is wrong and the little exceptions.

I was really shocked that I did awful on BS, since it was my strongest subject going in. I was scoring 9-10 on BS during the AAMC.

Some of my undergrad was critical thinking, but other was basically memorize all of this and regurgitate it. Combination of both. Funny thing is, I did well in the critical thinking classes more.
 
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Could be the time constraint. Most of us would do at least a little better given more time. If you're going to retake, you might consider integrating more strict (more than the MCAT) time constraints.

I'm sure everyone would agree the timing makes the MCAT a lot more difficult than it could be if more time was available. I know someone who claims they could "easily get a 45 if there was no time limit."

Makes me laugh whenever I think about it 😀
 
Update: seeing some improvement..

AAMC 3: PS 6 VR 7 BS 4 = 17 composite
AAMC 4: PS 8 VR 8 BS 8 = 24 Composite
 
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