The LizzyM Score: How Widespread and Accurate?

[ishr]

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So how useful IS the LizzyM score? Is it really used by admissions committees across the nation or is it more likely an artifact of the LizzyM institution? I ask because I'm one of those cases where the LizzyM score looks okay at 76 but thats because i have a 40 MCAT (i.e. gpa = 3.6 :<) . Whereas someone who has 3.8 and 38 MCAT would have the same LizzyM score but I would imagine slightly better looking than me. Any thoughts?
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[MilkmanAl]

Not very and not very. It's just a general gauge to what types of schools you should be looking at. If you're taking your LizzyM score as gospel truth, you're probably going to apply very unwisely, for there are many factors other than scores that go into med school acceptance. By the way, there is absolutely nothing wrong with a 3.6, so don't act like it's bringing you down. You are right that someone with a 3.8/38 would probably be more attractive, but man, a 3.6 is plenty excellent.

 

[Alfred E Newman]

Take anything she says with a huge grain of salt. It's hard to believe her credibility when she hides behind a screen name. On the other hand, REL is admissions coordinator at University of Central Florida and is up front about his identity and his advice/info is high quality.

 

[bugalow121]

Take anything she says with a huge grain of salt. It's hard to believe her credibility when she hides behind a screen name. On the other hand, REL is admissions coordinator at University of Central Florida and is up front about his identity and his advice/info is high quality.

lay off the haterade man, LizzyM is fairly helpful.

 

[p30doc]

If you have a 40 MCAT and 3.6 gpa, you should be whipped for worrying about getting accepted somewhere. Also, LizzyM is helpful and I am thankful that people like her are willing to take time out of their busy schedule to give free advice to pre-meds.

 

[RSAgator]

If you have a 40 MCAT and 3.6 gpa, you should be whipped for worrying about getting accepted somewhere. Also, LizzyM is helpful and I am thankful that people like her are willing to take time out of their busy schedule to give free advice to pre-meds.

+1 for this. Adcom member or not she gives damn good advice.

As for the "lizzym score," it's a guideline more than anything else. It obviously can't take into account any non numerical info so it's kind of like an "if everything else is up to scratch, you should be good for ____ school" kind of thing.

 

[chessknt]

Take anything she says with a huge grain of salt. It's hard to believe her credibility when she hides behind a screen name. On the other hand, REL is admissions coordinator at University of Central Florida and is up front about his identity and his advice/info is high quality.

She gives good advice and posts frequently and given her popularity among the thousands of people that frequent this forum, I cant blame her for wanting to protect her privacy for personal and professional reasons.

 

[doomknight]

i know. If LizzyM was an adcom on MSU or OSU, I'd totally disregard my school's rivalries and apply there. I'd bet that school would see like 1000+ higher than normal applicants, all from StudentDoc haha

 

[Bacchus]

Like all users, LizzyM deserves anonymity.

 

[Law2Doc]

So how useful IS the LizzyM score? Is it really used by admissions committees across the nation or is it more likely an artifact of the LizzyM institution? I ask because I'm one of those cases where the LizzyM score looks okay at 76 but thats because i have a 40 MCAT (i.e. gpa = 3.6 :<) . Whereas someone who has 3.8 and 38 MCAT would have the same LizzyM score but I would imagine slightly better looking than me. Any thoughts?
​

Few, if any school actually uses such a formula. However it is perhaps helpful to get a VERY ROUGH idea of where you stand. But no, don't assume you are competitive because your score says you are. This isn't an objective, formulaic process. Subjective things weigh in heavily. Things like eg the interview may be given disproportionate weight in this process, and can make or break you. If you have high numbers but everything else is pretty mundane and generic, a school may decide you aren't really a "good fit", and opt for someone with decent numbers but more dynamic. So sure, calculate these numbers as a rough starting point. But don't heavily rely upon them because probably no school will.

Let's not knock LizzyM; she doesn't actually say you should rely on this score or that most med schools do. She was just helping folks out by offering an objective, back of the envelope formula you might use as an estimate. It's no better or worse than any other formulaic guestimate. It simply doesn't capture the subjective aspects of the application, which are not trivial.

 

[pianola]

i know. If LizzyM was an adcom on MSU or OSU, I'd totally disregard my school's rivalries and apply there. I'd bet that school would see like 1000+ higher than normal applicants, all from StudentDoc haha

I have this really weird feeling in the back of my mind that I've applied to LizzyM's school but I don't know which one it is...

It's kind of an unnerving feeling when you've shared some of your application concerns + "here are the questions I *don't* want to be asked"...

Maybe I just feel that way because she can accurately categorize "types" of applicants and it just so happens that I fit into one of those types (maybe).

Does anyone else think about/worry about ADCOMs finding out who you are? I have GOT to be one of the easiest applications to spot. (Hence taking down my MDApps.)

 

[p30doc]

Does anyone else think about/worry about ADCOMs finding out who you are? I have GOT to be one of the easiest applications to spot. (Hence taking down my MDApps.)

same paranoia(irrational?) here, which is why MDApps is gone until I get that elusive first acceptance =)

 

[doomknight]

or you could just not list your EC's. With a few K applicants, there are bound to be duplicate mcat/gpa scores

 

[pianola]

or you could just not list your EC's. With a few K applicants, there are bound to be duplicate mcat/gpa scores

True, but my majors alone OR college alone OR grad school program alone OR ECs alone OR citizenship alone distinguish me (for better or for worse) at almost every school to which I applied. Believe it or not. My philosophical/religious/spirtual denomination and MCAT breakdown also limit the number of possible applicants I could be as well. Basically, I have to keep remembering that I can't post anything halfway personal about myself...and I've forgotten a few times 😳.

Not that anyone necessarily WOULD look me up, but the opportunity certainly exists to find out who I am.

REL surely could look me up in a heartbeat, given that I'm a FL resident, and actually, I just gave him my name and college at the beginning of the cycle because it's just too easy to find me, and he might as well know that I'm applying to UCF and that I'm interested in learning about the program. Simple as that.

 

[ishr]

True, but my majors alone OR college alone OR grad school program alone OR ECs alone OR citizenship alone distinguish me (for better or for worse) at almost every school to which I applied. Believe it or not. My philosophical/religious/spirtual denomination and MCAT breakdown also limit the number of possible applicants I could be as well. Basically, I have to keep remembering that I can't post anything halfway personal about myself...and I've forgotten a few times 😳.

Not that anyone necessarily WOULD look me up, but the opportunity certainly exists to find out who I am.

REL surely could look me up in a heartbeat, given that I'm a FL resident, and actually, I just gave him my name and college at the beginning of the cycle because it's just too easy to find me, and he might as well know that I'm applying to UCF and that I'm interested in learning about the program. Simple as that.

I don't think you need to worry about being looked up. Unless you've said some things that could seriously damage your application that really stand out, here's why it won't matter if you link your MDapps:

1) Don't get too self-important, nobody is going to go way out of their way and play detective to find out who you are.
2) To be fair and objective, they probably wouldn't do this anyway, because it would only be fair if they had this info on every applicant (how they behave on forums, etc.)

 

[Timus]

Take anything she says with a huge grain of salt. It's hard to believe her credibility when she hides behind a screen name. On the other hand, REL is admissions coordinator at University of Central Florida and is up front about his identity and his advice/info is high quality.

I agree with that. Somehow, I just dont believe the BS she (LizzyM) sells to young kids on this board. She might be right in certain cases but most of the time it seems that she has no personal experience of going through this process. I mean cmmon..if you were really ALL THAT would you have time to post thousands of replies on a public forum?

 

[linguini]

I agree with that. Somehow, I just dont believe the BS she (LizzyM) sells to young kids on this board. She might be right in certain cases but most of the time it seems that she has no personal experience of going through this process. I mean cmmon..if you were really ALL THAT would you have time to post thousands of replies on a public forum?

If you don't want to take someone else's advice then fine. But there's really no need to publicly bash someone else who is trying to help you. That's bad manners.

 

[Lukkie]

I agree with that. Somehow, I just dont believe the BS she (LizzyM) sells to young kids on this board. She might be right in certain cases but most of the time it seems that she has no personal experience of going through this process. I mean cmmon..if you were really ALL THAT would you have time to post thousands of replies on a public forum?

the reason i like this board is how pre-meds know better than the doctors themselves about how they should live their lives