The Medical School Formula

[StreetGenius]

Does anybody know about the med school crude admission formula?

I think it is (gpa*10 + mcat score)= total number
(with the highest being 4.0+45= 85)


What is competitive?

And what is competitive for URM?


Let me know what ya'll think?

Thanks

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[LizzyM]

Does anybody know about the med school crude admission formula?

I think it is (gpa*10 + mcat score)= total number
(with the highest being 4.0+45= 85)


What is competitive?

And what is competitive for URM?


Let me know what ya'll think?

Thanks

Oye! Never heard of that. I think that some schools use more of an eyeball approach. Are the scores at least above a certain minimum? What is the minimum seems to be a moving target as scores of the matriculants seem to go up every year. If so, does the student have research experience, interesting ECs, a good PS, LORs that don't raise questions about ethics/values/integrity. The student then gets a score based on whether they are average compared to the current student body, above average or below average. Usually the above average get invited to interview first and some of the average.

 

[Idioteque]

I believe the "competitive" number for your formula is 70 (3.7 GPA, 33 MCAT or any other combination) but I doubt any adcom uses this, some schools might for giving out secondaries but its most likely not the formula you have. Or it might be, I really wouldn't be suprised.

 

[sven]

Some schools may well use crude formulas for deciding who to reject outright and who to extend interviews to, but I really don't think that this is at all helpful when thinking of actual admissions. There are just so many other important factors -- ECs, volunteering, scholarly projects, interview performance, actual coursework that yielded the gpa, etc. I know that some schools do use numerical formulas for actual admissions, but they are far, far more complex.

If you're still curious about this, premed offices sometimes keep grids showing which schools their students have gotten into with which GPAs and MCATs.

 

[Hoberto]

MCO

GPA*15
+ MCAT total
+ MCAT Writing (1-7)
>90 get a secondary
<90 sorry pal



Edit: This is the real formula, sorry.

 

[greendot]

Ummmm, yeah ... where are you guys getting these 'formulas' from??

 

[wetlightning]

I believe the "competitive" number for your formula is 70 (3.7 GPA, 33 MCAT or any other combination) but I doubt any adcom uses this, some schools might for giving out secondaries but its most likely not the formula you have. Or it might be, I really wouldn't be suprised.

is this competitive for med schools in general? or top tier? i'd heard it was 70 for top tier schools

 

[JayQuah]

GPA*5000
MCAT/3 + 16.97
+ Number of EC's listed on AMCAS

>15538.636 get a secondary
<15538.636 no dice

Or least that's what i've heard.

 

[C.P. Jones]

or 50 to 100 dollars = extra money for us [the school], send secondary

 

[wetlightning]

GPA*5000
MCAT/3 + 16.97
+ Number of EC's listed on AMCAS

>15538.636 get a secondary
<15538.636 no dice

Or least that's what i've heard.

HAHAHAHA

thanks for bringing some humor to the thread.

 

[JayQuah]

HAHAHAHA

thanks for bringing some humor to the thread.

I'm glad someone gets me

 

[Hoberto]

The MCO formula is from a former MCO adcom who now moonlights as a premed advisor and instructor. It was NOT easy getting the info out of her. I haven't been successful pressing the people over at Case. They still claim that they don't screen any applicants....come on.

 

[liverotcod]

I think the OP's formula has some merit, and have often used it to help answer the "do I have a chance" question. Obviously, one's stats are just a piece of the puzzle. I use 65-67 as the "competitive" range, meaning that if you have, say, a 3.5 GPA and 31 MCAT, you will probably get in somewhere, all other things being equal.

 

[BOBODR]

Wait, you mean some schools use formulas to cut out applicants without even reading all the great EC's? So GW doesn't read all 11,000 applications? I am shocked

 

[Mman]

The important thing to remember is that there is no hard and fast rule. I saw a candidate who was admitted to a top tier med school with roughly a 50 per that scale. Of course they had many other factors making their application much more competitive than just raw numbers.

 

[SpeedRacer]

GPA*5000
MCAT/3 + 16.97
+ Number of EC's listed on AMCAS

>15538.636 get a secondary
<15538.636 no dice

Or least that's what i've heard.

HAHAHHAHAH

you beat me to it!!

 

[MJB]

And what is competitive for URM?

Why should there be a difference for URM?

 

[gujuDoc]

Why should there be a difference for URM?

That's exactly what I am wondering?????

 

[liverotcod]

I think that some schools use more of an eyeball approach.

Agreed that few schools actually use such a formula. But the point of the formula is for applicants to help understand their MCAT and GPA as relative indicators of academic prowess and competitiveness. There seems little doubt that "the numbers" play a big role in selecting interviewees at most if not all schools.

 

[gujuDoc]

Oye! Never heard of that. I think that some schools use more of an eyeball approach. Are the scores at least above a certain minimum? What is the minimum seems to be a moving target as scores of the matriculants seem to go up every year. If so, does the student have research experience, interesting ECs, a good PS, LORs that don't raise questions about ethics/values/integrity. The student then gets a score based on whether they are average compared to the current student body, above average or below average. Usually the above average get invited to interview first and some of the average.

That formula that the original poster used was described as being the way the USF COM calculates Gpa and mcat.

They look for a total of 37 pts for gpa (3.7) and 30 for MCAT. So that would be 67. This is what REL told a former roommate of mine that is now at FSU COM.

I've seen that formula mentioned on this board as well.

However, that said, as you probably know.....

It depends on the school.

Miami for instance uses the following to rank you out of 110 pts.

50 pts = MCAT + GPA (probably by the same formula mentioned above)
20 pts = direct clnical contact
15 pts = diversity of life experiences (Your ECs/Work/activities section)
15 pts = letters of recommendation
10 pts = adversity faced in life (I.e. did you come from a disadvantaged background???)

Based on this 110 pt scale, they rank all applicants to determine who they will give an interview to. Once you receive the interview, they then reevaluate the interviewed applicants and make decisions. Generally, they accept 3 out of 4 inteviees. So you have a 75% chance of getting accepted if interviewed.

 

[45408]

I'd use that scale mostly as an idea of how competitive you are just for a range of schools you might be game for.

 

[REL]

That formula that the original poster used was described as being the way the USF COM calculates Gpa and mcat.

They look for a total of 37 pts for gpa (3.7) and 30 for MCAT. So that would be 67. This is what REL told a former roommate of mine that is now at FSU COM.

I've seen that formula mentioned on this board as well.

However, that said, as you probably know.....

It depends on the school.

Miami for instance uses the following to rank you out of 110 pts.

50 pts = MCAT + GPA (probably by the same formula mentioned above)
20 pts = direct clnical contact
15 pts = diversity of life experiences (Your ECs/Work/activities section)
15 pts = letters of recommendation
10 pts = adversity faced in life (I.e. did you come from a disadvantaged background???)

Based on this 110 pt scale, they rank all applicants to determine who they will give an interview to. Once you receive the interview, they then reevaluate the interviewed applicants and make decisions. Generally, they accept 3 out of 4 inteviees. So you have a 75% chance of getting accepted if interviewed.

Just a note here: USF does not have a quantifiable formula for selection for interview where points are assessed for different strata of MCAT/GPA scores, EC's, gender, ethnicity, etc. For the record it is not legal to consider ethnicity/race, gender, age etc in the admissions process and certainly not a quantifiable formula for such things --- that is what the recent Michigan case was all about. As I explain to each applicant who visits my office, it's great to have super numbers -- they will get you a secondary. To get an interview at USF you have to show a "motivation" for medicine and helping others. That is where the EC's, especially volunteerism comes into play. Obviously to have great numbers and great EC's is the ultimate, great numbers and limited EC's means you probably would not get an interview at USF.

 

[gujuDoc]

Just a note here: USF does not have a quantifiable formula for selection for interview where points are assessed for different strata of MCAT/GPA scores, EC's, gender, ethnicity, etc. For the record it is not legal to consider ethnicity/race, gender, age etc in the admissions process and certainly not a quantifiable formula for such things --- that is what the recent Michigan case was all about. As I explain to each applicant who visits my office, it's great to have super numbers -- they will get you a secondary. To get an interview at USF you have to show a "motivation" for medicine and helping others. That is where the EC's, especially volunteerism comes into play. Obviously to have great numbers and great EC's is the ultimate, great numbers and limited EC's means you probably would not get an interview at USF.

Hey REL, I had heard that you guys used that formula to look at numbers from a friend that used to go here. She's now at FSU COM but did a master's in Pharmacology here and told me a few days before the MCAT, that that was the way USF did things. I had heard of the formula on this board, but didn't take stock to it until she said what she told me. If you guys don't use that formula, it's definitely good to hear because I hate those kind of formulas and don't think they do any justice to an applicant. However, I had heard that recently from someone who said they heard it from you, so that's why I was under the assumption that USF did use that formula.

 

[PTPoeny]

I wouldn't rely on the formulas too heavily, I have a 72 on the OP's formula and didn't get any interviews at the traditional "top tier" schools.

I did get acceptances and will be going to a school that I love, but I just wanted to respond to the poster that thought 70 was competitive for top tier schools.

 

[lilxixi]

What's the point of us sitting here and typing endless guesses of how the schools select people. There is really nothing we could do about it. All we CAN do is just do our best and enjoy everyday of our live, be a happy person and future doctor. Besides, I'm sure wherever we may end up, we will be thankful and treat the learning experience genuinely...............right?

 

[PTPoeny]

I wish I had read a thread like this last year when I was picking out schools. I thought that I had a good MCAT and good GPA so I only applied to 4 schools and lets just say that they weren't a good selection of schools to apply for when you are only applying to four.

I was hoping to encourage people to apply to lots of schools and not assume you will get in anywhere.

 

[AggieJohn]

What's the point of us sitting here and typing endless guesses of how the schools select people. There is really nothing we could do about it. All we CAN do is just do our best and enjoy everyday of our live, be a happy person and future doctor. Besides, I'm sure wherever we may end up, we will be thankful and treat the learning experience genuinely...............right?

Or maybe somebody will come up with the perfect number and we will all find a secret method to getting in med school! I think this thread deserves a sticky

You go and enjoy life, I'll be checking for new posts!!

 

[t33sg1rl]

For the MCO formula, what is the MCAT Writing 1-7? I thought that the two essays were each graded on a scale of 1 through 6, and added to get a score of 2 through 12, which was then assigned a letter J through T (with J being 2, and T being 12).

I did get an MCO interview last year (I'm sitting on the waitlist now) and if my calculations are correct, they must have added in the writing as 2-12, otherwise I wouldn't have been interviewed.

Of course, I think most schools do not apply their GPA formulas to non-traditional types with graduate coursework (which is me).

I also heard that OSU decides to give interviews based on multiple factors, but the date of your interview is calculated by GPA and MCAT alone (and earlier interviews are obviously a lot better.) Anyone else heard this?

 

[chaeymaey]

I always heard GPA*10 + MCAT + X Factor (URM, disadv., hard major, honors program, Ivy school, EC's, etc.) and that 60+ is competitive in TX schools.

 

[TheMightyAngus]

These formulas are most likely to be utilized by state schools paring down the list of qualified applicants, if they are being used at all. I doubt they are even considered by top-tier schools because these schools are typically more interested in hand-picking a class of outstanding applicants than filling their class with high GPAs and MCATs.

 

[StreetGenius]

I was wondering whether they used this to screen out for secondaries. this formula has been thrown around alot in forums and pre-med advisors make reference to it, I am just wondering where it originated--it seems awkward...

It is just weird because it seems that a (2.8gpa*10) + 32mcat would be 60, but then a (3.3gpa*10) + 27 would also = 60.

 

[REL]

Hey REL, I had heard that you guys used that formula to look at numbers from a friend that used to go here. She's now at FSU COM but did a master's in Pharmacology here and told me a few days before the MCAT, that that was the way USF did things. I had heard of the formula on this board, but didn't take stock to it until she said what she told me. If you guys don't use that formula, it's definitely good to hear because I hate those kind of formulas and don't think they do any justice to an applicant. However, I had heard that recently from someone who said they heard it from you, so that's why I was under the assumption that USF did use that formula.

No quantified forumla at USF for at least the last 4 years. There was one before to some degree, but not since we reorganized our admissions in 2001.

 

[gujuDoc]

No quantified forumla at USF for at least the last 4 years. There was one before to some degree, but not since we reorganized our admissions in 2001.

GOOD TO HEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She scared me when she told me you guys used a formula!!!!!!

 

[gujuDoc]

I was wondering whether they used this to screen out for secondaries. this formula has been thrown around alot in forums and pre-med advisors make reference to it, I am just wondering where it originated--it seems awkward...

It is just weird because it seems that a (2.8gpa*10) + 32mcat would be 60, but then a (3.3gpa*10) + 27 would also = 60.

yes but take into account that sometimes a slight lacking in one part (i.e. gpa) can be overlooked by a higher MCAT. But likewise, if your MCAT it near the averages 24+ and you have a 3.9 gpa, then your GPA may sometimes overlook the slightly lower MCAT. That said, it is better to have a high MCAT and lower GPA then the other way around because the MCAT is standardized and GPA is not.

However, you should try to keep up both if possible.

Just concentrate on looking through MSAR and looking at averages and minimum required scores for different schools and seeing where you fit in and what schools interest you. Just do what you need to do and dont' worry about the formulas. Worry about the more important stuff.