US NEWS AVERAGE GPA/MCAT STAT RELIABILITY!

[DZT]

---

Members do not see this ad.

One thing I dont understand is that is discrepancy between the average GPA and MCAT scores posted by US News, Princeton Review, or some other source, and what people who are accepted actually get in terms of their GPA and MCAT. For instance, I see that the average GPA for Georgetown is 3.59 and an MCAT of 31-32, but in reality the people on SDN who actually get in have credentials that soar beyond this.
I know that the presence of underrepresented minorities in the class can bring down the GPA slightly but nothing as significant as I have seen.
Does anyone know how much we can trust these statistics and if we should place any fidelity in all in them? Thanks. <img border="0" alt="[Pity]" title="" src="graemlins/pity.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[Pity]" title="" src="graemlins/pity.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[Pity]" title="" src="graemlins/pity.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[Pity]" title="" src="graemlins/pity.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[Pity]" title="" src="graemlins/pity.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[Pity]" title="" src="graemlins/pity.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[Pity]" title="" src="graemlins/pity.gif" />

 

[SMW]

Not everyone who gets in goes to the school. Plus, SDNers are a rarified group of med school applicants and do not represent any sort of cross section of the applicant pool!!

Welcome to SDN!! 🙂

 

[johne]

I agree with the above.
SDNers will probably have better credentials.

Towards the end of the season med schools dig down into the lower grades and probably accept a significant number of which only a few may enroll.

 

[italianlove]

Hey nb81,

I agree the discrepancy in stats can be quite confusing. The difference between the two stats is Accepted pool of applicant numbers vs. Matriculated pool of applicant numbers (and people don't always list this when they give you "their" stats). Of course the Accepted pool will be higher than the people who end up attending because chances are that they (the gunners) will have a multitude of different schools to choose from. Of course this is not set in stone and there are always exceptions, but generally I would think that this would be true and is the reason for the discrepancy. Hope this helps. Good luck to you! Ciao.

 

[Esco]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by nb81:
•
I know that the presence of underrepresented minorities in the class can bring down the GPA slightly but nothing as significant as I have seen.
•••••<img border="0" alt="[Wowie]" title="" src="graemlins/wowie.gif" /> I don't think I appreciate that statement, try keeping ignorant remarks like this out of your posts next time big guy!
I don't honestly believe the majority of non-URM's have 4.0's and 45's...it all varies from individual to individual--dumb ass

 

[Resident Alien]

kjigga, you should take it easy too.

 

[leorl]

Oh, not this AGAIN. I echo the above, SDNers are not a cross-section, and neither are friends of friends, etc. Our small circles can't generalize to all the possible people the schools accept/matriculate. The stats are good in giving us a general idea, but also take it with a grain of salt - you know you just want to try to do your best to give yourself the best shot.

 

[DZT]

Kjigga, I'm sorry for how I worded that statement and by no means did I mean to offend anyone. I was trying to state the fact that URM's generally have lower GPA's and MCAT's, though there are definitely exceptions, and this may serve to slightly lower the average GPA stats, that's all. It's a fact, kjigga, so chill out.

 

[lmm]

Could it also be possible that people only post their stats if they are very high? I got accepted at Georgetown and my GPA is higher but my MCAT is the same. I know of other people in the 2nd year class who got in with mid 20's but had relatives that had gone there. There's very often some circumstance or some experience in a candidate's app that makes stats less important.

 

[Esco]

First off let me say that your remark did not really "stir me up", I have become accustomed to hearing such remarks come out of the mouths of some very intelligent people who claim to be progressive, so there really is no need to tell me to calm down everyone, I'm cool, I'm not over here pissed off. With that said, while it may be a fact that URM's do indeed have a lower average GPA (around a 3.59 compared to a 3.73 for non URM's, which isn't that significant anyway), I thought your statement really just had some negative implications and did not seem to take into account what other posters above have constantly repeated above...SDN is not a random population sample of pre-meds, I think we are all outgoing and talented people...the very fact that some of us can spend hours responding to each other on this site simply demonstrates how we can waste precious time and still get our work done in school or at work, and at a high quality. I think you recognize that there are non-URM's that get accepted to great schools with either sub-par gpa's or MCAT scores, and they obviously contribute to the avg's of a given university...that's the only thing I wanted to get across, your statement just seemed to blame lower avg's on URM's, exclusively, which I think we both know is not the case. I wasn't trying to start anything dude, it's all gravy! AIIGHT!!!

 

[A. Caveman]

what's up with the name kJIGGA? i think that's a little deflamatory. pour that gravy on my stomach and eat my belly like a pot roast.

 

[sixxer]

Hey JIGGA,

Let me get this straight. Now nb81, in his/her initial post, merely stated: •••quote:••• the presence of underrepresented minorities in the class can bring down the GPA slightly... ••••Which you thought was an ignorant statement, and called him/her a •••quote:••• dumb ass ••••because of that.

And later, affirmed exactly what nb81 initially said, when you said:

•••quote:••• it may be a fact that URM's do indeed have a lower average GPA (around a 3.59 compared to a 3.73 for non URM's, which isn't that significant anyway ••••I saw no "negative implications" in the initial post, so maybe you should try reading just a little more carefully before you call people dumb asses all the while looking like one yourself.

And try getting off that politically correct high horse you're on.