UT Tyler refusing to review my primary application

[Axe Apollo]

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Since I have garbage bcpm (2.93) they won't even look at it even though my MCAT is 519. cgpa is 3.1

What really pisses me off is that I was a math minor and I took advanced math courses for the last bit of college with zero grade inflation i.e. where getting a C wasn't considered a huge problem and a B would be considered good. Seems unnecessarily rigid on the school's part

Is there any way past this or it truly over?

 

[Goro]

Minimum requirements are exactly that. If you're below their minimum, you are not viable for that school.

Read my post on reinvention for pre-meds.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Did you talk to the admissions team at UTT before submitting your application? If they have made it clear that they have minimums AND you don't fit their mission, there's not much you can do. Move on. At least with TMDSAS, you didn't spend that much for checking UTT on the TMDSAS list. And you can save your secondary app money for someone else (presuming they charge).

 

[Axe Apollo]

Did you talk to the admissions team at UTT before submitting your application? If they have made it clear that they have minimums AND you don't fit their mission, there's not much you can do. Move on.

Sure did. Worst part is that I do fit their mission, almost to a T. I don't know why they would screen me out when my statistics are unusual but technically don't really hurt their metrics given their extremely low average MCAT. But I guess if they prioritize GPA that much there's probably nothing I can do

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Sure did. Worst part is that I do fit their mission, almost to a T. I don't why they would screen me out when my statistics are unusual but technically don't really hurt their metrics given their extremely low average MCAT. But I guess if they prioritize GPA that much there's probably nothing I can do

Yeah, sorry to say, it happens. Let's hope your other schools are more flexible (such as TCOM).

 

[Med Ed]

Take some more courses to nudge your BCMP GPA over 3.0.

Screening cutoffs are imperfect tools, for sure. But you are the one who decided to toss a live grenade onto your GPA.

 

[eigen]

For what it's worth, this isn't a hidden requirement: in fact, it's one of the first bullet points on their website under requirements (School of Medicine Admissions | UT Tyler):

Minimum of 3.0 in the last 30 hours of BCPM (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Math) courses.

That said, since it's the last 30 hours you should be able to take additional coursework and bring that up pretty easily for a future application.

This is one of the reasons I recommend my advisees make a detailed read through each schools site before they apply and make sure they know all of the specific / niche requirements for every school they want to apply to- a spreadsheet is a great approach. Often, there are enough schools that you can still find plenty that you fit.

 

[Axe Apollo]

For what it's worth, this isn't a hidden requirement: in fact, it's one of the first bullet points on their website under requirements (School of Medicine Admissions | UT Tyler):

Minimum of 3.0 in the last 30 hours of BCPM (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Math) courses.

That said, since it's the last 30 hours you should be able to take additional coursework and bring that up pretty easily for a future application.

This is one of the reasons I recommend my advisees make a detailed read through each schools site before they apply and make sure they know all of the specific / niche requirements for every school they want to apply to- a spreadsheet is a great approach. Often, there are enough schools that you can still find plenty that you fit.

I know, I'm mostly just venting. I thought they might make an exception because of mission fit and MCAT but nope

 

[LizzyM]

Looking population-wide, rather than at one unusual applicant, some adcoms will say that a low GPA/high MCAT is indicative of applicants who are good test takers and can rise to the occasion for a single day but who are over-extended or disorganized such that the day-to-day work slides. This type of generalization is rough on someone like the OP but in the pool of thousands of applicants, it is a heuristic that adcoms lean into.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Speaking in general terms, also read

Admissions Committees: The Art of the Decision | Student Doctor Network | SDN

Faculty serve three to four year terms on admissions committees, so they can vary significantly year-to-year with shifting priorities over time.

www.studentdoctor.net

Who knows about the low GPA/high MCAT students who haunt faculty's perceptions...

 

[Axe Apollo]

Looking population-wide, rather than at one unusual applicant, some adcoms will say that a low GPA/high MCAT is indicative of applicants who are good test takers and can rise to the occasion for a single day but who are over-extended or disorganized such that the day-to-day work slides. This type of generalization is rough on someone like the OP but in the pool of thousands of applicants, it is a heuristic that adcoms lean into.

My foundational sciences are solid, and I studied for the MCAT over the course of a year while working full time which at least in my mind does demonstrate long term discipline. Should I even consider mentioning this in an application or would it come off as desperate? also it's often seen as desperate to mention low GPA but is there any way to soften this? The reason my sGPA is so bad is bc I failed two science classes almost 10 years ago. i then realized I was not ready for school and took ~5 years off and worked (including in healthcare), then went back to school with an extreme upward trend (albeit nothing stellar). I'm very well aware of the stereotypes around high mcat and low GPA, including the fact that it's stereotype often associated with men, but in my case it's mostly inaccurate, especially since I'm almost 30 and took school much more seriously when I went back...

 

[Med Ed]

So you failed two science classes years ago… when did you rack up the C’s in advanced math courses?

Spending a year preparing for the MCAT could be viewed as discipline. It could also suggest that you need an exorbitantly long time to perform well.

 

[eigen]

The reason my sGPA is so bad is bc I failed two science classes almost 10 years ago.

This doesn't quite make sense in light of both your posts here and the schools requirement.

The school requires a 3.0 GPA in your last 30 credits of BCPM courses. F's from 10 years ago shouldn't be included in your last 30 hours unless you've taken no BCPM courses since.

This requirement is specifically structured to allow re-invention, hence the focus on the most recent 30 hours. That also means it often focuses more on upper level than introductory coursework.

 

[Axe Apollo]

So you failed two science classes years ago… when did you rack up the C’s in advanced math courses?

Spending a year preparing for the MCAT could be viewed as discipline. It could also suggest that you need an exorbitantly long time to perform well.

I took calc 2 in hs so all my math classes were advanced and i didn't start my math minor until i went back to school 4 years after dropping out (after two particularly bad semesters where I got the aforementioned F's). didn't "rack up C's" per se, got 2 A's, 2 C's and 2 B's. so I had a 3.0 average for math and then had an A and a B respectively in the classes I failed and retook, and then had those two F's averaging into it.

Your point about the MCAT is probably valid though, I could see how it would also get reverse halo affected by the low GPA

 

[eigen]

FWIW, I would consider advanced math courses firmly rooted in proofs and theorems. So things beyond a foundations / number theory course.

If you had Calc 2 in HS, then you would have likely started in Calc 3 (multivariable or sequences and series, depending on the school), and then would still have had Linear/Differential Equations as lower level math courses. Most places I've taught, none of the calculus series or Dif Eq will even count towards the major, and Linear is 50/50, usually with a lower level class intended for scientists/engineers that doesn't count and an upper level class that's proof based and does.

 

[anon2]

I took calc 2 in hs so all my math classes were advanced and i didn't start my math minor until i went back to school 4 years after dropping out (after two particularly bad semesters where I got the aforementioned F's). didn't "rack up C's" per se, got 2 A's, 2 C's and 2 B's. so I had a 3.0 average for math and then had an A and a B respectively in the classes I failed and retook, and then had those two F's averaging into it.

Your point about the MCAT is probably valid though, I could see how it would also get reverse halo affected by the low GPA

Math PhD here. Your numbers don't pass the smell test.

You had a 3.0 in 6 courses, then 3.5 in 2 retakes. If your last 2 courses were Fs, that is a 2.5 +/- unequal credit weighting, nowhere near a 2.93. With a supposed 2.93/519, it is trivially easy to take any BCPM course, get a B+, and permanently moot the issue. Or unconditionally, get 1B- 1C+ and you're still done. And in all of this, where are your non-math prereqs?

FWIW, I would consider advanced math courses firmly rooted in proofs and theorems. So things beyond a foundations / number theory course.

If you had Calc 2 in HS, then you would have likely started in Calc 3 (multivariable or sequences and series, depending on the school), and then would still have had Linear/Differential Equations as lower level math courses. Most places I've taught, none of the calculus series or Dif Eq will even count towards the major, and Linear is 50/50, usually with a lower level class intended for scientists/engineers that doesn't count and an upper level class that's proof based and does.

Typical places I've taught/attended do count calc and diff eqs as lower courses (+/- required) in a minor and definitely a major. My home dept (which is very service-heavy) has two versions of linear I and diff eqs I (math vs eng majors), but both feed into corresponding II. Heck we have 4 versions of calc I/II, not counting remedial. Plus the track I took, direct to III and IV.