Weight of MCAT and GPA after receiving an interview invite

[Orims]

I am very fortunate that I have 3 IIs right now and looking forward to meeting adcoms and medical students. However, I was wondering if the MCAT and GPA are still heavily weighed after receiving an II.

For two of the schools I am interviewing at my MCAT score is below their 10th percentile. This gives me some anxiety that even if I ace my interview, and assuming everything else about my application is good, the "low" MCAT score might still drag me down.

Thanks for your input!

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[Blueprint Med School]

The analogy I've always heard is that applying to medical school is like climbing a flight of stairs. If you have a great application, then when you receive an interview you'll be closer to the top of the stairs. If your application just makes the cut, you might be lower on the stairs. The person with the stellar app might only need an average interview to be accepted while the person with the worse app will need a stellar interview.

With that being said, the fact that you have such an early interview means that you're already near the top of the ladder, as schools tend to give their most competitive applicants early interviews.

Kevin W, MCAT Tutor
Med School Tutors

 

[Lifeblood_20]

My understanding is that interview is only part of the process, rather than the "final step" before an acceptance. The committee will still consider your application in its entirety when making the admissions decision, and the interview is part of it, but not the only thing between you and admission.

However, that does not change the fact that we should do our absolute best in the interview!!! Good luck!!!

 

[DNAJB6]

This sounds like something that will vary from school to school. With that said, if you had a very low chance of admission and your scores were no where close to being competitive the school wouldn't have wasted the interview invitation.

 

[KnightDoc]

I am very fortunate that I have 3 IIs right now and looking forward to meeting adcoms and medical students. However, I was wondering if the MCAT and GPA are still heavily weighed after receiving an II.

For two of the schools I am interviewing at my MCAT score is below their 10th percentile. This gives me some anxiety that even if I ace my interview, and assuming everything else about my application is good, the "low" MCAT score might still drag me down.

Thanks for your input!

What the previous posters have said is 100% true. This question gets asked every year by hopeful interviewees in your position who want a clean slate once interviews begin. That's just not the way it works. If it were, there would be a much greater distribution of stats at most schools, since they wouldn't be considered once IIs went out.

The staircase analogy was offered by @LizzyM and is very popular. I will draw my own -- the post season in your favorite sport.

Take basketball. Yes, everyone starts 0-0 once the playoffs begin, but that doesn't mean the Nets and Lakers REALLY start out equal. Something in your application was good enough to cause them to want to see you, but yes, it's true, even if you ace your interview your 10%-ile MCAT WILL still drag you down. The question is whether it will drag you down enough to cost you an A?

The answer is that there is no way to know at this time. You applied knowing your MCAT was 10%-ile, and you are now in the best position possible given where you started. All you can do is your best, and worrying about it will not be a productive use of your time. 10% of next year's class will be in the MCAT bottom 10%-ile. Maybe you will be in that group, maybe not. Just ace the interview and then see what happens. Good luck!!!

 

[Goro]

I am very fortunate that I have 3 IIs right now and looking forward to meeting adcoms and medical students. However, I was wondering if the MCAT and GPA are still heavily weighed after receiving an II.

For two of the schools I am interviewing at my MCAT score is below their 10th percentile. This gives me some anxiety that even if I ace my interview, and assuming everything else about my application is good, the "low" MCAT score might still drag me down.

Thanks for your input!

It can.

But this isn't the time to be worrying. You go into the interview and knock 'em dead. That's all you can do.

 

[LizzyM]

If you have three interviews in early October despite having a 10th percentile MCAT at one of the schools that has invited you for interview, you have something in your application that is making adcoms feel enthusiastic about your prospects and wanting to get you in for an interview before you are wooed away by another school. Be proud and be optimistic as you head into those interviews!

 

[Orims]

Thank you all for your insights, and @Goro and @LizzyM for your wisdom.

 

[deleted1063986]

My personal experience was although I interviewed at schools where some of my stats were below 10th percentile, I didn't get acceptances to those schools. I did get acceptances to other schools, and I do not believe my interviews varied significantly between schools where I was accepted and those where I was not (although I know it's hard to judge our own performance).

Statistically you are likely to get in somewhere with your # of interviews, so try to focus that. It is unlikely (albeit possible) that you, me, or anyone else will get into every school where they interview, so don't take it personally if/when things don't work out at every school. It's impossible to know why a particular school will waitlist or reject you after the interview, but the interview itself is not the only factor.

 

[MyOdyssey]

Take basketball. Yes, everyone starts 0-0 once the playoffs begin, but that doesn't mean the Nets and Lakers REALLY start out equal.

Of course not!!! Nets>>>>Fakers