what are my chances?

[MonteeC]

Hi, I am currently a third year medical student and I know this question will seem redundant but I was just wondering whether or not they ask about the MCATS when applying for ophtho, I did very poorly on it because I was already accepted to the medical school (long story- but basically a 7 year prgrm that didnt require any particular score on the MCAT) and did very well on my boards (252) and my pre-clinical years. Would my MCAT hinder me? I dont have any significant research experience (just one the summer before medical school), but Im planning on doing some research either this year or takinga a year off. As an aside, we just finished our first rotation in peds, and Im pretty sure I Passed- Im sure this isnt the end of the world, but if I do well on all my other rotations would that hurt me when applying? Thanks in advance.

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[bulldoc]

The program director will probably not even have access to your MCAT score. There's no place for it on the CAS application, and they will not likely ask for it.

In other words, the only standardized tests they care about are board scores.

 

[DiveMD]

MCAT: useless at this point.
Your chances: I say pretty good!

 

[ckyuen]

I can't even remember what scale the MCAT goes up to now, especially the writing portion. MCAT's don't count anymore.

 

[DOCTORSAIB]

Not to hijack this thread BUT what's the deal with requiring undergrad/grad school transcripts for SF Match. Do ophtho programs even spend a second looking at that stuff? It seems just as useless as requesting MCAT scores at this stage of the game.

SF Match should send out a questionnaire asking ophtho PD's if they even care about pre-med school grades. If not, they should just do away with it. I hate rules that make no sense...

 

[4424]

i had a number of programs who looked over the classes i took as an undergrad so i do believe many places look at the transcript.

 

[greenwitch]

I would agree with 4244. to my surprise, almost every program asked me about my undergraduate experience, or used my undergraduate classes as a jumping off point for further conversation.

 

[DOCTORSAIB]

Wowzers! I was king of slackhood in undergrad and partied like it was 1999 (and it really was!). Never thought I'd EVER have to explain my dismal undergrad GPA once I got into med school..

Here we go again "I was young, immature...."

 

[Taus]

Wowzers! I was king of slackhood in undergrad and partied like it was 1999 (and it really was!). Never thought I'd EVER have to explain my dismal undergrad GPA once I got into med school..

Here we go again "I was young, immature...."

wouldn't a *cough*-look-at-my-board-scores-*cough* suffice?

 

[4424]

Wowzers! I was king of slackhood in undergrad and partied like it was 1999 (and it really was!). Never thought I'd EVER have to explain my dismal undergrad GPA once I got into med school..

Here we go again "I was young, immature...."

i'm sure they looked at the gpa but for the most part, they just asked me about a particular class, etc and not so much a grade

 

[DOCTORSAIB]

wouldn't a *cough*-look-at-my-board-scores-*cough* suffice?

Haha. Imma small fish in a big pond my friend. Thanks though..

 

[Reeves]

These are the "on paper" type of things to focus on if you want to get into a competitive field like ophthalmology. You don't need all of them but you should at least have two to feel somewhat comfortable about your chances at matching. If you have three of the following and are a U.S. grad, you should feel very confident about matching.

Research publications (First Author)
Stellar letter(s) of recommendation from well known physician(s) in the field
AOA
Above average board scores