What makes one a "superstar" or "top" applicant?

[efle]

They conveniently left out that the 520 was a retake late into the cycle

Looks like he even ignored someone who predicted exactly how it would go:

The first is that it looks like you're applying to schools based on the MCAT score you think you would have gotten, rather than the MCAT score you actually got ("although the schools I am applying to almost all have higher average MCAT scores") which could be disastrous unless the rest of your app is stellar.

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[deleted1025488]

What was the original score? @joshuamarcus

 

[proudofmykids]

The point isn't med schools solving for injustice. It's them recognizing that many superlative candidates who would have attended an Ivy in years past are now opting for generous scholarships at lower tier schools. The candidates are exactly the same in many cases as their Ivy peers, and med schools recognize this. As a result, the bias towards highly selective UGs has diminished over time to the point that today, it is ranked as important as UG major! It has nothing to do with social justice and everything to do with a recognition of the fact that while awesome candidates are disproportionately found at top schools, there is a critical mass of them spread among all tiers of UGs, and the med schools want to identify and enroll them, wherever they happen to attend UG.

I'm fully agree with superlative candidates coming from non ivy who were literally there by cost or other compelling reasons.
However, the corellary is that the reality is there simply are not as many.
Also, I am willing to bet there still commonly exists unconscious bias toward selection of ivy candidates who have proven themselves equally strongly.

 

[proudofmykids]

Just a note from someone applying now....while I know that we are still in middle of the cycle, it has been very slow for me and I don’t see anything changing as of right now. I have 520+ MCAT (with a 131 CARS), 3.98+ GPA, thousands of hours of volunteering over the past 10+ years in various organizations and many hundreds of hours of research with pubs. The two recommendation letters of mine that I did see (the writers sent them to me for some reason) had one that was very good and one that was both detailed and “gushing” to quote those above. My essays were (at the very worst) average and most of them would be considered very good. I also applied to a decent range of schools, although it was slightly skewed towards Top 20. Nonetheless, I only had one interview and that was at a school with someone who knew me on the admissions committee.
Not trying to bring the mood down, but realistically this year has been difficult to get in due to the overwhelming number of applicants. I may get in to that school I interviewed at and maybe I’ll get another last minute interview, but just remember that there is no guarantee. Make sure you enjoy the process because otherwise the stress makes it almost not worth it. Love what you study in undergrad, do research and volunteer with what you love and not what you think others want, and don’t forget to live life.

If this was posted in the WAMC thread or Reinventors thread, I'm willing to bet that despite the incredibly strong application you describe, the weakness is the length of time (inferring at least 6 years) since you proved your academic excellence. I've read that Adcoms sometimes start to worry that a candidate is past their 'academic' prime and dedication.

I hope it doesn't come to it, but should you not get an Acceptance, try to get feedback from the programs who didn't offer an Interview and plan to take one or two upper Science related classes to demonstrate you still have the sharp academic skills. Best of luck!

 

[Katniss Everdeen]

I started a nationwide revolution to overthrow a murderous dictator, in the process saving millions of people from starvation, torture and suffering. I also significantly contributed to establishing the era of global peace that followed and in setting up the a new democratic government of all of Panem. I only got 1 interview...

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

Which process is that?
1) the actual the mechanics of how AMCAS and the subsequent processes work
2) the decision making process of how schools evaluate and decide on applicants.
3) the thought process and crafting the experiences and subsequent narrative of an application


To answer:
1) you should study and know like any other course via the MSAR, applicant guide and myriad of FREE materials from AMCAS (see links in my signature), individual medical schools websites, and the huge amount of other free materials. Of course if you prefer to pay I have very unreasonable rates
2) this is the something you can only know in general terms. The black box of decision making when there are fifty thousand plus applicants submitting hundreds of thousands of individual applications across one hundred and fifty plus medical schools being reviewed by thousands of individual adcom members in of large variety of small-group dynamic settings. I will see that vast majority applicants do not understand the basic conceptual philosophy that an adcom uses to considered your fitness to be a physician. They need to take the concrete activities that you narrate in your application and see what evidence it gives to the attributes, characteristics, and traits that would make you a good physician. And since there are many paths to the many characteristics to be a good physician this question is impossible to give some absolute answer to applicants on how to be a superstar
3) Knowing how to prepare your background and then narrate it on applications is the process that applicants need to address. A medical school application is a coherent, concise, and compelling narrative showing a strong pattern of motivation, commitment and achievement. The mechanics of how to do that I will discuss another time.

I will say that I have seen very few, if any, superstars, in terms of work and activities that would speak for themselves.

This whole superstar thread is silly but entertaining

 

[lacrossegirl420]

@Katniss Everdeen : sorry to hear :/ was your CARS below 125?

 

[OfMiceAndWomen]

I've done a lot better than I expected to this cycle, and I think it's largely owed to two factors that people have already brought up in this thread: 1) having a very cohesive and compelling narrative, and 2) coming from a prestigious UG (HYPSM).

If I gave you my resume, on paper, I'm a fairly mediocre applicant for T20-tier schools (3.80, 99th percentile MCAT, 1 pub, cookie-cutter clinical and volunteer experiences). But a large part of my narrative was growing up with a poor, immigrant background and then getting into and figuring out how to excel at my undergrad. I picked a specialty that I love & did research in that area while volunteering with communities that resonated with me. My application had about 2-3 themes, and I was able to tie literally everything (upward trend in stats, research, volunteer, and clinical experiences) back to those themes.

But I also think if I had done exactly the same thing at a state undergrad, I would not have the same 'wow' factor. A bunch of my interviewers have said to me, "Oh, I have no doubt you'll do well in med school, you went to xyz college." And I know many of my first-gen, low-income peers have had terrifyingly opposite reactions during their interviews. There's no direct, tangible way to determine the weight of prestigious undergrads in the application process, but there's a real subconscious or unspoken bias that won't ever be mentioned in any kind of survey or report.

 

[efle]

I'm a fairly mediocre applicant for T20-tier schools (3.80, 99th percentile MCAT, 1 pub, cookie-cutter clinical and volunteer experiences).

Only on SDN is this anything approaching a mediocre applicant, even for the big names. HYPSM with high LizzyM and a paper - my bet would be that you had a 50% yield on T20s if not higher

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

Only on SDN is this anything approaching a mediocre applicant, even for the big names. HYPSM with high LizzyM and a paper - my bet would be that you had a 50% yield on T20s if not higher

I think differentiation is the paper and HYPSM tag.

 

[MD-PhD-NonTrad]

@KnightDoc I want to let you know that your persistence in seeking answers, exaggerated yet consistent opinions, and willingness to question the ADCOMs with such incredulousness instead of rolling over to their authority as all others do has taught me more in this one thread than I learned in the entirety of my first application cycle having not been on SDN. My account is like 3 days old and this is the only thread I have read - I hope all of SDN is this good.