What should I aim for?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

simbalimba

Junior Member
10+ Year Member
7+ Year Member
15+ Year Member
Joined
Jan 29, 2005
Messages
120
Reaction score
0
Ok this is a slight twist on the "what are my chances" thread (I decided all of you are sick of seeing the same ole thing:D ). Right now I am getting ready to take my mcats in june, but I have many many things that are going on right now. I want to know given all my stats, what all of you THINK (as in educated guess) I need to score on my mcat to be competetive. My gpa is around a 3.4, same for my science. But I am repeating a few courses this semester and after this semester my gpa should be around a 3.7, same goes for my science gpa. The thing is though before this semester I have had a downward trend, with a D last year, a C in orgo1 last year and a C last semester. I have good extracullilars and LORS and all that jazz. I just wanted to know what people think I should study to get. Obviously everyone is gona say "Study as much as you can" but like I mentioned there are other things going on in my life, out of my control, that I have to attend to and thus I cannot study endlessly. Thanks all for any advice.

Members don't see this ad.
 
I don't think that you can really study for a certain score. For example, studying 2 hours a day to get a 25 or studying 4 hours a day to get a 30 doesn't really work. Just do the absolute best you can with the time you have. Be efficient with your time. The MCAT has to be a priority. Don't shoot for an average score.

If the D was in a pre-requisite class, you will have to retake it.

A 28 or higher on the MCAT combined with a 3.7 may open doors for you, but a 30+ is always ideal :D
 
If you're asking for bare minimums, a 3.6 cum and sci gpa, and an MCAT score of 27 or greater would make you a competitive applicant at almost all DO schools.

Also, if your overall gpa is good, I don't think a 'downward trend' is going to be that much of an issue. You may have to explain that at an interview, but at least you'll be able to make it to the interview stage.

On an unrelated note, this is not directed at you Simba, but for all the newbs on sdn: Please, for the love of God, if you are going to write long posts, USE PARAGRAPHS. It's hard to read when you've got this massive post all in a single paragraph, and most people won't even bother to read it.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Here are the averages for DO schools:

AACOM said:
Of those applying in the 2006 application cycle, the average MCAT scores were 8.02 verbal, 7.72 physical and 8.30 biology. The average overall grade point average was 3.38 and the average science grade point average was 3.25.

Aim for better than average; other than that, please check out the individual averages for each school you are planning on applying to and try to score above their average.
 
I don't think that you can really study for a certain score. For example, studying 2 hours a day to get a 25 or studying 4 hours a day to get a 30 doesn't really work. Just do the absolute best you can with the time you have. Be efficient with your time. The MCAT has to be a priority. Don't shoot for an average score.

If the D was in a pre-requisite class, you will have to retake it.

A 28 or higher on the MCAT combined with a 3.7 may open doors for you, but a 30+ is always ideal :D

I understand what you are saying, but if I have an idea of what I am aiming for then I can keep track of how I am progressing. Obviously if I will have to study much more than say for a 30. Sorry bravo for the long post without paragraphs. And the D was in a philosophy course, the two C's and one D I am repeating this semester.
 
Here are the averages for DO schools:



Aim for better than average; other than that, please check out the individual averages for each school you are planning on applying to and try to score above their average.

Spiced thanks for giving me those stats but I wanted to know if they had posted the averages for students who actually got accepted, obviously won't have it for this past year yet but what about year before that? I know aacom page has the averages up until 2004 but obviously I am sure it has risen since then and based on the years they have up its hard to figure out a trend, the MCAT score has actually decreased from 2000 to 2004.
 
My GPA is around a 3.6 and I scored a 28 on the MCAT. I have multiple acceptances and everything else on my application is pretty average. I din't do anything superb to get accepted. If you end up with ~ 27 on your MCAT and apply to a broad spectrum of schools, you should be able to get in somewhere. However, if you have a specific school in mind, I would definately aim 30+
 
Top