What will it take for DO schools to begin raising their average MCAT score to the 30's?

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Smells like a troll but I'll answer.

Some schools are already there. Most of the others are already closing in fast and should be there in a year or 2. Only the newer and lower tier schools lag behind and even so not by that much (except LUCOM).
 
Look at the yearly trends. Score averages are going up. This is a direct result of more students wanting to go into medicine and more realizing going tot he caribbean is a bad idea. Therefore, more applicants applying to DO schools and within that population, there are more that genuinely want to go to DO school over MD programs, for personal reasons. In the next 4 years you should see a rise in the scores for many of them
 
MedBrah 19 said:
Haha well said, CCOM was already there last year btw
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Nope, I thought they would break 30 but they missed it. I think its because they accept a lot of average-ish applicants from the area.
 
Beyond the whole, there are no 30s anymore only 510s, what it would take is for US MD schools to average ~34, and then we'd see the DO average around 30/31.

It's not like we're dealing with a hugely different population. The US DO mean stats are within 1 SD below the US MD mean. If MD stats go up, so will DOs.
 
The job market, in general, would have to still suck to see DO schools hit the 30s. More than 10 years ago MD school averaged less than a 30 for matriculates. The scenario of MCAT scores dropping could happen too, especially with the residency crunch and rising tuition. If more stable and higher paying jobs appear, those averages you see currently will drop.
 
NurWollen said:
So how does the new scoring system work?
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There are four sections, each with a score range from 118 to 132 which are totaled to an overall possible exam score range of 472 to 528 with the very top of the bell curve set at 500. Supposedly, this new scoring system is designed to draw attention to applicants with scores toward the middle instead of focusing on the "top 1/3" as those who score more average have been shown to be very successful in med school with high licensing exam pass rates. So, the AAMC wants to improve the selectability, if you will, of those applicants with more middle of the road MCAT scores. Whether or not that will be the case, idk.
 
Like what was said already, a few schools are already there or are close, but I actually believe we're at a stabilization point. We're probably over the hump from everybody picking medicine and non-trads trying to go into medicine after the depression. I think that last year, this year, and the next year will be the most competitive across the board and then we'll have slightly less applicants, but you can't really talk about scores anymore. Sure there will be some correlation that 30 is a 515 or whatever the equivalency would be, but it's kind of a restart. It'll be interesting to see.
 
J Senpai said:
There are four sections, each with a score range from 118 to 132 which are totaled to an overall possible exam score range of 472 to 528 with the very top of the bell curve set at 500. Supposedly, this new scoring system is designed to draw attention to applicants with scores toward the middle instead of focusing on the "top 1/3" as those who score more average have been shown to be very successful in med school with high licensing exam pass rates. So, the AAMC wants to improve the selectability, if you will, of those applicants with more middle of the road MCAT scores. Whether or not that will be the case, idk.
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It sounds like they're making the Mcat nominal.
 
serenade said:
It sounds like they're making the Mcat nominal.
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How do you mean, like, reducing its significance in admissions? I feel as if the whole point was to make it more valid for the "changing academic landscape" or whatever buzz phrase they're using.
 
J Senpai said:
How do you mean, like, reducing its significance in admissions? I feel as if the whole point was to make it more valid for the "changing academic landscape" or whatever buzz phrase they're using.
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Essentially they're switching it over to what I think it ideally functioned best as: a pass vs fail test. Or in this case an are you in the middle test.
 
Several are already there. It just takes a continued period of increase in the number of total applicants that is greater than the increase in number of medical school matriculants. If about 20% of all applicants score the equivalent of 30+ and 50,000 people apply, then that's 10,000 people with 30+ applying. But if 52,000 people apply the next year, that's 10,400 with 30+. This increase in number of higher scoring applicants in turn makes it easier for D.O. schools to matriculate higher scoring students, thus raising their average MCAT.
 
The answer is simple: More applicants.
 
Dr. Death said:
There is no possible way for DO schools to raise their average mcat score to the 30's because that scoring system doesn't exist anymore.
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To that end, it'll be interesting to see the averages of the new schema across the board, MD and DO. I wonder if they'll become even more comparable.
 
serenade said:
Essentially they're switching it over to what I think it ideally functioned best as: a pass vs fail test. Or in this case an are you in the middle test.
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I really don't buy that it will change anything. Schools will just use percentiles. Hell, they could make the new scoring system not even number based and it still wouldn't matter because schools would just look at percentiles.
 
ChiTownBHawks said:
I really don't buy that it will change anything. Schools will just use percentiles. Hell, they could make the new scoring system not even number based and it still wouldn't matter because schools would just look at percentiles.
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Very likely. When it comes down to it they'll always cite that they're picking the best and the brightest and that it's better to have higher scoring applicants than lower scoring applicants despite similar outcomes.
 
serenade said:
Very likely. When it comes down to it they'll always cite that they're picking the best and the brightest and that it's better to have higher scoring applicants than lower scoring applicants despite similar outcomes.
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Exactly, which is why I find the reasoning behind the new scoring system a head scratcher.
 
xBODOMx said:
Like what was said already, a few schools are already there or are close, but I actually believe we're at a stabilization point. We're probably over the hump from everybody picking medicine and non-trads trying to go into medicine after the depression. I think that last year, this year, and the next year will be the most competitive across the board and then we'll have slightly less applicants, but you can't really talk about scores anymore. Sure there will be some correlation that 30 is a 515 or whatever the equivalency would be, but it's kind of a restart. It'll be interesting to see.
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AZCOM and CCOM could have 30+ averages if they reduced their tuition. LECOM-B probably could too if they nixed their rules. There are a number of factors involved...
 
user3 said:
AZCOM and CCOM could have 30+ averages if they reduced their tuition. LECOM-B probably could too if they nixed their rules. There are a number of factors involved...
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Yeah I wanted to go there but the tuition was a deal breaker
 
serenade said:
Lets wait for the next cycle....
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after experiencing the competitiveness of this cycle, aka the "final old mcat cycle", I actually wish I had taken the new mcat and applied this upcoming year.
 
DoctorLacrosse said:
after experiencing the competitiveness of this cycle, aka the "final old mcat cycle", I actually wish I had taken the new mcat and applied this upcoming year.
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I got in this year, but same thought process for me too.
 
xBODOMx said:
I got in this year, but same thought process for me too.
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I had a bunch of success on the DO front, but haven't been as lucky with MD acceptances. we shall see how this next cycle goes for people
 
songl4a said:
Can you elaborate? I would assume that this upcoming 2015 cycle would be more competitive as it's the the beginning of the new test and so many people will be applying with the last batch of old MCATs.
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I think most who applied this year would agree it's been insanely competitive. even once getting an interview, there have been far more waitlists/rejections than acceptances in comparison to previous years (though I'm judging by old school specific threads so it's hard to say for sure). also, the number of apps each school has received is far more than previous years.

the suspected thought process behind why this is is that people rushed to apply this year in order to avoid the confusion the new mcat may cause next cycle. we will see next year if this backfired
 
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