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Every year there are applicants with amazing statistics that get rejected from every school they apply to. Just curious what some of the worst cases you guys have heard of?
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Holy poop. That sucks. I can't believe no interviews. Were they all Ivy league or something?
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I heard of someone with 34/3.8, but had a criminal record. I think I have heard worse without anything like that before, just don't remember. Also it is possible that the ones you hear about here are trolls, or are inflating their stats somewhat to make their situation seem more *unfair*.
Yea I suppose its possible. Its also probably possible some of the stories aren't real. But I was just interested. I've sorta been ticked recently because I had a 3.85, 31R, 6 week medical internship, NIH research and only got 2 last second interviews (Late Feb, middle March) to very modest schools (applied to 12). I'll most likely go to SGU if not accepted anywhere else. So I wanted some stories to make me feel better.
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WOW. I am terribly sorry. Did you apply late? Unless there is some reason behind your not getting in (I don't mean poor interviewing skills) then I think you still have a very good chance at getting in one of your schools. (Feb. isn't that late for many schools.) But that still doesn't explain why you didn't get in already.
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I have a roommate who is in your shoes. He has a 31 and a 3.9 something from Univ. of Michigan. So far, he's yet to get in anywhere. He's only had 2 late interviews, both of which resulted in waitlists. However, I think he's just going to reapply next year to more schools if he doesn't get in (and not go the Carib route). Why are you thinking of going to SGU? I think if you reapplied next cycle earlier you'll have more success. Your numbers are good.
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WOW. I am terribly sorry. Did you apply late? Unless there is some reason behind your not getting in (I don't mean poor interviewing skills) then I think you still have a very good chance at getting in one of your schools. (Feb. isn't that late for many schools.) But that still doesn't explain why you didn't get in already.
Haha, that is also a funny story. Submitted my AMCAS the day after it was available and it was complete about two weeks later. Emailed my adviser and asked him to send my letters... a few days went by, emailed him again... 1 week went by, emailed and called... finally got in touch with him. He says its no problem and will send my letters. 3 weeks go by and schools have not confirmed that they have received my letters. I email my adviser and he says "well I was on vacation for a few weeks", I'll send them out now. THEN, he submits them to one of those letter services so that takes even more time for processing and my schools receive them a few weeks later.
I'm still bitter about the whole ordeal and will contact the head of the pre-med department when I finally know where I'm going. Not only is my adviser terrible, the school should also not allow him to vacation during the application cycle. Oh well...
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I have a roommate who is in your shoes. He has a 31 and a 3.9 something from Univ. of Michigan. So far, he's yet to get in anywhere. He's only had 2 late interviews, both of which resulted in waitlists. However, I think he's just going to reapply next year to more schools if he doesn't get in (and not go the Carib route). Why are you thinking of going to SGU? I think if you reapplied next cycle earlier you'll have more success. Your numbers are good.
I would like to apply next year but I'm already going to be a year out of college after this cycle. I feel like I need to get my life started. I dunno, I'm not 100% going to the carib, but I'm definitely considering it.
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She ended up getting in off the waitlist at Vanderbilt fairly late in the season, but this was it for a while - 42 and a 4.0 - http://www.mdapplicants.com/viewprofile.php?id=2081
She used to post here, but I can't remember her SN.
She used to post here, but I can't remember her SN.
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Update this thread when you do get in, though. Two interviews at lower tier schools with your stats? Please.
Wow, with those numbers and four interviews, I wonder what happened DURING the interviews that led to all waitlists or rejections!
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wtf does that mean? I mean, a 28 MCAT (or lower) can be a big deal. Especially if one of the numbers is below a 9.
There's got to be a reason for all of these. Not applying broadly enough, applying late (i.e. complete as early as September), criminal record or institutional action record, terrible personal statements, bad recs...
honestly if you're one of these people and you don't have something obvious like a criminal record or IA, I'd hire a consultant for your next round of apps so you can get an honest look at your application.
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Thats what I was thinking too. On the webpage she seems like a perfectly normal/outgoing girl. Maybe in person she is a little off though. Who knows.
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SGU!? Did you apply DO? Don't go to SGU!!! Think beyond DO v MD... this is the quality of your medical education we're talking about here...
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Unless I am mistaken, SGU is much, much better than most of the carib schools, right?
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Agreed. People (especially on this board) tend to be way too snobby about the DO route. I admit I used to say I would sooner go into another field than go DO. I had no idea what the hell I was talking about. Do some serious research on the success that DO students find and look into doing both that and MD if you reapply.
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Holy crap, that's harsh... and more than a little baffling. If she had a big line of "Interviewed, Not Accepted" then you could chalk it up to poor interviewing skills, but she only received four, and two turned into waitlists. It looks like she had no clinical volunteering before applying, but still I would have expected to see a lot more success from a 4.0/42S student with pretty solid extracurriculars like hers. I'm glad she finally ended up with the Vandy acceptance.
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Nope. pretty broad range.
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SGU isn't all that bad. Its average step one scores are 210, the US average is 216. Thats not so bad considering they have less qualified students.
I definitely did consider DO and did a lot of research on it. I just decided I didn't want to do it. No offense, I just was never all that into it. Either way you go, DO/Carib, you're gonna face some stigmas.
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Her range was terrible. She applied to like 10 of the top 20 schools. Why you wouldn't apply to your state school baffles me. As was brought up earlier, she had no clinical experience, and schools at that level are looking for an excuse to reject you. While her level of success is a little surprising, she probably was told by several people here to apply to a few mid-tier's-- Loyola's, Georgetown's...hell, even Michigan.
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I dont think going to SGU will be a smart idea.......You have very good numbers.. I will say wait till the next application cycle ( if nothing works out this time) and reapply.. I can pretty much bet you will get into a very good MD program...nothing against SGU.....I just think with a little patience, you have a good shot of getting into "more respected" MD programs.
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Something has to be wrong with your app....you sound like you lived in the library...most schools want to see something else besides numbers...they don't want library hermits!
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OP said that another cycle would be two years between college and med school. Its not about patience after two years of waiting, its about time and money.
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Wasn't saying that I would do it. Depends on the person. I have a friend who is 35 and applying to med schools. What about him?
The bottom line is, patients don't care where you went to school. Most of med school is self study anyway. Board scores aren't something that "make up" for a lack of education, they represent your real education.
Edit- this thread is getting way off topic. Sorry! Will divert my attention to something more productive. Ah! Video games.
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I guess most people just figured that a 4.0/42 from Vandy was good enough to ensure an acceptance somewhere. Apparently they were right... but only barely.
If you did in fact apply somewhat late or not very broadly, I would hardcore suggest you wait and try again next cycle. I've been out a year already, and barely have money for groceries, but this is your career we're talking about. If you would be happy and satisfied going to SGU, then go for it. But if you will have regrets and wish you would have went to one of the schools you actually WANTED to go to rather than just what you could scramble to get...in the scheme of life, one year is nothing! Do whatever is going to give you the most happiness!
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I agree with those saying consider reapplying. I decided I wasn't prepared to apply and took another year off. . . I was nervous about doing it, but I got more credentials and it's been one of my best years. A lot of fun. More life experiences always help out with admissions, and it might give you more perspective on life before you head to med school which will take all your time. You could do research, volunteer with AmeriCorps, re-take the MCAT. . . whatever you want. . . there are so many ways to improve an application! And applying earlier could make a big difference (but definitely ditch the jerk advisor).
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hey man, don't rush. there is plenty of time to go to med school
if you can wait a year and go us allo, do it. i took 3 years off and it's the best thing i ever did. my interviews have been so much more interesting.I was rejected last year with numbers above the averages of the schools that I applied to (8 schools).
This year Ive had less success than people I know with similar numbers, but at least I got accepted. I applied to 20 schools this year with a broader range of choices.
This year Ive had less success than people I know with similar numbers, but at least I got accepted. I applied to 20 schools this year with a broader range of choices.
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Syracuse being snubbed by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee last year was the worst I've ever seen. 21-9, 10-6 in the Big East.
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Agreed. At least 1 team in the pac-10 this year will get snubbed. Probably more like 2 or 3.
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What does "snub" really mean. I think the word snub was created because people hate the feeling of being rejected and can't see why they were not selected for something.
If a college student is smart enough to get a 3.8 - 4.0 cGPA, had clinical experience, can write and speak in English, and has an MCAT of around 35 has what it takes to be a doctor number wise.
Sure a person might not be selected into a top ranked program. If the person is dumb enough not to apply to a wide range of schools, then being "snubed" comes down to the stupidity and ignorance of the applicant.
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They were probably a stick in the mud.
Did you apply late? Do you have EC's outside of science and medicine? just curious
This isn't the end of the world. You're like what, 22? and you feel you need to get your life started?
Taking a year off will only benefit you, and reduce your risk of burning out. I've learned that DO's don't nearly (NOT EVEN CLOSE!) have as much stigma as a carib. school, and have better residencies than non-us schools. Seriously, listen to the advice here.
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Seriously, she seemed good enough on paper to get in anywhere and got the interviews to many of the top schools.
Maybe she had a nervous breakdown? or a few?
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Don't underestimate the power of a negative letter of recommendation from someone who knows more about you than you think...
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I don't want to call them out, but there's another poster on here with a 3.3 in engineering at a good school and a 40 on the MCAT - no interviews yet. I think it's absurd.
xiaoyi666 - why does your MDApps profile have you with a 3.50 overall and a 3.17 BCPM instead of a "~3.9 Overall / 4.0 BCPM"?
xiaoyi666 - why does your MDApps profile have you with a 3.50 overall and a 3.17 BCPM instead of a "~3.9 Overall / 4.0 BCPM"?
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Common misconception here on SDN. You also need to be going into medicine for "the right reasons," whatever those may be at each school you apply to. Some schools are specifically looking for students with certain interests/goals (read the MSAR, and you'll see which schools are going for different things). If you're all of the things you posted, but you want to go to med school because you think House is a great TV show, and your parents are both doctors who think that medicine is the chosen path, then you're probably not getting in.
You also won't get in if you come across as being overly shy, arrogant, lazy, boring, etc. I bet if you weighed 500 pounds, you might have a hard time landing an acceptance.
Yeah, from what I've heard, that's a torpedo to your application.
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a friend's mcat teacher had a 38/3.7ish and got rejected from everywhere except one mid tier school (he was waitlisted then accepted) because of a negative LOR from his pre med committee. plus i heard he came off as arrogant. so i guess it's his fault more or less, but given his numbers i figured he'd at least get in at his state school!
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To be honest, I think you're wrong
Her range of schools is exactly right for her stats. Anyone with a 42 in the MCAT and a good GPA is in the top 2% of applicants, and ought to be applying to top-20 schools. Moreover, schools which are lower tier may reject on the basis that they expect her to get in to one of those top-20 schools, and don't want to waste a slot until she rejects them (on anecdotal evidence from SDN, mind you).
Clinical experience is a big problem, but most schools ought to give the benefit of the doubt with those stats. She has some shadowing, and that does count for some clinical exposure and awareness of the physician experience.
IMHO, there are two reasons that she may not have been considered:
- She may have had a bad LOR
- Her personal statement may have been shockingly bad
My money is probably on the latter, but that's neither here nor there, at this point.
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Other than the clinical experience part, none of that stuff matters the second you step into med school. Some People with a 28 MCAT graduate at the top of their class and some people with a 36 flunk out.
While MCAT and GPA may dictate your theoretical analytical ability (because, at the end of the day, this is really the only way med schools can objectively analyze applicants), they don't dictate how well you do in med school, and certainly don't dictate what kind of doctor you'll be.
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To be honest, I think you're wrong
Her range of schools is exactly right for her stats. Anyone with a 42 in the MCAT and a good GPA is in the top 2% of applicants, and ought to be applying to top-20 schools. Moreover, schools which are lower tier may reject on the basis that they expect her to get in to one of those top-20 schools, and don't want to waste a slot until she rejects them (on anecdotal evidence from SDN, mind you).
From my experience on SDN, not applying to a broad range of schools is a major reason people with "acceptable" stats don't get into med school.
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In all fairness, I think Wisconindoc was generally referring to "number-wise" only. You gotta be smart (as a good GPA, MCAT indicate) to get into med school, and I think that's all "sconnie" was saying. Easy now
You are right though, nothing predicts how you do in med school.
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U Michigan is not a mid-tier.
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There are some people that have all the numbers and the right ECs to fill in the application, but you read their personal statement and you just know that they're not right for medicine or just not right for your school. Other people may not always get the letters of recommendation that they expected. I think a lot of people with good stats end up not getting in because of the humanistic aspect. A lot of top schools get really good applicants that they have to differentiate more on the interpersonal side of things than on the numbers side of things.
Edit: The point being, the reason why they don't get in often becomes obvious once you read their personal statements or secondary essays.
Edit: The point being, the reason why they don't get in often becomes obvious once you read their personal statements or secondary essays.
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Strongly agree. This isn't all about the numbers. There are a ton of things that can make a seemingly great applicant a lousy one. These can be poorly thought out or arrogant essays, bad LORs, inadequate ECs, applying to too few schools or only top schools, applying late, having lukewarm interviews, etc. The list is actually pretty endless. When schools are getting as many as 10,000 applications, they are really looking for any little negative that allows them to thin the field a bit -- it doesn't need to be something egregious, just a notion that you aren't a "good fit". It isn't like if you have a 4.0/40 you automatically get a bye on the other stuff -- if anything, you are more likely to be going head to head with others with similar credentials, who may be better on the subjective stuff. If you come across as arrogant, expecting to be admitted, expecting a top school, poorly thought out, or immature in any aspect of your application, be it an essay an interview, or otherwise, you are SOL. Thus you will see some outstanding folks not getting in each year, and more than a handful of more borderline grade/mcat types taking their spots. Schools want the whole package, and the numbers game is just one aspect. After a certain cut, it falls prey to the law of diminishing returns, and ceases to stay the most important aspect.
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