why do some schools have low averages?

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There is much more to a person that just their mcat score.
 
angryazn88 said:
Yeah, I agree... I've met some people with 32+ on their MCATs but they have no people skills and no life.
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For every 32+ with no social skills there are a few more with social skills. However for the most part very few people with a good mcat and good gpa will not be applying for Pikesvile or WVU for the thrill of paying 3x average tuition while living in the middle of nowhere for 2 years.
The answer is simple. Most schools with low scores such as with the Carib are because people with good scores don't apply.
 
gatewasani said:
i mean, i'm sure they have their pick of applicants but for some reason schools have average mcat in the 24 range, just seems kind of weird
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You'd be surprised, but there aren't that many applicants with a 30+.

serenade said:
For every 32+ with no social skills there are a few more with social skills. However for the most part very few people with a good mcat and good gpa will not be applying for Pikesvile or WVU for the thrill of paying 3x average tuition while living in the middle of nowhere for 2 years.
The answer is simple. Most schools with low scores such as with the Carib are because people with good scores don't apply.
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Pikesville's tuition is one of the lowest in the country at only $33,000.
 
StayOnTop said:
You'd be surprised, but there aren't that many applicants with a 30+.


Pikesville's tuition is one of the lowest in the country at only $33,000.
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Most state schools are cheaper and other private schools lecom are much cheaper. But even then its not just about money, its about fit. I wouldn't like to live in the middle of nowhere. Follow up and look at Pikesviles INS v.s OOS ratio's. Simply being said the location of Pikesvile is a natural sorting mechanism. So unless you've got a country fetish or have low stats then the school isn't going to be even worth applying to. But I'd like to know what the highest stats of all entering students was last year.
 
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serenade said:
Most state schools are cheaper and other private schools lecom are much cheaper. But even then its not just about money, its about fit. I wouldn't like to live in the middle of nowhere. Follow up and look at Pikesviles INS v.s OOS ratio's. Simply being said the location of Pikesvile is a natural sorting mechanism. So unless you've got a country fetish or have low stats then the school isn't going to be even worth applying to.
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LECOM's tuition is $27,000. It's not that much cheaper, and most people don't have a state DO school.
 
StayOnTop said:
LECOM's tuition is $27,000. It's not that much cheaper, and most people don't have a state DO school.
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Lecom-B is also in Florida and in a city.... Where its warm... Where you can enjoy life....... I don't think you realize the implications of spending 2+ years in a rural area when you've lived a majority of your life in either suburbia or a city ( as is the case for likely a majority of pre-meds). It just isn't happening and the low stats are an obvious indicator.
 
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serenade said:
Lecom-B is also in Florida and in a city.... Where its warm... Where you can enjoy life....... I don't think you realize the implications of spending 2+ years in a rural area when you've lived a majority of your life in either suburbia or a city ( as is the case for likely a majority of pre-meds). It just isn't happening and the low stats are an obvious indicator.
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Oh, don't get me wrong. I completely understand your point, I'm just saying that your statement about Pikesville being overpriced was wrong.
 
serenade said:
Lecom-B is also in Florida and in a city.... Where its warm... Where you can enjoy life....... I don't think you realize the implications of spending 2+ years in a rural area when you've lived a majority of your life in either suburbia or a city ( as is the case for likely a majority of pre-meds). It just isn't happening and the low stats are an obvious indicator.
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Wow.
Having lived in a city of over 100,000 people growing up and several larger cities (400,000-600,000) since then, plus with a recent move to a town of 3,000 (where DCOM is)...AND with a decent MCAT score that could have likely gotten me into a "more appealing" school...I can confidently say to the OP that "it" does happen.

Low scores can't reasonably be completely associated with location. I think the key here is that not all schools care if you can annihilate a standardized test. Some schools acknowledge that there are students who can't put forth all the efforts necessary to get a 30+...people have families, work, etc and let's face it, student loans don't cut it sometimes to get you through those periods. And they sure don't pay for a prep course for those who might need it. The point is this: lower MCAT does NOT = doomed to rural area. It can, of course, if the schools in cities are so much more competitive, simply due to their location. However, for a number of reasons, I wanted to be where I am. And honestly, I left for a weekend to go home and I missed the mountains more than I ever thought I would. 🙂

I don't like to argue- and it's certainly not my intention to begin an argument. I guess I just want people on here to realize that these assocations that get made based on pure numerical data and thoughts formulated from certain perspectives are not universal. Don't assume a country school is full of idiots- many of my classmates graduated from extremely respectable universities with extremely respectable stats. When it comes down to it, you go where you: 1. Get in, and 2. Find the best fit for yourself.
 
GraceEuphoria said:
Wow.
Having lived in a city of over 100,000 people growing up and several larger cities (400,000-600,000) since then, plus with a recent move to a town of 3,000 (where DCOM is)...AND with a decent MCAT score that could have likely gotten me into a "more appealing" school...I can confidently say to the OP that "it" does happen.

Low scores can't reasonably be completely associated with location. I think the key here is that not all schools care if you can annihilate a standardized test. Some schools acknowledge that there are students who can't put forth all the efforts necessary to get a 30+...people have families, work, etc and let's face it, student loans don't cut it sometimes to get you through those periods. And they sure don't pay for a prep course for those who might need it. The point is this: lower MCAT does NOT = doomed to rural area. It can, of course, if the schools in cities are so much more competitive, simply due to their location. However, for a number of reasons, I wanted to be where I am. And honestly, I left for a weekend to go home and I missed the mountains more than I ever thought I would. 🙂

I don't like to argue- and it's certainly not my intention to begin an argument. I guess I just want people on here to realize that these assocations that get made based on pure numerical data and thoughts formulated from certain perspectives are not universal. Don't assume a country school is full of idiots- many of my classmates graduated from extremely respectable universities with extremely respectable stats. When it comes down to it, you go where you: 1. Get in, and 2. Find the best fit for yourself.
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agreed, the fact that serenade is chalking the reasoning up to the fact that these schools are in small towns is pathetic

tbh, i've been reading a lot of what serenade has been posting and most of what he posts is crap, He tells ppl in the what are my chances thread who have respectable stats that they have no shot, even though, year after year candidates with stats like that get accepted.

He quickly suggests caribbean to everyone. i'm sorry to take this out on you but I just can't believe some of the stuff you post. You come off as a verrrryyy neurotic ignorant pre-med.

edit: I read my post and it came off as very insulting i'm really not trying to insult you; I just want you to be mindful and think about what you post, if you think schools have lower mcats because kids are not applying, you're wrong. DCOM gets 5000 primary apps
 
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GraceEuphoria said:
Wow.
Having lived in a city of over 100,000 people growing up and several larger cities (400,000-600,000) since then, plus with a recent move to a town of 3,000 (where DCOM is)...AND with a decent MCAT score that could have likely gotten me into a "more appealing" school...I can confidently say to the OP that "it" does happen.

Low scores can't reasonably be completely associated with location. I think the key here is that not all schools care if you can annihilate a standardized test. Some schools acknowledge that there are students who can't put forth all the efforts necessary to get a 30+...people have families, work, etc and let's face it, student loans don't cut it sometimes to get you through those periods. And they sure don't pay for a prep course for those who might need it. The point is this: lower MCAT does NOT = doomed to rural area. It can, of course, if the schools in cities are so much more competitive, simply due to their location. However, for a number of reasons, I wanted to be where I am. And honestly, I left for a weekend to go home and I missed the mountains more than I ever thought I would. 🙂

I don't like to argue- and it's certainly not my intention to begin an argument. I guess I just want people on here to realize that these assocations that get made based on pure numerical data and thoughts formulated from certain perspectives are not universal. Don't assume a country school is full of idiots- many of my classmates graduated from extremely respectable universities with extremely respectable stats. When it comes down to it, you go where you: 1. Get in, and 2. Find the best fit for yourself.
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I agree with what you say. However most people will outwardly disagree with you. LMU-DCOM fit for you and thats great. However for a lot of people living in the country is too unappealing and will not apply.
I'm not saying rural is bad at all. Or that the people who go there are less intelligent. I'm simply saying that the location itself functions as a mechanism of sorting out people.
 
gatewasani said:
agreed, the fact that serenade is chalking the reasoning up to the fact that these schools are in small towns is pathetic

tbh, i've been reading a lot of what serenade has been posting and most of what he posts is crap, He tells ppl in the what are my chances thread who have respectable stats that they have no shot, even though, year after year candidates with stats like that get accepted.

He quickly suggests caribbean to everyone. i'm sorry to take this out on you but I just can't believe some of the stuff you post. You come off as a verrrryyy neurotic ignorant pre-med.

edit: I read my post and it came off as very insulting i'm really not trying to insult you; I just want you to be mindful and think about what you post, if you think schools have lower mcats because kids are not applying, you're wrong. DCOM gets 5000 primary apps
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Cite those 5000 primary apps.
AD Hominem is a bad argument sorry. I'm sorry I don't recommend Carib to anyone. I'm utterly against their existence. You've obviously mistaken me for someone else. Though I will have to admit I'm very sure that your response's malice to me is due to me supporting someone who you deemed "ignorant" in one of your other posts and then telling you to retake the mcat.
Simply being said if you believe that location is not a powerful sorting factor that will strongly affect the stats then I don't even know what to say.
 
look at you using latin,

so cute

yea, you're definitely not a neurotic pre-med
 
look man, you're right, i think arguing over the internet is stupid so i'm not gonna do it.

i'm sorry i ever started this topic and if i could, i would delete it.

I know me telling you you're right is the only way you're gonna be able to get some sleep tonight so you're right


dcom's primary apps is closer to 3000, typo, apologize.
 
I agree. This argument is asinine. But its not about anyone being right or not. So lets not pull that.
 
agreed, so if you look at the CIB, while I agree that some of the better DO schools have a higher number of applicants to acceptance ratio, the schools with lower stats still compare, for example pikeville has a 3.6% matriculant to primary app percentage, compare that to CCOM has a 3.9%

so even tho, pikeville has a smaller number of primary apps, you still statistically have a better chance at getting acceptance to CCOM
 
gatewasani said:
agreed, so if you look at the CIB, while I agree that some of the better DO schools have a higher number of applicants to acceptance ratio, the schools with lower stats still compare, for example pikeville has a 3.6% matriculant to primary app percentage, compare that to CCOM has a 3.9%

so even tho, pikeville has a smaller number of primary apps, you still statistically have a better chance at getting acceptance to CCOM
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Uh... lol... sure if admissions were based on random chance
 
serenade said:
I agree. This argument is asinine. But its not about anyone being right or not. So lets not pull that.
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People here talk a lot about the differences in stats of people who are accepted at various DO school. For example, someone with say, 3.3/25 might be considered to have a shot at so-called 'less-established' DO schools, like PCSOM, LECOM or Touro; at the same time, SDNers might expect someone with a 3.5/27 to interview at places like PCOM, CCOM, DMU, etc.

My own admittedly non-scientific observations make me doubt all that. When someone posts their stats alongside the places they interview at and are accepted to, I see people with great stats being rejected from Touro and getting into KCOM, or getting rejected with good all around stats.

My point with all this is that sometimes I wonder if there really is that much difference between DO schools' competitiveness, and if maybe we tend to discount the importance of putting together a good app with great personal statements, etc. Over on the Caribbean boards someone was talking about applying to SGU because they didn't get in to US MD with a 3.5/31. My thought there is that someone with those stats is doing something wrong if they don't get accepted. I know a girl who got a 34 MCAT and has a decent GPA who didn't get in. I don't think she even got an interview. She only applied to a few schools. I guess what I am trying to say is that there is that while stats are very important, there sure is something to be said for applying intelligently- applying broadly to the right schools, writing a killer personal statement, and so on/
 
NurWollen said:
People here talk a lot about the differences in stats of people who are accepted at various DO school. For example, someone with say, 3.3/25 might be considered to have a shot at so-called 'less-established' DO schools, like PCSOM, LECOM or Touro; at the same time, SDNers might expect someone with a 3.5/27 to interview at places like PCOM, CCOM, DMU, etc.

My own admittedly non-scientific observations make me doubt all that. When someone posts their stats alongside the places they interview at and are accepted to, I see people with great stats being rejected from Touro and getting into KCOM, or getting rejected with good all around stats.

My point with all this is that sometimes I wonder if there really is that much difference between DO schools' competitiveness, and if maybe we tend to discount the importance of putting together a good app with great personal statements, etc. Over on the Caribbean boards someone was talking about applying to SGU because they didn't get in to US MD with a 3.5/31. My thought there is that someone with those stats is doing something wrong if they don't get accepted. I know a girl who got a 34 MCAT and has a decent GPA who didn't get in. I don't think she even got an interview. She only applied to a few schools. I guess what I am trying to say is that there is that while stats are very important, there sure is something to be said for applying intelligently- applying broadly to the right schools, writing a killer personal statement, and so on/
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That is the unfortunate reality of this process. A 3.5/31 ( considerably high grades) only has around a 57% of getting accepted to US MD. There is an aspect of applying smart of course. But the reality is that you have to do every right and then have some luck on your side.

Btw Touro depending on which campus is 3.5-3.6/27-28. It's not one of the easier schools to get into.
 
I'm not going to be the first or last to say that the MCAT is an out-of-date aptitude exam. It indicates very little about how a student will do in medical school or perform as a physician. As an admission tool, it is misused very often. By pre med students it's viewed as a judge of how "smart you are" as a student and " how good" your school is. Quite sad really.
 
scdocusc said:
I'm not going to be the first or last to say that the MCAT is an out-of-date aptitude exam. It indicates very little about how a student will do in medical school or perform as a physician. As an admission tool, it is misused very often. By pre med students it's viewed as a judge of how "smart you are" as a student and " how good" your school is. Quite sad really.
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Success on the mcat is directly correlated with success with COMLEX and USMLE ( Thus its a good indicator of medical school success). *Personally I believe strongly that standardized tests are truly faulty measurements of how good you will be a doctor( because there is no way to test bedside manner or anything so subjective and the mcat does not even attempt to judge if you will be a good physician that is what the step's are for)*. It is however the only means you can sort students. When you have 100,000 student applying for medical admissions every year from different colleges who might be saturated in inflation. The mcat serves the only effective means at helping the adcom's figure out who'll manage and who will not.
End result is statistically it might not mean your more intelligent or will be a better doctor. But there is a reason why students at the top 10 schools have higher then national averages on the USMLE ( Which basically is the factor which will decide whether you go into favored residence in favored location or a residency in etcvile).
But what can you do. The mcat is single handily the most important test a pre-med student will take.

Though I'm very curious on your opinion of what should replace the mcat.
 
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serenade said:
Success on the mcat is directly correlated with success with COMLEX and USMLE ( Thus its a good indicator of medical school success). *Personally I believe strongly that standardized tests are truly faulty measurements of how good you will be a doctor( because there is no way to test bedside manner or anything so subjective and the mcat does not even attempt to judge if you will be a good physician that is what the step's are for)*. It is however the only means you can sort students. When you have 100,000 student applying for medical admissions every year from different colleges who might be saturated in inflation. The mcat serves the only effective means at helping the adcom's figure out who'll manage and who will not.
End result is statistically it might not mean your more intelligent or will be a better doctor. But there is a reason why students at the top 10 schools have higher then national averages on the USMLE ( Which basically is the factor which will decide whether you go into favored residence in favored location or a residency in etcvile).
But what can you do. The mcat is single handily the most important test a pre-med student will take.

Though I'm very curious on your opinion of what should replace the mcat.
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Personally, I scores on these exams can't really tell about how the person will be as a doctor. Theres a difference between street smart and book smart, the chair of pediatrics at NY Downtown hospital (I shadowed him), he went to med school in Mexico and became one of the most successful pediatricians in Downtown Manhattan. He told me his grades weren't good but he still ended up being super successful you know
 
angryazn88 said:
Personally, I scores on these exams can't really tell about how the person will be as a doctor. Theres a difference between street smart and book smart, the chair of pediatrics at NY Downtown hospital (I shadowed him), he went to med school in Mexico and became one of the most successful pediatricians in Downtown Manhattan. He told me his grades weren't good but he still ended up being super successful you know
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That's because the mcat isn't supposed to do that. Again how well you preform as a doctor is reflective of who you are and your personal experiences. But like I said, 100,000+ applicants for medical school = you need an effective means to sort them. Your friend is but an anecdote.
 
A lot has to do with applicant pool as well. Some schools like Mississippi and Missouri only pull from in state, thus pulling down their numbers. Here at PNWU we pull from primarily the NW region which now has three schools that pull about 75% of the students from this region. A fourth schools is opening in the NW and after meeting with the head of the residency program I was informed that MCAT and GPA averages should drop at the two DO schools because the applicant pool just isn't deep enough to find 400 students with MCATs in the upper 20's and higher or cGPA's above 3.4. This in turn will dilute the "quality" of scores seen in the NW schools, primarily at the two new DO schools. It's just an effect of accepting more people all at once from an applicant pool that is roughly the same size year to year.
 
The amazing thing is, I bet PNWU's quality of education will not suffer one bit when Western-Lebanon opens, even if the MCAT scores do go down.
 
NurWollen said:
The amazing thing is, I bet PNWU's quality of education will not suffer one bit when Western-Lebanon opens, even if the MCAT scores do go down.
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It won't. We all have to pass the same COMLEX (and if we choose USMLE) and at the end of the day that means knowing the material.
 
StayOnTop said:
TOURO has higher GPA/MCAT averages. It's also in California.
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That's like saying Goliath beat David just because he was bigger. KCOM was the first osteopathic med school man, I'm pretty sure it's more selective than the Touro's.
 
megathunder said:
That's like saying Goliath beat David just because he was bigger. KCOM was the first osteopathic med school man, I'm pretty sure it's more selective than the Touro's.
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Being first doesn't necessarily mean they are the most selective. 😉


Here is an old list that was in the DO Stickies. If anyone has some time, maybe they could update it. 😀

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=7658193&postcount=1

TUCOM - CA's new stats:

Class of 2014​
Science GPA​
3.39​
Overall GPA​
3.47​
MCAT​
 
megathunder said:
That's like saying Goliath beat David just because he was bigger. KCOM was the first osteopathic med school man, I'm pretty sure it's more selective than the Touro's.
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Like I said Touro isn't the school you want to talk about being easy to get into. KCOM is a highly ranked school, but the sheer competition of California means things are crazy. I believe it is actually the single hardest DO school to get into stat-wise.
 
Limvostov said:
It won't. We all have to pass the same COMLEX (and if we choose USMLE) and at the end of the day that means knowing the material.
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The quality of the school will not likely go down. However the amount of people passing the comlex or usmle and graduating will likely go down. As I noted Success in the mcat is directly correlated to success in the step's.
 
serenade said:
The quality of the school will not likely go down. However the amount of people passing the comlex or usmle and graduating will likely go down. As I noted Success in the mcat is directly correlated to success in the step's.
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I, as an individual, am just as likely, however, to pass or not pass comlex, regardless of the MCAT scores of my classmates. The only caveat to this that I can see is that being surrounded by 'the best and the brightest' would help most people do better. However, in this case the difference, I think, will be negligible.
 
NurWollen said:
I, as an individual, am just as likely, however, to pass or not pass comlex, regardless of the MCAT scores of my classmates. The only caveat to this that I can see is that being surrounded by 'the best and the brightest' would help most people do better. However, in this case the difference, I think, will be negligible.
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As an individual. However there are over 6000 DO students and 40,000 MD students. You can no longer look at this on the individual level, but rather a statistical level. By all means you can score an average score on the mcat and then hit the top 90th percentile of the comlex or usmle. But statistically its not likely when you look at all the medical students in the country or world.
 
If you do some research, you'll see that there is actually very little correlation between MCAT scores and performance in medical school. Essentially, the MCAT serves as a standard for medical school admissions, but once accepted, it means nothing. There is even less correlation between future performance as a physician and MCAT scores, and even COMLEX/USMLE for that matter. The reason so much more goes into accepting students into medical school is that so many other factors determine what makes a good doctor.
 
MightyMoose said:
Being first doesn't necessarily mean they are the most selective. 😉


Here is an old list that was in the DO Stickies. If anyone has some time, maybe they could update it. 😀

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=7658193&postcount=1

TUCOM - CA's new stats:

Class of 2014​
Science GPA​
3.39​
Overall GPA​
3.47​
MCAT​
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Moose I thought we were buddies.... 😉. Just playing, well that's something I didn't know. Fortunately I have interviews to both so I'll compare and see if the extra selectivity is warranted 👍

serenade said:
Like I said Touro isn't the school you want to talk about being easy to get into. KCOM is a highly ranked school, but the sheer competition of California means things are crazy. I believe it is actually the single hardest DO school to get into stat-wise.
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Yeah, I had no idea. I guess its similar to how UCLA is the most applied to university in the nation which probably has a lot to do with it being in LA.

You learn something new everyday.
 
serenade said:
The quality of the school will not likely go down. However the amount of people passing the comlex or usmle and graduating will likely go down. As I noted Success in the mcat is directly correlated to success in the step's.
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I'm not sure I agree with this one. PNWU is nearly a 26 average (25.93) in it's third year. So even if there is a strong correlation I don't think that too many students will find themselves unable to pass the boards even if the average student next year has a 24. Proper preparation for the boards should get you to that 400 or 188 level (I think that's right). Especially when average for the COMLEX is around a 500. There's always the ability to retake the COMLEX as well. At that point you get your scores back and the school will give you a breakdown of where you suffered during the test and from there you should be able to figure it out.

It think it's well overdue to get a 3rd and 4th school in the NW. We just need more residency spots and rotation spots.
 
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Limvostov said:
I'm not sure I agree with this one. PNWU is nearly a 26 average (25.93) in it's third year. So even if there is a strong correlation I don't think that too many students will find themselves unable to pass the boards even if the average student next year has a 24. Proper preparation for the boards should get you to that 400 or 188 level (I think that's right). Especially when average for the COMLEX is around a 500. There's always the ability to retake the COMLEX as well. At that point you get your scores back and the school will give you a breakdown of where you suffered during the test and from there you should be able to figure it out.

It think it's well overdue to get a 3rd and 4th school in the NW. We just need more residency spots and rotation spots.
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Well I'm sure most will pass. But its a slippery slope ( Funny thing is that this where you would use a regression line to map this out).
 
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megathunder said:
Moose I thought we were buddies.... 😉. Just playing, well that's something I didn't know. Fortunately I have interviews to both so I'll compare and see if the extra selectivity is warranted 👍
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Haha. What kind of buddy wouldn't keep his boys in check!? :meanie:

Yeah, I'm pretty sure you're right, in that it's location. I think Touro looks like a great school, but so does KCOM (even though I didn't apply there :ninja:).

I honestly don't believe there are any malignant programs out there, but at some schools it will require more individual effort than at others.

Congrats on your interviews, btw!
 
serenade said:
Well I'm sure most will pass. But its a slippery slope ( Funny thing is that this where you would use a regression line to map this out).
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If you have the data I'd love to see it. I like graphs. I guess a good way to show this would be to obtain the pass rates for each school per year and then plot that in conjunction with that classes entry cGPA and MCAT. Sounds like a fun afternoon for someone 🙂. You'd also have to take into consideration that not all, in fact most schools won't let you sit for the step 1 exams unless you pass the preliminary exam (the name escapes me right now). That will also skew the numbers to some extent.

Anyway... back to the books.
 
Limvostov said:
If you have the data I'd love to see it. I like graphs. I guess a good way to show this would be to obtain the pass rates for each school per year and then plot that in conjunction with that classes entry cGPA and MCAT. Sounds like a fun afternoon for someone 🙂. You'd also have to take into consideration that not all, in fact most schools won't let you sit for the step 1 exams unless you pass the preliminary exam (the name escapes me right now). That will also skew the numbers to some extent.

Anyway... back to the books.
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Very true, although I was under the impression only Lecom-B and Touro-NY did that. However unfortunately I do not have the data, but I think it would to be interesting examining the average relationships.
 
serenade said:
Very true, although I was under the impression only Lecom-B and Touro-NY did that. However unfortunately I do not have the data, but I think it would to be interesting examining the average relationships.
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Our first class all took the exam and so will our second, but from the third class on we will have to pass a qualifier before we take the exam. From what I understand this is normal practice. Besides, why would you want to take the exam if you aren't going to pass? That would be like getting 19's on your practice MCAT and expect getting in the mid to upper 20's on the real deal. It's also expensive, so I would not want to have to pay out of pocket for a second round.
 
Limvostov said:
Our first class all took the exam and so will our second, but from the third class on we will have to pass a qualifier before we take the exam. From what I understand this is normal practice. Besides, why would you want to take the exam if you aren't going to pass? That would be like getting 19's on your practice MCAT and expect getting in the mid to upper 20's on the real deal. It's also expensive, so I would not want to have to pay out of pocket for a second round.
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Are the Comlex and Usmle both 8 hours long? I think with that hanging over my head I'd rather take a few qualifying exams prior to the real thing.
 
serenade said:
As an individual. However there are over 6000 DO students and 40,000 MD students. You can no longer look at this on the individual level, but rather a statistical level. By all means you can score an average score on the mcat and then hit the top 90th percentile of the comlex or usmle. But statistically its not likely when you look at all the medical students in the country or world.
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I completely agree, and it just sucks for those who have borderline MCAT scores and really CAN rock those COMLEX/USMLEs and be amazing physicians but just aren't given the chance. But life isn't fair and there has to be a way to standardize applicants against each other because of the sheer number of people who apply and the limited number of spots. I'm a huge proponent of looking at personal statements, LORs and ECs a little more heavily than are traditionally considered, but there isn't a perfect system to make it as fair as we'd all like it to be.
 
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