Why isn't getting into medical school as easy as the AAMC stats?

[b2sun]

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a 33, assuming an even split (11/11/11) requires you to answer about 85-90% of the questions correct on the MCAT.

All you guys who are defending the "hard"ness of the mcat (especially making claims about how it is equal to a 36 on the SAT): Do you really believe that getting 85% of the questions correct is THAT hard?

You say that OP has "obviously not taken the MCAT." Well he did and he got a 31 (in his PhD thread). I wonder if YOU guys have taken the mcat. It's hard, but it's not THAT hard.

Id say a 36 on the ACT would be more equivalent to a 38 on the MCAT

(I got a 32 on the ACT).

 

[RogueUnicorn]

a 33, assuming an even split (11/11/11) requires you to answer about 85-90% of the questions correct on the MCAT.

All you guys who are defending the "hard"ness of the mcat (especially making claims about how it is equal to a 36 on the SAT): Do you really believe that getting 85% of the questions correct is THAT hard?

You say that OP has "obviously not taken the MCAT." Well he did and he got a 31 (in his PhD thread). I wonder if YOU guys have taken the mcat. It's hard, but it's not THAT hard.

Id say a 36 on the ACT would be more equivalent to a 38 on the MCAT

(I got a 32 on the ACT).

the percentiles simply speak for themselves.

i can drop you down on a test in which you would only need to get a ~20% on to be in the top 10th perecentile. the former number is meaningless. the latter is not.

pay attention.

 

[b2sun]

While the numbers do speak for themselves, they also hide alot of confounding factors. I really do not believe that the "average" mcat of all test takers who actually put in ANY effort at all is around a 24. Within 2 months of a princeton review class I took, the class average on the AAMC practice test rose by about 12. Did anyone really put in THAT much effort to study? No, not really. The numbers just look so devastating simply becuase soem people put in no effort at all.

The ACT/MCAT comparison is ridiculous. About 350 people score 36 on the ACT every year, that number is MUCH higher for people that score 33+ on the MCATS (looking at the data sheet and dividing by 3 to account for 3 years it is around 8000). Also, I'm quite confident more people take the ACT every year than the MCAT (not 100% sure as I have no statistics to back this up, just a gut feeling.)

However this is irrelevant because ACT and the MCAT are not comparable tests. I really hope I don't have to clarify further on this.

 

[Enoko]

OP, let me just give you the statistics from my college class. I was at a small college of 6000 students.

Freshmen year: My class had around ~240 students in the premed program. After the first few exams, about 40 people change majors.

Sophomore year: Many more students dropped the major when they realized Medicine wasn't like Grey's Anatomy. Down to ~150 students

Junior year: Organic Chem and other classes destroy people's GPA. Over half the students decide on other easier professions like Nursing or PA. Only about ~55 people still going pre-med

Senior year: The MCAT comes, 50 people took it, only 15 got above a 30.

Graduation from undergrad: About 20 students applied to med school that year, most had around a 30 on the MCAT. Only 7 got into medical school that year. Seven. We began college with 250 premed students.

 

[drizzt3117]

there's 0 chance these #s are accurate, did you just make them up out of thin air? I'd guess I was around 90% right on the MCAT and got straight 13s. I'd be surprised if you needed 80% right for a 33.

a 33, assuming an even split (11/11/11) requires you to answer about 85-90% of the questions correct on the MCAT.

All you guys who are defending the "hard"ness of the mcat (especially making claims about how it is equal to a 36 on the SAT): Do you really believe that getting 85% of the questions correct is THAT hard?

You say that OP has "obviously not taken the MCAT." Well he did and he got a 31 (in his PhD thread). I wonder if YOU guys have taken the mcat. It's hard, but it's not THAT hard.

Id say a 36 on the ACT would be more equivalent to a 38 on the MCAT

(I got a 32 on the ACT).

A 36 is a perfect score on the ACT, how could you draw a conclusion as to what someone would get on the mcat?

 

[b2sun]

OP, let me just give you the statistics from my college class. I was at a small college of 6000 students.

Freshmen year: My class had around ~240 students in the premed program

Sophomore year: Many students dropped the major when they realized it wasn't like Grey's Anatomy. Down to ~150 students

Junior year: Organic Chem and other classes destroy people's GPA. Over half the students decide on other easier professions like Nursing or PA. Only about ~55 people still going pre-med

Senior year: The MCAT comes, 50 people took it, only 15 got above a 30.

Graduation from undergrad: 15 people got above a 30 on the MCAT, but only 6 got into medical school that year. Six. We began college with 250 premed students.

That's really cool that your school lets you know how everybody is doing. Wish my school told us..

 

[b2sun]

there's 0 chance these #s are accurate, did you just make them up out of thin air? I'd guess I was around 90% right on the MCAT and got straight 13s. I'd be surprised if you needed 80% right for a 33.



A 36 is a perfect score on the ACT, how could you draw a conclusion as to what someone would get on the mcat?

I wasn't- someone said something about a 36 on the ACT being like a 33 on the MCAT

These numbers are from AAMC practice tests.

 

[fneverforget]

@coleontherole

Someone gets a hard on from saying they go to Rice. 🙄

haha, lol, nothing wrong with a little bit of school pride 🙂


Now I am about to go off on fant2 because he made this comment:

UH is for ppl who either A)failed out of a real 4 year college or B)had a bunch of CC credits from san jac and never wanted to challenge themselves beyond this, but still wanted a bachelor's.

^^^ why would you put down someone else's school when the student body at your school is clearly not that great? Pretentious jackass.....get off your high horse douchebag.

@fant2:

Dude, have you EVER been to college board......Since you don't know jack **** about colleges, here are some links and data, look it up....

Data from Rice from collegeboard: http://collegesearch.collegeboard.c...Id=2569&searchType=college&type=qfs&word=Rice

scroll down to the bottom of this page fant2

• 84% in top 10th of graduating class
• 94% in top quarter of graduating class
• 99% in top half of graduating class

Rice from College board: Sat score ranges - http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=2569&profileId=6

Test Scores

Middle 50% of
First-Year Students Percent Who
Submitted Scores
SAT Critical Reading: 640 - 750
SAT Math: 680 - 780
SAT Writing: 650 - 740
ACT Composite: 30 - 34

Now for Baylor. Baylor Undergrad stats from College board- http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=2734&type=qfs&skey=baylor

• 40% in top 10th of graduating class
• 73% in top quarter of graduating class
• 95% in top half of graduating class

Baylor Sat Score Ranges from College Board- http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=2734&profileId=6

Test Scores

Middle 50% of
First-Year Students Percent Who
Submitted Scores
SAT Critical Reading: 530 - 640
SAT Math: 550 - 650
SAT Writing: 510 - 620
ACT Composite: 23 - 29

sorry guys I had to go off on Fant2, because he was putting down the school where some of my friends go lol...

 

[RogueUnicorn]

premed smackdown!!

 

[fneverforget]

^^^ lol, only on sdn 🙂

 

[RogueUnicorn]

while you're at it, what are U of H's numbers?

 

[fneverforget]

^^^ not that great, but close to baylors lol...🙂

University of Houston from college board-http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=149

• 24% in top 10th of graduating class
• 60% in top quarter of graduating class
• 88% in top half of graduating class

University of Houston's Sat Scores - http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=149&profileId=6

Test Scores

Middle 50% of
First-Year Students
SAT Critical Reading: 470 - 570
SAT Math: 500 - 620
SAT Writing: Not Reported
ACT Composite: 20 - 25

From this you can say that the student bodies at UH and Baylor are more similar than the student bodies at Rice and Baylor.


BTW Baylor Undergrad and Baylor Med School are not affiliated in any way, they used to be back in the day, but not Baylor Med is more closed related to Rice than Baylor Undergrad.


Oh I forgot to inculde U.S. News and Rankings because Fant2 would probably say that I made that up as well...

Here it is:

Rice ranked 17th in the nation by U.S. News- http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/houston-tx/rice-3604

Baylor ranked 80th in the nation by U.S. News- http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/waco-tx/baylor-university-6967



****Baylor is a great school, as is UH, I just couldn't see how Fant2 could put down UH when he goes to Baylor lol, what a comedian. Rice, Baylor, and UH have great profs, resources, and numerous opportunities for their undergrads.

 

[Enoko]

That's really cool that your school lets you know how everybody is doing. Wish my school told us..

It's a small school, all the pre-meds were friends.

By junior year, the 50 of us formed pretty much one circle of friends. I know everyone's MCAT score and graduation plans because they told me.

 

[bobsmith]

there's 0 chance these #s are accurate, did you just make them up out of thin air? I'd guess I was around 90% right on the MCAT and got straight 13s. I'd be surprised if you needed 80% right for a 33.

 

[RogueUnicorn]

poor fant2... all he wanted to do was to hitch on a little bit of prestige

 

[mmmcdowe]

Now entering black Japan.

 

[KTownGT]

@fneverforget: don't post stats w/o a source. You could have easily made that up.

Baylor's premed population is very similar to Rice's, especially since Baylor built a $100 million dollar science buildina about 6 years ago. Many more quality students went to Baylor for their improved science programs. Rice does have better engineering, math and physics programs. You're data, I assume is an average, not for just premeds.

UH is for ppl who either A)failed out of a real 4 year college or B)had a bunch of CC credits from san jac and never wanted to challenge themselves beyond this, but still wanted a bachelor's.

Eh, in the eyes of an adcom a state university is a state university is a state university... Especially if you leave the state where the institution is based.

I'm of course neglecting public ivies and ivies.

 

[fneverforget]

^^^^ What are you talking about, neither Rice nor Baylor are state universities.

 

[Frazier]

^^^^ What are you talking about, neither Rice nor Baylor are state universities.

Perhaps he is speaking about the one guy saying that UH is a pisspot...

 

[Vadoff]

I love how UH isn't even ranked, and just has a "tier 4" stamp on it:
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/houston-tx/university-of-houston-3652

 

[planktonelement]

a 33, assuming an even split (11/11/11) requires you to answer about 85-90% of the questions correct on the MCAT.

All you guys who are defending the "hard"ness of the mcat (especially making claims about how it is equal to a 36 on the SAT): Do you really believe that getting 85% of the questions correct is THAT hard?

You say that OP has "obviously not taken the MCAT." Well he did and he got a 31 (in his PhD thread). I wonder if YOU guys have taken the mcat. It's hard, but it's not THAT hard.

Id say a 36 on the ACT would be more equivalent to a 38 on the MCAT

(I got a 32 on the ACT).

Just for information's sake.... I scored 36 on the ACT and got a 37 on the MCAT (my average on AAMCs was 35.5). It would've been nice to get that extra point, but I'm obviously not going to sweat it.

Edit for correct numbers.

 

[Mr Karatepants]

I'm going to have to agree with Drizzt's point that the MCAT is a test geared towards a certain population. People who are good test takers can score highly with a modicum of preparation.

That's not to underscore the difficulty of the test - the distribution is the way it is for a reason. The fact is, most premed or biology programs IMO do not give you the right kind of preparation.

The knowledge base of the MCAT is relatively shallow. One year each of biology, chemistry, ochem, and physics is a dilletante's level of knowledge in each subject. What makes the MCAT challenging is that the questions are created in a way that requires the test taker to extrapolate, using logic and the reading provided, on basic knowledge in order to form new conclusions. In other words, solving problems.

Some people simply start out at a higher level of problem solving than others. This is not a permanent advantage - if you practice critical thinking skills and problem solving, you can catch up. Most premeds simply lack the practice. Biology at the undergraduate level simply is closer to regurgitation than it is to problem solving.

I am fortunate enough to be good at problem-solving; that skill was reinforced by studying a hard science in college. I was able to score a 34 on my first aamc practice test...without studying, nearly a decade after taking any of the standard prereqs, and prior to taking organic chemistry. My actual MCAT score, eventually, was much higher.

 

[EpicBearMan]

180 hours over 6 weeks before the test (This is about what I did.) > 365 hours over 1 year before the test.

Many premeds I know are very uninformed about the process. I see people applying to only one school, with sub-par stats. I see people go take an official MCAT just to get a feel for it before any prep or online practice tests. The list of dumb mistakes goes on and on.

The rejection statistics become less intimidating when you look more carefully at many of the non-sdn premeds around you.

 

[apumic]

I wasn't- someone said something about a 36 on the ACT being like a 33 on the MCAT

These numbers are from AAMC practice tests.

A lot of people are misunderstanding what I said. A 36 on the ACT is NOT like a 33 on the MCAT. If you read the post people are erroneously pulling that from, it was chastising the OP for stating a "33" is "achievable for most people [with minimal or no preparation]." My response was that unless he had a 36 on the ACT or a 1590+ on the SAT, it was highly unlikely he would be able to score a 33 on the MCAT w/o any prep. The med school spreadsheet actually gives the theoretical equivalent scores (based upon a body of published research on the topic). However, I did not use that application to come up w/ my response. It was merely a way of saying that unless you are 1 of a kind a 33 isn't going to happen w/o hard work.

 

[drizzt3117]

I guess I disagree. The mcat is testing you on things you already know. My initial diagnostic was 13/13/11. I got a few q wrong on BS that I would have known had I taken micro/biochem/dev bio but honestly no amount of extra studying would have improved my actual scores. Before the actual test my lasr practice tests were all ~45.

 

[equios]

MCAT is more about whether or not you actually learned and understood the concepts.

I'd disagree. Knowing the science will get you to about a 30 MCAT score, but beyond that you get into understanding the test. MCAT is not a test of your knowledge, but a test of your reasoning.

A lot of questions are set up to hide the real question under layers of junk that you have to peel away. You have to be able to take a concrete situation and make abstractions from it in order to make it fit with some concept (eg springs, pulleys, law of universal gravity, etc.).

Knowing the science is a start, knowing what the hell the damn question is actually asking is you what gets you that 33+ score.

Also thanks to the introduction of the CBT, mean scores have gone from 29.(7-9) to 31.(7-9) ranges. So a 33 MCAT is the new 31 mcat.

 

[MaryLennox]

ok i really think people underestimate how important content knowledge is for MCAT. i will agree that verbal is more of a test-takers test. its hard to prep for because you either think that way or you don't. but content is important! i think my experience shows this. most people with unbalanced scores have the low score in VR for whatever reason. my big discrepancy was between PS and BS. i think of myself as one of the lucky ones who is 'good at tests' but that can only take you so far. my preparation in chem and physics was the bare minimum. i never felt comfortable, especially in physics. i tried hard to learn the concepts again when i prepped for the MCAT but i never really made a breakthrough. on the other hand, i did an MS in biomedical science and took way above-and-beyond the normal bio courses, prior to taking the MCAT. i had a very strong knowledge base in bio, and THEN it was just a matter of being good at taking the test. end result- bio 14, PS 9. if it was simply a matter of being good at taking tests, i might have still gotten the same composite score, but it would have been balanced. instead, my score obviously reflects the strengths and weaknesses in my content knowledge.

and as far as the ACT/SAT comparison goes, i think its silly, because i don't think people take it nearly as seriously.

 

[mfrizzo3]

......and as far as the ACT/SAT comparison goes, i think its silly, because i don't think people take it nearly as seriously.

Bingo!

 

[TylerJ]

Everyone is making the MCAT out to be a daunting test taking task which has no comparison. Though I cannot speak from experience, I will go out on a limb and say that it is probably exaggerated in difficulty like the entire process of applying medical school and other health professional schools.

I am already using study guides for the MCAT and I am still more than a year out working on my prerequisites. Additionally, and this is just my own observation, but I am studying for the LSAT to, and find that it aids in demystifying any of the logical hangups the MCAT may present.

Plus, I sacrifice a little of my social life to study like a fiend... you know, what is necessary for me to obtain my goal.

One hour a day for a year? I prefer finishing my coursework during the week on top of volunteerism at the children's hospital, chillout Friday, study 3-4 hours on Sat/Sun, rinse/repeat. Study intervals will obviously increase with growing proximity to the test date. Bear in mind, when I say study, I mean lock myself alone in a room (or group) and go over questions and not haphazardly frequent facebook or my cellular phone intermittently.

How much do you want to be a doctor? STUDY!

On a side note: I'd be happy with a 33. Only time will tell, dun dun dun...

 

[RogueUnicorn]

Everyone is making the MCAT out to be a daunting test taking task which has no comparison. Though I cannot speak from experience, I will go out on a limb and say that it is probably exaggerated in difficulty like the entire process of applying medical school and other health professional schools.

I am already using study guides for the MCAT and I am still more than a year out working on my prerequisites. Additionally, and this is just my own observation, but I am studying for the LSAT to, and find that it aids in demystifying any of the logical hangups the MCAT may present.

Plus, I sacrifice a little of my social life to study like a fiend... you know, what is necessary for me to obtain my goal.

One hour a day for a year? I prefer finishing my coursework during the week on top of volunteerism at the children's hospital, chillout Friday, study 3-4 hours on Sat/Sun, rinse/repeat. Study intervals will obviously increase with growing proximity to the test date. Bear in mind, when I say study, I mean lock myself alone in a room (or group) and go over questions and not haphazardly frequent facebook or my cellular phone intermittently.

How much do you want to be a doctor? STUDY!

On a side note: I'd be happy with a 33. Only time will tell, dun dun dun...

thank you for this utterly cool story. bro.

 

[Tone]

@coleontherole
haha, lol, nothing wrong with a little bit of school pride 🙂


Now I am about to go off on fant2 because he made this comment:

^^^ why would you put down someone else's school when the student body at your school is clearly not that great? Pretentious jackass.....get off your high horse douchebag.

@fant2:

Dude, have you EVER been to college board......Since you don't know jack **** about colleges, here are some links and data, look it up....

Data from Rice from collegeboard: http://collegesearch.collegeboard.c...Id=2569&searchType=college&type=qfs&word=Rice

scroll down to the bottom of this page fant2

Rice from College board: Sat score ranges - http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=2569&profileId=6

Now for Baylor. Baylor Undergrad stats from College board- http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=2734&type=qfs&skey=baylor

Baylor Sat Score Ranges from College Board- http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=2734&profileId=6

sorry guys I had to go off on Fant2, because he was putting down the school where some of my friends go lol...

thanks bro for standing up for UH even though you're not student there! LOL i wanted to go off on fant2 too until i saw this post. UH is for people who failed out of a REAL 4 year school? ouch man! as a UH student who graduated high school in the top 10% and scored high on the SAT, that hurts! and i'll have you know that i CHOSE to go to UH (and so did many of my friends). it was cheaper and closer to home. i did not start at san jac or any community college. and UH has great professors who DO challenge you. UH is a great school. so please quit putting down other schools if you've never been there and know nothing about them. i don't know where he gets off thinking he's so great just because he goes to baylor...

 

[NickNaylor]

Everyone is making the MCAT out to be a daunting test taking task which has no comparison. Though I cannot speak from experience, I will go out on a limb and say that it is probably exaggerated in difficulty like the entire process of applying medical school and other health professional schools.

I am already using study guides for the MCAT and I am still more than a year out working on my prerequisites. Additionally, and this is just my own observation, but I am studying for the LSAT to, and find that it aids in demystifying any of the logical hangups the MCAT may present.

Plus, I sacrifice a little of my social life to study like a fiend... you know, what is necessary for me to obtain my goal.

One hour a day for a year? I prefer finishing my coursework during the week on top of volunteerism at the children's hospital, chillout Friday, study 3-4 hours on Sat/Sun, rinse/repeat. Study intervals will obviously increase with growing proximity to the test date. Bear in mind, when I say study, I mean lock myself alone in a room (or group) and go over questions and not haphazardly frequent facebook or my cellular phone intermittently.

How much do you want to be a doctor? STUDY!

On a side note: I'd be happy with a 33. Only time will tell, dun dun dun...

 

[TylerJ]

🙄 uh huh

no one should be allowed to comment on how easy or hard the MCAT is until they have ACTUALLY TAKEN IT (and gotten scores back)

i look forward to seeing you score your easy 40 and getting into all the schools you want. good luck!!

Thanks 😀

 

[RogueUnicorn]

i bet you 5000 bucks you do not get a 40 or above

 

[apumic]

i bet you 5000 bucks you do not get a 40 or above

I'm gonna raise that 10k* he doesn't! (Anyone wanna bet 15k he does so we have someone to pay up...OP? You should stand up for yourself!)




*monopoly money

 

[KTownGT]

Perhaps he is speaking about the one guy saying that UH is a pisspot...

Thanks Reagan, you always were my favorite president.

 

[drizzt3117]

I was a postbac, I'd taken only the prereqs when I took my test and had no difficulty.

ok i really think people underestimate how important content knowledge is for MCAT. i will agree that verbal is more of a test-takers test. its hard to prep for because you either think that way or you don't. but content is important! i think my experience shows this. most people with unbalanced scores have the low score in VR for whatever reason. my big discrepancy was between PS and BS. i think of myself as one of the lucky ones who is 'good at tests' but that can only take you so far. my preparation in chem and physics was the bare minimum. i never felt comfortable, especially in physics. i tried hard to learn the concepts again when i prepped for the MCAT but i never really made a breakthrough. on the other hand, i did an MS in biomedical science and took way above-and-beyond the normal bio courses, prior to taking the MCAT. i had a very strong knowledge base in bio, and THEN it was just a matter of being good at taking the test. end result- bio 14, PS 9. if it was simply a matter of being good at taking tests, i might have still gotten the same composite score, but it would have been balanced. instead, my score obviously reflects the strengths and weaknesses in my content knowledge.

and as far as the ACT/SAT comparison goes, i think its silly, because i don't think people take it nearly as seriously.

 

[Frazier]

I was a postbac, I'd taken only the prereqs when I took my test and had no difficulty.

That's why your an effin' chick magnet...

 

[45408]

Hard to say. I studied far less than that, 3-4 hours a day max for maybe 6 weeks, not counting weekends, and scored ~40 without having helpful classes like micro, developmental, biochem or genetics. Like I said, the required knowledge base is quite shallow, and it's a test that rewards good test takers. With the mcat the key is not to outthink yourself but to get into the test writer's head. You do that through taking practice qs.

Either you scored a 40 or you didn't. What is a ~40?

a 33, assuming an even split (11/11/11) requires you to answer about 85-90% of the questions correct on the MCAT.

Oh really? Each section is curved differently (the curve on VR is a lot steeper than the other two), so it's safe to say that you're already making incorrect assumptions.

All you guys who are defending the "hard"ness of the mcat (especially making claims about how it is equal to a 36 on the SAT): Do you really believe that getting 85% of the questions correct is THAT hard?

Well, not for me it wasn't....we're discussing the general population though.

Id say a 36 on the ACT would be more equivalent to a 38 on the MCAT

(I got a 32 on the ACT).

Not really, because they measure different things. Also, a 36 on the ACT is a perfect score, which isn't really analogous to being 7 points away from a perfect score.

 

[Quaero]

OP, let me just give you the statistics from my college class. I was at a small college of 6000 students.

Freshmen year: My class had around ~240 students in the premed program. After the first few exams, about 40 people change majors.

Sophomore year: Many more students dropped the major when they realized Medicine wasn't like Grey's Anatomy. Down to ~150 students

Junior year: Organic Chem and other classes destroy people's GPA. Over half the students decide on other easier professions like Nursing or PA. Only about ~55 people still going pre-med

Senior year: The MCAT comes, 50 people took it, only 15 got above a 30.

Graduation from undergrad: About 20 students applied to med school that year, most had around a 30 on the MCAT. Only 7 got into medical school that year. Seven. We began college with 250 premed students.

Whoa I never saw it like that. But this is true. I go to a public uni with about 1600 people in genchem classes and there aren't that many premeds left (only about 400 now).

 

[plsfoldthx]

i have a 3.1 bcpm and got a 34R after a month of studying 3 hrs/day
my friend got a 34 after 4 months of hardcore studying
my other friend took it twice got 32 the first time and 34 the second

it's very doable

 

[confusedchild]

Whoa I never saw it like that. But this is true. I go to a public uni with about 1600 people in genchem classes and there aren't that many premeds left (only about 400 now).

Yes this is very true...I went to UCLA the largest med school feeder school in the nation with over 700 apps to medical school per year from a graduating class of about 5000. That's about 1/7 person graduating from UCLA gets far enough to apply to medical school. That's astonishing if you think about it because when we all started it seemed like EVERYBODY was a premed if you were in the sciences, and overtime people drop out due to various reasons mentioned already ~ the GPA barrier, the MCAT barrier, etc etc. I swear 1/3 persons (my conjecture) entering UCLA as a freshman is a premed.

P.S. Even our engineers want to be doctors. I'm an EE, and I'm doing med, and there are many like me at UCLA from CivilE, MechE, ChemE, you name it. There's something up with UCLA that attracts premeds and turns people into premeds (I was not dead set on the med route going in).

 

[Frazier]

Yes this is very true...I went to UCLA the largest med school feeder school in the nation with over 700 apps to medical school per year from a graduating class of about 5000. That's about 1/7 person graduating from UCLA gets far enough to apply to medical school. That's astonishing if you think about it because when we all started it seemed like EVERYBODY was a premed if you were in the sciences, and overtime people drop out due to various reasons mentioned already ~ the GPA barrier, the MCAT barrier, etc etc. I swear 1/3 persons (my conjecture) entering UCLA as a freshman is a premed.

P.S. Even our engineers want to be doctors. I'm an EE, and I'm doing med, and there are many like me at UCLA from CivilE, MechE, ChemE, you name it. There's something up with UCLA that attracts premeds and turns people into premeds (I was not dead set on the med route going in).

Los Angeles' cost of living comes to mind...

 

[mcgyver]

WOW, Bro, did you just say Rice undergrad and Baylor undergrad are on the same level? WTF, I spit the coke I was drinking all over my computer screen when I read this. Rice undergrad is on a whole other level when compared to Baylor Undergrad.

Rice is ranked 17th in the nation by U.S. News, has an average Sat score of 2100+ and 80+ percent of its kids were top 10 percent of their high schools.

Baylor Undergrad is ranked 80th in the nation, has an average Sat score of 1750, and only 40 percent of its kids were top 10 percent of their high school.

Clearly the two school are not on the same level.


Seriously dude, if you go to Baylor, you can't go around judging UH. UH and Baylor are more similar in terms of student bodies than Rice and Baylor.


****tt.....I just gave away where I go to school...****.🙂


BTW guys, lets say "someone" scored a 2200 on their sats, and they studied 8-9 hours a day for the mcats for 3 months, how hard will it be to get a 33 on the mcats?

depend on the person but it's doable. i scored 1440/1600 on the SAT (~2180/2400 if you can convert it like that..), spent 3 months studying ~2 hours/day while finishing junior year college. got 36. (11v, 12ps, 13bs)

 

[mcgyver]

Los Angeles' cost of living comes to mind...

high % asian comes to mind.

 

[azrk]

I guess what I'm trying to say is that

a 33 MCAT is highly achievable if you study enough for it...it is not a score where you have to be "gifted" or anything to achieve.

By setting aside an hour a day for a year to study the MCAT is more adequate...

This type of arrogance is laughable.

If you cant get a 33 you must be an idiot then. Please /wrists at that time.

 

[Frazier]

high % asian comes to mind.

true