Why No Action?

[pallie]

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I hoped one of you could enlighten me - why am I getting no love. I have a 31N MCAT, 3.3 undergrad gpa and a 3.5 gpa in grad school. I am a second year Ph.D. student who wants to cross over. Question - Is the fact that I am still enrolled in my grad program with no intention of graduating a huge problem? Are my numbers weak? I am sick of waiting and want some answers now!

 

[dr. deez]

pallie,

when did you apply? did you take your mcat in aug? did you recently send out secondaries? time can be a big factor in applying to medical schools...the earlier the better. being a grad student is a huge factor in many schools... some see grad school as a commitment with another university. did your major prof. write you a letter of rec? if not you should have him/her do so... this will give you a boost/help explain your situation and career goals! good luck.

 

[pallie]

MCAT in April, secondaries out in September/October - some of letters of recommendation were slow - applications complete November. My PI sent a letter for me as did director of graduate program. Thanks for the luck - I might need it Dr.

 

[wexy]

if your apps were complete in november, you still have plenty of time to hear.

i on the other hand have been waiting for some since august! Talk about lost cost...

 

[heelshmeel]

Originally posted by wexy
i on the other hand have been waiting for some since august!

yeah... you definitely have to wait for maybe a couple more wks before worrying...

 

[dr. deez]

the days are going by fast... however i have a friend that intervied during mid march (for the class of 2000) and made it (i believe the school was OSU). It's not over 'till its over!

 

[heelshmeel]

Originally posted by dr. deez
It's not over 'till its over!

and I cant wait till "it's over!"

 

[womansurg]

I think folks are right that it's early in the game.

I also think you're right in that there is a predjudice against people leaving a graduate program midstream. I saw this when my good friend applied the same year I did. We had similar stats/background but, compared to her, I seemed to get all the interviews. Your stats are strong, however, and you'll get some attention. Just give it time.

 

[pallie]

Out of curiosity, if this ends up not working would you suggest retaking the MCAT? What other areas would you change/improve to increase chances if this *&*& application process goes sour. To maximize chances would you find a job and quit grad school? Alternatively, should I just pick up a sturdy louisville slugger and tell the adcoms what I really think of this process?

 

[lola]

your mcat is fine unless you have a strange distribution. how's your ugrad science gpa? your grad gpa is on the low side. try really hard to get a's next semester. get your applications in during the summer!!! you will have a better chance of getting interviews if you apply early. turning them in that late really puts you at a disadvantage. that's even later than mine were complete, and i took the august mcat. i turned most of mine in in august/september, so that they would be complete as soon as schools got my mcat scores in mid-october. i think you should find out what individual schools' policies are regarding completion of your graduate program. if enough say they will not consider you until you complete it, it may be worth it to quit if you really want to go to medical school. also, make sure you applied to a lot of low/mid-tier schools
it's still early, though. don't give up hope!

 

[Jalby]

Originally posted by pallie
I hoped one of you could enlighten me - why am I getting no love. I have a 31N MCAT, 3.3 undergrad gpa and a 3.5 gpa in grad school. I am a second year Ph.D. student who wants to cross over. Question - Is the fact that I am still enrolled in my grad program with no intention of graduating a huge problem? Are my numbers weak? I am sick of waiting and want some answers now!

I think it's purly a numbers thing. a 3.3 Undergrad GPA isn't that great, the N is about 20 percentile, and with grade school the lowest grade you can get and pass is a B, so the 3.5 isn't that great. Sorry to be a sourpuss, but that is my .02.

 

[lola]

an N is actually the 28th - 39th percentile for the august mcat and slightly higher for the april mcat, but really not much to worry about i don't think. i got a friggin M, had it rescored, and ended up with an M again. i still think rescoring is a scam! but anyway, i don't think you should get worked up about the N b/c schools really don't care all that much i don't think unless you get like a j or a k. schools know that the writing sample is graded subjectively. for the april mcat an M was the most common score even though it was the 12th-30th percentile.