I have a bachelors of Science degree in Clinical Laboratory Science with a 3.6 cumulative GPA. I have worked in the hospital for 2 years now. I would love to become an infectious disease doctor. I have taken the MCAT and received a score of 21J the first time and a 22O the second time (after taking a Princeton Review class). I do not want to take it again, but I don't know if I am competitive enough to get in. I do a lot of volunteer work and have been since I got out of school as well. What do you think?
Wondering if I should apply for Med School.
- Thread starter melly05
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Your GPA is definitely in range for accepted applicants (3.6). Is that cumulative? I assume you took a fair amount of BCPM classes (Biology/Chemistry/Physics/Math). What's your science GPA?
The aspect of your application that may hold you back is your MCAT. 21/22 is pretty low for the average matriculant for US allopathic schools (I think the average is between 30-31 now). I'm not sure about osteopathic schools (but I doubt it is a lot lower like 21/22 ish). You may have to get over your aversion to retaking it, but before you do, figure out if you studied effectively for it before and if you can do better.
If you can do better, then study & retake it. If you can't do better, the rest of your application should be very strong. Good luck.
The aspect of your application that may hold you back is your MCAT. 21/22 is pretty low for the average matriculant for US allopathic schools (I think the average is between 30-31 now). I'm not sure about osteopathic schools (but I doubt it is a lot lower like 21/22 ish). You may have to get over your aversion to retaking it, but before you do, figure out if you studied effectively for it before and if you can do better.
If you can do better, then study & retake it. If you can't do better, the rest of your application should be very strong. Good luck.
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No.
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That aspect of your application will hold you back. The average for DO schools is about a 26-27 now, and they are becoming more competitive every year. Your GPA is great, so why do you think you scored low on the MCAT?
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Going to have to agree with the above. An average GPA with a 21/22 MCAT simply is not going to get where you want to be. Even if you were to apply DO, you'd have a pretty small chance even at an interview. The good news, though, is that the MCAT is much, much easier to "fix" than is your GPA! So the fact that your GPA is competitive means you still stand a chance if you can figure out what's gone wrong in the past and fix it!
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Look your Mcat is low I admit it and the chances of getting in are slim but they are certainly NOT IMPOSSIBLE! My best friend majored in Biology got a 3.3 Overall gpa and took the mcat got a 21, took it a year off to study retook it and got a 21 AGAIN A YEAR LATER! Everyone told her to save her money and to not apply! Imagen how bad it looks to take a prep course study another year and end up with the same score! She didn't listen didnt take no for an answer! applied to 23 med schools and only got one interview at Michigan state university- MD and guess what? All she needed was that ONE INTERVIEW!!! She is now starting her second year of medical school! Call it luck, chance or her strong personal statement whatever you want to argue bottom line is she got accepted even though among the 23 schools were three DO schools she not only got accepted but she got into an MD program hip hip horrrrrrayyy! So give it a shot so that you won't live thinking "what if " either improve your mcat or just apply YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT WILL END UP HAPPENING!
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While I think this is a great story, it's also unusual and I wouldn't let this be the primary motivation to apply to medical school. Check the AAMC stats for people that have your GPA and MCAT scores, and you will see that the odds are heavily stacked against you. Unless you are a URM or have an unbelievable life story, then I would say that you will have a lot of trouble getting into an allopathic or osteopathic program. In addition, even as a URM, your chances are not that great.
I don't mean to be harsh, but you have to be realistic.
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A high GPA and MCAT score do not correlate with being a good doctor. I think that there is general agreement that a student getting a 41 on the mcat and a student receiving a 27 have exactly the same chance of being good doctors.
On the other hand, I, personally, am not sure about a REPEATED 21/22 MCAT. This kind of score seems to me to indicate some consistent major mistake or lack of high-functioning mental ability. I'm willing to be corrected, but I have a feeling that all doctors have to think quickly and confidently under pressure as well as memorize hoards of facts. If you can't do this, then you might be a danger to your patients.
I think you have 1 more trip to the well in you. Throw yourself into MCAT preparation. Take multitudes of practice exams. Pay the money for one of those highway-robbery, over-priced prep courses. Then if you can push that score up to a 26 or so I would try go forward. Otherwise, another career may be your best bet.
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This story is ok but I have a better one.
One of my friends actually had a 1.99 GPA which actually automatically disqualified her from many schools. She also scored a -3 on the MCAT, I'm not even quite sure how that works but I guess you miss all the multiple choice questions and if your writing sample is really bad they can also deduct points.
Anyways, she just happened to apply broadly including extra headshots and photo spreads with all her apps. She ended up being interiewed and she got accepted to a Michigan school also. wow.
She kept saying how friendly all the guys there were. Persistance pays off
here is one of the pictures she included:
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Honestly these types of stories give people false hope. From 2005-2007, there were ~2300 applicants with relatively the same stats as your best friend and only 16% of them were accepted into med school. So yeah, it's not impossible. But likely? Not even close. Your friend was a big exception to the widely held 3.5/30 "rule". Unless someone is URM, disadvantaged or has some extremely amazing life experiences, applying with stats like those is a waste of money & time. Better to use those resources to improve one's application.
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If you want a 1 in a million shot play the powerball, the payout's better. Applying once makes you a reapplicant, which means your application is going to be judged more harshly the second time around. You don't want to shoot yourself in the foot (not to mention wasting a lot of time and money of money) for a one in a million chance when all you needed to do was take a Kaplan course and apply a year later.
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Yeah, those adcoms will go easy on you, if you can rock them in an FPS deathmatch. *BOOM!*
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I'm wondering how the OP studied the second time. i know she said she took the princeton review class. did she do the aamc practice exams? did she do any other practice exams? maybe try TBR this time. good luck to you.
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The real solution to getting a clear answer to whether or not you are attractive to a medical school is to simply apply and find out.
The MCAT is a major part of your application however if you have other strong factors and can obtain an interview to testify on behalf of your merits then do so. Share your passion and promote your strengths.
A 22 O is low however if the average MCAT acceptance score is approx 30 then it is only common sense to conclude that applicants are accepted with scores in the 20s.
You have to apply to find out.
The MCAT is a major part of your application however if you have other strong factors and can obtain an interview to testify on behalf of your merits then do so. Share your passion and promote your strengths.
A 22 O is low however if the average MCAT acceptance score is approx 30 then it is only common sense to conclude that applicants are accepted with scores in the 20s.
You have to apply to find out.
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if you don't want to retake, have you considering going to a caribbean MD school? there are 2 respectable schools in the islands, SGU and Ross. i would look into those schools as potential solutions to a low mcat score.
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Even if you manage to get in with a 21/22, you better figure out how to take standardized tests if you want to pass your boards, likewise for the girl who got into MSU with two 21s. Retaking the MCAT and still getting the same really low score suggests that it's not a one-time fluke.
Medicine as a profession probably has the most tests, shelves and certifications. Do you know what you are getting yourself into? I would say significantly less than 5% of US MD students scored 22 or lower on the MCAT. Unfortunately, about 5% of US MD (and 20% of DO) students don't pass Step 1 on the first attempt, and of those 40% don't pass on the second attempt either.
http://www.usmle.org/Scores_Transcripts/performance/2008.html
Medicine as a profession probably has the most tests, shelves and certifications. Do you know what you are getting yourself into? I would say significantly less than 5% of US MD students scored 22 or lower on the MCAT. Unfortunately, about 5% of US MD (and 20% of DO) students don't pass Step 1 on the first attempt, and of those 40% don't pass on the second attempt either.
http://www.usmle.org/Scores_Transcripts/performance/2008.html
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I'm always suspicious of these threads where the OP has one post and is never heard from again, but I agree with womp. But I'll reiterate:
1. with a 21/22 your chances are slim slim slim.
2. If somehow you make it to med school, you better figure out what your deal with standarized tests are or this issue will just keep coming back again and again. We can argue whether these things matter in the end, but the reality is that most professional degree careers (law, medicine, etc.) require a lot of standardized testing.
1. with a 21/22 your chances are slim slim slim.
2. If somehow you make it to med school, you better figure out what your deal with standarized tests are or this issue will just keep coming back again and again. We can argue whether these things matter in the end, but the reality is that most professional degree careers (law, medicine, etc.) require a lot of standardized testing.
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This story is ok but I have a better one.
One of my friends actually had a 1.99 GPA which actually automatically disqualified her from many schools. She also scored a -3 on the MCAT, I'm not even quite sure how that works but I guess you miss all the multiple choice questions and if your writing sample is really bad they can also deduct points.
Anyways, she just happened to apply broadly including extra headshots and photo spreads with all her apps. She ended up being interiewed and she got accepted to a Michigan school also. wow.
She kept saying how friendly all the guys there were. Persistance pays off
here is one of the pictures she included:
Bennie, you're the man...It seems she's already become a very sharp doctor... look at the eyes
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Agreed. This is a career of standardized tests -- shelfs, steps, specialty exams, it never ends. You have to lick this issue FIRST or it's going to be a huge waste of money to go down this road. The average MCAT at most allo med schools is about a 31 these days. As for whether it pays to apply with the OP's first two MCAT scores, the answer is no. You don't want to waste money trying to be the exception to the rule -- you want to be the rule. That means studying and taking practice tests until you are scoring close to competitive on multiple full length practice tests. Only then are you ready to proceed and take the real test again. And you MUST take the test again if you hope to go to med school, because frankly 22 is not close to competitive, and because you took it twice, you can't even say you had a bad day. You must must must figure out what went wrong, take many many practice tests, and then up that score significantly or you have no prayer. Sorry, but that's just the way it is. Getting into med schools is about jumping through all the hoops. And you missed this last hoop the first two attempts. So you dust yourself off and learn to jump better. It's that kind of perseverance that's what you'll need to succeed in med school anyhow.
