Would you accept this applicant?

[starseeker]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Overall GPA: 3.34
BCPM GPA: 3.06
MCAT: 12V, 9PS, 10BS O

Tons of extracurriculars including volunteering in clinics for the disadvantaged and being a mentor for at risk youth.

 

[OSUdoc08]

Overall GPA: 3.34
BCPM GPA: 3.06
MCAT: 12V, 9PS, 10BS O

Tons of extracurriculars including volunteering in clinics for the disadvantaged and being a mentor for at risk youth.

Looks like an automatic in for a DO school.

I can see how MD schools would whine about your low science GPA.

Priorities, priorities.

You'd think the MCAT would be enough evidence that you know the material.

 

[MN81]

Overall GPA: 3.34
BCPM GPA: 3.06
MCAT: 12V, 9PS, 10BS O

Tons of extracurriculars including volunteering in clinics for the disadvantaged and being a mentor for at risk youth.

Just send me your personal statement, a complete list of extracurriculars, your letters of recommendation, 3 additional essays on what you learned from mentoring and volunteering and a difficult situation that you overcame, fly to my apartment for a 50 minute interview, wait for 4-6 weeks, sit on a waitlist for a month... and then I will tell you what your chances are of getting in.

Sorry, I feel like everybody has been asking this recently. You can probably get good answers by reading other people's threads.

In short: Nobody can know what your chances are with an admissions committee just by looking at your stats. That is the universal rule.

 

[Law2Doc]

Overall GPA: 3.34
BCPM GPA: 3.06
MCAT: 12V, 9PS, 10BS O

Tons of extracurriculars including volunteering in clinics for the disadvantaged and being a mentor for at risk youth.

The GPA is on the low side, but possibly enough to get interviews. Pretty borderline, but certainly a shot if the person applied widely and/or was resident of the right state. The turning points would be the essays, interview, LORs. Don't underestimate the value of these.

 

[MN81]

I hate the Mavs

 

[OSUdoc08]

I hate the Mavs

Why? What did they ever do to you!!?

They are the friendliest team in the NBA!

They gave the Suns an MVP.....the Spurs a great 6th man....the Heat a great backup forward....the Wizards an excellent starting forward....

and.....they are still tied for 1st place in the conference....

 

[MN81]

Why? What did they ever do to you!!?

They are the friendliest team in the NBA!

They gave the Suns an MVP.....the Spurs a great 6th man....the Heat a great backup forward....the Wizards an excellent starting forward....

and.....they are still tied for 1st place in the conference....

I am a T-Wolves fan, and I am basically jealous of the Mavs.

We have a 'superstar' in KG... but I don't really think he is that 'super'

He is amazing, don't get me wrong. But I have two problems with him:
1. He is not clutch: Good stats, none of them come when it matters (4th quarter.
2. He does not make anybody around him better. (a la Jordan, DWade, SteveNash, TimDuncan, etc etc etc). Superstars make people better at basketball - either by scaring them into it (Jordan), or inspiring them to do so (MagicJohnson).

I am jealous because Dirk is a true superstar (7.4 pts/4thQuarter or something like that), and KG is not.

😡 😡 😡

 

[MDhopeful023]

Overall GPA: 3.34
BCPM GPA: 3.06
MCAT: 12V, 9PS, 10BS O

Tons of extracurriculars including volunteering in clinics for the disadvantaged and being a mentor for at risk youth.

Yes I would... don't get me wrong... but there is more to the numbers game when you are applying... make sure you have a strong PS, LOR, and secondary essays and you will be surprise...

I mean I have pretty low stats (similar to yours, lower MCAT) and I'm pleasantly surprised! So don't give up hope... SDN has a pretty inflated average of everything...

 

[Heimerfink]

Overall GPA: 3.34
BCPM GPA: 3.06
MCAT: 12V, 9PS, 10BS O

Tons of extracurriculars including volunteering in clinics for the disadvantaged and being a mentor for at risk youth.

I would, but my med school is called "Bob's Med School" and we just started. In fact, we use Purdue chickens from Wal-Mart as cadavers.

 

[crazy_cavalier]

Overall GPA: 3.34
BCPM GPA: 3.06
MCAT: 12V, 9PS, 10BS O

Tons of extracurriculars including volunteering in clinics for the disadvantaged and being a mentor for at risk youth.

Your science GPA is suspicious. If you had 11's on the PS and BS maybe that would clear any doubts I have.

 

[mshheaddoc]

You are probably low for most Allopathic schools unless you have stellar LOR's or EC's.

But you never know, asking what we think on here means **** because we aren't adcoms. Additionally, not too many people know much about the process anyways. personally I think that adcoms assign people numbers and then play bingo. If your number is in the winning bingo line then you're in!

 

[crazy_cavalier]

Looks like an automatic in for a DO school.

I can see how MD schools would whine about your low science GPA.

Priorities, priorities.

You'd think the MCAT would be enough evidence that you know the material.

ROFL. Yeah. But you have to admit that science gpa is not stellar at all. It's even mediocre, and you know the science classes are the ones filled with the premeds so the schools look for the creme-de-la-creme.

BTW sometimes you can see an MCAT score of 9 and think to yourself "Hmmm, maybe this guy just BARELY got a 9 and was one point away from an 8." Conversely, it could be "Wow maybe he was one question away from getting a 10 and got the highest 9 possible." That's part of the reason I think MCAT score reports are stupid.

 

[OSUdoc08]

I am a T-Wolves fan, and I am basically jealous of the Mavs.

We have a 'superstar' in KG... but I don't really think he is that 'super'

He is amazing, don't get me wrong. But I have two problems with him:
1. He is not clutch: Good stats, none of them come when it matters (4th quarter.
2. He does not make anybody around him better. (a la Jordan, DWade, SteveNash, TimDuncan, etc etc etc). Superstars make people better at basketball - either by scaring them into it (Jordan), or inspiring them to do so (MagicJohnson).

I am jealous because Dirk is a true superstar (7.4 pts/4thQuarter or something like that), and KG is not.

😡 😡 😡

I used to always get tickets to the KG-Dirk matchups every year, but it's been quite disappointing every since the T'Wolves gave up and traded away everyone around KG. They never should have let Flip go.

 

[star22]

Overall GPA: 3.34
BCPM GPA: 3.06
MCAT: 12V, 9PS, 10BS O

Tons of extracurriculars including volunteering in clinics for the disadvantaged and being a mentor for at risk youth.

Where are you applying? Have you done much shadowing? How are your letters of rec?

 

[star22]

ROFL. Yeah. But you have to admit that science gpa is not stellar at all. It's even mediocre, and you know the science classes are the ones filled with the premeds so the schools look for the creme-de-la-creme.

BTW sometimes you can see an MCAT score of 9 and think to yourself "Hmmm, maybe this guy just BARELY got a 9 and was one point away from an 8." Conversely, it could be "Wow maybe he was one question away from getting a 10 and got the highest 9 possible." That's part of the reason I think MCAT score reports are stupid.

No kidding.... why don't they just give us the raw score instead of masking it with an ambiguous point scale.

 

[adcomm]

was there grade progression? where'd that 3.0 come from? how'd you do in your upper level bio classes?

assuming the answers are yes, a bad semester or two early on, and rocked 'em, AND you did well in your interview, I would accept you at least to waitlist. earlier in the year probably to accept.

 

[star22]

was there grade progression? where'd that 3.0 come from? how'd you do in your upper level bio classes?

assuming the answers are yes, a bad semester or two early on, and rocked 'em, AND you did well in your interview, I would accept you at least to waitlist. earlier in the year probably to accept.

NO WAY.... you know nothing about this person except that they have average stats and potentially interesting EC... its possible from what they have said here that they have never seen a doctor interacting with a patient. They have no research experience. I am beginning to think adcomm is a member of a caribbean med school adcom.

 

[adcomm]

NO WAY.... you know nothing about this person except that they have average stats and potentially interesting EC... its possible from what they have said here that they have never seen a doctor interacting with a patient. They have no research experience. I am beginning to think adcomm is a bogus adcom member.

🙄 I am beginning to think you're an elitist SDN member with no ability to function in the hypothetical realm.

 

[Camel]

Not to mention the MCAT is not a content test. It is a critical thinking test. It is also just that, a test. You cannot equate a good MCAT score in a subject with "making up for" a low science GPA. GPA often indicates work-ethic more than intelligence (big generalization, but kinda valid). Eh, just my 2 cents. I don't know anything about adcomm thought processes, but that BCMP does not bode well for the heavy sciences that I assume hit us in the first 2 years.

 

[star22]

🙄 I am beginning to think you're an elitist SDN member with no ability to function in the hypothetical realm.

I don't mean to come across, in any way, as elitist. I just think it is extremely bold of you to say that you would accept (or at least wait-list) a random person with a 3.3 GPA (3.0 science)/31 MCAT with potentially cool ECs. I know a handful of applicants with better stats and similar, if not better, ECs that only have a couple of waitlist or hold spots.

From my perspective, as an applicant, this process is ultra competetive. If everything else about the OP is outstanding then s/he will probably get accepted somewhere. If not, then s/he probably won't. I am not being elitist, just realistic.

If you are truly an adcom member (since we know nothing about you, and I am sure most of the regulars on this site know enough about this process to pose as an adcom member), then I think you would acknowledge that every school gets thousands of applicants. Many of those people have similar credentials to the OP and most of those people wont even get an interview, much less an acceptance from your school. I don't need to enter the hypothetical realm... thats just reality.

 

[adcomm]

I don't mean to come across, in any way, as elitist. I just think it is extremely bold of you to say that you would accept (or at least wait-list) a random person with a 3.3 GPA (3.0 science)/31 MCAT with potentially cool ECs. I know a handful of applicants with better stats and similar, if not better, ECs that only have a couple of waitlist or hold spots.

From my perspective, as an applicant, this process is ultra competetive. If everything else about the OP is outstanding then s/he will probably get accepted somewhere. If not, then s/he probably won't. I am not being elitist, just realistic.

If you are truly an adcom member (since we know nothing about you, and I am sure most of the regulars on this site know enough about this process to pose as an adcom member), then I think you would acknowledge that every school gets thousands of applicants. Many of those people have similar credentials to the OP and most of those people wont even get an interview, much less an acceptance from your school. I don't need to enter the hypothetical realm... thats just reality.

obviously I didn't just offer this person admission. I said that on the basis of what he/she said, and assuming there were no glaring abnormalities on the application, I think they stand a reasonable chance of admission (ie, I would not have reservations if the criteria for the GPA I mentioned were met). I am saying this because I have watched numerous applicants be discussed and admitted with similar numbers. Early application and strong LOR/ECs definitely increase the odds.

I have always been of the opinion that this process is not as ultra competitive as SDN makes it out to be. Maybe people who love internet forums (hey, myself included there) tend to share characteristics that don't bode well in application. I have no idea. I am also not at one of the top 10 schools, and they are discussed frequently here. All I know is, most of your future classmates will not have done research. Many will have GPAs or MCATs that would surprise you. And some schools are better than others at recognizing an applicant is a person, not just a number.

Lastly, why in god's name would I pretend to be an adcomm member? Seriously, think that one through. Stroke my own ego? Play make-believe? Nothing better to do?

 

[Pewl]

Pacers all the way!

 

[Law2Doc]

Lastly, why in god's name would I pretend to be an adcomm member? Seriously, think that one through. Stroke my own ego? Play make-believe? Nothing better to do?

There have been hundreds of trolls on SDN who are not who they pretend to be. I cannot even guess their motivation, but they exist. Probably very young, and very bored people. Lots of threads are put on here just to get premeds' blood boiling. Folks post stories of make-believe folks who get into med school by making up hard-luck stories in interviews, or that they know someone who bribed their way into med school with a 2.0, etc. So yes, there absolutely are people who like to play make-believe and apparently have nothing better to do. For the same reason, there are many fake profiles on MDApplicants.com. Pretending to be an adcom would not be such a reach. I have not read enough of your threads to make an assessment, and will leave that to others. 😎

 

[psipsina]

To the OP, I got in with a 3.1 science gpa, 3.34 gpa and 11 verbal, 9 phys, 12 Bio, so its possible to do it with your numbers, however I would say an STRONG upward trend in the GPA is an absolute necessity along with the ability to explain what happened in the beginning, along with good lor's and extracurriculars, this should be enuf to get you some interviews, and the rest is how well you interview which no one can predict. Good luck!

 

[Brainsucker]

I am a T-Wolves fan, and I am basically jealous of the Mavs.

We have a 'superstar' in KG... but I don't really think he is that 'super'

He is amazing, don't get me wrong. But I have two problems with him:
1. He is not clutch: Good stats, none of them come when it matters (4th quarter.
2. He does not make anybody around him better. (a la Jordan, DWade, SteveNash, TimDuncan, etc etc etc). Superstars make people better at basketball - either by scaring them into it (Jordan), or inspiring them to do so (MagicJohnson).

I am jealous because Dirk is a true superstar (7.4 pts/4thQuarter or something like that), and KG is not.

😡 😡 😡

Making others better is just a matter of drawing the double team. That's the reason that Jordan's teammates looked good.

 

[riceman04]

Why? What did they ever do to you!!?

They are the friendliest team in the NBA!

They gave the Suns an MVP.....the Spurs a great 6th man....the Heat a great backup forward....the Wizards an excellent starting forward....

and.....they are still tied for 1st place in the conference....

they are still tied for 1st place in the conference....

...and somehow they will once again choke in the playoffs

Dallas = great regular season team but sorry playoff team

 

[riceman04]

Your science GPA is suspicious. If you had 11's on the PS and BS maybe that would clear any doubts I have.

If the person said that their science gpa suffered b/c of a couple grades from fresh. yr (but all good grades were earned from 2nd yr on), would you say that his/her sci gpa is suspicious?

 

[happydays]

There have been hundreds of trolls on SDN who are not who they pretend to be. I cannot even guess their motivation, but they exist. Probably very young, and very bored people. Lots of threads are put on here just to get premeds' blood boiling. Folks post stories of make-believe folks who get into med school by making up hard-luck stories in interviews, or that they know someone who bribed their way into med school with a 2.0, etc. So yes, there absolutely are people who like to play make-believe and apparently have nothing better to do. For the same reason, there are many fake profiles on MDApplicants.com. Pretending to be an adcom would not be such a reach. I have not read enough of your threads to make an assessment, and will leave that to others. 😎

We need to make a rule that says "Next time you ask about your chances, post your AMCAS PDF with your ID info cleared out."

 

[crazy_cavalier]

If the person said that their science gpa suffered b/c of a couple grades from fresh. yr (but all good grades were earned from 2nd yr on), would you say that his/her sci gpa is suspicious?

The answer is still yes. I am not interested in excuses about how fresh yr. physics was difficult and new for this person (or some other similar excuse).

Then again, the Crazy Cav SOM is a Crazy Pompous school and we love to boast about our own inflated reputation and how great we are. We regret to inform you that we have many excellent applicants this year and we have to maintain high selectivity in organizing our incoming class. As such we found it impossible to offer you a seat at our fine institution, but we wish you the best in your pursuits of medical education elsewhere.

(wow, that sounds shockingly similar to my Vanderbilt rejection... 😱 )

 

[45408]

Looks like an automatic in for a DO school.

I can see how MD schools would whine about your low science GPA.

Priorities, priorities.

You'd think the MCAT would be enough evidence that you know the material.

just a side note - people with minimal science knowledge can still do moderately well on the MCAT if they're good at test-taking. A good GPA is a bit harder to "game," and if I were on an adcom, I'd like to see a 30/3.5+ to indicate a good balance.

 

[2DEG]

The GPA is on the low side, but possibly enough to get interviews. Pretty borderline, but certainly a shot if the person applied widely and/or was resident of the right state. The turning points would be the essays, interview, LORs. Don't underestimate the value of these.

I am sorry this is a bit selfish.. This is my first application cycle. But I am afraid I might have to re-take MCAT in August and re-apply for 2007. I think all of my recommendations were pretty good and at least couple of them from my chemistry professors would be 'great' if I am not grossly mistaken.

But is there anyway to find out whether my rec. letters were good/bad? I don't want to do anything illegal and I don't want to know the contents either.

 

[Law2Doc]

I am sorry this is a bit selfish.. This is my first application cycle. But I am afraid I might have to re-take MCAT in August and re-apply for 2007. I think all of my recommendations were pretty good and at least couple of them from my chemistry professors would be 'great' if I am not grossly mistaken.

But is there anyway to find out whether my rec. letters were good/bad? I don't want to do anything illegal and I don't want to know the contents either.

The only way to know would be to meet with a dean of a school who rejected you after the cycle is over and ask what shortcomings you had in your application and how you might improve for the next cycle. If you were tanked by bad LORs, the dean might tell you so, or hint that you might want to find a different recommender for next time. (I've heard of this happening)

 

[ND2005]

obviously I didn't just offer this person admission. I said that on the basis of what he/she said, and assuming there were no glaring abnormalities on the application, I think they stand a reasonable chance of admission (ie, I would not have reservations if the criteria for the GPA I mentioned were met). I am saying this because I have watched numerous applicants be discussed and admitted with similar numbers. Early application and strong LOR/ECs definitely increase the odds.

I have always been of the opinion that this process is not as ultra competitive as SDN makes it out to be. Maybe people who love internet forums (hey, myself included there) tend to share characteristics that don't bode well in application. I have no idea. I am also not at one of the top 10 schools, and they are discussed frequently here. All I know is, most of your future classmates will not have done research. Many will have GPAs or MCATs that would surprise you. And some schools are better than others at recognizing an applicant is a person, not just a number.

I disagree. I know we all have only anecdotal evidence to go on, but based on friends who've gone through this process (some multiple times), I'd be stunned if the OP even got interviews at most schools, much less acceptances.

Saying that med school application is not an "ultra-competitive" process is just silly. Anytime you have a 2X surplus of candidates overall (~60000 applicants annually for ~30000 seats in US MD schools), and a 10-100X surplus of candidates for each school (2000+ candidates for nearly every med school in the country, with most med schools having less than 200 seats; some schools with close to 10000 applicants for only ~100 seats), it is ultra-competitive.

Back to the anecdotes, I have a friend (who is not a message board geek like all of us) with a similar GPA, 35+ MCAT, 500+ clinical hours, and 4 years of research (with first authored pubs). I'd say that's pretty similar to the OP, assuming the OP has great ECS. This friend turned in all secondaries by august, and only got 2 interviews. A couple of schools admitted that they rejected my friend totally based on GPA, not even looking at the rest of the app. And I'm not talking about top 10 or 20 schools here.

Lastly, why in god's name would I pretend to be an adcomm member? Seriously, think that one through. Stroke my own ego? Play make-believe? Nothing better to do?

If you can't answer that question, you haven't spent very much time on internet forums. Honestly, I've never thought for a second that you were a troll, but this answer actually makes me suspect that you are.

 

[Law2Doc]

If you can't answer that question, you haven't spent very much time on internet forums. Honestly, I've never thought for a second that you were a troll, but this answer actually makes me suspect that you are.

This was my response a few posts back. While I have no real reason to question this poster's credentials, there are plenty of trolls who make up personalities. I have to wonder whether an adcom member would be so overt about making their user name adcomm (none of the other adcom members who frequent the site do this). Hmmm...

 

[adcomm]

This was my response a few posts back. While I have no real reason to question this poster's credentials, there are plenty of trolls who make up personalities. I have to wonder whether an adcom member would be so overt about making their user name adcomm (none of the other adcom members who frequent the site do this). Hmmm...

I have another SDN name. I made this one to post only about admissons stuff, because I have already identified my school under the other name. There are two Ms in the name because "adcom" was already taken. 🙄 Maybe LizzyM never revealed her school affiliation in her posts. if you guys have nothing better to do than sit around and discuss me, so be it. I'll keep posting for those who are smart enough to use resources when they see them. g'day.

 

[Law2Doc]

I have another SDN name. I made this one to post only about admissons stuff, because I have already identified my school under the other name. There are two Ms in the name because "adcom" was already taken. 🙄 Maybe LizzyM never revealed her school affiliation in her posts. if you guys have nothing better to do than sit around and discuss me, so be it. I'll keep posting for those who are smart enough to use resources when they see them. g'day.

We were just responding to your comment above questioning whether there are folks who might make up personalities on SDN and might have nothing better to do than play adcom. You posed the question. We replied that anyone who has frequented SDN will have come across plenty of trolls.
As I indicated above, I have no real reason to doubt your credibility. But saying you are an adcom member potentially gives your posts additional weight, and so it's only natural for folks to want to make sure you are who you say.
And so I'm not so sure whether the statement that you have previously been on SDN and just decided to become adcomm in January (in a thread on grooming, no less) helps or hurts your case.
G'day to you as well. 😀

 

[adcomm]

I disagree. I know we all have only anecdotal evidence to go on, but based on friends who've gone through this process (some multiple times), I'd be stunned if the OP even got interviews at most schools, much less acceptances.

Saying that med school application is not an "ultra-competitive" process is just silly. Anytime you have a 2X surplus of candidates overall (~60000 applicants annually for ~30000 seats in US MD schools), and a 10-100X surplus of candidates for each school (2000+ candidates for nearly every med school in the country, with most med schools having less than 200 seats; some schools with close to 10000 applicants for only ~100 seats), it is ultra-competitive.

Back to the anecdotes, I have a friend (who is not a message board geek like all of us) with a similar GPA, 35+ MCAT, 500+ clinical hours, and 4 years of research (with first authored pubs). I'd say that's pretty similar to the OP, assuming the OP has great ECS. This friend turned in all secondaries by august, and only got 2 interviews. A couple of schools admitted that they rejected my friend totally based on GPA, not even looking at the rest of the app. And I'm not talking about top 10 or 20 schools here.

the question was "would you accept this applicant" not "is this the best person out there". remember, I don't screen secondaries. I answered the question as if the applicant was presented to the committee by the interviewer. so whatever magic got them the interview already happened. as the question "would you accept this applicant" occurred, I answered yes (as I would in committee) assuming the criteria regarding the GPA were met. that's all I CAN answer, because that's all I deal with.

the inherent unfairness of life is another question entirely. my school is one of the most applied-to (for whatever reason) and I can tell you, this year we have accepted applicants like the one described.

 

[mintendo]

I am a T-Wolves fan, and I am basically jealous of the Mavs.

We have a 'superstar' in KG... but I don't really think he is that 'super'

He is amazing, don't get me wrong. But I have two problems with him:
1. He is not clutch: Good stats, none of them come when it matters (4th quarter.
2. He does not make anybody around him better. (a la Jordan, DWade, SteveNash, TimDuncan, etc etc etc). Superstars make people better at basketball - either by scaring them into it (Jordan), or inspiring them to do so (MagicJohnson).

I am jealous because Dirk is a true superstar (7.4 pts/4thQuarter or something like that), and KG is not.

😡 😡 😡

You're kidding right? KG's been averaging 20/10/5 for the past 4-5 seasons. 5 assists is pretty hard to come by when you're a 4. KG definitely makes his teammates better. Whether they have the talent to take advantage of that is a different story. 🙁

 

[gujuDoc]

NO WAY.... you know nothing about this person except that they have average stats and potentially interesting EC... its possible from what they have said here that they have never seen a doctor interacting with a patient. They have no research experience. I am beginning to think adcomm is a member of a caribbean med school adcom.

Wow you need to get a life. Another adcom on here, who posts from my university's med school (USF Tampa, Fl) would probably also say a similar thing, or at least his colleagues would from my interaction with them at premed meetings which they were guest speakers of.

At a top tier school, this person might be out. But at a lower tier state school or a lower tier private school, if they showed a progression in grade improvements, they might still have a shot.

Another thing to consider is a postbac or Special Masters Program to show you can handle med school.

 

[gujuDoc]

We were just responding to your comment above questioning whether there are folks who might make up personalities on SDN and might have nothing better to do than play adcom. You posed the question. We replied that anyone who has frequented SDN will have come across plenty of trolls.
As I indicated above, I have no real reason to doubt your credibility. But saying you are an adcom member potentially gives your posts additional weight, and so it's only natural for folks to want to make sure you are who you say.
And so I'm not so sure whether the statement that you have previously been on SDN and just decided to become adcomm in January (in a thread on grooming, no less) helps or hurts your case.
G'day to you as well. 😀

Perhaps true, but lets take REL for example. REL is the admissions director at USF. I've often spoken to his colleagues in individual appointments or at premed meetings and forums. Here at USF College of Medicine, in Tampa Florida, the minimum required GPA is 3.0 and 24 MCAT. Most likely if a person meets that criteria they'll get a secondary, but most likely not an interview.

However, there are sometimes exceptions where one has gotten a 31-37 range MCAT with a 3.0 and still interviewed. Or other times exceptions where the person had a 26 and 3.9 GPA and gotten interviewed. Then there were those that fell in between with a 3.5 and 25 MCAT and still had interviewed. Why??? They had other things to show for on their application in terms of good ECs and so forth. These people often interview after the more stellar candidates, resulting in waitlist positions. However, a very high percentage of originally accepted applicants leave, so these people eventually get off the waitlist and into medical school.

UMiami and FSU also take into consideration extreme cases like these. They look for a progression of improvement in grades. Postbac for the purposes of USF COM will get averaged into the overall GPA but also looked at separately.

Overall, it is possible even with those stats but most likely will be a much lower chance of getting an interview. If they get the interview, at a school like USF, this will result in waitlist since USF rarely out right rejects interviewed candidates. So it is possible.

 

[Law2Doc]

Perhaps true, but lets take REL for example. REL is the admissions director at USF. I've often spoken to his colleagues in individual appointments or at premed meetings and forums. Here at USF College of Medicine, in Tampa Florida, the minimum required GPA is 3.0 and 24 MCAT. Most likely if a person meets that criteria they'll get a secondary, but most likely not an interview.

However, there are sometimes exceptions where one has gotten a 31-37 range MCAT with a 3.0 and still interviewed. Or other times exceptions where the person had a 26 and 3.9 GPA and gotten interviewed. Then there were those that fell in between with a 3.5 and 25 MCAT and still had interviewed. Why??? They had other things to show for on their application in terms of good ECs and so forth. These people often interview after the more stellar candidates, resulting in waitlist positions. However, a very high percentage of originally accepted applicants leave, so these people eventually get off the waitlist and into medical school.

UMiami and FSU also take into consideration extreme cases like these. They look for a progression of improvement in grades. Postbac for the purposes of USF COM will get averaged into the overall GPA but also looked at separately.

Overall, it is possible even with those stats but most likely will be a much lower chance of getting an interview. If they get the interview, at a school like USF, this will result in waitlist since USF rarely out right rejects interviewed candidates. So it is possible.

I'm not sure it is me you are debating, gujuDoc -- I said something similar back in post #4. 🙂

 

[gujuDoc]

I'm not sure it is me you are debating, gujuDoc -- I said something similar back in post #4. 🙂

Ok. Hey check your PMs, I sent you something you might find interesting. 😉

 

[MN81]

Wow you need to get a life. Another adcom on here, who posts from my university's med school (USF Tampa, Fl) would probably also say a similar thing, or at least his colleagues would from my interaction with them at premed meetings which they were guest speakers of.

At a top tier school, this person might be out. But at a lower tier state school or a lower tier private school, if they showed a progression in grade improvements, they might still have a shot.

Another thing to consider is a postbac or Special Masters Program to show you can handle med school.

PreMeds/Meds can find anything to argue about.
That is our flaw (or is it our strength?).

Love it, accept it.

 

[BigRock]

Looks like an automatic in for a DO school.

I can see how MD schools would whine about your low science GPA.

Priorities, priorities.

You'd think the MCAT would be enough evidence that you know the material.

troll trying to start md do war

 

[gujuDoc]

To the OP:

This is what I've gathered from my talks with USF adcom members.....

In your situation, it depends on the trends in your grades. You will have to apply broad range, have strong ECs and LORs, and be willing to dish out the money and not be picky about where you go. Chances are that you apply to 25-40 schools and you'll only get 2-3 interviews at most.

That is something you'd have to be willing to risk, since it is very expensive.

If you don't get in, you'd have to do a postbac or Special Masters Program, and maybe even consider retaking the MCAT if you think you could get 35+. however, the MCAT seems to be fine. Your GPA seems to be the issue, so I'd highly recommend doing a special masters program.

I would actually consider doing that before even applying, if you feel you are willing to wait a year. BU and Georgetown as well as RFU, Loyola, and now USF have excellent programs of that nature. Wakeforest also has one but it is mainly for disadvantaged students.

Good luck.

Oh and my talks with the USF adcom members have also included them mentioning that you should still keep doing some volunteering to show continued commitment.

 

[OSUdoc08]

troll trying to start md do war

Yeah that's exactly what I'm doing.

 

[star22]

Wow you need to get a life. Another adcom on here, who posts from my university's med school (USF Tampa, Fl) would probably also say a similar thing, or at least his colleagues would from my interaction with them at premed meetings which they were guest speakers of.

At a top tier school, this person might be out. But at a lower tier state school or a lower tier private school, if they showed a progression in grade improvements, they might still have a shot.

Another thing to consider is a postbac or Special Masters Program to show you can handle med school.

It is one thing consider people from a wide range of GPA/MCATs, it is another thing to interview them and it is completely different to say that you would accept/waitlist them. Although, I AGREE that many quality applicants have lower numbers. Re-read adcomm's original post:

assuming the answers are yes, a bad semester or two early on, and rocked 'em, AND you did well in your interview, I would accept you at least to waitlist. earlier in the year probably to accept.

 

[ahumdinger]

Looks like an automatic in for a DO school.

I can see how MD schools would whine about your low science GPA.

Priorities, priorities.

You'd think the MCAT would be enough evidence that you know the material.

this MCAT score is definitely not enough to compensate for the low GPA. I'd consider taking it again.

You also need to be careful where you apply. With no stellar stats to make you stand out from the crowd, you need to apply to low to mid tier schools with few applicants and in locations that are less desirable to increase your chances. I applied with a 2.95 science GPA, 3.4 overall GPA, and a 36 MCAT (12-12-12) and got 3 interviews out of 18 schools I applied to. I was stupid to apply to schools like Drexel, Jefferson, GW, BU, etc, because everyone and their mothers apply to those. Study the MSAR like it's your job. I didn't do that.

 

[riceman04]

You're kidding right? KG's been averaging 20/10/5 for the past 4-5 seasons. 5 assists is pretty hard to come by when you're a 4. KG definitely makes his teammates better. Whether they have the talent to take advantage of that is a different story. 🙁

Dirk is a weenie who is afraid to use his size inside the paint to grab rebounds and throw dem bows.

 

[OSUdoc08]

Dirk is a weenie who is afraid to use his size inside the paint to grab rebounds and throw dem bows.

That's what we have Josh Howard & Marquis Daniels for.