*** 2020-2021 Medical Applicants and Their Parents

@texaspg You are right about targeted marketing !!!

Have people taken CASPer? It is getting to be a requirement in more and more schools. I heard UT Southwestern is the latest school to add it in Texas and there were already 4 or so requiring it last year. NYU and Michigan are some of the big name schools requiring the test.

@texaspg

Would assume and recommend any one applying regular MD cycle to take CASPER. It is becoming almost common. Last cycle even few BS/MD programs mandated and HS students were forced to take.

Yes, CASPer should be taken but one can not see the score or evaluation report. It is sent directly to the medical schools requiring it.

A course in “Ethics in Medicine” could be helpful in taking CASPer.

Yes, CASPER is portrayed to be intuitive but it is not.

People need to understand how medical folks evaluate ethics vs us regular folks. They are forced to make trade offs that normal people don’t.

Some are taking early thinking that shortened test will improve scores.

My son hasn’t taken yet.

AMCAS has introduced a NEW tool for medical school admission offices to assess applicants–the AAMC VITA online video interview.

https://students-residents.aamc.org/applying-medical-school/applying-medical-school-process/aamc-video-interview-tool-admissions/

Sounds the application process this year is going to be profoundly different.

Do you think lot of schools will sign up for this VITA? To me seems more like PITA LOL

Is VITA like a pre-screener before the real interview with a medical school similar to CASPer test ? One school requests to take VITA but every one has access to the answers.

@srk2017
A list of schools using VITA will be available in early July and will be updated on a rolling (weekly) basis.

@grtd2010
Yes it’s a pre-screener. Once the applicant has recorded a VITA interview, the video will be available to every medical school.

Dell does a prescreen video interview as their secondary, I believe quite similar to what is being offered here.

DS application was verified and now waiting for transmittal to schools on July 10th.

@texaspg called it. She got 523 on MCAT(released today), 127 on CARS. She thought she bombed the CARs section and almost voided the test. LOL. On a serious note, would her low CARS score cause any problem for her?

She submitted on June 12th and we are still waiting for verification. Her throw-away is Drexel, which I guess she can’t change to another school now.

Thank you for all your help, as always!

Generally, a 125 in any subsection of the MCAT is considered the minimum score for admission consideration.

@SincererLove 523 is an amazing score. Granted 127 in one section might make it look odd but that score with a high GPA puts your D in contention for an interview slot at most schools. Sounds like she lost only one point in the other 3 sections.

Congrats to your D.

Just add all the other schools right away so they are aware she is applying. Some schools like Yale release their secondary to you as long as you have added the school to the list so you dont have to wait for verification. I can see her getting interviews at Vandy, WashU, Yale, Michigan (needs CASPer) all of which drive off of high MCAT scores.

@texaspg and @WayOutWestMom

I was surprised to learn that 127 is 82 percentile and 129 (my DS’s score) is 95 percentile!

I looked up in MSAR
Yale, Washu and Vandy CARS Median is 130 and 10th percentile is 127
Michigan CARS median is 129 and 10th percentile is 129

I know @SincererLove DD has great GPA and excellent ECs.

@srk2017 I personally believe perfect scores in sciences trump anything else being an issue. There is also a question of who is getting an interview vs who is admitted vs who actually enrolled. MSAR does not give you those 3 data points but only 2 of them.

Most students do well across sections to reach 520+ scores. so most students getting into those schools make the median 129-130 for all areas and probably get to 521 or 522 by scoring perfect in one area or two and rest at 128-130. I believe the scores come out that way more than the schools cutting off students who dont have 129 or more in all sections.

Anyways, looking at the admitted scores and enrolled scores is not an indicator of who is interviewed.

tagging as a next cycle potential applicant parent.

@SincererLove Great score, congratulations to her, perfect score in other 3 sections.