How important are MCAT's really for M.D/D.O school?

<p>That offers some comfort somemom. I have another question, is it possible to transfer from a less known med school to a school like Columbia med? How does that work and how difficult is it?</p>

<p>OP,
You are in teh same boat as many thousands of others. And you have advantage of great GPA. Why to worry about somethong that has not happened? Why not to take the diagnosis test and see how you do, then spend time to prep. a lot and take more practice tests. Your estimate is that “real” exam is frequently (but not always) is 2 points below the practice test. Many with great GPA, get around 25 without any prep. Also, frequently, MCAT within 2 points of your ACT.</p>

<p>In regard to which Med. School you attend, it is very low in your priority. Any American Med. School will do and most likely you will end up workng in the same office with docs from very different Med. Schools. You will see that Harvard trained MD might not be the best one there either. It is much more complicated and many more variables than just a name of your Med. School. Do not focus on a wrong thing.
I have no idea about any transfer. Also, consider that many Med. Schools do not grade exams in first 2 years, they are p/f. You will have a verbal feedback in regard to how you are doing, but not much more than that.</p>

<p>Getting into medical school is the challenge. Once in, very few students transfer and it is difficult to do so. Not all schools take transfers. It looks as if the first two years need to have been completed before transferring and you may have to repeat some courses. </p>

<p>Look at the cv’s of doctors working for any major medical system…half of them started at their state medical school and went on to excellent residencies and fellowships. I just spent the better part of a month meeting with a variety of Penn specialists and all but one had started at their state school. </p>

<p><a href=“https://services.aamc.org/tsp_reports/[/url]”>https://services.aamc.org/tsp_reports/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>[Transferring</a> Between U.S. Medical Schools - Medical School Admissions Doctor (usnews.com)](<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/medical-school-admissions-doctor/2011/08/22/transferring-between-us-medical-schools]Transferring”>http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/medical-school-admissions-doctor/2011/08/22/transferring-between-us-medical-schools)</p>

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<p>It is just this side of impossible, so for all intents and purposes, no you can’t transfer. Few schools even accept transfer requests - those few that do usually only do so between 2nd and 3rd year, after the student has passed Step I. And you can’t transfer just because you want to or because you like the school/location better - you need a legit reason like a family emergency that requires you to be close to home for the rest of your medical education or something equivalent.</p>

<p>Isn’t there a link to a chart that shows % admitted based on MCAT and GPA?</p>

<p>^^Starting with table 17.</p>

<p><a href=“https://www.aamc.org/data/facts/applicantmatriculant/[/url]”>https://www.aamc.org/data/facts/applicantmatriculant/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;