<p>I haven't take the MCAT yet and starting this August I will be a 5th year senior. What are the chances that (assuming I do well in the MCAT) I get accepted to a medical school?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>edit: I haven't asked any of my professors for rec. letters yet either.</p>
<p>Not very high. Are you a URM?</p>
<p>very low unless you get liek a 40 on the mcat</p>
<p>Before I give a final estimation, there is a lot more we need to know. </p>
<p>Are/were there extenuating circumstances that caused you to get such poor grades? What is your major? When did you decide that medical school was something you wanted to do? </p>
<p>If your GPA is mainly due to one really bad semester in which there was a huge distraction (parent or sibling died) then see if your college would allow you to bankrupt the semester. I don't know if all schools do that, but mine has that option assuming there is a verifiable overwhelming circumstance (however I'm unsure if there is a statute of limitations that goes along with it). Even if your school doesn't allow it, you might be able to convince a medical school that it was an anamoly for good reason. </p>
<p>If however your GPA is indicative of an overall pattern, then the odds are not good -which I assume you probably knew - even if you were to score a 40 on the MCAT. In an overly simplified generalization: Medical schools are looking for individuals who can handle the rigors of medical school (as seen by GPA) as well as have the intellectual capacity for medicine (as seen from the MCAT).</p>
<p>If you have a good upward trend in your grades, a good explanation for low grades, a good MCAT (30+), and great EC's I'd say you have a decent shot. Its not great but not horrible, I know of someone with stats about the same who go into med school and finished. You really have to have a good story to tell though as to why you think you should be a doctor with low grades though.</p>
<p>I'm not convinced we can evaluate your chances yet. They might range from zero to nearly 100%.</p>
<p>1.) Can you make an MCAT score projection at all?</p>
<p>2.) What kind of school did you attend?
2b.) Why are you taking a fifth year?</p>
<p>3.) What is your home state?</p>
<p>4.) Should you be accepted to medical school, what are your career plans?</p>
<p>5.) Are you considering DO school or a school in the Caribbean?</p>
<p>6.) Most importantly, by far - what is your race?</p>
<hr>
<p>These is in addition to BRM's questions, which include prominently:</p>
<p>7.) Is there a reason your grades are so low?</p>
<p>8.) Why do you want to be a doctor?</p>
<hr>
<p>And BND brings up:</p>
<p>9.) Do your grades demonstrate an upward trend?</p>
<p>10.) What are your EC's like?</p>
<p>why does someone always have to ask the infamous question, " Are you a URM?" that is disturbing.</p>
<p>Why is it disturbing to ask? Whether you like it or not, it makes a difference.</p>
<p>It is disturbing to me because it shouldn't make a diff. if the individual is an URM, why would it matter? It is comments such as that really make it hard for minorities like myself in this country to excel because questions like that are always being asked dealing with grades, school acceptances, test scores, and etc. Someone's race should not even be a component with how well they perform in school, their test scores, or etc but sadly on this message board that's all people are concerned with nowadays.</p>
<p>PCE,</p>
<p>The poster is asking for an assessment of his chances at medical school. If he is white or Asian or - frankly - even Hispanic, his chances are not very good. This is not something people on this board have decided or advocated - this is a result of the admissions process that has been implemented nationally. In giving the OP an honest assessment of his chances, it is important to know his race.</p>
<p>I'm sorry if this phenomenon offends you. Frankly, it offends me too. But if we're trying to accurately assess his chances, it's an important piece of information for us to have. If you have library access, I would urge you to seek out a Princeton study authored by Espenshade for more details about why we feel this is such a crucial factor. Alternatively, seek out applicants on mdapplicants.com to determine for yourself whether you believe it makes a difference.</p>
<p>This has nothing to do with whether we support or oppose affirmative action. We are simply anticipating it in our hope to give good feedback.</p>
<p>Thanks for explaining why you needed to know his race. You can still say I'm new to this whole aspect of life and I wish institutions didn't use race as an indicator with success at their institution. I'll look into those books and see why this a growing epidemic.</p>
<p>Sorry, by library I meant university library and journal access. Thomas Espenshade's study was published as an article, not a book, in Social Science Quarterly, volume 86, number two, June 2005. I believe it's online somewhere, actually.</p>
<p>Yeah I just read the article, it is very interesting. Thanks though for clearing that up.</p>
<p>URM matters way more than it should. Hispanics and blacks generally have an easier time getting in and can get in with slightly lower grades. Double so for URM women. Stinks for some, not for others but thats life.</p>
<p>1.) "More than it should" is, of course, a subjective judgment. One I happen to agree with, but not an objective fact regardless.</p>
<p>2.) I'm skeptical of your claim regarding gender. I'm researching it as we speak.</p>
<p>EDIT: I was unable to find any information breaking MCAT scores and GPA down by gender, much less race AND gender together. On balance, you should be aware that I believe it is slightly harder for women in general than for men in general, if you simply break down the percentages.</p>
<p>Source: MSAR Ch. 5.</p>
<p>Or you can look at UCONN med school and tell me why a state school has 72% women? UCONN's claim is they have better stats then men. The truth from people who have interviewed there is the adcom tells males well you are great, but your a male. Statistics about race and gender are hard to find, but unfortunately its the truth that both play a part in admissions. Generally throughout the country there is a push to get more women into medicine so schools are letting more in. The MSAR while it may be by the AAMC is full of junk if you ask me, half their stats don't line up with reality.</p>
<p>According to the AAMC, UConn's ratio is the most extreme one in the country, with the exception of a sub-program at UCLA (I don't really know what the details are). You are right, though, it's 70.9% female despite an application ratio that's nowhere near that extreme.</p>
<p>Still, it is just one school amidst many, and that national averages stand up to be pretty much exactly even: 48.5% of applicants are women, 48.5% of matriculants end up being women.</p>
<p>1.) Can you make an MCAT score projection at all?
i could probably get a 30
2.) What kind of school did you attend?
universtiy of illinois-urbana champaign
2b.) Why are you taking a fifth year?
b/c the past 3 semesters i took 14, 13, and 10 hours respectively.
3.) What is your home state?
Illinois
4.) Should you be accepted to medical school, what are your career plans?
become a doctor obviously
5.) Are you considering DO school or a school in the Caribbean?
what a DO? and yeah if i don't get accepted i'm think of going abroad.
6.) Most importantly, by far - what is your race?
indian - from india (but have mostly lived in the US)</p>
<hr>
<p>These is in addition to BRM's questions, which include prominently:</p>
<p>7.) Is there a reason your grades are so low?
i can't concentrate on anything. since i trasfered to U Of I (from a Jr college), i really haven't done good academically. although i don't think its due to U of I being any harder than the Jr college i came from. I think it's b/c here in champaign, i live on my own and have nobody close to talk to, and therefor i get depressed a lot reslulting in my poor grades. i have hard time making any close freinds so that has a lot to do witht he depression. i think if i stayed went to a school that was closer to my home, then i think i would've done very well in school b/c back home, i alwayss found myself studying really hard and my gpa there was a solid (3.52).
8.) Why do you want to be a doctor?
b/c i just can't imagine myself doing anything else in life. i think its my ego. i feel that if i'm anything but a doctor than it would be embarrassing. </p>
<hr>
<p>And BND brings up:</p>
<p>9.) Do your grades demonstrate an upward trend?
No. they are actually going down. i trasfered from a JR college with an overall GPA of 3.29. then after the 1st semester it dropped to 3.09, then to 2.79, and after this past semester i got it up to 2.86.
10.) What are your EC's like?
these include me volunteering at a hospital during my sophomore year. thats it.</p>
<p>PS i'm a integrative biology major. and i don't think theres anything out there that i can do with that degree.</p>
<p>Wait when you transfer to another college your gpa combines with the new one? Are you sure? The indian thing might just put u as asian, which isn't very good for you.
You should try to be outgoing and meet people. When the school year starts lots of people are adjusting again so they are open to new people and things; you could try making friends when the school year starts again. You could also join a study group for the mcats and therefore you would not only do better on the mcats, but be able to socialize with the other people there. Try to do better because upward trends are very good. Imagine yourself being extremely happy doing well and you'll be motived to do well, becuause well...it WILL make you happier. Best of luck!!! (ps that is also a very good school that you are going to, so that alone should start to boost how you see yourself)</p>
<p>In all honesty, it doesn't look very good for you at all as far as medical school is concerned. You could certainly still apply if you want to, but the cost of applying is expensive and the MCAT takes a lot of effort and time to prepare for. You might try looking into other programs like Nurse Practicioner, Physican Assistant and the like. Or consider another health field. Perhaps a visit to the career planning office /advisors at your school would help. Good luck with what ever you do. And don't be too disappointed - it's not the end of the world. If your attitude is right, you can still make a huge difference in other people's lives with whatever you choose to do.</p>