<p>30 is the average for matriculants (around a 32 for white/asian matriculants and less than a 30 for URM matriculants). 24-25 is the avg. for all test takers.</p>
<p>I think BRM's point is that a premed committee is irrelevant and doesn't really enhance your chances of being accepted to med school. I would agree.</p>
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I think BRM's point is that a premed committee is irrelevant and doesn't really enhance your chances of being accepted to med school. I would agree.
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<p>And I fully agree on that point, so I'm not debating the misconception any longer. </p>
<p>My take was simply that the committee helps by arranging the paperwork to apply, making it easier on you because a formal process is in place.</p>
<p>Also, they can help by providing an LOR from the committee... that is if they give you one. At my school, I've heard of nothing but good experiences in this regard. I can't speak for other colleges.</p>
<p>I've heard that medical schools like to see the committee's letter. It's favorable from what I've heard. </p>
<p>But yes, you can apply successfully from a school without a committee. I'm not contesting that fact either.</p>
<p>I'm sorry if my sentiment wasn't well-defined earlier.</p>
<p>"I've heard that medical schools like to see the committee's letter." </p>
<p>They like to see it if your school has a committee. This goes back to BRM's point that some school's committees bar students from applying to med school by not providing them with a letter.</p>
<p>The committee helps you organize the paperwork and provides a mock interview (or at least mine does). But it's also a nuisance in a way. For example, my school's premed committee requires all LOR's to be in by March even though the committee doesn't send them out till August. This means that if I develop a relationship with a professor in one of my spring classes, his LOR won't get to the committee in time. I can still have him send the LOR directly to the med school as a "supplemental LOR" but it won't be part of the core group of LOR's. Whereas if my school didn't have a premed committee, I can just request an LOR in May or June when the professor has known me for a full semester and that LOR can be a primary LOR.</p>
<p>The point being: don't choose a school based on if they have a committee or not.</p>
<p>look get a 41 and i guarantee you'll be accepted into Harvard.</p>
<p>Out of 25 people on mdapplicants.com with 41 or above MCAT scores who applied to Harvard Medical School, only 6 were accepted. The other 19 were all rejected, most of the time without even an interview. To give you an idea of how hard it is to get a 41, roughly 2-3 people out of every 1000 test takers score a 41, 42, or 43 (no one really scores above a 43). If you think getting into Harvard for undergrad is hard, you're in for a treat when it comes to med school admissions.</p>
<p>well, my school does have a premed committee and the letter from the committee includes the three LOR's. Each applicant is also given a score from the committee 5-4-3-2-1 (5 is 'outstanding', 4 is 'highly recommended', 3 is recommended, 2 is recommended with reservation, 1 is not recommended), this score is explained as part of the PAC letter. The score is given before MCAT scores are received and is based on academic performance and extracurricular activities and the interview with the committee, so the MCAT score does not influence the decision on recommendation by the committee. On a number of med school applications that I filled out the question was asked "Does your school have a premed committee, if so and you are not using a letter from them, please explain"(or some version of that). There are students at my school who do elect to 'fly solo'(usually those who expect a poor rec score). The success rate of these applicants is well below the 90+% success rate of those who go through the committee.</p>
<p>We had a applicant from last year who did not get accepted with a MCAT score of 39(applied to only the top tier schools and as norcal guy said-it is a crap shoot at that level).</p>
<p>I had an MCAT of 35Q(12-11-12) and was interviewed at 60% ofthe schools that I applied to, but rejected before secondary by 2 others, several are still pending. My best friend here with a 34R(14-10-10) got accepted at the same 2 schools who did not even want a secondary from me(he had a much higher GPA then me), but I was interviewed a 2 schools that he still waiting to here from after the secondary. So, it's hard to figure and second guess the adcoms.</p>
<p>I suspect I will go to one of the Texas schools that accepted me(I am a texas resident) as the tuitons for Texas schools are very low and I can get out of school with no debt(Thanks, dad!!). I am holding out for one of Texas' 2 top 20 schools-Southwestern and Baylor, but it's hard to predict. One of my friends who graduated from here 2 years ago with almost identical stats heard from Southwestern in June(got in off of the wait-list) as he was heading to find an apartment for the school that he thought he was going to go to. One school that accepted me in Pennsylvania was going to cost $60K a year(because of out of state tuition) and I am not interested in assuming that much debt.</p>
<p>Some good advice from those who have posted, although the issues can be contentious. Just remember, there are practicing physicians today who had an undergraduate GPA of 3.0 and a MCAT of 24 who got into West Virginia Osteopathic and lived happily ever after and those who got rejected from allopathic schools with 3.7/39 because they could not/would not settle for anything less than a prestigious top tier medical school.</p>
<p>Excellent post, hubbellgardner -- especially the last paragraph.</p>
<p>My committee works similarly to yours except that they require the MCAT score.</p>
<p>I wish you good luck with Baylor; I've heard that it's an amazing school. I visited their medical campus for an AMSA Regional Conference back in 2005 and I was very impressed.</p>
<p>There are a lot of things to take into consideration when looking for undergrad and med school. Honestly, find an undergrad school based on where you will be happy for 4 years, not based on future med school. As long as it is a good school where you can get some exposure to medicine, that's great.</p>
<p>As far as med schools are concerned, stats matter, but they also look at applicants holistically. As in, you'll need decent stats, as well as extracurriculars, experiences, and passion. Look at the whole package when it comes to med schools - my husband chose his because it gives no letter grades the first two years, creating a much less stressful and more supportive and collegial atmosphere. There are lots of things to consider, but I think if you look too far ahead, you're likely to miss the importance of what's happening now.</p>
<p>here is some advice from my father that was posted in a premed thread about 18 months ago that was addressing what type of college to attend for med school:</p>
<p>"This is Hubbell's dad(the physician) responding-I peruse this sight using hubbell's password at times(he is the davidson student).</p>
<p>The point I was trying to make in the other thread was that I went to medical school by one route and decided to advise my son to take a different route. My route-I went to a third tier state university in Pennsylvania-a college that has 15,000 undergraduates-that sends less than 10 students to medical school a year-and in order to get accepted from that school, you had to be a summa cum laude graduate and do extremely well on the MCAT(no easy feat from that school as those who go there can not afford prep courses and are poorly advised as to how to 'game' the application process). When I got to medical school, I met lots of students, mostly from LAC's, who got in with much lower GPA's etc... Tiny Franklin and Marshall college had more graduates in my class then my entire college sent to all medical schools. I was greatly impressed with this, and the mentoring they got from their pre-med program, the advice, the preparation for the MCAT etc.. All of this for me was like pulling teeth from my college. So, when my son was interested in going premed, I told him that a LAC with a great premed record is better than what I went through-even though I could give him advice that was not available to me(I am now a medical school professor after a long career in military medicine-I had military scholarships to pay my was through both college and medical school). He chose Davidson-where the premed advisor is presently the President of the national association of college premedical advisors, where they know exactly what it takes to get accepted to medical school-they tell you what it is, the help you achieve it and they work with you until you accomplish your goal-at a >90% acceptance rate for those students who go throught the 'premed committee". That is not to say that 90% of all students to arrive at Davidson who once thought that they were going to medical school get accepted, it is 90% of those who stick it out and follow the advice. Obviously, if you fail organic chemistry and get a D in calculus-you will probably be taken aside and told to rethink your career options a bit.</p>
<p>OK, I am getting a little off track, but the point was that I am living proof that you can get into medical school from just about anywhere-especially if you are singleminded, work extremely hard etc.., but, if you want some room for error, need to a little push now and then, could use some helpful advice and have people help arrange research during the summer, get clinical experiences and 'check off all the boxes' that medical school adcoms like to see checked off, there is a lot to be said for a place that looks out for you in that regard-very large schools just can not give you that 'boutique' attention. Some people do not need boutique attention-the question is-do you?"</p>