<p>I was just curious about people's opinion about the tool on the Student Doc website that is supposed to guide you as to where you might be competitive. I must admit, it is a neat tool, punch in the numbers, get a detailed color-coded list of potential opportunities for your future, but in reality, there are so many factors involved, even which students get interviews, let alone acceptance letters, I wonder how helpful it really is in the first place. I think it is helpful, but I'm not really sure how or why, given the numbers just don't tell nearly the whole story. I guess that's why I come to this forum to hear 'the rest of the story' and am ever so grateful to all the folks who contribute to the discussions. </p>
<p>ps: I happened on the tool again today and had to laugh at the 'green-light' schools that came up when I entered some information. No school is a green light, that's for sure. I do like the disclaimer that the site has after it, very true. Not criticizing the tool, I actually like it, just not sure how helpful it is so I wanted to share.</p>
<p>I ran D1’s numbers thru this a few times–I though it was pretty much useless, although fun to play with. Not really helpful at all when trying to decide where to apply. MSAR has much better info, esp regarding OOS applications.</p>
<p>I think that thing is stupid. I entered in my current gpa (3.74) and when I entered in an MCAT score of a 32 it said I was competitive at schools like Duke/Mt. Sinai/Case Western/Columbia/Cornell (it was colored blue). My pre-med advisers have told me that a 32 is not competitive for those types of schools. So I think that the sdn tool is a little too lenient. A 32 will land most people at an average state medical school, not an elite top 30 medical school.</p>
<p>I think the way to interpret this isn’t “how likely are you to get in” which is what most people think this means. I think it would be accurate as a “how likely are you to get weeded out immediately” with green meaning very unlikely, blue is not likely, and red is kind of likely or more. MCAT and GPA are bench marks, and so while it’s easy to be in the “competitive” range, that does not mean you are anywhere close to “likely to get admitted”</p>
<p>It’s not a big move forward. Essentially, the site is just caclulating the ‘LizzyM score’, (gpa*10+mcat) and compares that to the med school’s LizzyM score What I don’t understand, however, is the decrement for OOS applicants to a private medical college, particularly those in small states. I would think being OOS for Brown or Dartmouth would be a good thing! But in reality, they don’t care since there is no preference for state residence in private institutions.</p>
<p>Bottom line: the MCAT score is only part of the entire picture for what a particular school wants in a student. While schools will “weed out” (as you say) based on MCAT scores-some schools (not top 30) continue to look at the entire body of work each potential student brings to the school. Don’t ever rule out a significant PS or secondary essays and LORs that address a level of commitment to excellence.</p>
<p>My D. had her own criteria for choosing. She did not use tool. Her criteria seem to work well as she got acceted to 4 out of 8. She tends not to listen to anybody though, she listens only if suggested place is meeting her own criteria. Thru the process, we thought that at least in D’s case, her GPA/MCAT were primary reasons for her acceptance. Excellent GPA/MCAT do show “level of commitment to excellence”, do not underestimate it. However, I agree that Med. Schools do NOT look for anti-social hermits sitting in their room studying all day long.</p>
<p>bb, you’d think there was no preference for IS at private med schools, but my remembrance is that there is at many. Check the MSAR. IIRC, it was substantial at times.</p>
<p>sorry, curm I guess I should have qualified my statement. The few (and it was only a few) private med schools that I looked up on this tool were decremented for OOS, when there website clearly says that they have no preference. Either the tool is incorrect, or the med schools are fibbing on their websites. (I lean towards the former.)</p>
<p>But, I should not have made the blanket statement.</p>
<p>blue, I googled and found a crap website (long since lost the MSAR) but these 2008 numbers seem fairly representative for one private med school I know a little about (Yale). </p>
<p>Overall 4139 applied, 826 interviewed, 245 were accepted, 100 enrolled
In-state admissions data 190 applied, 50 interviewed, 21 were accepted, 8 enrolled
Out-of-state admissions data 3949 applied, 776 interviewed, 224 were accepted, 92 enrolled </p>
<p>At some schools the IS advantage was not as obvious or didn’t exist. </p>
<p>BTW. I seem to recall at Dartmouth (since you mentioned it) that Maine residents had a few slots “reserved”.</p>
<p>The studentdoc tool is completely out of date for many schools. Some of the school stats are 10 or more years old. You might want to look else where.</p>
<p>The studentdoc tool has been updated multiple times since this the last post on this thread. Current scores and schools are up-to-date, and med school rankings are fresh.</p>
<p>There used to be a spread sheet download available on SDN which would green-yellow-red highlight schools, that was useful for someone who needed to apply broadly, more broadly than the schools in their region and who needed information about far away schools.</p>
<p>The LizzyM excel spreadsheet is still around, but you need to have a google or SDN account to access it. </p>
<p>It has not been updated with 2012-13 data due to copyright issues. (AND BTW, it more info than just MCAT-GPA data. It has info about insurance requirements, thesis/research requirements, grading policies.)</p>
<p>^^ yes. You can search LizzyM spreadsheet on SDN— my D downloaded it a few months ago after receiving her MCAT score. (It also shows you how to calculate your LizzyM score)</p>
<p>You don’t need a SDN account to view it (as I viewed it without an account)</p>