How much does GPA have a role? I don’t have straight A’s( darn APUSH). I also have around 6 meaningful medical activities and play no sports. I am active in my school, but not athletic wise. Help!!!
r u in state or out of state? because that plays a big factor. If you do well on the SAT/ACT you could compensate for a low gpa, but at least u should be top 10-15%. Medical activities will also play a big role during interviews.
I am out of state. I live in NC. My GPA is currently 3.88 UW, based on 1st semester. I am hoping to pull it up. My medical activities are very meaningful, and I can elaborate on them quite a bit.
@Theshowgoeson what constitutes a low gpa?
I’ve got a 3.7: based on first semester, instate
All honors and about 8 AP classes. I will also take 5-6 college classes in senior year: Physics 1, some others as well.
ACT: Waiting for April score, but got a 28 first time
Volunteering at hospital 100+ hours, shadowed cardiovascular physician, father is physician, shadowed at rural hospital and city hospitals,
Know 3 people who went or are in there presently
Varsity track one year
I would say below avg is a low gpa. your gpa seems fine, especially because ur in-state and have a challenging workload. avgs are usually 3.6-3.8, might be higher for out of state. An ACT of 30+ would be good. ECs are pretty good, but some leadership stuff or maybe research would help. But you have a solid shot of getting in.
Sweet! Thx a lot dude.
Best of luck to everyone 
anyone accepted off of the waitlist? or moved up? i just received an email today about it
Hey Class of 2018 and 2013 applicants!
I am currently a student in the BA/MD program and I remember being frustrated when I was going through the process and people on this thread answered a lot of my questions and put my mind at ease. I want to do the same for other students and am happy to answer any questions that you guys might have.
Congratulations to the Class of 2018 members for being accepted and good luck to all the 2013 applicants!
^hi i was wondering what are the accepted stats for an OOS? What is the SAT score requirement?
I have a dilemma. I have about 26 credits so far. I will be dual enrolled at MU in senior year. However, this requires that I become a part-time student. I have heard that being a part time student basically won’t get you into any competitive college. I am basically going to be taking AP lit senior year then take physics 1 and 2 other classes at the University. So since I will be a part time student at my school are my chances of getting in basically gone
BTW each University classes is like 4 or three hours.
Thx
I guess if a present or former med student could answer that would be cool.
I just wanted to abrogate the former post I made because I figured it out.
UMKC School of Medicine adheres to affirmative action which is reverse discrimination.
A student was accepted who was not ranked in the top 5 of her class. Another student who was ranked #1 in her class at the same school was wait listed. The high school was one of the top 50 catholic high schools in the country. The reason given for the student who was wait listed: the student didnt shadow long enough. There was not criteria (#of hours required to shadow). The subject of attending the summer scholars program was asked as well. The program specifically states that if a student has problems with math and science, the summer scholars program would be good. The brochure states that if a student does not have issues with math and science it would be a waste of time. Student on the wait list was #1 in both math and science for the past two years. The average ACT score this year was a 31. The student wait listed has a score of 32. The student wait listed did debate and was co-chair of the blood drive. Student also shadowed other physicians as that students parent (mother) worked as a charge nurse in the ER and now works in the trauma office. The other parent is an EMS pilot. Both parents combined time working in the medical field 50+ yrs. Student wait listed recieved the highest equitation award. This award is for outstanding leadership and sportsmanship.
UMKC School of Medicine does discriminates as they have a quota to meet as directed by their board of directors. Affirmative action or reverse discrimination?
How did this hypothetical student interview and what were the essays and test scores like?
I noted you’ve only posted on CC twice as of this message and it was to lodge the same unfounded complaint. So I posted this in the other thread as well…
Since I know members of that admissions council, I can say without hesitation that your complaints are unfounded and seem to be predicated on not being accepted yourself. Affirmative action is not an issue here. And - by the way - Med school is not an entitlement - a lot of qualified candidates are turned down - and a lot of people who don’t “appear” to have your exact stats, may in fact, be better qualified for other reasons. I get the same whining from people who don’t get into my own alma mater. I decided to ask about “blinded” aggregate stats and the margin of difference in grades and scores among admitted class is marginal at best - there are no “outliers” getting in, nor people getting preferential treatment.
If you are the person I’m thinking of, having your father yell at the Admissions staff and demand that you get a spot probably didn’t help your case. Nor did your sense of entitlement during an interview.
Cautionary tale for those reading this and hoping to get into college or grad school: Leave your parents at home. Too many students are showing up for interviews with their parents in tow, or have parents demanding interviews, or otherwise interfering. If your parents are getting involved, you’re going to almost guarantee a rejection because you’ll be deemed as not mature enough to join the incoming class - regardless of the program. Heed that advice - or not - but the latter will be at your own risk.
bluegrn6, is it really stressful for students the first 2 years as their is no summer? or is the summer load managable?
@Exie do you mean not bringing parents at all, or just having them hang back and not go out of their way to speak with admissions staff? At the programs I interviewed for, most made provisions for parents and had a separate info session for them or the like.
@fallpsat I am currently in correspondence with a med student there who will be entering his second year and he said that this year he has had a lot of free time, but that it decreases every year after. He only took two AP classes so he he doesn’t even have that many credit hours.
The average ACT score for the UMKC program was 31?
That seems kind of low for a combined med program
UMKC is a 6 year, but the program is expensive, not that highly ranked (for those who care) and not in the most desirable location for those applying from the northeast or west coast. 31 ACT makes sense in like of that.
Having parents come with you is not a bad thing. But their involvement should be in the background (i.e. seen but not "heard). Proud parents are great, pushy overbearing and demanding ones are not. Getting “involved” in the process, making phone calls to demand information of busy staff members, trying to bribe or threaten staff members, or otherwise become a liability for the applicant - is a kiss of death.
(and, btw, most experienced interviewers and Adcom committees across the country can tell the difference between excited, exhuberant proud parents, and those who think the application is just a “formality” for their students inevitable acceptance and who throw their weight around with the Admissions staff in a negative way - or try to use influence and pressure to get a desired result.)
Think of it this way - I screen hundreds of applicants in my region alone. My own university has a 9% acceptance rate out of more than 10,000 applicants. A lot of variables can make the difference between a yes and a no. Giving the impression that a school has to “deal” with a pushy parent long after the student enrolls is not going to make a favorable impression.
Do what you feel is comfortable and makes sense for your specific situation - but if parents tag along, let them drive the car. But tell them that you, ultimately, have to drive the process (does that make sense?).