<p>How hard is it to keep up their requirements for medical school? It sounds pretty hectic. But if someone has to take MCATs, interview, and complete the application for the med school to get into their medical school, what's the benefit of their combined degree program? Is it even a combined degree program?
It says on their website:</p>
<pre><code>* participate in the finalist weekend in 2007
* maintain a 3.8 grade point average (GPA) as an undergraduate student
* complete an application to the School of Medicine the year before entering medical studies
* achieve a total score of at least 36 on the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT)
* interview with the School of Medicines Committee on Admissions.
</code></pre>
<p><a href="http://admissions.wustl.edu/admissions/ua.nsf/3rd%20Level%20Pages_USP_USP_medicine.htm?OpenPage&charset=iso-8859-1%5B/url%5D">http://admissions.wustl.edu/admissions/ua.nsf/3rd%20Level%20Pages_USP_USP_medicine.htm?OpenPage&charset=iso-8859-1</a></p>
<p>supposedly they go easier on you...</p>
<p>1.) The requirements are probably quite hard.</p>
<p>2.) They are not NEARLY as hard as they sound (that is, they're easier than "nearly impossible"). Normal premeds must take reasonably difficult courses and still shoot for a 3.8 for admission into, say, WUSTL med. Premeds along this track could, in theory, manage a 3.8 by taking joke classes. Normal premeds must also aim for a balanced MCAT score - premeds along this track, in theory, do not have to.</p>
<p>It's hard. I was there this summer for a research program. If you get a 36 on the MCAT with that GPA, then you can get into Harvard (Wash U is noted more for its research).</p>
<p>No, no, no. You cannot count on a 36, 3.8 getting you into Harvard. Absolutely not. No way. Not even close.</p>
<p>These numbers are both below average for some of the top medical schools in the country. Are they hard to hit? Yes. Do they become easier to hit if you are allowed to focus on them exclusively, as you would be in WUSTL's premed track? Yes.</p>
<p>And if you weren't in that track, would you have to aim even higher while balancing more things to get into a school like WUSTL? Absolutely.</p>
<p>What are you talking about??? Do you know the average??? Harvard's MCAT average is a 35 and GPA average of 3.76. So, please corroborate your words with real statistics (<a href="http://hms.harvard.edu/admissions/default.asp?page=admissions)%5B/url%5D">http://hms.harvard.edu/admissions/default.asp?page=admissions)</a>.</p>
<p>Pay attention to the actual statements I made.</p>
<p>1.) The numbers you gave are below average for some of the schools in the country. They happen to be pretty much exactly Harvard's averages.</p>
<p>2.) You cannot count on getting into Harvard with those numbers. If you just barely hit their averages with nothing else special about you - no AIDS clinics in Ghana, no non-profit nursing homes founded, etc. - then trust me, you'll won't even get an interview, much less an acceptance. In fact, you can beat their averages considerably and still not get an interview, even with published research, international medical experience, and early applications. [Personal experience.]</p>
<p>Pay attention to the argument I'm actually making. Hitting Harvard's means does not, by any stretch of the imagination, actually qualify one for Harvard. There are an amazing number of other components involved.</p>
<p>Can you please tell me of the schools with averages higher than mentioned.</p>
<p>USN for the class entering 2005:</p>
<p>The following schools had a mean MCAT of at least 35 (at least what USN calls "11.6"):
WUSTL, Duke, Columbia, Harvard, Penn, Yale.</p>
<p>The schools that beat 3.76:
WUSTL, JHU, Mayo, Duke, Columbia, UCSF, UPenn, UT SW, Baylor.</p>
<p>The numbers get higher ever year. WUSTL had a mean 36.9 MCAT in 2005, and the median for 2006 is a 38, for example. So for those trying to apply to Harvard for entrance in - presumably - 2011, trust me, 36-3.8 runs the risk of getting laughed out of the admissions committee.</p>
<p>Even in the recent past, such numbers would need to be presented as a neutral factor in your application, neither hurting nor helping you (they are after all, means). You'd thus be using research, extracurriculars, and essays to actually get admitted to Harvard.</p>