QofQuimica
Seriously, dude, I think you're overreacting....
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***Note: I am not a regular mentor here, but Tildy has requested that I reply to this particular question since I have direct experience with this subject. I applied to medical school in 2005 with a 43S MCAT score.***Hi, I have a strange question regarding high MCAT scores and hopefully no one has asked this already.
My question is that are high MCAT scores a bad thing when it comes to getting into a mid/low or mid level med school? I've heard stories of people getting rejected without interview due to ADCOM's decision that their MCAT was too high and a waste of time to pursue. Is this really common?
My situation is this, my GPA (3.78) and pre-med GPA (3.75) are both above average for mid tier, but below average for top tier schools. Additionally, my EC's aren't stellar, really vanilla ECs, 2 yr research, 2 hospital volunteer, shadowing, no leaderships. I have a 40+ MCAT, but I'm really more aiming at mid tier schools cause of my GPA and EC's. Will my MCAT hurt my chances? and what should I do to make sure that admissions realize that I'm not just using them as backups and really want to attend their program?
I have seen this strange assertion that schools reject students for having stats that are "too high" made on numerous occasions on SDN during my three years of membership. My opinion based upon my own experience as an applicant and a volunteer for the Admissions Office at my med school is that this premed urban legend is completely untrue. I say this for the following reasons:
1) Medical schools are not charities. The job of a medical school adcom is to fill their class with students who they think will make good doctors, and who are capable of completing the program successfully. There is some point where having an even higher MCAT score will not make it more likely for you to do well in med school and on the boards, and we can argue about where exactly that point is. But the important thing is that the reason why people with very poor stats do not generally get accepted to medical school is because the adcom is concerned that they may not pass their classes and/or the USMLE. Medical training is too costly and limited of a resource to waste even a single seat on anyone whom the adcom feels has a high likelihood of not making it through to become a physician.
2) Medical schools want the best students they can possibly get. Not only do med schools not want to take students whom they feel may not make it through the program, they also want to get the best students possible to come to their school. How each school defines "best" is going to vary, but yes, stats do generally enter into this equation. All else is never equal, but if it were, a person with higher stats will tend to be chosen over someone with lower ones. Rejecting a student merely for having high stats is completely illogical and not commensurate with achieving this goal of getting the best possible students.
Ok, so where did this rumor come from that schools with low stat averages tend to reject high-stat applicants? Well, I don't know the definitive answer to that, but I can hazard a guess. Students who have very high stats also tend to share other traits on a higher-than-average basis. Some of these traits are viewed positively by an adcom, such as a strong work ethic, intelligence, perseverence, etc. Others are not such good qualities in a future doctor, such as an inability to learn from failure, a sense of entitlement, and an arrogant attitude. My guess is that it is these confounding variables, and not the high stats themselves, that doom some high-stat applicants.
Assuming this analysis is correct, then how do you let the schools know that you really want to go there and are not considering them as a backup plan in case your dream schools all turn you down? I think that doing this is rather analogous to the process of letting a guy or girl know that you want to date them. You have to get to know them, ask them questions, be interested in them, and be interesting to them. You have to think of them and their needs, and not only of yourself and what you want. If you can do that *and* you have super stats, then you have figured out the secret of how to be a very successful applicant.
Best of luck to you.