rejection because scores were too high?

[md_hopeful21]

I got rejected from UCDavis even though I have great ec's. An above 3.9 gpa from a top 20 undergrad and an above 37 MCAT score, and a california resident.

They rejected me in less than 10 days pre-ineterview after the completion of my file.

Is it because my scores were too high. I mean atleast take some more time before rejecting me.

And this was a school I was very interested in going to.

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[Brickhouse]

Hmmm....which caddy remark from my repertoire should I dig out for this thread?

 

[md_hopeful21]

the questions whether the rejections an error. I mean i've never heard of someone getting rejected after 6days of completion of their application.

I called they said you have to call back on friday to find out. I'm really bummed.

 

[dankev]

They get a whole lot of apps with high numbers. They must not have liked your essays. You didn't, by chance, come off as sounding arrogant, did you?

 

[DannGee]

Originally posted by md_hopeful21
I got rejected from UCDavis even though I have great ec's. An above 3.9 gpa from a top 20 undergrad and an above 37 MCAT score, and a california resident.

They rejected me in less than 10 days pre-ineterview after the completion of my file.

Is it because my scores were too high. I mean atleast take some more time before rejecting me.

And this was a school I was very interested in going to.

it's possible- maybe they were afraid that your superior intellect would shame the rest of the students.

or maybe your app caused them to feel that you have an unusually strong sense of entitlement- the feeling i got from reading this post.

i don't mean to sound like a jerk, but it's been mentioned numerous times on this board that there is no score or amount of EC's that can guarantee admission into a particular school.

 

[indo]

Ask this in the Lounge. They know the answers to every question.

btw, your gpa isn't that high. Mine is 3.9999 with nines out to 10 digits past the decimal.

 

[umass rower]

I don't think we should be so hard on md_hopeful here. After all, this isn't a post-interview rejection. While there are no guarantees, it does seem unlikely that they would have found something so offensive in his essays so as to not even offer an interview (especially in only 6 days of consideration). I think that he has a legitimate case to ask the school about the rejection. I mean, it couldn't hurt, and I'm personally somewhat surprised that he didn't even get an interview offer. The school doesn't have a lot to go by when offering interviews, that's why they offer them to so many more people than they accept. It seems to me that based on the information that the school has to make its judgment, md_hopeful should have been granted an interview. So I'm going to go against opinion so far, and say that you should call and request an explanation / state your case.

 

[md_hopeful21]

why is everyone so happy to attack me. I wasn't arrogant or haughty in my essays. I worked my ass off in undergrad, and am pissed that I got rejected so quickly. The only reason i would've preferred to go there is because I would've been close to my friends and family in north. cali.

 

[indo]

Maybe there was a part of his or her application that cause him or her to be rejected by default. Missing Art class pre req maybe?

 

[Rendar5]

grades and mcats are only a part of your application. There are many considerations, such as fitting in with a school's ideas of the people it wants to train to be doctors. For instance, I know some schools love people who do a lot of community service, and other schools don't mind if you didn't do much of that.

 

[Rendar5]

and what's "an above 37"?

 

[DrMom]

Maybe it was something in your letters of recommendation.

 

[indo]

Originally posted by Rendar5
and what's "an above 37"?

the op didn't want to brag....haha

 

[md_hopeful21]

reason that I didn't tell my exact scores is because I didn't want to reveal my identity. Also I know my letters were good.

 

[Rendar5]

I mean, if you're going to imply some good MCAT numbers, don't skate around what you got.

Though I guess it's always possible he took it last August like I did, when they still had 13-15 as a Verbal score. maybe he got a 37-39 and it's reported as a 37+

 

[md_hopeful21]

isn't ucdavis one of the ones that takes a long time to reject?

 

[dankev]

Apparently not...

 

[Brickhouse]

Well?

 

[KarateGirl]

I think you have every right to ask why you were rejected. The knowledge, at the very least, will help you with other schools, and at best maybe it was an error, or something fixable.

I had a conversation recently with someone regarding those who have the top scores and GPAs. He was telling me about someone he knew with a 4.0 GPA and a 40 MCAT, and he said she was "so smart you can't even talk to her." And my response was, is someone like that going to make a good clinical physician? (It turned out she got into an MD/PhD program, so she probably is going into research, which makes sense.)

I'm no expert on admissions committees, but if I were on one I would be wary of people who are "too smart". md_hopeful, I am not directing this at you personally, I'm just saying as a general rule, I don't think more is necessarily better. Most people with credentials like that did it at the cost of a well-rounded personal life. When I was thinking about a PhD in psychology, one of my professors told us that many grad schools don't take that top 1% because they figure someone like that didn't spend much time socializing and developing the requisite "people skills".

So a perfect GPA and MCAT score are not going to be an "automatic in" at every school. But I would definitely try to find out what they specifically did not like about your app.

 

[exmike]

The only thing I can think of is that UC Davis has a strong emphasis on primary care and community health, so perhaps you're app/essays/EC's lean too far towards specialty/research? or maybe they just dont have much stuff related to primary care/community health which would lead them to feel you're either 1) not a good fit, or 2) not all that serious about Davis. Just a possibility.

 

[omores]

Just call back on Friday as they suggested. All any of us here can do is speculate, and although it's interesting to do so, it has nothing to do with UCDavis' reasoning.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[Rendar5]

There are a large number of people who get above a 37 (just a small percentage), so saying your score won't really give your identity away.

As for LoR's, how do you know they're so good? Did you actually read them to be certain you got good ones? I'm asking because maybe you didn't waive the right to see them? That's frowned upon a bit. Of course, you might know you got good ones because the people giving them told you that they wrote really good ones.

 

[Rendar5]

anyway, I'm just speculating on possible causes. You'll have to talk to them specifically. I know a lot of schools will tell you right out why they didn't accept you.

 

[Persistence101]

Originally posted by umass rower
The school doesn't have a lot to go by when offering interviews, that's why they offer them to so many more people than they accept. It seems to me that based on the information that the school has to make its judgment, md_hopeful should have been granted an interview. So I'm going to go against opinion so far, and say that you should call and request an explanation / state your case.

Have you seen their secondary questions? Trust me, it's enough to go by.


Maybe the OP didn't fit in with their philosophy...they did state on the secondary that determining an individual's future contributions can't be based soley by grades and test scores. So yeah, others were right...no one is guaranteed anything.

 

[Wednesday]

Mdhopeful21,

I PMed you.

Some of you guys are a little bitter. Just because someone has high scores doesn't necessarily mean that person is a total tool.

 

[md_hopeful21]

just looked up mdapplicants.com and i noticed a funny trend....

 

[exmike]

if the trend is so funny, why dont you share it.

Originally posted by md_hopeful21
just looked up mdapplicants.com and i noticed a funny trend....

 

[Super Rob]

hopeful,

With scores like yours, it's a surprise that a school with high mean scores would reject you so soon after your secondary.

Chances are it has something to do with what your application DIDN'T have: (i.e. they like lots of community service and you have lots of research experience instead).

There IS a possibility that they didn't appreciate or enjoy something on your application (a so-so letter of evaluation or something offensive in the PS... I put something in mine that could possibly be misinterpreted... it's possible).

If you just didn't click with this one, particular school then I would anticipate a HUGE number of interview requests in your future despite this one, unfortunate rejection. When you call on Friday, they may be able to give you an honest answer about what you can work on to become a more attractive applicant (certainly not numbers! Don't even MENTION them to people!)

Good luck. I'm no adcom so don't look too much into my advice. If it was JUST the school being the school and not a red flag on your file, then you'll be fine.

What a fun process this is Rob

 

[md_hopeful21]

i give thanks to those who gave me positive feedback, is davis cool with appeals?

 

[ice_23]

MD, I think ppl are railing on you a bit too much.

I think you have every right to ask why you were rejected so quickly, and true to the other post, even if you don't get a reversal (if those even exist), you can still then use that info. to make yourself more attractive (i.e. via essays) to other schools.

Oh, and don't take the rejection too hardly. You're gonna be celebrating getting in somewhere soon, so just look at this like a bump in the road.

-Ice

 

[DrWuStar]

i thought this thread was going to be funnier. i am only into sdn for the laughs. but people are being harsh without making it funny. grrr.... more jokes and making fun please!!

md_hopeful, i don't know what davis' deal is. one of my dearest friends applied there last year with a 3.9 and 35, good ec's, etc., and she received there horrible rejection e-mail the day after she sent in her secondary. as in the pulled the check out and clicked send on the rejection e-mail. no one has ever been able to explain it. some of this application process is just a big mystery. the rest of her application adventure made more sense. she was accepted to UCSF (a great research/academic program) and OHSU (a great primary care program). she is very happy where she is now. don't worry about davis. they are just weird and there seems to be no explaining their actions. your stats are excellent and i would not be surprised if you get in somewhere even better.

100th post? woo-hoo!

 

[spumoni620]

Originally posted by ice_23
MD, I think ppl are railing on you a bit too much.

I think you have every right to ask why you were rejected so quickly, and true to the other post, even if you don't get a reversal (if those even exist), you can still then use that info. to make yourself more attractive (i.e. via essays) to other schools.

Oh, and don't take the rejection too hardly. You're gonna be celebrating getting in somewhere soon, so just look at this like a bump in the road.

-Ice

I agree totally with this. First of all, I'm sorry for the rejection; it must really hurt especially as it was a top choice for you. i think it would definitely not hurt to call them and find out their rationale. that said, you did apply to more than 1 school, correct? how has the reception been with those other schools? it would seem that with scores as good as yours, you're very likely to get accepted into some very good schools. if this isn't the case, i'd say there's a prob with 1) letters of rec as drmom pointed out 2) essays or 3) some terrible discrepancy with transcripts/amcas. good luck!

 

[UCIgrad2002]

mdhopeful,

i feel for ya, it sucks, trust me. it wouldn't hurt going for an appeal though, especially if you really wanted to go there. i don't know about davis, but i know irvine does allow appeals and sometimes people do get in. don't get too discouraged though, it's only one uc, hopefully you'll hear better news from the others. just keep in mind, getting into these schools (cali uc's) are extremely difficult. i'm a norcal resident too, and i've heard nothing but bad news from most of the uc's. keep your head up though and good luck!

 

[calebho501]

mdhopeful,

I mean, the rejection could be due to something majorly wrong in your app, but it could just be due to some very minor minor detail like your interest in the school wasn't strong enough.

Bottom line is, focus on the big picture: Getting into a med school you like. I believe every single applicant get at least a rejection or waitlist...it does take time to get over the disappointment.

 

[jlee9531]

i dont think the appeals process at UC schools are very inviting....if one even exists at all.........

so i dont think that route it going to work.

UChicago is a badass schools that receives many top applicants every year. I am going to say what everyone else said...

1. That sucks man.
2. Something about your application probably rubbed them the wrong way or they just thought you would not be a good fit for their school. (ie Davis and MSU emphasize this a lot)
3. So call and ask what was wrong so you can learn something from it. You probably wont get them to rescind their decision or anything but at least you can get some closure.
4. If anything good comes out of it then its all a bonus.

 

[CharlesCA]

Originally posted by DrWuStar
one of my dearest friends applied there last year with a 3.9 and 35, good ec's, etc., and she received there horrible rejection e-mail the day after she sent in her secondary. as in the pulled the check out and clicked send on the rejection e-mail.

She could just put a stop payment on the check :-X.