Would 3.68 sGPA greatly damage chances at top 20?

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begood95

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I promise this is not a troll post (maybe a bit neurotic...). Anyways, my cGPA is 3.79, and I scored a 525 on the MCAT. I'm assuming my MCAT score "compensates" for the below average -- for top 20's, that is -- sGPA? I'm assuming that I'm competitive in the other aspects (research, volunteering, and other EC's), so that the main thing detracting from my application is my s/cGPA; both are very upward trending, if that helps. I'm aiming high, and unfortunately my state (OK) only has one school I'll be applying to--but I really want to get out of Oklahoma :arghh:

Thanks for the input!
 
aprilfools said:
If you have to preface it with "I promise this is not a troll post" I think you yourself know the answer to this question.
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You're probably right, but its still nice to hear what others to say. In my opinion, I don't think it's going to affect my chances that much, but some may think otherwise and, if they do, I'd like to know why.

knawledge.
 
3.68 seems great. My Uni's Med School accepts students with an average GPA at a 3.75. 3.68 isn't noncompetitive unless you have no ECs and I haven't taken too much of a look at the new MCAT range but- Nvm, troll detected.
 
begood95 said:
I promise this is not a troll post (maybe a bit neurotic...). Anyways, my cGPA is 3.79, and I scored a 525 on the MCAT. I'm assuming my MCAT score "compensates" for the below average -- for top 20's, that is -- sGPA? I'm assuming that I'm competitive in the other aspects (research, volunteering, and other EC's), so that the main thing detracting from my application is my s/cGPA; both are very upward trending, if that helps. I'm aiming high, and unfortunately my state (OK) only has one school I'll be applying to--but I really want to get out of Oklahoma :arghh:

Thanks for the input!
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Don't be too excited to get out of Oklahoma. IS tuition baby.
 
Dr. Death said:
Don't be too excited to get out of Oklahoma. IS tuition baby.
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True, but... I don't want to live here, so I figure leaving for medical school is an opportune time! I'm willing to take on some extra debt.
 
It won't keep you out of top 20 schools. With that MCAT score? You should have no problem as long as the rest of your application stands out.
 
3.7 / ~41 is not going to be rejected from anywhere due to numbers. Post your ECs/overall summary in WAMC if you really need to have any imperfections pointed out
 
No.


begood95 said:
I promise this is not a troll post (maybe a bit neurotic...). Anyways, my cGPA is 3.79, and I scored a 525 on the MCAT. I'm assuming my MCAT score "compensates" for the below average -- for top 20's, that is -- sGPA? I'm assuming that I'm competitive in the other aspects (research, volunteering, and other EC's), so that the main thing detracting from my application is my s/cGPA; both are very upward trending, if that helps. I'm aiming high, and unfortunately my state (OK) only has one school I'll be applying to--but I really want to get out of Oklahoma :arghh:

Thanks for the input!
Click to expand...
 
I had to make a new account because, for some reason, I couldn't reply and I wasn't able to confirm my other profile. Anyways, I'm OP.

efle said:
3.7 / ~41 is not going to be rejected from anywhere due to numbers. Post your ECs/overall summary in WAMC if you really need to have any imperfections pointed out
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I plan on doing this soon! As a long time lurker, it seems like @Goro (along with a couple of others) are some respected persons here... I look forward to your advice 😉

Dr.Kitty said:
Ok how the hell did you get a 525
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Studied.

Really though, that's what it comes down to! But here are some specifics:
  • I studied a total of 110 days.
  • I bought the entire set (excluding biology) of Berkeley Review books.
  • I used both AAMC FL practice exams, one ~1/5 of the way through, and the other ~3/5 of the way.
  • I also took a total of 6 other FL practice exams from EK.
  • I used EK's GCHEM, OCHEM, PHYS, "1001" series (plus "101" passages in CARS from them too).
  • I bought (most) all of AAMC's MCAT prep stuff.
  • My schedule was heavily based off of SN2ed's (as were most of my materials).
  • I reviewed using 7Sage's "blind review" format, and modified SN2ed's schedule with a bit of MCATMatt's, and integrated some other things of his.
  • (I may have missed something, but that's most of it.)
If you stick to your schedule, and genuinely dedicate enough time, energy, and focus, I think scoring a 520+ is very feasible. It is by no means an easy test, but to the extent that you (or anyone) studies hard, it will be become easier; the biggest thing for me was that I came in feeling more confident about the test in general, and was relaxed throughout. I've been a long time lurker here, and all of the materials/study methods/etc. I found here. Seek and you shall find!
 
begoood95 said:
I had to make a new account because, for some reason, I couldn't reply and I wasn't able to confirm my other profile. Anyways, I'm OP.



I plan on doing this soon! As a long time lurker, it seems like @Goro (along with a couple of others) are some respected persons here... I look forward to your advice 😉



Studied.

Really though, that's what it comes down to! But here are some specifics:
  • I studied a total of 110 days.
  • I bought the entire set (excluding biology) of Berkeley Review books.
  • I used both AAMC FL practice exams, one ~1/5 of the way through, and the other ~3/5 of the way.
  • I also took a total of 6 other FL practice exams from EK.
  • I used EK's GCHEM, OCHEM, PHYS, "1001" series (plus "101" passages in CARS from them too).
  • I bought (most) all of AAMC's MCAT prep stuff.
  • My schedule was heavily based off of SN2ed's (as were most of my materials).
  • I reviewed using 7Sage's "blind review" format, and modified SN2ed's schedule with a bit of MCATMatt's, and integrated some other things of his.
  • (I may have missed something, but that's most of it.)
If you stick to your schedule, and genuinely dedicate enough time, energy, and focus, I think scoring a 520+ is very feasible. It is by no means an easy test, but to the extent that you (or anyone) studies hard, it will be become easier; the biggest thing for me was that I came in feeling more confident about the test in general, and was relaxed throughout. I've been a long time lurker here, and all of the materials/study methods/etc. I found here. Seek and you shall find!
Click to expand...


Edit: Regarding the MCAT, make sure you focus on the synthesis and integration of information from different subjects. From what I read, which was confirmed from my experience with the exam, the new MCAT is a departure from the rote memorization required of the the old. Of course, it's very helpful to memorize a few key things (like amino acids + their features, some mechanisms from ochem, equations from chen, basic pathways from biochem, and etc.) but most of the questions were more general.
 
begoood95 said:
I had to make a new account because, for some reason, I couldn't reply and I wasn't able to confirm my other profile. Anyways, I'm OP.



I plan on doing this soon! As a long time lurker, it seems like @Goro (along with a couple of others) are some respected persons here... I look forward to your advice 😉



Studied.

Really though, that's what it comes down to! But here are some specifics:
  • I studied a total of 110 days.
  • I bought the entire set (excluding biology) of Berkeley Review books.
  • I used both AAMC FL practice exams, one ~1/5 of the way through, and the other ~3/5 of the way.
  • I also took a total of 6 other FL practice exams from EK.
  • I used EK's GCHEM, OCHEM, PHYS, "1001" series (plus "101" passages in CARS from them too).
  • I bought (most) all of AAMC's MCAT prep stuff.
  • My schedule was heavily based off of SN2ed's (as were most of my materials).
  • I reviewed using 7Sage's "blind review" format, and modified SN2ed's schedule with a bit of MCATMatt's, and integrated some other things of his.
  • (I may have missed something, but that's most of it.)
If you stick to your schedule, and genuinely dedicate enough time, energy, and focus, I think scoring a 520+ is very feasible. It is by no means an easy test, but to the extent that you (or anyone) studies hard, it will be become easier; the biggest thing for me was that I came in feeling more confident about the test in general, and was relaxed throughout. I've been a long time lurker here, and all of the materials/study methods/etc. I found here. Seek and you shall find!
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Since when does EK have 6 FLs?
 
begoood95 said:
My bad, I meant Next Step.
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How'd you score on them if you don't mind sharing?

On a more related note, I highly doubt your GPA will bar you from anywhere. Provided you have quality ECs, I'd say don't sweat it too much.
 
Halcyon32 said:
How'd you score on them if you don't mind sharing?

On a more related note, I highly doubt your GPA will bar you from anywhere. Provided you have quality ECs, I'd say don't sweat it too much.
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No problem. I took AAMC's (sample) practice exam first ~1/5 of the way through studying to assess what I need to cover more, but it's not scored so maybe a week after I took NS's exam, scored a 517. Going in to this, I wanted to make at the very minimum a 520, so I realized I had some studying to do, but was hopeful since I was currently taking biochem while studying.

From there, I took a practice exam once a week, or once ever two weeks (it varied). There was an upward trend, and by the time I took AAMC's FL with a scaled score, I got a 523. By that time I had 2 FL's left from NS, and on the last one I scored a 524.

So in all, in my opinion and from what you'll read ocassionally on here, NS is the best FL second of course to AAMC's, and predicted my scores fairly well. Hope that helped! Let me know if you have any other questions. I'd be glad to help.
 
Please apply next door in TX. They'll like your MCAT, and OK is almost here... They'll assume you'll be happy to move anyway -- 😛
 
begoood95 said:
I had to make a new account because, for some reason, I couldn't reply and I wasn't able to confirm my other profile. Anyways, I'm OP.



I plan on doing this soon! As a long time lurker, it seems like @Goro (along with a couple of others) are some respected persons here... I look forward to your advice 😉



Studied.

Really though, that's what it comes down to! But here are some specifics:
  • I studied a total of 110 days.
  • I bought the entire set (excluding biology) of Berkeley Review books.
  • I used both AAMC FL practice exams, one ~1/5 of the way through, and the other ~3/5 of the way.
  • I also took a total of 6 other FL practice exams from EK.
  • I used EK's GCHEM, OCHEM, PHYS, "1001" series (plus "101" passages in CARS from them too).
  • I bought (most) all of AAMC's MCAT prep stuff.
  • My schedule was heavily based off of SN2ed's (as were most of my materials).
  • I reviewed using 7Sage's "blind review" format, and modified SN2ed's schedule with a bit of MCATMatt's, and integrated some other things of his.
  • (I may have missed something, but that's most of it.)
If you stick to your schedule, and genuinely dedicate enough time, energy, and focus, I think scoring a 520+ is very feasible. It is by no means an easy test, but to the extent that you (or anyone) studies hard, it will be become easier; the biggest thing for me was that I came in feeling more confident about the test in general, and was relaxed throughout. I've been a long time lurker here, and all of the materials/study methods/etc. I found here. Seek and you shall find!
Click to expand...

Thank you for posting. What were your practice test scores? You'll get in everywhere...
 
lexswift said:
Thank you for posting. What were your practice test scores? You'll get in everywhere...
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See my reply above.

DokterMom said:
Please apply next door in TX. They'll like your MCAT, and OK is almost here... They'll assume you'll be happy to move anyway -- 😛
Click to expand...

I'll be applying to Baylor!
 
begoood95 said:
I'll be applying to Baylor!
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I know the TMDSAS is a whole 'nother application, but please do it anyway. Lots of good schools, great tuition, and I expect they'll like an OK resident with your MCAT.
 
DokterMom said:
I know the TMDSAS is a whole 'nother application, but please do it anyway. Lots of good schools, great tuition, and I expect they'll like an OK resident with your MCAT.
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Just so long as the student wears burnt orange at the Red River Rivalry.
 
DokterMom said:
I know the TMDSAS is a whole 'nother application, but please do it anyway. Lots of good schools, great tuition, and I expect they'll like an OK resident with your MCAT.
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I've been debating that for a while... but it is a whole 'nother application, and I don't know if I want to be in Texas so much as to make it worth applying to schools outside the AMCAS. It's not completely out of the question, but we'll see what happens and if anything changes by the time I start applying.

LizzyM said:
Just so long as the student wears burnt orange at the Red River Rivalry.
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Oh, and I would never wear the other school's colors. I bleed orange, so burnt orange isn't too far off 😉
 
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