Any Questions? Insights on the BS/MD Programs

MD2B2012
Wed, 02 Sep 2009 21:43:02 +0000

Jason110:

I would like to disagree with the poster on that statement. There are only approximately 3,000 spots TOTAL at the “Top 20 Med Schools.” They require not only MCATs above 33, and a GPA above 3.8 (4.0 preferred) with significant research experience (remember, they are primarily research oriented). Even the best students in high school do not end up at the top schools. There are just too many applicants and too few spots.

With that said, nationally, about 50% of all medical school APPLICANTS get into medical school. This is after all the WEEDING OUT in many higher ranked (and most state) undergraduate institutions. In college, many pre-med courses are graded on the curve (that is, a certain % of students are allocated As, Bs, C’s, etc. regardless of the actual numerical score). For those who can survive introductory chemistry, organic chemistry, general biology, and physics in college then have to survive the MCAT. Because of the curve, I would guess 30-40% of pre-meds might get weeded out. Of course, they would never admit to it, other than say that their career plans “changed” or they “found new interests.” The average MCAT score nationally is 24-25 (50th %ile of testtakers), with the average for applicants around 27, the average of accepted students at 30 (that’s the 77th %ile of all TEST TAKERS), and 33+ to be even competitive at the top schools (that’s above 92nd %ile of TEST TAKERS). I emphasized TEST TAKERS, because those who got weeded out in the college classes likely did not take the MCAT. (Remember that 30-40% I mentioned before…)

All the data I mentioned can be found on the AAMC website.

Keep in mind that the OP is a rising sophomore who hasn’t gone through the process of applying to medical school (or even taken the MCAT, I believe).



No offense, but if you can’t even handle courses like General Chemistry, General Biology, and General Physics, then you won’t be able to handle the level of detail in medical school, much less the MCAT. If you’ve had AP Chem, AP Bio, and AP Physics in high school (as most CCers here have taken) - you already have 3 out of 4 needed classes as exact repeats of information exposure from those courses. Most of those in the CC crowd would actually excel in premedical coursework, as they go beyond the average or below-average student who ends up applying to medical school.

Just like those who get into top notch Bachelor/MD programs out of high school, students all the time take part in healthcare experiences, community service, leadership activities, extracurricular activities, and employment whether during the school year or during the summer break.

At my university, we didn’t have a ridiculous curve like as you state. The numerical grading scale was already set at the beginning of the course. If anything, the curve benefitted us. In fact, I don’t know any school that does it to where no scale is announced and then the professor says he’ll set the breakpoints, based on how people do. Also with respect to Top 20 schools, obviously you haven’t seen the term “URM”. Just check www.mdapplicants.org, but applicants who would never gotten interviews much less acceptances with their MCAT/GPA did based on their URM status.