Brief Profile:
Lots of unusual local/international leadership, 4 pubs, 15ish posters, 400 clinical hours, extensive shadowing, international missions, random scholarships/awards, and a unique life story. First MCAT: 33S. Some MSTP, some MD only apps.
// Applications //
Application Cycle One: 06/10/2012
Undergraduate college: Public school
Total MCAT SCORE: 517
MCAT Section Scores:
B/B 130,
C/P 129,
CARS 127
Overall GPA: 3.72
Science GPA: 3.66
Summary of Application Experience
I had four W's on my transcript, and feel that my numbers were my weakness. During the interview trail, I got comments about my strong LORs and essays and EC accomplishments.
I applied half MD only, half MD/PhD. Because I knew my numbers would hold me back, most of my top-10 schools were MD only.
Looking back, I think that if I had to reapply again, I would not have applied to any MSTPs. I ultimately found out during the interview trail that it's trivial to add the PhD at most schools once you're an MD student. I got MD interviews at better schools than I did MSTP interviews. Overall, I believe that applying MD/PhD held me back. I got 3 MSTP interviews but 8 MD only interviews, and 6 of those MD only interviews were at top-15 schools. Some food for thought for future MSTP applicants. Based on my experience, it really IS easier to get MD-only than MSTP interviews. If having choices at the end of the cycle matter to you, applying MD-only may not be a bad idea if you can add the PhD later and don't care about the MSTP funding.
At the end of the day, I'm more than happy with my results and thrilled to be starting medical school.
lovely took the old MCAT and scored a 35 which is in the 96th percentile of all old scores.
We converted this to a 517 on the updated scale which is in the 95th percentile of the updated MCAT. We also converted lovely’s section scores as follows:
lovely scored a 13 on the Biological Science section of the old MCAT which is approximately equal to a 130 on the Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems.
lovely scored a 12 on the Physical Science section of the old MCAT which is approximately equal to a 129 on the Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems.
lovely scored a 10 on the Verbal Reasoning section of the old MCAT which is approximately equal to a 127 on the Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills.
