17: What MCAT Score do I Need to Overcome my Low GPA? - a podcast by Ryan Gray

Session 17 One of the most common questions I receive is"What MCAT score do I need if I have a low GPA?"Is there such a thing? That's what we talk about today.
Students are under this assumption that there's this global balancing act between the different parts of your application. Or that a great GPA score is going to overcome poor MCAT score. Or a great personal statement and extracurriculars are going to overcome a low GPA and a low MCAT score.
Did you know? Our episodes in this podcast are recorded on our Facebook Live done at 3pm Eastern on most weekdays. Check out our https://www.facebook.com/MedicalSchoolHQ/ (Facebook page) and like the page to be notified. Also, listen to our other podcasts on MedEd Media. If you’re an old premed, check out The OldPreMeds Podcast.[01:00] One Does Not Boost Up the Other The problem with this kind of mindset is that when schools receive your application, they don't see everything in totality. They don't filter and sort in totality."Holistic"admissions is the buzzword right now. So when you think about having a low GPA and meeting a certain score to overcome that GPA, it just doesn't work that way."A low GPA is a low GPA. And an MCAT score, no matter what it is, is your MCAT score. They are two very different parts of your application."They are both number-based. They are similar but an MCAT score tells an admissions committee one thing about you. This tells them how well you take the MCAT as well as the knowledge and foundation of your sciences to do well enough on the MCAT.
And your GPA is your whole track record in undergrad. But GPA is so variable at every school. They have different grade inflation and deflation. So the GPA is less valuable to schools a lot of times."One does not boost up the other. Great MCAT score doesn't help a poor GPA."[02:27] Schools Look at Applications Differently One of the biggest difficulties with admissions is that every school does it differently. One school may look at MCAT only. Canadian schools are very big on this. They look at the CARS section of the MCAT, which is one section on the MCAT. That's what they care about.
In the U.S. they look at everything. But every admissions committee is going to care about something differently. So when you think about your application, you can't think of it in terms of raising up to help a poor GPA.
Just think of it in terms of you need to do it as well as you can do in everything. You need to shoot for the stars and everything."Do as well as you can on the MCAT. Don't worry about finding a specific score that is going to help overcome a poor GPA."[03:45] Filtering Applications Some schools may look at GPA as a way to filter applications. Remember, medical schools are getting thousands upon thousands of applications. Some schools got 12,000 applications last year. So they need a way to filter them. So they won't care what your MCAT score is, if your GPA is below a certain number, they're not going to look at your application.Or they may put your application so far down the line that there's almost a zero percent chance you're going to get an interview.
On the flip side, they may worry about MCAT score. Your GPA may not be very good but they care about the MCAT score."You don't know what the school is looking at or looking for. So don't worry."[04:50] Focus on What You Can Control My messages always boils down to, stop worrying about what you can't control. Asking the question what MCAT score do I need to overcome a low GPA is something that's out of your control. Because you don't know that answer.
The next time you have a question in your head, first, ask yourself, is it something you can really control? What MCAT score you need to overcome a low GPA is out of your control.What's in your control is doing as well as you can on the MCAT. The question should therefore be, how can I best study and prepare for the MCAT to score as well as I can on MCAT. Don't...

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