MCAT

Medical School Applicants: Low Stats Got You Down?

Medical School Applicants: Low Stats Got You Down?
You’ve done all the right  pre-med things: Taken organic chemistry and other pre-med requirements.  

Studied for and taken the MCAT.  

And you’ve done some clinical volunteering, community service, and maybe a little research.

But, you’re worried about your stats. Perhaps it’s a below average GPA, a poor science GPA, or a low MCAT that came in less than you expected -- less than you need to apply competitively. 

These pesky numbers are keeping you up at night, and have you down during the day. Don’t despair. There are two steps that can lead to your acceptance:
Restoration
Enhancement
Let’s dive into those two, critical steps, which each have multiple parts.
Restoration
Low stats make schools wonder if you can handle their demanding workload. You have to restore their confidence that you can perform with aplomb and certainly as well as the applicant in the last application they reviewed. Here are a few tips.

Low MCAT:
Prepare for and retake the MCAT. Attempt to assess what went wrong and fix it. Don’t just do what you did last time and expect a different result.
Take the MCAT when you’ve had the time to prepare properly and you’re really ready and confident of a higher score. Don’t rush it.
In retaking the MCAT, focus more time and attention on the areas where your score was weakest.
Low GPA:
Consider enrolling in a post-bac or SMP program or doing your own informal post-bac program.
Again, make sure you have the time to do well in this program. A slew of B’s and C’s will not help your cause.
Evaluate your options and choose the best one for you. Do you feel your study skills need improvement? Look for a post-bac program that offers support in that area. Do you want a program with a linkage to a medical school? One that offers MCAT prep? Consider all the options and select based on what’s important to you (and don't forget to factor in the cost).
Enhancement
You are much more than the sum of your GPA and MCAT. In this era of holistic admissions, show each medical school that you share its mission and values and will be the kind of doctor they would be happy to have as an alum. Show that you will enhance their community and profession.

To strengthen the non-numerical part of your application:
Via your personal statement, most meaningful experiences, and activities in the primary application demonstrate your commitment to service and to becoming a physician.
Reveal that you have both the humility to work well on a team and the confidence to lead by discussing experiences where you have done both.
Show that you understand the environment in which physicians work and the pressures they face because you have volunteered or worked in clinical settings.
In your secondaries, affirm that you share each school’s values and mission, not with empty claims, but with thoughtful responses based on your influential experiences.
When you restore the school’s confidence in your ability to perform and you enhance your profile with an effective presentation of your non-numerical qualifications, you will be well on your way to acceptance.

Free download for WizePrep visitors: Applying to Medical School with Low Stats: What You Need to Know . Grab your copy today!

Learn more about life in Medical School here: What is Med School Like?

By Linda Abraham, founder of Accepted and host of the Admissions Straight Talk podcast. 

Accepted has been guiding medical school applicants to acceptance since 1994 and would love to help you effectively present your qualifications via your medical school application.