Admissions Officers’ Survey Data Snapshot
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MCAT Admissions Insights delivers evidence-based insights, resources, and tools to help you use MCAT scores in ways that align with your school’s missions and contexts. We will return for a new edition in this series in 2022, and we welcome your ideas for future editions.
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Note: A total of 116 schools responded to the 2021 Admissions Officers’ Survey (76% response rate). Data shown in the graphs represent responses to the survey questions: “Does your school currently convert MCAT scores to a different scale that groups scores into ranges?” and “Has your school decided to make MCAT scores optional (i.e., not require MCAT scores for admission) for your 2022 applicants or is your school considering it?”
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Bottom line: Schools are interested in leveraging all available data to admit and support students within their context.
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Data Highlights
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- Medical schools care about diversity, and each school focuses on aspects connected to their mission and context.
- Meeting students where they are requires hard work. Many schools are interested in the larger context of educational opportunities — where applicants learned and lived — when interpreting academic metrics.
- Commitment to student success builds on solid feedback loops between medical students’ performance data and admissions requirements.
- Admissions is not enough. Investing in and building a community of support for students throughout their medical school journey is key to driving inclusive excellence.
- Schools reported low interest in pass/fail, categorical scoring, or test-optional. Fewer than 10 schools are specifically interested in pass/fail or tiered scoring. Some are interested in ways to identify thresholds or likelihood for success in medical school using MCAT scores as one of many data sources.
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Join the Conversation
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- Which survey finding, if any, surprised you? Why?
- What are the biggest challenges you face in leveraging all available data to admit and support students within your school’s context?
- What is your biggest takeaway from the Admissions Officers’ Survey Data Snapshot series?
- What topics would you like to see for future editions of MCAT Admissions Insights?
- Share your feedback or questions for further study.
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Additional Resources
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- Explore the new URiM Applicants by Diversity Indicator Report in AMCAS for Schools (located under “Integrated Admissions Reports” in the left navigation) to gain a better understanding of how your school compares regionally and nationally when accepting and matriculating applicants from various underrepresented categories. (AAMC log-in required.)
- Explore the new MCAT Scores and GPAs of Undergrad Feeder Schools Report in AMCAS for Schools to determine how your applicants’ metrics compare to those of other applicants from the same undergraduate institution. (AAMC log-in required.)
- Admissions Is Not Enough: The Racial Achievement Gap in Medical Education, by Jones, et al., published in Academic Medicine in February 2021.
- Shifting the Curve: Fostering Academic Success in a Diverse Student Body, by Elks, et al., published in Academic Medicine in January 2018.
- The Diversity and Success of Medical School Applicants with Scores in the Middle Third of the MCAT Score Scale, by Terregino, et al., published in Academic Medicine in March 2020.
- Identifying and Supporting Students to Prevent USMLE Step 1 Failures When Testing Follows Clerkships: Insights From 9 Schools, by Swan Sein, et al., published in Academic Medicine in September 2020.
- The Consequences of Structural Racism on MCAT Scores and Medical School Admissions: The Past is Prologue, by Lucey and Saguil, published in Academic Medicine in March 2020. You can also listen to the accompanying podcast.
- Medical Education’s Wicked Problem: Achieving Equity in Assessment for Medical Learners, by Lucey, et al., published in Academic Medicine in December 2020.
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