Guest logosmd Posted September 15, 2002 Report Share Posted September 15, 2002 In going to the information session, one thing I learned was that the offer of admission is based on the 50% GPA + 50% "everything else". With this in mind, it has struck me as odd that anyone with a 3.3 GPA would be able to be accepted (as occured last year according to the stats). Can anyone else figure this out??? Perhaps it is very difficult to get a good score on all of the autobiographical stuff and this person did?? logosmd p.s. good luck with the questions!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jane Posted September 15, 2002 Report Share Posted September 15, 2002 Hi there logosmd, This has been discussed a few times over the course of the year but I will explain it as I was told at the info session. The scores are 50% for GPA and 50% for autobiographical submission. If someone's autobiographical submission is extremely well done (as found by the 3 readers of each essay), their application can be placed as a "must interview" despite their GPA (as long as that is greater than 3.0). This accounts for the 25 applicants that were accepted through the "personal qualities" out of the 384 total applicants interviewed. In addition, there is a "special stream" of applicants that can apply without having the full prereq's - I'm not sure how many of the 25 are from this stream. Having said this, the majority of interviewees are invited based on 50% GPA and 50% autobiographical submission, which means you have to fall somewhere within the 87th% combined to get invited. Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest logosmd Posted September 16, 2002 Report Share Posted September 16, 2002 Thanks Jane. Now that makes more sense. I wonder what personal qualities or experiences would make you eligible for the 'special stream'? The 87th combined percentile eh? Wow, that is high. I guess we all should just be ourselves and hope for the best!! Cheers, logosmd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tanya24 Posted September 21, 2002 Report Share Posted September 21, 2002 Jane/logosmd, Please excuse my ignorance.... do you mean our sketch percentile + GPA percentile shoud add up to about 87 to have a shot at an interview? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jane Posted September 22, 2002 Report Share Posted September 22, 2002 Tanya, The autobiographical submission (not sketch) + GPA needs to average so you are in the top 87% percentile (give or take a percentile). For example, I was told by the admissions secretary that out of the 3000+ applicants last year, only about 2650 met all requirements (3.0 gpa, 3 years undergrad, etc.). Out of those qualified applicants, the GPA and autobiographical submission are used to get the top 400 (or so) for interview. (last year they interviewed 384, then subtract those that got an interview based solely on personal qualities). So..... if you are in the top 375/2650, then you are in the 86th %ile. Your gpa might be 92%ile and your autobio in the 80th%ile = 86th%ile when averaged equally. If you have a 4.0 gpa we can assume you are close to the 100th%ile so your autobio needs to be 72nd%ile. So, the lower your gpa, the higher your autobio needs to be. From what I can gather, and no one seems to want to say for sure, but if you have a 3.0"ish" gpa, then you pretty well have to get invited through a special invite, that we mentioned in the earlier post. (based on the fact that 3.0 must = 0%ile if that is the mininum in all qualified applicants) Hope this helps and hasn't confused you more. Of course, this is only based on what I have been told from Mac's adcom, and anyone that is concerned should confirm with Mac for themself. Good luck all! Jane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tanya24 Posted September 22, 2002 Report Share Posted September 22, 2002 Thanks so much, Jane. That really clarifies things. I emailed this very question myself and they wouldn't answer it. Just beat around the bush and said "every year's different" and "there's no magic formula." Tell me something I DON'T know! By the way, a friend of mine who applied last year had a 3.26 GPA which put her in the 21st percentile, according to her rejection letter. So, that seems pretty consistent with what you described. Good luck if you're applying this year!! Tanya. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest grandmellon Posted September 30, 2002 Report Share Posted September 30, 2002 Ahhh! Getting nervous! The time crunch... anyways... A question about GPA... I had several traumatic experiences last year which significantly lowered my GPA from 1st year 3.78 to 2nd year 3.45. Do I stand a chance with this to get an interview? AHHH hmm... I'm sure no one really knows the answer... or do you? Secondly... 2. Are there any reasons why your transcript does not reflect your true ability? should I tell them in this section of the application about my traumatic experiences and how they affected my gpa? Cerebral hemorrhage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AJ Posted September 30, 2002 Report Share Posted September 30, 2002 Hi! If you have traumatic experiences that affected your academic performance, you should write it down. You have to be careful, however, if it's a relationship-related problem. I'm not sure if it's a good idea to talk about romantic relationships in your application. I would rather play if safe. With regards to your GPA - as long as you do well on your essay, you need not worry too much about your GPA. Just focus on your autobio sub and try NOT to think too much of your marks. At this point, there is nothing you can do to change it, so don't get hard on yourself over that. If it makes you feel better, let me remind you that the majority of my class have GPAs in the range of 3.3-3.5. Hope this helps! AJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tanya24 Posted September 30, 2002 Report Share Posted September 30, 2002 Thanks for the info, AJ. Any idea how your classmates fared on the autobiographical sketch percentile-wise? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest grandmellon Posted September 30, 2002 Report Share Posted September 30, 2002 Thanks AJ! That's reassuring... Just fyi... It definitely wasn't relationship problems. I got robbed at gunpoint, was falsely accused of cheating on an exam... (quite the story!!! The senate review board exonerated me after 9 months thank goodness!), experienced bias in my faculty... someone tried to fail me again... but that was overturned! I could go on! But it's good that there's that section. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AJ Posted October 1, 2002 Report Share Posted October 1, 2002 Hi GM! Sorry I misread your message and thought that you were referring to applications for other schools when you mentioned the section about your gpa not reflecting your abilities. Technically speaking, there is no such section on the mac autobio sub, but you can always work your horrible experiences into your answers. I think there is a question about how you meet the multiple demands of your life and keep them in perspective. Perhaps for that question, you can talk about how you managed to keep everything going even though you had so many others happening at the same time. As tempting as if may, try to avoid using low(er) GPA as an example of your greatest failure. I'm not saying it's a definite NO, but it would be better to use ones that are not so academic Tanya24: All the people who got accepted did not received any percentile whatsoever. The purpose (so I hear) is to eliminate competition. To reassure you, I was also in that range, and I'm not the type of person that can walk on water. So, the take-home-message is that you don't have to be superhuman in order get into mac, let alone get an interview! Sure, there are lots of amazing individuals in our class. YOu know, people who have done a lot of different things, gone to exotic places, held interesting occupations. But there are also people like me- I've done some volunteering (like all of you, I'm sure), had some part-time jobs, played a few sports (only softball consistently), DIDN'T HAVE STELLAR MARKS! Trust me, we're mere mortals As I said, don't stress yourself out over whethere or not you will receive an interview. Just focus on you autobio because that plays a significant role in your application success. Good luck! AJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest redgirl29 Posted October 1, 2002 Report Share Posted October 1, 2002 Hi grandmellon! Don't forget that the omsas application, under the questions section, asks 'Are there any reasons why your transcript does not reflect your true ability?' It only allows about 100 characters, but it's better than nothing if you find it difficult to work your experiences into your submission or think you might not want to talk specifics in your interview (although, either way it will probably come up). Also, AJ is right, those people who have been accepted are just human afterall Each of those 'horrible' experiences make us who we are, so be sure to show that in your submission. Best of luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AJ Posted October 1, 2002 Report Share Posted October 1, 2002 Just wanted to point out that whoever interviews you will not have read your autobio sub. AJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tanya24 Posted October 1, 2002 Report Share Posted October 1, 2002 Thank you, AJ!!!!! I guess that makes sense. It's just that my auto sub percentile was quite decent, and I didn't even make the interview waiting list. Just curious to know "how good" is good enough!! I guess it changes from year to year. Well, like you said, I will stop fretting and just work hard on improving the auto sub. Thanks for your support!!!! Tanya. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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