Announcing Kaplan’s 1st Annual Med School Admissions Officer Survey Results and Debrief Event

Each year, Kaplan conducts a survey of Medical School Admissions Officers to see what’s on their minds! Our initial findings from the 2012 survey, which you may have already seen, can be found here, but we thought we would share some additional thoughts and highlights to the pre-health advisor community. In addition, we will be hosting a free online event – the 1st Annual Medical School Admissions Officer Survey Debrief – exclusively for advisors next week to discuss our findings and answer your questions. You can sign up for the event here.

Last year, 43% of the respondents reported that the MCAT score was the most important factor in the medical school admissions process, but this year that number climbed to 51%, the first time that response received a majority of votes! We also asked the admissions officers what they would say is the biggest application killer, and for the first time an “unimpressive interview” was the number one answer, with 34% of votes (up from 27% last year), with a low MCAT score coming in a close second at 30% of the votes. Low undergraduate GPA and poor letters of recommendation were also prominent responses at 18% and 17% respectively.

When asked about the changes to the MCAT coming in 2015, 74% of respondents said they felt the new test will better prepare students for medical school, which is good news seeing as the new test is now just over 2 years away! We also learned that medical schools by and large are embracing the 2015 MCAT (87% reported that they support the changes), but are acknowledging that pre-meds will face a heavier course load that will pay off with better prepared students in the long run since the new test will test the competencies needed for 21st century medicine.

Of particular interest to this community, of course is the question of how medical schools expect undergraduate premedical curriculum to change. 47% of respondents said that they think pre-med programs will need to revise their curricula, but 30% thought they wouldn’t; 22% answered that they were unsure. Rest assured, as we learn more from the medical schools over the next few months we will surely share that information with this community.

On a closing note, some exciting news from New Jersey – UMDNJ and Rutgers University reached a milestone recently with the announcement of the transfer of most of UMDNJ to Rutgers University which will revolutionize higher education in that state. You can read more about it here.

Look out for our post next week, where we will announce the launch of our new MCAT Flex Sessions!