Are the MedChances admissions predictions free?

Yes! We generate your predictions for free.

How does the MedChances algorithm work?

We use crowd-sourced data from thousands of previous medical school applicants to to create proprietary predictive models for each medical school. When you update the status of schools on your school list to "accepted" or "rejected," your data gets anonymized and incorporated into the model in order to improve its accuracy.

What does "application cycle" mean?

"Application cycle" refers to the year you plan to apply to medical school. For example, if you are submitting your applications during the academic year of 2018-2019, your application cycle would be 2018.

Which activities count toward clinical hours?

Time spent shadowing physicians, volunteering in clinics or hospitals, and working as a health care professional (e.g. as a certified nurse assistant, scribe, EMT, etc) count toward your clinical hours.

Why isn't my undergraduate institution listed?

We aim to have every college included in our registration form. If your college isn't listed, please contact us.

Can I enter multiple MCAT scores?

Yes, you may enter multiple MCAT scores by navigating to the MCAT page under the Account tab.

How do I interpret my chances?

The percentages that MedChances outputs under the "my chances" column should be interpreted as probabilities. For example, if a model for a given school gives you a 25% chance, this means that if you were to apply to this school 100 times, you would get in roughly 25 times. We recommend you compare your prediction percentage to the average percentage for that school. If you receive a prediction of 25% and the average probability is 5%, you are five times more likely to be accepted at that school than the average applicant.

What does "average chance" mean?

For each school, we calculate the average probability of acceptance for all users who have applied to that school. If your chances are above the average chance, then you are more likely to get in than the average MedChances applicant for that school.

How do you calculate accuracy?

We use a method called cross-validation to calculate the accuracy of each model. In brief, we use a portion of our data to create the model (i.e. the training data) and evaluate how often if provides the correct prediction for the remaining data (the testing data). If a model has 90% accuracy, then it provided the correct admissions predictions for the testing data 90% of the time.

How can I improve my chances?

While there is no single answer to that question, one way you can improve your chances by applying to additional schools. We are also currently developing a tool that will calculate your total probability of being accepted to at least one medical school, so that you can identify the right number of schools to apply to.

Additionally, strong personal statements and secondary essays can improve your application. Check out our essay review service if you would like to receive feedback from us!