MD & DO Advice/Opinions - 3.7 GPA

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This is my first time posting here, but since I have decided to go pre-med I have been looking through the forums finding out some interesting stuff. I just wanted some outside advice/opinions to know for sure if I am cut out for this. Any help at all would be greatly appreciated.

I understand the dedication that medical school requires, and I am pretty confident that I will be able to motivate myself to get through it. I am not extraordinarily bright (scored somewhere between 1200 and 1300 on my SATs) , but I think that I will be able to just study hard and put in the time to make up for it.

I just completed my freshman year of college at a small school in Boston, and I will be attending BU next year as a transfer. My current GPA is a 3.7, but I was undecided about my major so I only took gen ed requirements my first year. I am concerned that with a more intense workload with Organic Chemistry and more difficult classes like that, my GPA might slip to somewhere around a 3.5. I was an intern at Harvard Medical School this year, and I plan on attempting to get as many internships and other beneficial opportunities as I can. I just was curious as to how competitive medical schools truly are. If I am able to maintain somewhere between a 3.5 or 3.7 and have some good extra curriculars on my resume, what score should I be aiming for on my MCAT? Somewhere around a 30?

I am not necessarily looking to go to a top tier school, I don't think that I am intelligent enough for that. (I will be applying to Harvard Med for the hell of it since I currently work there) But what do you think my chances will be at MD schools? And I have done research, but it would help if someone could put it in black and white for me, what is the difference between MD and DO schools, why are DO schools so much easier to get accepted into?

Originally Posted by JPSmyth

This is my first time posting here, but since I have decided to go pre-med I have been looking through the forums finding out some interesting stuff. I just wanted some outside advice/opinions to know for sure if I am cut out for this. Any help at all would be greatly appreciated.

I understand the dedication that medical school requires, and I am pretty confident that I will be able to motivate myself to get through it. I am not extraordinarily bright (scored somewhere between 1200 and 1300 on my SATs) , but I think that I will be able to just study hard and put in the time to make up for it.

I just completed my freshman year of college at a small school in Boston, and I will be attending BU next year as a transfer. My current GPA is a 3.7, but I was undecided about my major so I only took gen ed requirements my first year. I am concerned that with a more intense workload with Organic Chemistry and more difficult classes like that, my GPA might slip to somewhere around a 3.5. I was an intern at Harvard Medical School this year, and I plan on attempting to get as many internships and other beneficial opportunities as I can. I just was curious as to how competitive medical schools truly are. If I am able to maintain somewhere between a 3.5 or 3.7 and have some good extra curriculars on my resume, what score should I be aiming for on my MCAT? Somewhere around a 30?

I am not necessarily looking to go to a top tier school, I don't think that I am intelligent enough for that. (I will be applying to Harvard Med for the hell of it since I currently work there) But what do you think my chances will be at MD schools? And I have done research, but it would help if someone could put it in black and white for me, what is the difference between MD and DO schools, why are DO schools so much easier to get accepted into?

You are so far away from applying, no advice anyone here can give you will actually be useful. The average matriculant GPA is 3.67 and the average MCAT is 31 I believe. There are tables available at the top of the page if you want to see historic statistics by MCAT and GPA, both overall and by race. How much these numbers will change by the time you apply is anyone's guess.

Keep your GPA where it is, or even higher if possible. Put EC's a distant second to your GPA; no matter how important someone says EC's are, it is MUCH MUCH easier to make up for a lack of EC's than for a mediocre GPA.

There are a ton of MD vs DO threads in the pre-DO and the pre-MD forums, but basically you learn everything in DO school you learn in MD school, but DOs also learn osteopathic manipulation. There are both MDs and DOs in every specialty there is, but some specialties are more difficult to get into as a DO than as an MD. No MD is accepted into a DO residency, and some MD residencies don't accept DOs. Real-world practice as a doctor in private practice, there is no difference between MDs and DOs, but in academic medicine, MDs have an advantage. DOs have a perceived stigma, more prevalent in some parts of the country than others, and highly magnified on these forums, which is why the DO seats are less competitive than MD seats. An US MD degree is also recognized much more widely throughout the world than the DO degree, which is important to some people.

Bottom line, do whatever you can to keep your grades as high as they currently are, if not higher, and you keep as many doors open as possible for yourself. The lower your grades and MCAT, the fewer options you will have.

Sounds good, I'll be sure to just try to keep up my GPA, and study hard for the MCAT when the times comes. Thanks!

Also, I wanted to ask one more thing. I have had my fair share of injuries (dislocated hip, broken wrists, and a good amount of stitches), and I have come to not really like blood and traumatic events. I was watching gross anatomy dissection videos, and I think that I will be fine with that (aside from the smell that everyone talks about), but I am concerned about surgery rotations. I don't want to let this fear screw me over in med school. I've read tips to eat well beforehand, don't lock your knees, etc., but has anybody else gone into medical school with this fear? any advice for it?

nothing?