DO Advice

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Now i was initally working on getting into MD but that doesnt seem to be happening with my mcat scores. unfortunately iv been focusing on md school so much that i dont have much experience in the DO field so im wondering what you think my chances are at do school

First mcat take : (PS 9/ VR 5/ BS 9) 23 R (ouch)
Second mcat take (PS 7/ VR 7/ BS 11) 25 Q (happy with bio

iv been a volunteer tutor for about six hours a week on and off for the past 2 years.
i have about 30 hours of shadowing experience (weak i know)
no volunteering experience (ouch)
100+ hours (one semester) in a genetics research lab
first 3 years of college i was an assistant manager at blockbuster so a lot of leadership experience and the last 4 years iv been working 25-30 hours a week at best buy so i have consistent job experience throughout school

sGPA according to aacomas : 3.42
cGPA according to aacomas : 3.52

im retaking the mcat in september but im hesitant to put that down on my application because i wont get a shot at an interview until late october and i dont want to apply that late being that most schools work on rolling admissions. im also concerned because most schools recommend a committee letter or 2 LOR from science professors and one from a DO. im working on a letter of recommendation from a DO right now because as i said before i had planned on applying MD and got an MD letter accordingly. my 30 hours of shadowing experience are mostly with MDs, will that hurt me? i also dont want to get the committe letter just in case i do well enough on my mcat in september to be able to consider applying MD next year as well and being that they look at the MCAT scores for my committee letter i dont want to try applying MD with a letter that reflects a 25 mcat score if in fact i do get 30+ in september but i dont want to wait till october to get a committee letter because once again that would put my application behind.

how strict are most schools on the whole committee letter thing? do you think the letters i have now would be acceptable for my DO application, if in fact you think i have a shot at DO at all

Anyone?

Why don't you take 5 minutes to call schools and ask about the committee letter because they will know better than anyone on sdn


FIU Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine '16
Sent from my iPhone using SDN Mobile app

Originally Posted by Ironmandoc

Why don't you take 5 minutes to call schools and ask about the committee letter because they will know better than anyone on sdn


FIU Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine '16
Sent from my iPhone using SDN Mobile app

Because my question is not limited to the committee letter. I'm asking for opinions. I thought this was what the thread was for.

You should be fine for DO. MCAT and GPA are both very solid.

I agree with the above poster. You are good for DO. No need to retake the MCAT IMO if you are applying to DO.

For DO, I would not retake the MCAT. You will get in somewhere, although not necessarily your first choice.

Normally, you need 2 science + 1 non-science to compensate for a committee letter.

Nobody will see your MD shadowing hours negatively. It can only be seen positively. If you were saying shadowing DO v. MD, of course the DO shadowing is better, but MD vs no shadowing, MD wins out.