3.87cGPA/3.85 sGPA 25 MCAT Good ECs and LORs

[ahawke100]

Hi everyone,

So which DO schools do you think I have a shot at? I feel good about my application except that 6 in verbal on the MCAT. I've really been eyeing PCOM and NYIT-COM, but will go anywhere.

Stats:
MCAT: 25
Breakdown: (9 PS, 6 VR, 10 BS).
22 y/o male Ohio resident
cGPA: 3.87
sGPA: ~ 3.85
Some EC's that come to mind:
-Organic and bio lab TA.
-Leadership role as a peer mentor for the campus Honors Program (includes organizing and leading community service trips)
-Research experience in organic syntheis/currently working on thesis.
-Recipient of organic chem. scholarship/various other academic acknowledgements
-Member of various clubs on campus
-Currently shadowing a DO and will do more after graduation. I hope to get a good LOR from the current DO. I'll have 60+ hours by the time I apply
-LOR from faculty should also be good.
-While I don't have any clinical volunteering aside from shadowing as of yet, I hope to have at least 50 hours by the time I apply. I realize that's not really significant, but I assume it's better than nothing.
-Worked as a lab technician in chemical industry for a little over 1.5 years during undergrad.

I graduate in May with a BS in chemistry. I'll be traveling from July 2015 until December with the Up With People organization and expect to have 2,000+ hours of community service as a result. I will not have started this experience when I go to submit my primaries, but I will still indicate that I'm going to be doing it. I will apply to DO schools at the end of the year to start in 2016.

Let the judging begin.

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[AlteredScale]

Hi everyone,

So which DO schools do you think I have a shot at? I feel good about my application except that 6 in verbal on the MCAT. I've really been eyeing PCOM and NYIT-COM, but will go anywhere.

Stats:
MCAT: 25
Breakdown: (9 PS, 6 VR, 10 BS).
22 y/o male Ohio resident
cGPA: 3.87
sGPA: ~ 3.85
Some EC's that come to mind:
-Organic and bio lab TA.
-Leadership role as a peer mentor for the campus Honors Program.
-Research experience in organic syntheis/currently working on thesis.
-Recipient of organic chem. scholarship/various other academic acknowledgements
-Currently shadowing a DO and will do more after graduation. I hope to get a good LOR from current DO. I'll have 60+ hours by the time I apply
-LOR from faculty should also be good.

I graduate in May with a BS in chemistry. I'll be traveling from July 2015 until December with the Up With People organization, and expect to have 2,000+ hours of community service as I result. I will apply to DO schools at the end the year to start in 2016.

Let the judging begin.

Have you considered Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine?

 

[LittleDavidBigger]

My first MCAT was a 24 (10,6,8) with a 3.9 GPA and I got an interview at LECOM-Erie with that. I also got an auto-reject from KCUMB with those stats so don't bother wasting money there unless you retake. I can only say with confidence that LECOM will probably be interested in you. Other than that I can't offer any other helpful advice. Good luck!

 

[ahawke100]

Have you considered Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine?

Yes! I definitely have interest here, especially since the new Cleveland campus would be right in my backyard-although I've heard the Athens campus is beautiful. I believe my university is starting a partnership with them where incoming students (might just be for public health majors) can get early acceptance and not have to take the MCAT (no fair! haha).
Any ideas on my chances here?

 

[ahawke100]

My first MCAT was a 24 (10,6,8) with a 3.9 GPA and I got an interview at LECOM-Erie with that. I also got an auto-reject from KCUMB with those stats so don't bother wasting money there unless you retake. I can only say with confidence that LECOM will probably be interested in you. Other than that I can't offer any other helpful advice. Good luck!

That's very helpful! The DO I'm currently shadowing went to LECOM-Erie, so that might also be in my favor. I know their website says no scores lower than 7 in any section though and that had me concerned, but it's good to hear about your success with them.

 

[AlteredScale]

My first MCAT was a 24 (10,6,8) with a 3.9 GPA and I got an interview at LECOM-Erie with that. I also got an auto-reject from KCUMB with those stats so don't bother wasting money there unless you retake. I can only say with confidence that LECOM will probably be interested in you. Other than that I can't offer any other helpful advice. Good luck!

Weird. I got rejected from LECOM-B with a 26 (8,6,12) and a 3.6 GPA but am matriculating to KCUMB.

 

[AlteredScale]

Yes! I definitely have interest here, especially since the new Cleveland campus would be right in my backyard-although I've heard the Athens campus is beautiful. I believe my university is starting a partnership with them where incoming students (might just be for public health majors) can get early acceptance and not have to take the MCAT (no fair! haha).
Any ideas on my chances here?

Your chances here are VERY good considering you are an instate applicant. So as long as you stress you want to do primary care and you want to service the Ohio population you'll be golden. If you can, ask some questions on the school-specific thread for OU-HCOM. The new Cleveland campus is absolutely wonderful.

 

[ahawke100]

Your chances here are VERY good considering you are an instate applicant. So as long as you stress you want to do primary care and you want to service the Ohio population you'll be golden. If you can, ask some questions on the school-specific thread for OU-HCOM. The new Cleveland campus is absolutely wonderful.

Thank you so much! This is great to hear! I'll have to go check out their thread.

 

[DO2015CA]

I second the fact that you will have a significant chance at OU-HCOM with those states as long as you stress your drive for pc and you have the desire to stay in Ohio to practice

 

[umfc7181]

While they usually like 8 s in all sections, I would not give up on Pcom especially with your gpa and if you can show you are a strong candidate for the DO program. I know everyone says this but I know plenty of people who are in with 24 s on their MCAT/ below 8 sections.

 

[ahawke100]

While they usually like 8 s in all sections, I would not give up on Pcom especially with your gpa and if you can show you are a strong candidate for the DO program. I know everyone says this but I know plenty of people who are in with 24 s on their MCAT/ below 8 sections.

Thanks for the input! I would be thrilled to go here. I know the rest of the app will have to be spotless, but it's comforting to hear there might still be a shot.

 

[lexierae494]

Thanks for the input! I would be thrilled to go here. I know the rest of the app will have to be spotless, but it's comforting to hear there might still be a shot.

Just something to think about with OU-HCOM is that they super score your mcat. So, they take the highest score you got from each section no matter what attempt that was and add that together. If you have time to retake, that might be an extra incentive and a booster for your application! Also, like others said, I know some schools are very strict about cutting off with scores below 7 (like KCUMB) or 8 in any sections, so just be sure to be on the lookout for throes so you don't waste your time or money!!

Good luck!

 

[ahawke100]

Just something to think about with OU-HCOM is that they super score your mcat. So, they take the highest score you got from each section no matter what attempt that was and add that together. If you have time to retake, that might be an extra incentive and a booster for your application! Also, like others said, I know some schools are very strict about cutting off with scores below 7 (like KCUMB) or 8 in any sections, so just be sure to be on the lookout for throes so you don't waste your time or money!!

Good luck!

Thanks for the advice! I knew I wasn't ready to sit the MCAT when I took it, but I was lucky enough to get a seat on the last day the "old" test was offered. If they weren't changing the format, I would definitely be retaking. I'll have to study for and take the new test if it comes down to it, but with the current timeline I'm working with, that'll be the last resort.

I'll definitely be mindful of schools with those kind of cut-offs when applying though.

 

[67552931811]

You have an awesome GPA, your LizzyM is solid, and your bio section is solid: you'll be fine.

 

[AlteredScale]

I just want to take note here that there are exceptions to the rule when it comes to the "no sub score below 7" at KCU (personal account) but the GPA rule of >3.25 for the sGPA and cGPA seems to be unwavering across the board.

 

[ahawke100]

@Goro and @user3 , I've seen you both give some good advice on these boards. Would either of you mind weighing in on my chances at certain schools? I'd really appreciate it!

 

[Goro]

I suggest the following
OhioCOM
MUCOM
KYCOM
LECOM
ACOM
LMU
WVSOM
Wm Carey
CUSOM
Nova
PCOM-GA
all three VCOMs
AT Still
TUNCOM
I believe PCOM requires an 8 or higher in all categories.

Hi everyone,

So which DO schools do you think I have a shot at? I feel good about my application except that 6 in verbal on the MCAT. I've really been eyeing PCOM and NYIT-COM, but will go anywhere.

Stats:
MCAT: 25
Breakdown: (9 PS, 6 VR, 10 BS).
22 y/o male Ohio resident
cGPA: 3.87
sGPA: ~ 3.85
Some EC's that come to mind:
-Organic and bio lab TA.
-Leadership role as a peer mentor for the campus Honors Program (includes organizing and leading community service trips)
-Research experience in organic syntheis/currently working on thesis.
-Recipient of organic chem. scholarship/various other academic acknowledgements
-Member of various clubs on campus
-Currently shadowing a DO and will do more after graduation. I hope to get a good LOR from the current DO. I'll have 60+ hours by the time I apply
-LOR from faculty should also be good.
-While I don't have any clinical volunteering aside from shadowing as of yet, I hope to have at least 50 hours by the time I apply. I realize that's not really significant, but I assume it's better than nothing.
-Worked as a lab technician in chemical industry for a little over 1.5 years during undergrad.

I graduate in May with a BS in chemistry. I'll be traveling from July 2015 until December with the Up With People organization and expect to have 2,000+ hours of community service as a result. I will not have started this this experience when I go to submit my primaries, but I will still indicate that I'm going to be doing it. I will apply to DO schools at the end the year to start in 2016.

Let the judging begin.

 

[ahawke100]

I suggest the following
OhioCOM
MUCOM
KYCOM
LECOM
ACOM
LMU
WVSOM
Wm Carey
CUSOM
Nova
PCOM-GA
all three VCOMs
AT Still
TUNCOM
I believe PCOM requires an 8 or higher in all categories.

This is much appreciated. Thank you!

 

[ahawke100]

Thanks for the insight everyone. I'll definitely be applying broadly. As for my ECs-I thought they were good until I've started reading more on here; the quantity of my clinical hours should be fine (I'm now expecting ~120 at time of applying in June, and I will continue with this volunteering throughout the year while I'm waiting for interviews), but I just recently started getting this clinical exposure in March. Provided I make a strong case in my PS for medicine, how much of an issue is the timing of these hours?

 

[Doug Underhill]

I think you're a pretty good candidate for a retake, honestly. Do you feel the new MCAT plays to your strengths? The MCAT is bottlenecking a Harvard-quality GPA.

 

[ahawke100]

I'm not really sure if the new MCAT would play to my strengths or not. I haven't looked much into it...the new sections scared me off from waiting to take it in the first place to be honest.
I've been doing some reflecting these past couple weeks though. With my low MCAT and my clinical experience being smashed into the last five months before applying, I'm starting to think I should sit out this cycle and apply in 2016 . I definitely feel I'm capable of doing better on this test if I put the right amount of time and effort into it. With the new one though...I'm not sure what to think.