497 MCAT, 3.8 cGPA, 3.72 sGPA. Continue DO apps?

[adamg26]

I have research, leadership, and service positions, also I work in a hospital as a nurse aid.

I am an undergrad, and just received my MCAT score 7/31 and was quite disappointed.
Thoughts?

MCAT:

BS 126
PS 124
CARS 124
SS 123

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[BurntFlower]

I have research, leadership, and service positions, also I work in a hospital as a nurse aid.

I am an undergrad, and just received my MCAT score 7/31 and was quite disappointed.
Thoughts?

Are you URM? Disadvantaged? What's your GPA? Apply to the newer DO schools (like ICOM), WVSOM, LMU-DCOM, Marian, ACOM, and BCOM.

 

[adamg26]

I am from KY, and underserved county in Kentucky. Applied to UP-KYCOM. I'm not disadvantaged. GPA is 3.8 cGPA and 3.72 sGPA.

Thank you

 

[Goro]

I have research, leadership, and service positions, also I work in a hospital as a nurse aid.

I am an undergrad, and just received my MCAT score 7/31 and was quite disappointed.
Thoughts?

Retake and then apply. Fix your deficits first.

Do NOT retake until 100% ready​

 

[adamg26]

I will take the advice for now and apply to the newer schools.

If it doesn't work, then I'll take the gap year and retake. If I can possibly avoid a year off, I'd like to

 

[gensurghopeful]

Are you URM? Disadvantaged? What's your GPA? Apply to the newer DO schools (like ICOM), WVSOM, LMU-DCOM, Marian, ACOM, and BCOM.

Include ARCOM in this list - buddy of mine just got interview invite to ARCOM with a 495 MCAT and 3.6 ugGPA

That being said, retake MCAT if you want better than a slim chance of getting into med school

 

[sab3156]

Retake MCAT. If you do well, you are more than able to apply MD. A 497 means you either are horrible at taking standardized exams, or you just didn't prepare. If you didn't prepare, then study hard this time and do well. Don't post in the DO forum again unless your retake is not good.

 

[Angus Avagadro]

Consider applying to a Post Bac program. Some schools are priced such that 1 yr of Post Bac and 4 years of med school is less than 4 yrs at other med schools. I believe LECOM is priced like that. As a residency applicant, no one cares if you did Post Bac if you have competitive Step 1 scores and other qualities to be a competitive applicant, like research and class rank. It is better than bombing Step 1 and retaking it, which is red flag to residencies. Remember, the MCAT is designed to correlate with how you perform on Step 1.

 

[MedicineN'Jazz]

I am from KY, and URM county in Kentucky. Applied to UP-KYCOM. I'm not disadvantaged. GPA is 3.8 cGPA and 3.72 sGPA.

Thank you

URM county in kentucky?

 

[adamg26]

URM county in kentucky?

oops, I thought that meant underserved. Nope I'm not an underrepresented minority.

 

[MedicineN'Jazz]

oops, I thought that meant underserved. Nope I'm not an underrepresented minority.

Yeah, I agree with angus then. A 1 year post bacc would do you well. Make sure you look at linkages, to that specific medical school. LECOM, UIW, PCOM, RVU off the top of my hat have great ones. There’s undoubtedly more though

 

[gensurghopeful]

Consider applying to a Post Bac program. Some schools are priced such that 1 yr of Post Bac and 4 years of med school is less than 4 yrs at other med schools. I believe LECOM is priced like that. As a residency applicant, no one cares if you did Post Bac if you have competitive Step 1 scores and other qualities to be a competitive applicant, like research and class rank. It is better than bombing Step 1 and retaking it, which is red flag to residencies. Remember, the MCAT is designed to correlate with how you perform on Step 1.

Nah - preclinical GPA is

 

[gensurghopeful]

Yeah, I agree with angus then. A 1 year post bacc would do you well. Make sure you look at linkages, to that specific medical school. LECOM, UIW, PCOM, RVU off the top of my hat have great ones. There’s undoubtedly more though

VCOM and WVSOM have direct linkages, whereas these others mentioned only promise interview with criteria and benchmarks met

 

[Angus Avagadro]

Nah - preclinical GPA is

I have found pre clinical GPA to be a poor indicator of Comlex/Usmle performance. College grade inflation is rampant. How can you have nearly an A average, (3.8) and score 497, which is around the 40%-tile? Actually trying to get school stats on that. But really, if you look into MCAT, you will find it is designed to correlate with Step 1 scores. In all cases? No. But, people with 516 on their MCAT will score well on step 1 in almost all cases. Post Bac is a great option for people with good sGPA's and low MCAT's. I recommend it often. Better to hit the ground running after successful Post BAC and getting good Step1 scores than scraping by your first year and getting low/fail Step 1, a big red flag for residencies

 

[Angus Avagadro]

Temple has a very good Post Bac program if allopathic is your choice

 

[sunshinefl]

I have found pre clinical GPA to be a poor indicator of Comlex/Usmle performance. College grade inflation is rampant. How can you have nearly an A average, (3.8) and score 497, which is around the 40%-tile? Actually trying to get school stats on that. But really, if you look into MCAT, you will find it is designed to correlate with Step 1 scores. In all cases? No. But, people with 516 on their MCAT will score well on step 1 in almost all cases. Post Bac is a great option for people with good sGPA's and low MCAT's. I recommend it often. Better to hit the ground running after successful Post BAC and getting good Step1 scores than scraping by your first year and getting low/fail Step 1, a big red flag for residencies

I have no opinion on what correlates best with Step 1/Comlex 1, but “preclinical GPA” refers to M1 and M2 year of Medical school (or 18 months or however long the didactic portion before rotations), not undergrad GPA.

 

[Cryc_to_the_point]

I'm from KY as well. My cGPA was lower than yours and my MCAT was only slightly higher.

Apply LMU-DCOM for sure. I was also interviewed at ACOM and PNWU. I turned down ACOM. KYCOM never sent a rejection or acceptance letter to me (only school out of 20 to do so. I'm less than impressed by them).

 

[gensurghopeful]

I have found pre clinical GPA to be a poor indicator of Comlex/Usmle performance. College grade inflation is rampant. How can you have nearly an A average, (3.8) and score 497, which is around the 40%-tile? Actually trying to get school stats on that. But really, if you look into MCAT, you will find it is designed to correlate with Step 1 scores. In all cases? No. But, people with 516 on their MCAT will score well on step 1 in almost all cases. Post Bac is a great option for people with good sGPA's and low MCAT's. I recommend it often. Better to hit the ground running after successful Post BAC and getting good Step1 scores than scraping by your first year and getting low/fail Step 1, a big red flag for residencies

Pre-clinical GPA as in first 2 years of medical school GPA.

I myself attended a post-bacc last year becuase of low MCAT score, and am now at VCOM-SC.
100% agree with the second half of this post.

 

[DrStephenStrange]

I will take the advice for now and apply to the newer schools.

If it doesn't work, then I'll take the gap year and retake. If I can possibly avoid a year off, I'd like to

ACOM, ARCOM, LMU-DCOM, PCOM-GA, ICOM, BCOM, Touro-nevada, PNWU-COM, UIWSOM, VCOM-carolinas.

Wouldn't recommend WCU-COM for reasons you can easily find using the SDN search button, but it's still an option if you wanna take the risk.

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[SergeantBuzzKill]

I have found pre clinical GPA to be a poor indicator of Comlex/Usmle performance. College grade inflation is rampant. How can you have nearly an A average, (3.8) and score 497, which is around the 40%-tile? Actually trying to get school stats on that. But really, if you look into MCAT, you will find it is designed to correlate with Step 1 scores. In all cases? No. But, people with 516 on their MCAT will score well on step 1 in almost all cases. Post Bac is a great option for people with good sGPA's and low MCAT's. I recommend it often. Better to hit the ground running after successful Post BAC and getting good Step1 scores than scraping by your first year and getting low/fail Step 1, a big red flag for residencies

I think gensurghopeful was referring to the preclinical GPA in medical school (MS1+MS2) which absolutely is a reliable predictor of your step 1 score.

 

[gensurghopeful]

OP - add all 3 VCOM's, as they prefer higher GPA's and lower MCAT's due to reasons I mentioned in this thread

 

[Angus Avagadro]

Pre-clinical GPA as in first 2 years of medical school GPA.

I myself attended a post-bacc last year becuase of low MCAT score, and am now at VCOM-SC.
100% agree with the second half of this post.

Quite right, I misspoke. If you read my post I was referring to college GPA, but used the term pre-clinical. Thank you for pointing that out and allowing me to clarify. What I was trying to point out was students with very low MCAT's should consider a post bac year instead of charging ahead with med school. It provides more options. Thanks to all for polite and insightful comments

 

[MedicineN'Jazz]

VCOM and WVSOM have direct linkages, whereas these others mentioned only promise interview with criteria and benchmarks met

Sometimes the best linkages are the ones that don’t outright proclaim it. I personally know individuals from each and every one of those post baccs that I named. They all matriculated into the respective medical schools

 

[adamg26]

I've sent new apps to ICOM, WVSOM, LMU-DCOM, Marian, ACOM, and BCOM.
Adding the other 3 VCOM

 

[DrStephenStrange]

I've sent new apps to ICOM, WVSOM, LMU-DCOM, Marian, ACOM, and BCOM.
Adding the other 3 VCOM

WVSOM is probably a reach. Add ARCOM though, they are a pretty good school. Well that might be bias though because that's where I'm attending right now lol.

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[femmegoblue]

This OP definitely does not need a post-bacc, they need 2-3 months of solid MCAT studying, a year to do some sort of altruistic job, and a re-app nice and early next cycle.

Just because those newer DO schools accept people with sub-500 doesn't mean someone with those scores should apply and start medical school with that rocky foundation. OP, unless that was you giving it your all, retake the MCAT and re-apply. Living in Appalachia and an underserved community will be a great experience to have in your back pocket for applications in the future, especially with MD/DO schools who specifically focus on rural and underserved medicine. It would be a shame to waste that nice undergrad GPA.

Also, I know taking a year off may sound terrible to you right now, but 2-3 years from now you'll be glad you did it, imo.

 

[MedicineN'Jazz]

This OP definitely does not need a post-bacc, they need 2-3 months of solid MCAT studying, a year to do some sort of altruistic job, and a re-app nice and early next cycle.

Just because those newer DO schools accept people with sub-500 doesn't mean someone with those scores should apply and start medical school with that rocky foundation. OP, unless that was you giving it your all, retake the MCAT and re-apply. Living in Appalachia and an underserved community will be a great experience to have in your back pocket for applications in the future, especially with MD/DO schools who specifically focus on rural and underserved medicine. It would be a shame to waste that nice undergrad GPA.

Also, I know taking a year off may sound terrible to you right now, but 2-3 years from now you'll be glad you did it, imo.

Or.....they can do a one year postbacc and matriculate to medical school within a year (like with LECOM)

 

[femmegoblue]

Or.....they can do a one year postbacc and matriculate to medical school within a year (like with LECOM)

I just don't think someone like this needs a post-bacc with a strong GPA. An MCAT retake would open many more doors for them, but that's just my humble opinion.

 

[ChiDr]

Serious, perhaps obvious, question regarding score differences.

If admissions is looking at MCAT scores and they see,
496 v 500 or
500 v 505

Are these very big differences in the strength of a DO application?

 

[toedrag]

Serious, perhaps obvious, question regarding score differences.

If admissions is looking at MCAT scores and they see,
496 v 500 or
500 v 505

Are these very big differences in the strength of a DO application?

Depends on the school. Generally speaking, newer DO schools can accept sub 500 if the rest of the application is strong. Breaking the 500 barrier is important, but a 505+ is looking great for 90% of DO schools. The difference between a 500 and 505 is significant.

 

[gensurghopeful]

I've sent new apps to ICOM, WVSOM, LMU-DCOM, Marian, ACOM, and BCOM.
Adding the other 3 VCOM

Only if you have strong GPA, should you add VCOM schools

 

[ChiDr]

Only if you have strong GPA, should you add VCOM schools

Are the Touro schools on par with VCOM?

 

[gensurghopeful]

Are the Touro schools on par with VCOM?

In what terms?

 

[ChiDr]

In what terms?

Average standards? For example you mentioned VCOM prefers high GPA.

What do the Tuoro schools prefer? Are they primarly for in-state applicants? Are some more accepting than others in terms of GPA or MCAT?

If you had an average MCAT of ~500 vs 505, would it make sense to apply to Touro? I ask because I don’t see them listed in above posts.

 

[gensurghopeful]

Average standards? For example you mentioned VCOM prefers high GPA.

What do the Tuoro schools prefer? Are they primarly for in-state applicants? Are some more accepting than others in terms of GPA or MCAT?

If you had an average MCAT of ~500 vs 505 to would it make sense to apply to Touro? I ask because I don’t see them listed in above posts.

Touro schools are good, but NY branch has had some negative news lately. I have a friend who goes to Touro-NV, and he's from Detroit, MI.

Not sure about what they prefer. VCOM is especially known to favor GPA. I believe Touro is more balanced.

An MCAT of 500 will be a strain to get into any DO school. A score of 505 and you should be able to get into many DO schools.

 

[SergeantBuzzKill]

Average standards? For example you mentioned VCOM prefers high GPA.

What do the Tuoro schools prefer? Are they primarly for in-state applicants? Are some more accepting than others in terms of GPA or MCAT?

If you had an average MCAT of ~500 vs 505 to would it make sense to apply to Touro? I ask because I don’t see them listed in above posts.

Touro-CA prefers high MCATs

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

Are you URM? Disadvantaged? What's your GPA? Apply to the newer DO schools (like ICOM), WVSOM, LMU-DCOM, Marian, ACOM, and BCOM.

Marian when it began acted like a bunch of entitled elitists. Did they finally come down to reality? Are they really accepting sub-500?

 

[baseballfan46]

Touro schools are good, but NY branch has had some negative news lately. I have a friend who goes to Touro-NV, and he's from Detroit, MI.

Not sure about what they prefer. VCOM is especially known to favor GPA. I believe Touro is more balanced.

An MCAT of 500 will be a strain to get into any DO school. A score of 505 and you should be able to get into many DO schools.

is 500 still considered a strain if you are URM?

 

[ChiDr]

Marian when it began acted like a bunch of entitled elitists. Did they finally come down to reality? Are they really accepting sub-500?

I hope they did, I would love to attend.

 

[gensurghopeful]

is 500 still considered a strain if you are URM?

Not likely with a broad app

 

[DPTinthemaking15]

I know of a student that was accepted last year with a 484 MCAT. So I assume anything is possible with the right application, but many others are hitting the nail on the head with what you should do.

 

[Magus5454]

I know of a student that was accepted last year with a 484 MCAT. So I assume anything is possible with the right application, but many others are hitting the nail on the head with what you should do.

*boggles at that*

 

[Isoval]

I know of a student that was accepted last year with a 484 MCAT. So I assume anything is possible with the right application, but many others are hitting the nail on the head with what you should do.

Why haven't I heard of their cure for cancer?

 

[DPTinthemaking15]

Why haven't I heard of their cure for cancer?

I thought it was a lie, but it was an Adcom member telling the story. Maybe they were the deans son/daughter AND found the cure for cancer? We will never know lol.

 

[ChiDr]

Your honor. I object, hearsay.

 

[Angus Avagadro]

505 is about the average for established DO schools, still not an impressive score, but you will certainly be in the hunt if your other aspects are strong

 

[DarkHorizon]

You're not even 50th percentile on the MCAT. You have a good GPA, I would retake the MCAT. You owe it to yourself. Don't go to some lowly new DO school with no track record. Don't sell yourself short.

 

[adamg26]

Update:

First II from UP-KYCOM. This was my target school, so we'll see how the interview goes.

 

[DPTinthemaking15]

Update:

First II from UP-KYCOM. This was my target school, so we'll see how the interview goes.

Good luck, OP. You got this.

 

[deleted936442]

Op i personally know someone who got into Howard this year with your stats. Apply broadly and don’t give up.