Chance me please! cGPA: 3.52 sGPA: 3.35, bad mcat

[jacquean]

Hi, I’m wondering what my chances are for both MD/DO. I was a female asian pre-med anthropology major at a mid tier UC and I am a CA resident (trad applicant). My stats vary from AAMC to AACOMAS due to a few retakes.

AAMC: cGPA 3.53, sGPA: 3.25 vs AACOMAS: cGPA: 3.52, sGPA: 3.35

I’m currently finishing up my last quarter at a post-bacc which will hopefully bump up my GPAs to 3.5x, 3.3-3.4x. So far I received 2 A’s, 2 A-s, and 1 C+(first quarter at post bacc, tough class) in my 2 quarters there. Will this hinder my chances? I’m hoping to end up with 3 more A’s by the end of this quarter so my post bacc gpa would be 3.7X, essentially an upward trend besides that single first quarter grade.

ECs:
-Part time job as barista ( 7 mo)
-part time Hostess ( 5 mo)
-Part time job as front desk assistant in English dept (8 mo)

-Lab assistant for biochem department (10 mo)
-Research assistant for UC School of Med w/ an abstract presented at conference but not 1st author (2 yrs)
-Anthro Senior honors thesis on Epigenetics w/ poster presentation at undergrad symposium
-University Anthro Honors program graduate
-Lamda Kappa Alpha Anthro International Honors society
-Research associate for a non-profit eye cancer foundation (7 mo-present)

-Free clinic medical assistant volunteer (2 yrs)
-Hospital volunteer (10 mo)

-Head of marketing/fundraising for car club (founded that position, raised the most money for community car show in its 8 yrs)
-volunteer for women’s shelter (1mo-present)

-*no shadowing yet, but have 2(1 MD, 1 DO) in place for July so far

MCAT 2015: Lethal I know, but will retake this June.
Phys/chem 28-43%
CARS 40-55% (I got 80-90s% during practice though!! Disappointed)
Biochem: 43-58%
Psych: 44-59%

LORs: 6 total
1 non-science prof
1 science prof
1 DO letter (didn’t shadow him though)
1 PI (MD/PhD, did research for credits)
1 PI (PhD, worked for his lab)
1 committee letter from post-bacc

Applying to:
Both Westerns
All Touros
RVCOM
NOVA
PCOM
CCOM
MSUCOM
NYIT
PNW
VCOM
WVCOM

Should I apply to more? What about any lower tier MD schools if I get a certain MCAT? Thank you for reading!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Vain Brother]

i'd forget MD unless you can somehow get a 90th percentile on your retake. assuming you improve to >50th percentile, i'd say you're good to go for DO

 

[jacquean]

i'd forget MD unless you can somehow get a 90th percentile on your retake. assuming you improve to >50th percentile, i'd say you're good to go for DO

Thanks Vain Brother. I figured it had to be over 50%, but even so would you say I'm competitive for the DO schools I listed? Since a 50% equates to about a 25...

 

[Vain Brother]

@Goro can give you a better idea of that

 

[Goro]

I would not bother with any MD schools if you're at the equivalent of a 25-26. Scratch MSU, for they have a regional bias. Add MUCOM, AT Still, SOMA, PacNW and perhaps AZCOM.

Applying to:
Both Westerns
All Touros
RVCOM
NOVA
PCOM
CCOM
MSUCOM
NYIT
PNW
VCOM
WVCOM

Should I apply to more? What about any lower tier MD schools if I get a certain MCAT? Thank you for reading![/QUOTE]

 

[jacquean]

@Goro thank you for your response! do you think I should retake my MCAT with my prelim percentiles? or just stick with it?? Thank you again!

I would not bother with any MD schools if you're at the equivalent of a 25-26. Scratch MSU, for they have a regional bias. Add MUCOM, AT Still, SOMA, PacNW and perhaps AZCOM.

Applying to:
Both Westerns
All Touros
RVCOM
NOVA
PCOM
CCOM
MSUCOM
NYIT
PNW
VCOM
WVCOM

Should I apply to more? What about any lower tier MD schools if I get a certain MCAT? Thank you for reading!

[/QUOTE]

 

[Goro]

I can't recommend any retake until you're fully ready.

 

[jacquean]

@Goro just to clarify, is my current prelim mcat score of 38-48% still solid enough for the schools that you recommended? Or would I still have a hard time getting into those?And if I did want to try for lower tier MD with my GPA, what MCAT would be good enough with my GPA? thank you again!

 

[Goro]

A 38-48% is in a danger zone. Low MCAT scores are a risk factor for failing out of med school or failing boards. I'd throw out the Touros CCOM, and Western, but add ACOM, all three VCOMs, LMU, Wm Carey, maybe CUSOM and PCOM-GA.

For MD schools you'll need 80%ile or higher (equivalent of a 30) and then aim only for schools that don't average scores.

@Goro just to clarify, is my current prelim mcat score of 38-48% still solid enough for the schools that you recommended? Or would I still have a hard time getting into those?And if I did want to try for lower tier MD with my GPA, what MCAT would be good enough with my GPA? thank you again!

 

[jacquean]

@Goro I unfortunately received a score of 495 (123 for chem/phys and 124 for the rest) and am hoping you could shed some light on my situation now. I'm hoping to sign up for an early August date, but would you recommend me applying to a "throw-away" school now to get verified? Or should I apply to all of the schools as listed above since waiting for my August score to submit would be late. My main concern is being auto-screened vs applying too late. My cGPA is now 3.54 and sGPA 3.41. Thank you so so much for your advice!

 

[Goro]

Not good. Not good at all.

My real worry is how can you improve significantly in the next exam? But taking the exam even as late as Oct will not significantly make you late for DO schools. Your chances at MD schools as of right now are zero.

IF you plan on, say a Sept taking, then yes, apply to one throw away school, and then apply to the rest of your desired schools once you have your score, which hopefully will improve.

@Goro I unfortunately received a score of 495 (123 for chem/phys and 124 for the rest) and am hoping you could shed some light on my situation now. I'm hoping to sign up for an early August date, but would you recommend me applying to a "throw-away" school now to get verified? Or should I apply to all of the schools as listed above since waiting for my August score to submit would be late. My main concern is being auto-screened vs applying too late. My cGPA is now 3.54 and sGPA 3.41. Thank you so so much for your advice!