Graduated a year early. What to Do? New User!

[QueenJames]

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[Temperature101]

Hey Guys and Gals,

I am about to graduate from a UC and start on a post-bac back home at my CC. I was originally a CC transfer as well and I was able to trasnfer a year early. All of my pre-reqs will come from a CC (Bio, Phys, Chem, and O chem). I started off well at the CC with a 3.7 for summer semester, then a 3.7/3.8 in the first semester as well, but then sank down to a 2.5 due to depression regarding a death in the family and burning myself out after taking so many science courses at once.

Transferred to a UC, spent two years here, and had trouble adjusting, not to mention going home often to tend to my family and working on the weekends in the family business. There is A LOT more to this but will be mentioned in my PS. First year was a struggle (which will be explained in my PS). GPA trend went from a 2.6 up to a 3.3 by the end of the first year. Then took O-chem over summer and tanked it back down to a 1.5 at the end of summer session. Started senior year with a 3.2, then 3.4, and then ended with a 3.0 and a 4.0 in summer session.

It's not that I simply could not handle the course work, it was more of the situations that occurred in the family after the passing of one of my parents. Once again, this will all be mentioned in my PS.

Overall, GPA will be around 3.4-3.5 for both cGPA and sGPA after I retake organic chem 1 and 2 back at my CC and take a couple of other classes like microbio, life science, human bio, etc. for my post-bac

As far as MCAT, I have been getting solid scores on MCAT prep, such as 33, and 35.
So, let's just say I end up with a 33-35, what are my chances at a DO school?

ECs include:

DO shadowing- set up during year off
MD Shadowing (Cardiologist)
Family Business Job on weekends
Free Health Clinic volunteering- during year off
Private High School tutor in subjects like AP Comp, AP Bio, and AP Chem. Was done both in Person and also through Skype. Good ol' technology huh??
Research- during year off

Will have LORs from CC Chem, CC Bio, an English Professor, the MD Cardio, and either a DO family practice doc or a DO cardio

Hours are excluded right now because the daily log of activity is in another comp of mine.

Top 4 school choices are TOURO-CALIFORNIA, WESTERN, AZCOM, and TOURO-NEVADA. Will not be applying until next cycle.

What do you think?

If you end up with these GPAs (3.4/3.5), you will need 28+ mcat to be competitive at these schools. 30+ mcat will be icing on the cake.

 

[QueenJames]

Thanks for the advice. BUMP

 

[edgerock24]

Chances look brilliant, especially if you can get that high of an MCAT score (Realistically a 28 or higher would be fine). Don't worry too much about having a down period in regard to your academics. What's more important is that you continued to do well AFTER this rough time. Adcoms will not overlook this.

 

[QueenJames]

.

 

[QueenJames]

BUMPsies.

 

[Temperature101]

I appreciate the kind words. However, I do not want them to feel that I could not handle the rigor of a UC. My CC was just as rigorous in my opinion but I know that all adcoms will not share the same view as mine. It was just that there was always something going on and bad news was just getting thrown left and right. The last 3-4 years have been a rollercoaster.

However, I think MCAT performance can cover that since it is a standardized test. Everyone's performance becomes leveled out with the MCAT in my opinion.

That CC stuff is kind of overblown on SDN... Where I am in FL, there are many CC, which turn into State Colleges now that are far better (classes are more rigorous) than many private universities.

 

[tarheel1408]

I don't have a lot of experience with this, so take my advice with a grain of salt. I know that most schools will accept CC credit for prereqs, but not all (Creighton comes to mind). However, I don't know how they will react to having ALL the prereqs done at a CC. It may not hurt to simply email the admissions departments of the schools to which you intend to apply and ask them if they're okay with it. If they're not, you may just want to do an informal post-bac at a state university and retake a few of them. BUT, that might not be necessary, I just don't know.

 

[edgerock24]

There are no issues with CC credits at DO schools. None. This is only an issue for a select amount of MD schools.

The only problem DO schools will have with CC classes (or any other university courses) is if you take 1 class per semester, without working or volunteering, or doing any other EC's. That would be looked down upon as "too easy" of a courseload.

 

[QueenJames]

..

 

[QueenJames]

Anyone else wanna lend a comment?

 

[QueenJames]

Bump

 

[QueenJames]

any adcoms like LizzyM or Goro wanna contribute? Would appreciate it

 

[hv92]

I think you'll have a solid chance if you get above a 30. My cousin told me those schools were more "MCAT heavy" or favored higher scores. I'ma also have a bunch of CC credits too so i'm kinda in the same boat as you.

 

[LizzyM]

I appreciate the shout-out but I really know nothing about DO admissions aside from needing a DO LOR.