MD & DO Lower than expected MCAT - MD/DO

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MrBen14

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Hi everyone,

I feel like Ive been reading these for months, so heres my shot.

cGPA: 4.0

MCAT: 9/8/10 (27) :(


Shadowing: Emergency department - 35 hours
Surgery Center - 16 hours
Cardiologist - 8 hours
Home care Physician - 8 hours

Research: 2.5 years of researching. I have two publications, one of which I was first author on.
Gave many different presentations, one national award.
Went on a research trip to China.

Nonclinical Volunteering: average.

Employment: been working as a medical scribe for about 4 months

Extracurriculars/miscellaneous : President of the Biology Honors Society x 2 years.
I was a resident assistant (RA) on campus for three years (this was a big time commitment)
I was also a TA for the freshman Biology lab.

I need help compiling a list of schools to apply, I want to apply very early

Am I out of contention for MD programs considering my ECs, research, gpa?

I appreciate all feed back.

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Hi everyone,

I feel like Ive been reading these for months, so heres my shot.

cGPA: 4.0

MCAT: 9/8/10 (27) :(


Shadowing: Emergency department - 35 hours
Surgery Center - 16 hours
Cardiologist - 8 hours
Home care Physician - 8 hours

Research: 2.5 years of researching. I have two publications, one of which I was first author on.
Gave many different presentations, one national award.
Went on a research trip to China.

Nonclinical Volunteering: average.

Employment: been working as a medical scribe for about 4 months

Extracurriculars/miscellaneous : President of the Biology Honors Society x 2 years.
I was a resident assistant (RA) on campus for three years (this was a big time commitment)
I was also a TA for the freshman Biology lab.

I need help compiling a list of schools to apply, I want to apply very early

Am I out of contention for MD programs considering my ECs, research, gpa?

I appreciate all feed back.
How do you feel about the MCAT day?? Did you finish the sections? A real divergence between GPA and MCAT. I think the MCAT will hold you back at MD schools. Are you willing to go DO. THe rest of your ECs look okay, but not enough to overcome the MCAT. Are you still in school?? The average matriculation age is 24, so you are competing against folks with a lot more "life experience" I personally wouldn't settle for the 27 if there were a way to retake it.
 
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What state are you from? You are good for most, if not all, DO schools. Depending on what state you're from, you would have a chance of getting into a MD.
 
Hi everyone,

I feel like Ive been reading these for months, so heres my shot.

cGPA: 4.0

MCAT: 9/8/10 (27) :(


Shadowing: Emergency department - 35 hours
Surgery Center - 16 hours
Cardiologist - 8 hours
Home care Physician - 8 hours

Research: 2.5 years of researching. I have two publications, one of which I was first author on.
Gave many different presentations, one national award.
Went on a research trip to China.

Nonclinical Volunteering: average.

Employment: been working as a medical scribe for about 4 months

Extracurriculars/miscellaneous : President of the Biology Honors Society x 2 years.
I was a resident assistant (RA) on campus for three years (this was a big time commitment)
I was also a TA for the freshman Biology lab.

I need help compiling a list of schools to apply, I want to apply very early

Am I out of contention for MD programs considering my ECs, research, gpa?

I appreciate all feed back.
Do you come from a state with a lenient MD med school?

Do you have any active clinical experience, like maybe through the research gig, aside from the 4 months of scribing?
 
How do you feel about the MCAT day?? Did you finish the sections? A real divergence between GPA and MCAT. I think the MCAT will hold you back at MD schools. Are you willing to go DO. THe rest of your ECs look okay, but not enough to overcome the MCAT. Are you still in school?? The average matriculation age is 24, so you are competing against folks with a lot more "life experience" I personally wouldn't settle for the 27 if there were a way to retake it.

MCAT day was alright, I just usually have test anxiety. I am willing to go DO. I graduated in May! Just trying to boost my application now. The thing about retaking the MCAT is that it will be the new one, which means I will have to prepare for a different test and do it soon.

What state are you from? You are good for most, if not all, DO schools. Depending on what state you're from, you would have a chance of getting into a MD.

I am from Chicago Illinois!

Do you come from a state with a lenient MD med school?

Do you have any active clinical experience, like maybe through the research gig, aside from the 4 months of scribing?

Im not sure if Illinois has lenient MD med schools? Clinical experience is limited to the scribing unfortunately and the shadowing. I knew this was a weak area of my app, thats why I began scribing after I got back from China.
 
MCAT day was alright, I just usually have test anxiety. I am willing to go DO. I graduated in May! Just trying to boost my application now. The thing about retaking the MCAT is that it will be the new one, which means I will have to prepare for a different test and do it soon.



I am from Chicago Illinois!



Im not sure if Illinois has lenient MD med schools? Clinical experience is limited to the scribing unfortunately and the shadowing. I knew this was a weak area of my app, thats why I began scribing after I got back from China.
still think you need to bite the bullet and retake the MCAT. Sorry, best wishes to you.
 
Unimpressive ECs and a MCAT score that's circling the drain make me say forget about medical school for now.
And seriously, those are NOT the ECs of a person who dearly wants to be a physician. It is the application of someone who wants to be a doctor as long as it is convenient.

No patient contact experience?

Here's the deal: You need to show AdComs that you know what you're getting into, and show off your altruistic, humanism side. We need to know that you're going to like being around sick or injured people for the next 40 years.

Here's another way of looking at it: would you buy a new car without test driving it? Buy a new suit or dress without trying it on??

We're also not looking for merely for good medical students, we're looking for people who will make good doctors, and 4.0 GPA robots are a dime-a-dozen.
I've seen plenty of posts here from high GPA/high MCAT candidates who were rejected because they had little patient contact experience.

Not all volunteering needs to be in a hospital. Think hospice, Planned Parenthood, nursing homes, rehab facilities, crisis hotlines, camps for sick children, or clinics. Check out your local houses of worship for volunteer opportunities.

Service need not be "unique". If you can alleviate suffering in your community through service to the poor, homeless, illiterate, fatherless, etc, you are meeting an otherwise unmet need and learning more about the lives of the people (or types of people) who will someday be your patients.
Examples include: Habitat for Humanity, Humane Society, crisis hotlines, soup kitchen, food pantry, homeless or women’s shelter, after-school tutoring for students or coaching a sport in a poor school district, teaching ESL to adults at a community center, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, or Meals on Wheels.


Hi everyone,

I feel like Ive been reading these for months, so heres my shot.

cGPA: 4.0

MCAT: 9/8/10 (27) :(


Shadowing: Emergency department - 35 hours
Surgery Center - 16 hours
Cardiologist - 8 hours
Home care Physician - 8 hours

Research: 2.5 years of researching. I have two publications, one of which I was first author on.
Gave many different presentations, one national award.
Went on a research trip to China.

Nonclinical Volunteering: average.

Employment: been working as a medical scribe for about 4 months

Extracurriculars/miscellaneous : President of the Biology Honors Society x 2 years.
I was a resident assistant (RA) on campus for three years (this was a big time commitment)
I was also a TA for the freshman Biology lab.

I need help compiling a list of schools to apply, I want to apply very early

Am I out of contention for MD programs considering my ECs, research, gpa?

I appreciate all feed back.
 
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Unimpressive ECs and a MCAT score that's circling the drain make me say forget about medical school for now.
And seriously, those are NOT the ECs of a person who dearly wants to be a physician. It is the application of someone who wants to be a doctor as long as it is convenient.

No patient contact experience?

Here's the deal: You need to show AdComs that you know what you're getting into, and show off your altruistic, humanism side. We need to know that you're going to like being around sick or injured people for the next 40 years.

Here's another way of looking at it: would you buy a new car without test driving it? Buy a new suit or dress without trying it on??

We're also not looking for merely for good medical students, we're looking for people who will make good doctors, and 4.0 GPA robots are a dime-a-dozen.
I've seen plenty of posts here from high GPA/high MCAT candidates who were rejected because they had little patient contact experience.

Not all volunteering needs to be in a hospital. Think hospice, Planned Parenthood, nursing homes, rehab facilities, crisis hotlines, camps for sick children, or clinics. Check out your local houses of worship for volunteer opportunities.

Service need not be "unique". If you can alleviate suffering in your community through service to the poor, homeless, illiterate, fatherless, etc, you are meeting an otherwise unmet need and learning more about the lives of the people (or types of people) who will someday be your patients.
Examples include: Habitat for Humanity, Humane Society, crisis hotlines, soup kitchen, food pantry, homeless or women’s shelter, after-school tutoring for students or coaching a sport in a poor school district, teaching ESL to adults at a community center, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, or Meals on Wheels.


I guess I really didnt go too in depth with my volunteer experience as the MCAT was my newest development

Ive done +30hrs of hospice volunteering, 20 hours retirement home/ memory care volunteering a lot of other events through different clubs, etc.

knowing I needed to beef up this section of my application so I recently started to volunteer at the local food pantry to show some consistency.
That was the point of taking a gap year.. or two.
Does this make any difference.. ?
 
I strongly suggest taking the gap year!
I guess I really didnt go too in depth with my volunteer experience as the MCAT was my newest development

Ive done +30hrs of hospice volunteering, 20 hours retirement home/ memory care volunteering a lot of other events through different clubs, etc.

knowing I needed to beef up this section of my application so I recently started to volunteer at the local food pantry to show some consistency.
That was the point of taking a gap year.. or two.
Does this make any difference.. ?
 
I am from Chicago Illinois!

Im not sure if Illinois has lenient MD med schools?
Some are what I'd consider lenient, like UIC and Rosalind Franklin, and SIU for which you live too far north to be a viable candidate. I've seen folks with MCAT scores like yours get into all three.

But you will have only about 7 months of active clinical experience at the time AMCAS opens for application submission this coming summer. Applying with multiple application weaknesses is not a good formula for success.
 
Some are what I'd consider lenient, like UIC and Rosalind Franklin, and SIU for which you live too far north to be a viable candidate. I've seen folks with MCAT scores like yours get into all three.

But you will have only about 7 months of active clinical experience at the time AMCAS opens for application submission this coming summer. Applying with multiple application weaknesses is not a good formula for success.

Is 7 months not enough? or is it the hours that are more important? Im just in a gap year right now and and picked up scribing during this time to boost my clinical experience in addition to my shadowing.
 
Is 7 months not enough? or is it the hours that are more important? Im just in a gap year right now and and picked up scribing during this time to boost my clinical experience in addition to my shadowing.
About 1.5 years is the average listed on applications. Total hours are less important than having a prolonged time frame of involvement. Adcomms don't want a decision for medicine to be impulsive, but rather well thought out and tested over time. If some of your clinical activities started awhile back, you might be fine.
 
About 1.5 years is the average listed on applications. Total hours are less important than having a prolonged time frame of involvement. Adcomms don't want a decision for medicine to be impulsive, but rather well thought out and tested over time. If some of your clinical activities started awhile back, you might be fine.

Yeah, I started shadowing when I was a junior, now I'm in my gap.
 
When did you do the +30hrs of hospice volunteering and 20 hours retirement home/ memory care volunteering? What was your role for each?

Most of this volunteering was done my junior/senior year. My role for hospice was just going to to see different patients, talking, and addressing needs. This was a short lived endeavor because the hospice organization made me take some time off when I lost 2 grandparents in 3 months.

For the memory care I would volunteer at different activities, ice cream socials, serve dinner, Saturday morning walks, etc.

I know I need more hours, hence the food pantry that I just started volunteering at.
 
Most of this volunteering was done my junior/senior year. My role for hospice was just going to to see different patients, talking, and addressing needs. This was a short lived endeavor because the hospice organization made me take some time off when I lost 2 grandparents in 3 months.

For the memory care I would volunteer at different activities, ice cream socials, serve dinner, Saturday morning walks, etc.

I know I need more hours, hence the food pantry that I just started volunteering at.
Sounds like the hospice involvement could be "clinical" unless addressing their needs meant cleaning the house, shopping, and chores. But the Alzheimer's Unit might be better classified as Nonmedical Community Service. Use your best judgement. Though brief, include both.
 
They are correct that a 27 will hold you back from the majority of U.S MD schools despite your impressive gpa. But if you think you'd be happy at a DO school, then you have no need to worry, even with your extracurriculars which I believe are fine. DO schools have gradually become more difficult to get into since 2010-ish, but with your gpa DO schools will not hold the 27 against you. (just make sure to apply to the DO schools that do not require an LOR from a DO if you haven't shadowed a DO)
 
They are correct that a 27 will hold you back from the majority of U.S MD schools despite your impressive gpa. But if you think you'd be happy at a DO school, then you have no need to worry, even with your extracurriculars which I believe are fine. DO schools have gradually become more difficult to get into since 2010-ish, but with your gpa DO schools will not hold the 27 against you. (just make sure to apply to the DO schools that do not require an LOR from a DO if you haven't shadowed a DO)

Yeah, I just signed up to take the new MCAT in two months. The low score is motivation.. When I look back, it felt like I was cutting corners with my MCAT prep and not giving it the time I should have.

Anyhow, my goal is to practice medicine. MD is preferred, but I don't have a problem with DO. Thanks for your input !
 
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