Retake MCAT in Aug or DO or Wait a year?

[journeytomed]

Hi everyone!

So I just got my June scores today, and I dropped from the first time I took it. Took it in Jan and got a 29 (9/11/9) and got a 504 now, which is around a 28. The psych section destroyed me and I did better on my practice exams than on the real thing in CARS as well. Undergrad GPA is a 3.4cum, 3.1science. SMP GPA 3.7.

I was planning to submitting my primary apps tonight to both MD and DO programs, but I really thought I'd do better than that I did, and now I'm not sure what to do. Should I?

a) Submit my primary apps, retake MCAT in Aug and submit secondaries hoping I don't get rejected before MD schools get my scores?
b) Go with my current scores and apply this cycle with the assumption I'll probably get DO
c) Take an additional gap year, retake the MCAT, find a solid gap year job and apply the very first day of the cycle for MD next year?

My worry about applying this cycle and not getting in MD is being a re-applicant from what I know it a disadvantage. I'm only applying to DO schools I would not mind attending, if that helps. But I really was not planning on taking an additional year off, and I was really looking forward to starting medical school in the fall but not sure if it is actually worth it to take another year off if I can get into MD.

I have no qualms about DO, I actually appreciate the philosophy, just hoping to specialize in a more competitive speciality.

Thanks!

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[yeezuswest]

It's not necessarily about the DO philosophy being different from the MD philosophy, as at the end of the day you're practicing the exact same medicine, but it's about one day becoming a doctor. From what I can tell, right now it seems like your stats are perfectly in line with many DO schools. A third retake on the MCAT almost never looks good, unless you end up scoring like a 520+.

Also, if it means anything, the neurosurgeon I shadowed over the summer was a D.O.