To me you look low on volunteering and also depth of volunteering. Cuddling babies is easy, you need work with underserved and more challenging environments. Most students have 3-5 times as much volunteering as you. Also, I don't really see much clinical experience. That is hurting you. Being vaguely around a clinic doing paperwork isn't really what they mean for clinical experience. They want to see hospice, scribing, volunteering in the ER, etc. there are many different opportunities, so find what works for you. I would also say more shadowing could help but doesn't need to be top of your to-do list. They want to see that you clearly understand what you are getting into. That you understand what medicine looks like, what it will demand of you, and who you will be serving. Find ways to explore that.
All advice from here on out is assuming DO school not MD school. The approach academically would be a little different.
Grades just stack (after graduation doesn't matter) but DO has grade replacement (for example take Bio I and get a D, but then later take it again to get an A -> an MD school will calculate both grades in, the DO will pretend the D never happened). Only Graduate school grades are calculated differently.
I think you would do well to beef up your sGPA to be more competitive, and your MCAT also needs to be improved (like I said before). I would recommend using grade replacement for DO to improve your sGPA. Your cGPA looks like it is in the range, but by improving the sGPA means your cGPA will also go up a little, which will be great.
I would strongly encourage you to take a year or more to build your application before applying again since you are not yet a competitive applicant. You should make your next application the last application you have to do. Getting in is not the goal, it is the hurdle to overcome so you can be a great physician. All of these things will help you get in but also will help prepare you to better care for yourself and your patients in the future.
There are others more experienced than me on these topics in relation to DO schools and applications though, so I will tag some people who know more, or have been active lately and given solid advice! Any of you have feedback?
@Goro ,
@CyrilFiggis ,
@QofQuimica ,
@change4med ,
@ThoracicGuy