MD & DO tough love/brutal honesty needed

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Oh_Gee

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Here goes. My academic history is attached if you guys wanna look at my grades. I am a CA resident and ORM(these 2 things are so not helping my chances) So gist is

AACOMAS sGPA:3.2-4
AACOMAS cGPA:3.2-4
calculated using this excel
AACOMAS GPA Calculator (Revised)


AMCAS sGPA: 3.2-4
AMCAS CGPA: 3.2-4
calculated using this excel
AMCAS GPA Calculator (Revised)

MCAT: (29) just got my scores today :(
university: UC
clinical exposure: volunteering and shadowing (definitely need more of this)
volunteer: tutor high school kids and help out distributing food to people in need.
research: one publication so far and possibly more coming
MD or DO preference?: I've shadowed both and think both are great equal options for me

I feel like my chances are back of the pack, slim to none.
Do you guys think I should

roll the dice on what I have now on the next cycle(if so, what schools would you recommend? I plan on going over the MSAR and the DO equivalent of it later on but just wanted your opinion)

or

retake the MCAT 2014 in January

or

take MCAT 2015

and/or

take post bac classes?

I really wanna stay in the south west coast because I love this weather so much. I've lived in CA all my life and LOVE this 70 F weather all year round but I know I have absolutely no shot at the UC's.

Thanks for your help guys. Now rip me apart

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Your stats (and state) make you a good candidate for DO schools and a weak to fair candidate for OOS MD.
Unless you are SDA or from the IE, CA (MD) is dreamin...
Retaking the MCAT does nothing to fix your gpa. Go DO.
 
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Agreed.

If you want to stay in the SW (Western, AZCOM, Touro Nevada) you might need a 1 year post bacc first depending on your sGPA (at least 3.3 ideally).

All 3 schools are getting more competitive every year.
 
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Your stats (and state) make you a good candidate for DO schools and a weak to fair candidate for OOS MD.
Unless you are SDA or from the IE, CA (MD) is dreamin...
Retaking the MCAT does nothing to fix your gpa. Go DO.
What is SDA and IE?
 
I'm checking out the MSAR right now. If a school's 10th-90th percentile is say, 3.54-3.98, should I not even bother applying? are those ranges the ranges of people they've accepted in the past year?
 
I'm checking out the MSAR right now. If a school's 10th-90th percentile is say, 3.54-3.98, should I not even bother applying? are those ranges the ranges of people they've accepted in the past year?
Yes, if you are well below the 10th%, odds go way down. Look for private schools with stats as close your MCAT as possible. None of them have a gpa in your range, I'm afraid.
That's why I suggested DO...
 
Yes, if you are well below the 10th%, odds go way down. Look for private schools with stats as close your MCAT as possible. None of them have a gpa in your range, I'm afraid.
That's why I suggested DO...
so should I just forget about MD schools?
 
If you need to give MD a shot, use the guidelines I have given and you will have done your best.
Your better bet is DO, by far, though.
sweet thanks for the help. I'll update this post with schools I think I have a chance (if even the slightest lol) and see what you guys think. Thanks again for the advice
 
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I'm just gonna parrot what's already been said for a bit of reinforcement. You are so-so for DO, weak for non-Cali MD. Feel free to apply to a few low-tier MD schools, but you should absolutely focus on DO. It's your best chance.
 
I'm just gonna parrot what's already been said for a bit of reinforcement. You are so-so for DO, weak for non-Cali MD. Feel free to apply to a few low-tier MD schools, but you should absolutely focus on DO. It's your best chance.
do you think i should retake the mcat?
 
Given your current stats, you should forget about MD schools. You are already one foot in the ground regarding your GPA and MCAT, a second poor MCAT score would further ruin all chances for MD and would hurt your application for some of the upper-tier DO schools as well.

As gyngyn said earlier in the thread, you shouldn't retake the MCAT. Your GPA is the bigger issue and retaking the MCAT will do absolutely nothing for your GPA. A 3.2 cGPA is not competitive for MD programs.
 
I'd like to follow up my learned colleague's comment by saying that your GPA is not competitive for MD schools, and towards the low end for DO schools, but not lethal, except maybe at CCOM. A 29 is below avg for MD schools.

Thus, I strongly recommend that you apply to all DO schools. If you're boning for the MD, then a SMP is in order, preferably one given at a MD school.

Yes, if you are well below the 10th%, odds go way down. Look for private schools with stats as close your MCAT as possible. None of them have a gpa in your range, I'm afraid.
That's why I suggested DO...
 
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just updated my main post with calculated AMCAS and AACOMAS gpa's. looks like i am out of the running for any MD schools. You guys think I can still get into some DO school?
 
If you need to give MD a shot, use the guidelines I have given and you will have done your best.
Your better bet is DO, by far, though.

Agreed. Another advantage to DO schools is that retakes will replace the original grade. Since your MCAT is already healthy for DOs, GPA repair is your top priority, and grade replacement makes that significantly easier. Although given what others have said, apparently you may be able to swing DO without any GPA improvement.

I would save yourself the money and not apply to any MD programs, especially if you have such a great attitude towards DO.
 
Agreed. Another advantage to DO schools is that retakes will replace the original grade. Since your MCAT is already healthy for DOs, GPA repair is your top priority, and grade replacement makes that significantly easier. Although given what others have said, apparently you may be able to swing DO without any GPA improvement.

I would save yourself the money and not apply to any MD programs, especially if you have such a great attitude towards DO.
yeah i'm hoping to get a new job soon so i can afford my apps + interviews. really wish i qualified for for fee assistance.
 
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