WAMC: 3.7/508, CA resident with good ECs

[minuteaverage]

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I unfortunately got back my MCAT retake score today, and it is the same as the first time (508). More info below. I'm honestly gutted right now and am wondering if I have a chance at MD, or should give up and apply DO. I graduated undergrad in December 2022 and was hoping to apply next month. My non-clinical volunteering is low but I do have a strong theme of service from my work with the disability resource center from my undergrad.

1. cGPA and sGPA as calculated by AMCAS or AACOMAS: 3.7/~3.6. Biology major.
2. MCAT score(s) and breakdown. Include all (non-voided) attempts: 508 (125/128/128/127) ---> 508 (127/128/125/128)
3. State of residence or country of citizenship (if non-US) CA
4. Ethnicity and/or race Egyptian
5. Undergraduate institution or category University of California school
6. Clinical experience (volunteer and non-volunteer)
   1. Clinical research coordinator at T5 medical school. I would say this is 40 percent clinical and 60 percent research. 3 publications (1 1st author) in review. 1 poster/oral presentation at conference. 1300 hours, will continue this job until medical school.
   2. EMT, worked in clinic for uninsured patients - 150 hours.
   3. Volunteer at birth center. 100 hours.
7. Research experience and productivity
   
   1. 1000 hours in undergrad research lab. 1 poster/oral presentation with merit award at conference.
8. Shadowing experience and specialties represented
   
   1. 70 hours orthopedic surgery
9. Non-clinical volunteering
   
   1. DEI committee at undergrad, LGBTQ committee at CRC job
   2. Library volunteer (started this month), could get around 50-70 hours by the time I apply.
10. Other extracurricular activities (including athletics, military service, gap year activities, leadership, teaching, etc)
    1. Teaching assistant for my undergrad PI one summer.
    2. 1000 hours non-clinical employment at my undergrad's disability resource center.
    3. Chair of student council at my undergrad for 1 year
11. Relevant honors or awards
    1. Awarded external research fellowship in undergrad, and an institutional research award. Honors in my major.
12. Anything else not listed you think might be important
    
    1. Will have strong LOR from undergrad PI, current PI (who is an MD), an MD/PhD I work with, supervisor from disability resource center, and two undergrad professors.

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[Mr.Smile12]

Welcome to the forums.

You will need to have DO schools with any MD schools you list. UC schools prefer applicants who grew up in their mission area.

Why do rehabilitation careers not interest you (DPT, OT, etc.)?

I think it would help getting more primary care shadowing.

 

[Faha]

I suggest these MD schools with your stats:
California University
Kaiser
UC Davis
UC Riverside (if you are from that region)
TCU
Rosalind Franklin
Medical College Wisconsin
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
Belmont
NOVA MD
Wake Forest
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
George Washington
Penn State
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Hackensack
Albany
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Alice Walton (when it opens)
Roseman (when it opens)
Also apply to DO schools and I suggest these:
WESTERN
TUCOM-CA
TUNCOM
AZCOM
ATSU-KCOM
KCU-COM
DMU-COM
CCOM
CUSOM
PCOM (all schools)
LECOM (all schools)
NYITCOM
Touro-NY

 

[minuteaverage]

Welcome to the forums.

You will need to have DO schools with any MD schools you list. UC schools prefer applicants who grew up in their mission area.

Why do rehabilitation careers not interest you (DPT, OT, etc.)?

I think it would help getting more primary care shadowing.

Thank you. I’m from the UC Davis area so will definitely be applying there.

I did have exposure to physical therapists when I shadowed ortho, but ultimately decided it wasn’t for me. I think medical school will provide greater research opportunities, and I’m not really committed to one field. I feel that PT/OT would limit me in that sense.

I will try to shadow in primary care soon. Is geriatrics OK? I work with/know a geriatrician (and I like old people!).

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I think medical school will provide greater research opportunities, and I’m not really committed to one field. I feel that PT/OT would limit me in that sense.

Just pointing out, you can do research in physical therapy.

Home

www.ptresearch.org

Home - Foundation for Physical Therapy Research

foundation4pt.org

Research Agenda for Physical Therapy From APTA

Together we are building a community that advances the profession of physical therapy to improve the health of society.

www.apta.org

 

[AJS59]

What does your role as a library volunteer entail? And how would you describe the community you serve in that role?

 

[minuteaverage]

I suggest these MD schools with your stats:
California University
Kaiser
UC Davis
UC Riverside (if you are from that region)
TCU
Rosalind Franklin
Medical College Wisconsin
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
Belmont
NOVA MD
Wake Forest
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
George Washington
Penn State
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Hackensack
Albany
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Alice Walton (when it opens)
Roseman (when it opens)
Also apply to DO schools and I suggest these:
WESTERN
TUCOM-CA
TUNCOM
AZCOM
ATSU-KCOM
KCU-COM
DMU-COM
CCOM
CUSOM
PCOM (all schools)
LECOM (all schools)
NYITCOM
Touro-NY

Thank you for this list. Today, I went through MSAR and identified schools (outside of the ones you listed) where either my MCAT or GPA are in the 25th-75th percentile (looked at OOS stats if applicable). I won't apply to all of these but do you have any notes? The first column is MCAT and second is cGPA. I'm thinking I'll start with the ones where both my MCAT and GPA are 25th-75th percentile and cut it down from there. I was hoping to apply to 35-40 MD schools.

 

[minuteaverage]

What does your role as a library volunteer entail? And how would you describe the community you serve in that role?

This is a predominately low-income and Spanish speaking community, where I'm just assisting patrons with their requests. But I'm going to start volunteer tutoring in reading soon, I need to complete a bit of training first.

 

[ClashRoyaleKing]

If you want to for sure get in this cycle, include DO. As a CA applicant with similar stats, I have only had one interview invite across many schools.

 

[Faha]

Thank you for this list. Today, I went through MSAR and identified schools (outside of the ones you listed) where either my MCAT or GPA are in the 25th-75th percentile (looked at OOS stats if applicable). I won't apply to all of these but do you have any notes? The first column is MCAT and second is cGPA. I'm thinking I'll start with the ones where both my MCAT and GPA are 25th-75th percentile and cut it down from there. I was hoping to apply to 35-40 MD schools.

I see at least 10 more schools on that list that admit few non residents with a MCAT of 508 and no connection to the state. Also, schools such as Loyola and Georgetown are looking for applicants with many more hours of non clinical volunteering than you have. Carle is looking for applicants with an engineering background.

 

[minuteaverage]

I see at least 10 more schools on that list that admit few non residents with a MCAT of 508 and no connection to the state. Also, schools such as Loyola and Georgetown are looking for applicants with many more hours of non clinical volunteering than you have. Carle is looking for applicants with an engineering background.

Thank you, I will comb through and see which ones are more OOS friendly than others.

 

[minuteaverage]

If you want to for sure get in this cycle, include DO. As a CA applicant with similar stats, I have only had one interview invite across many schools.

Thank you. I will probably apply DO just to give myself the option, but is there an issue if I’m accepted DO and choose not to attend and wait an additional cycle or two? As in, can MD or other DO schools see that?

 

[AJS59]

Thank you. I will probably apply DO just to give myself the option, but is there an issue if I’m accepted DO and choose not to attend and wait an additional cycle or two? As in, can MD or other DO schools see that?

What potential reason would there be for you not to attend a DO school if you're accepted? Why put off the extra year of training just for the hope of an MD degree?

For what it's worth, most med schools ask a question saying something to the effect of "have you been accepted to another med schools before?" Without a valid reason, that's a kiss of death at most schools.

 

[minuteaverage]

I’ll have to think about it more - some things that come to mind are the uphill battle with taking double boards, more work for competitive specialties, if attainable at all. What if I want to go into academic medicine? Anecdotally, in a competitive department at a T5 medical school that I work in right now, there are no DOs. However, I may need to accept that I wouldn’t be good enough for competitive specialties/institutions anyway (as seen with my poor MCAT score), and therefore it doesn’t make a difference. One of my former supervisors (who wrote me a stellar LOR for something else) is a DO, but let’s just say they are … not the kind of physician I want to be.

If there’s zero penalty to applying DO and deciding later whether I’d actually go then I’ll just apply and think about it over the next year. Don’t want to be one of those self hating, bitter doctors, you know?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I’ll have to think about it more - some things that come to mind are the uphill battle with taking double boards, more work for competitive specialties, if attainable at all. What if I want to go into academic medicine? Anecdotally, in a competitive department at a T5 medical school that I work in right now, there are no DOs. However, I may need to accept that I wouldn’t be good enough for competitive specialties/institutions anyway (as seen with my poor MCAT score), and therefore it doesn’t make a difference. One of my former supervisors (who wrote me a stellar LOR for something else) is a DO, but let’s just say they are … not the kind of physician I want to be.

If there’s zero penalty to applying DO and deciding later whether I’d actually go then I’ll just apply and think about it over the next year. Don’t want to be one of those self hating, bitter doctors, you know?

Just posted

[Article] Being a DO in an MD-heavy field

https://thedo.osteopathic.org/2024/04/being-a-do-in-a-heavily-md-residency-program-what-surprised-me/

forums.studentdoctor.net

 

[minuteaverage]

Also, is there data regarding people who take the MCAT more than twice? I could consider waiting a cycle, and taking the MCAT early next year (if practice scores are high). But if this is something that is really looked down upon or not acceptable then I won't consider it.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Also, is there data regarding people who take the MCAT more than twice? I could consider waiting a cycle, and taking the MCAT early next year (if practice scores are high). But if this is something that is really looked down upon or not acceptable then I won't consider it.

I don't know what data you are looking for. I don't think retaking is looked down upon but we focus on your results.

 

[AJS59]

Also, is there data regarding people who take the MCAT more than twice? I could consider waiting a cycle, and taking the MCAT early next year (if practice scores are high). But if this is something that is really looked down upon or not acceptable then I won't consider it.

It's not necessarily unacceptable just be aware that you score needs to jump a lot higher (in your case, prob over 515), to weigh in positively.