DO WAMCs?

[sab3156]

27 year old male.
cGPA: 3.0 (very strong upward trend)
sGPA: 3.6 (very strong upward trend and some retakes)
BUSM SMP Program GPA: 3.5
MCAT: 36 (first attempt was a 26 before SMP program)

Extracurriculars:
Shadowing Orthopedic Surgeon for a few months.
Volunteer Patient Transporter in Emergency Department for a few months.
Classical guitar performance for many years.
Brief research at a Harvard/MIT tissue engineering lab (no pubs).
Brief research at a marine biotechnology laboratory during undergrad (no pubs).

Broad work experience encompassing information technology, customer service, finance, and pharmaceutical data analysis.

I have amazing letters of recommendation. 3 from undergraduate professors (2 biology and 1 business law), 1 from pharmacy employment where I was a systems administrator and worked with electronic medical records and sometimes dealt with patients, and 1 from the orthopedic surgeon I shadowed.

My top choices are NYCOM and Midwestern (for various reasons, such as location and having family who have attended both schools... my aunt is a DO who graduated from NYCOM and I have a cousin who is in PA school at Midwestern). I know it's late in the cycle. I got verified about a week ago, but I still made it on time for being considered for a CCOM secondary.

If you can think of any details I should include about me in this thread, let me know. Thanks.

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[Awesome Sauceome]

This cycle, who knows... The timing really throws a wrench into things. People get in this late, but lots dont. No one could give you a straight percentage-type answer.

Next cycle (under the assumption that you would not get in this cycle due to lateness), your chances are fantastic. If you applied in June you should pretty much be accepted into any DO school in the country. This is particularly true if you get your hands on a letter of rec from a DO (not sure if the ortho is a DO?) and/or add some more clinical work to the application.

 

[chizledfrmstone]

Last year around this time an applicant contacted me about wanting to get into CCOM. His stats were pretty similar to yours. cGPA was a touch higher.

I gave him some advice but warned him that it was pretty late in the cycle.

Around the end of the cycle he told me he had gotten into CCOM.

Anything is possible.

 

[sab3156]

Thanks for your replies. Unfortunately, I didn't shadow a DO. I have found it difficult to even locate DOs around my area (I live in Cambridge, MA, right behind Harvard). Plenty of MDs around this area, haven't heard of too many DOs. I hope this isn't too big of a deal.

 

[sab3156]

Also, on CCOM's website, they state:

"Typically, 50% of all admissions offers are made by the end of December."

Would it be safe to assume that they may wait until March to have the rest of the class be offered seats? I'm saying March because they have a secondary deadline of March 1.

 

[chizledfrmstone]

Also, on CCOM's website, they state:

"Typically, 50% of all admissions offers are made by the end of December."

Would it be safe to assume that they may wait until end of March to have the rest of the class be offered seats? I'm saying end of March because they have a secondary deadline of March 1.

For some reason the high MCAT applicants come out after December. DO schools know this.

 

[baxt1412]

if you have the money, I say go for it. but continue doing things that will better your app in case you don't get in, otherwise you will have nothing to show that has changed for next cycle which can be a deal breaker when you are a reapplicant.

 

[hawruh]

Thanks for your replies. Unfortunately, I didn't shadow a DO. I have found it difficult to even locate DOs around my area (I live in Cambridge, MA, right behind Harvard). Plenty of MDs around this area, haven't heard of too many DOs. I hope this isn't too big of a deal.

http://www.osteopathic.org/osteopathic-health/Pages/find-a-do-search.aspx

Type in your zip code into the search. About 20 DOs come up within a 10 mile radius of Cambridge (I live right around there too). When you click on the Doc's name, it lists their phone number.

 

[ananasmed]

Also, on CCOM's website, they state:

"Typically, 50% of all admissions offers are made by the end of December."

Would it be safe to assume that they may wait until March to have the rest of the class be offered seats? I'm saying March because they have a secondary deadline of March 1.

I don't think they wait until March to give out the rest of the seats; as far as I know, admissions offers are made continuously (about once a month). That being said, that doesn't mean you don't have a chance - even if you are waitlisted due to a late spring interview, it's still possible to be accepted.

 

[sab3156]

For some reason the high MCAT applicants come out after December. DO schools know this.

I know what you are trying to imply, but I did not submit any secondaries to MD schools this cycle. My MD stats are 2.67 cGPA and 2.9 sGPA. My timing doesn't have anything to do with MD vs. DO, rather it is a result of poor decision making. I know that what they might be thinking, though.

if you have the money, I say go for it. but continue doing things that will better your app in case you don't get in, otherwise you will have nothing to show that has changed for next cycle which can be a deal breaker when you are a reapplicant.

That's something I fear, as well. I have spent the past 3 years making myself a competitive medical school applicant. I had little income in that time period, and was living off of loans. It would be tough or me to continue like this, unless I was working through the week and just doing volunteering or something during the weekends. My wife is a PhD student at Harvard who hasn't started her thesis research yet, so we literally will be living off Ramen noodles if it comes down to me taking very low paying jobs just to try and put more things on my application.

http://www.osteopathic.org/osteopathic-health/Pages/find-a-do-search.aspx

Type in your zip code into the search. About 20 DOs come up within a 10 mile radius of Cambridge (I live right around there too). When you click on the Doc's name, it lists their phone number.

Thanks!

 

[chizledfrmstone]

I know what you are trying to imply, but I did not submit any secondaries to MD schools this cycle. My MD stats are 2.67 cGPA and 2.9 sGPA. My timing doesn't have anything to do with MD vs. DO, rather it is a result of poor decision making. I know that what they might be thinking, though.

Thanks!

I wasn't implying that.

I have seen over the years there are 2 groups of applicants who have high MCAT scores applying this time of year.

1.) High MCAT/low GPA - Didn't get into MD so they suddenly "discover" the DO side.

2.) High MCAT/low GPA - applicants who just got their MCAT back and did better than hoped OR students who tend to coast over the long haul but have spurts of energy where they do extremely well.

You understand why it looks bad both ways?


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[user3]

27 year old male.
cGPA: 3.0 (very strong upward trend)
sGPA: 3.6 (very strong upward trend and some retakes)
BUSM SMP Program GPA: 3.5
MCAT: 36 (first attempt was a 26 before SMP program)

Extracurriculars:
Shadowing Orthopedic Surgeon for a few months.
Volunteer Patient Transporter in Emergency Department for a few months.
Classical guitar performance for many years.
Brief research at a Harvard/MIT tissue engineering lab (no pubs).
Brief research at a marine biotechnology laboratory during undergrad (no pubs).

Broad work experience encompassing information technology, customer service, finance, and pharmaceutical data analysis.

I have amazing letters of recommendation. 3 from undergraduate professors (2 biology and 1 business law), 1 from pharmacy employment where I was a systems administrator and worked with electronic medical records and sometimes dealt with patients, and 1 from the orthopedic surgeon I shadowed.

My top choices are NYCOM and Midwestern (for various reasons, such as location and having family who have attended both schools... my aunt is a DO who graduated from NYCOM and I have a cousin who is in PA school at Midwestern). I know it's late in the cycle. I got verified about a week ago, but I still made it on time for being considered for a CCOM secondary.

If you can think of any details I should include about me in this thread, let me know. Thanks.

throw in a few more schools and you should be good to go. I would add Touro-NY and Rowan.

 

[Awesome Sauceome]

Heck, personally if I was you, unless a school is close in proximity, I wouldnt even waste money on the airfare for an interview. It seems crazy to me, especially since there are definitely not a lot of spots left. You just got verified so likely its going to be a long time still until you are offered an interview. So by the time you do (IF you do) you would probably be fighting for a waitlist spot anyways.

I would put that money directly into applying next June. Your chances of getting into any school, and definitely a better school, are higher. And it would give you time to save up some cash for the flights, deposit (think $2,000 for a lot of schools), etc. Seems like an awful decision, but it could end up working out really well for you.

 

[user3]

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[chizledfrmstone]

.

Just upgrade your membership so you can delete your posts.

 

[sab3156]

Thanks for your help, everyone.

I also was wondering if there is any credible website (other than school websites) or forum post here which goes over the details of each DO school, such as quality of rotation sites, statistics regarding residency placements, stats of the students, and general "ranking" of the schools. I feel like there isn't much information out there regarding each school, other than some testimony from students that attended, or from the school websites themselves.

 

[sab3156]

Unfortunately, I got my rejection letter from CCOM today. Haven't heard from NYCOM yet, but am pretty certain they aren't going to consider me.

In any case, I am ready to apply in the first second of the application submission date for this upcoming cycle, and am working on a school list now. I also started working at a pathology laboratory at BUSM doing grossing/histology work.

I think the lateness of this app was pretty much the nail in the coffin. Thanks for everyone's help.

 

[sab3156]

Hi all,

I'm back for another application attempt. I will be submitting in the next couple of days, and this is my school list:

Here is my school list:

CCOM
NYIT (NYCOM)
KCUMB
DMU
Western (CA)
MSU
PCOM
UNECOM

Any thoughts? First choices are CCOM and NYIT due to location, and I am also really liking what I'm reading about KCUMB, so that's another favorite at this point.

Aside from DO, I am also applying MD this cycle. Wish me luck.

Since my last attempt, I have gained some things for my application. First, I am working as a grossing technician at a dermatopathology laboratory at BUSM in the late afternoon/evening. Second, I am working all day as an opthalmic technician at Boston Eye Group. I basically see patients all day and take medical history, do refractions, run diagnostic tests, taking images of their retinal layers, optic nerve, testing visual fields, etc., and observe lasik surgeries. Basically it's doing everything an ophthalmologist would do, except prescribing/diagnosing/surgery.

Hopefully these experiences add a lot to my application.