What are my Chances for DO

[deleted1030770]

MCAT: Taking on May 29th

AACOMAS definitions for science GPA: 3.68 but should go up to a 3.71 after this semester

College GPA: 3.74 but is continuing to trend upward





I am pretty much interested mainly in primary care or PM & R and feel the DO philosophy is a good fit for me. Since I don’t have my MCAT yet I know it will be hard to give me a definite reply but, any guidance would be greatly appreciated. One of my main concerns is that throughout college I have taken 12-hour semesters except for my first semester freshman year where I took 15. I did not know a light course load can be considered an issue until recently and now it is too late to fix this. I took these light course loads because I came into college with 24 hours of AP credits and could afford to do so. Not sure if this would be a deal breaker for applications? My Extracurricular include:

• 150 hours of Hospital Volunteering
• Will have about 100 hours of shadowing at application time from Internal Medicine, Orthopedic Surgery, and Primary Care Sports Medicine (note: These were all alopathc because I have had trouble finding DOs in my area.)
• Medical Mission trip to Ecuador
• Co-Founder and Vice President of the pre- Student Osteopathic Medical Association on my Campus
• Current Vice President of my University’s Powerlifting Club
• Former Treasurer of my University’s Powerlifting Club
• Former Secretary of my University’s Powerlifting Club
• Qualification and competition in the United States Powerlifting Association Collegiate National Championship 2017 and 2018
• Gold and Silver medals at local powerlifting meets competing for my University’s Powerlifting team
• Mentor for new members into my school’s Powerlifting Organization
• Certified Texas High School Powerlifting Association Judge, this means I have volunteered to judge meets for High school aged students
• 1-year Member of my Universities’ Men Choir
• 25 hours of volunteering at the Local Food Bank
• Member of the Catholic Student Association

This is all I can think of for extracurricular activities, but I should have more that I haven’t mentioned. I am planning on applying this cycle and am confused on what my chances are and would appreciate any feedback. If possible, I would like to do a second post once I get my MCAT scores. Thanks in advance for the guidance. I am also Hispanic by ethnicity. My dad is from Venezuela and my Mom is from Argentina. I am racially white but, speak fluent Spanish and have a strong identification with my South American roots. I am not sure if this could also be a factor.

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[deleted859689]

DO letter not needed at most schools, some of them prefer it, however. Biggest plus for you is starting that pre-DO club - I believe it would be seen as a ++ especially given your good GPA. Course load, as long as you were a full time student and fulfilled all the pre-reqs, shouldn't be too much of an issue. However, it might be an issue of you took some pre-reqs as AP classes. I would double check on that. Otherwise, you have a very competitive application pending an MCAT score over 505. If you're dead set on DO, by all means, go for it - I suggest CUSOM ((Campbell University) with your Christian background and good stats. However, you have a good shot at MD, and unfortunately, if you are looking for a competitive specialty or more open doors, MD would be better than DO. Below is a DO school list made by @paradoxic_toxic

If you want the MD, get over a 512 MCAT. DO, over a 505 is more than enough. Get more non-clinical hours which should be pretty easy if you volunteer through your church or youth group. Make sure you have a good story and I would give you excellent chances at DO admissions with a 505+ MCAT.

Osteopathic Medical School List (2019-2020)

 

[deleted1030770]

DO letter not needed at most schools, some of them prefer it, however. Biggest plus for you is starting that pre-DO club - I believe it would be seen as a ++ especially given your good GPA. Course load, as long as you were a full time student and fulfilled all the pre-reqs, shouldn't be too much of an issue. However, it might be an issue of you took some pre-reqs as AP classes. I would double check on that. Otherwise, you have a very competitive application pending an MCAT score over 505. If you're dead set on DO, by all means, go for it - I suggest CUSOM ((Campbell University) with your Christian background and good stats. However, you have a good shot at MD, and unfortunately, if you are looking for a competitive specialty or more open doors, MD would be better than DO. Below is a DO school list made by @paradoxic_toxic

If you want the MD, get over a 512 MCAT. DO, over a 505 is more than enough. Get more non-clinical hours which should be pretty easy if you volunteer through your church or youth group. Make sure you have a good story and I would give you excellent chances at DO admissions with a 505+ MCAT.

Osteopathic Medical School List (2019-2020)

Thank you so much for the advice! It is really appreciated and has clarified a lot!

 

[Mr.Smile12]

MCAT: Taking on May 29th

AACOMAS definitions for science GPA: 3.68 but should go up to a 3.71 after this semester

College GPA: 3.74 but is continuing to trend upward

I am pretty much interested mainly in primary care or PM & R and feel the DO philosophy is a good fit for me. Since I don’t have my MCAT yet I know it will be hard to give me a definite reply but, any guidance would be greatly appreciated. One of my main concerns is that throughout college I have taken 12-hour semesters except for my first semester freshman year where I took 15. I did not know a light course load can be considered an issue until recently and now it is too late to fix this. I took these light course loads because I came into college with 24 hours of AP credits and could afford to do so. Not sure if this would be a deal breaker for applications? My Extracurricular include:

• 150 hours of Hospital Volunteering
• Will have about 100 hours of shadowing at application time from Internal Medicine, Orthopedic Surgery, and Primary Care Sports Medicine (note: These were all alopathc because I have had trouble finding DOs in my area.)
• Medical Mission trip to Ecuador
• Co-Founder and Vice President of the pre- Student Osteopathic Medical Association on my Campus
• Current Vice President of my University’s Powerlifting Club
• Former Treasurer of my University’s Powerlifting Club
• Former Secretary of my University’s Powerlifting Club
• Qualification and competition in the United States Powerlifting Association Collegiate National Championship 2017 and 2018
• Gold and Silver medals at local powerlifting meets competing for my University’s Powerlifting team
• Mentor for new members into my school’s Powerlifting Organization
• Certified Texas High School Powerlifting Association Judge, this means I have volunteered to judge meets for High school aged students
• 1-year Member of my Universities’ Men Choir
• 25 hours of volunteering at the Local Food Bank
• Member of the Catholic Student Association

This is all I can think of for extracurricular activities, but I should have more that I haven’t mentioned. I am planning on applying this cycle and am confused on what my chances are and would appreciate any feedback. If possible, I would like to do a second post once I get my MCAT scores. Thanks in advance for the guidance. I am also Hispanic by ethnicity. My dad is from Venezuela and my Mom is from Argentina. I am racially white but, speak fluent Spanish and have a strong identification with my South American roots. I am not sure if this could also be a factor.

No bets until we get official MCAT scores from you. That said, network with the schools you are interested in. You didn't mention your state residency in this post, but obviously that will help clarify things. Also don't be shy with using your pre-SOMA networking to talk to current students and alumni.

Now to your concern: I guess I'd have to see how many extracurricular hours and employment hours you report to think about your 12-hour semester load. Technically as long as it's full-time, you should be okay. If you have that many AP credits coming in, it's reasonable. What I want to see is how you load yourself up in semesters where you pretty much take mostly science classes as a proxy to when you would take what would be about 25-30 credit hours of science classes. If you spread out your science classes such that you only take one each semester and don't put yourself under a heavier science load... it may bring up some questions in deliberation.