What are my chances of getting an interview at the LECOM EAP program??

[vithebee]

Hey Folks! I am applying to the LECOM 4+4 EAP as a transfer student. I have been accepted to my transfer university and I wanted to know what you folks think of my chances to getting in to the EAP program at LECOM.

So something to note, I spoke with the admissions guy from LECOM and discussed my lower ACT score with him and he stated that I should still apply because of my high college GPA.

My stats:
hsGPA: 3.53 uw, 3.75 w
cGPA: 3.80 uw, 4.00 w
ACT: 25 (superscored is a 26)

Some things to note as well:
-I am an underrepresented minority being both black and Native American
-I work full time as a medical assistant so I have acquired multiple clinical skills and experience
-I was permitted to go into upper level bio (Bio300) my first semester of college
-I was already in a research lab my first term in college
-I worked for a precision medicine company doing presentations about genetics all over my city
-I have 4 recommendation letters, 2 from LECOM alums and 2 from my bio professors

do you think I will get an interview despite my low ACT score?? thoughts??? Could I be doing anything more??

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[ritts]

Hey Folks! I am applying to the LECOM 4+4 EAP as a transfer student. I have been accepted to my transfer university and I wanted to know what you folks think of my chances to getting in to the EAP program at LECOM.

So something to note, I spoke with the admissions guy from LECOM and discussed my lower ACT score with him and he stated that I should still apply because of my high college GPA.

My stats:
hsGPA: 3.53 uw, 3.75 w
cGPA: 3.80 uw, 4.00 w
ACT: 25 (superscored is a 26)

Some things to note as well:
-I am an underrepresented minority being both black and Native American
-I work full time as a medical assistant so I have acquired multiple clinical skills and experience
-I was permitted to go into upper level bio (Bio300) my first semester of college
-I was already in a research lab my first term in college
-I worked for a precision medicine company doing presentations about genetics all over my city
-I have 4 recommendation letters, 2 from LECOM alums and 2 from my bio professors

do you think I will get an interview despite my low ACT score?? thoughts??? Could I be doing anything more??

if you're okay with doing primary care, then it seems like it would be an easy acceptance. ~60% of DO students end up doing primary care. I also found that students straight from undergrad had a more difficult time keeping up with the coursework. If you think you may want to do a more competitive specialty in the future (surgery, ortho, derm, ophtho...) then I would avoid these programs, take the MCAT, and apply to MD schools

 

[samac]

You're a URM with a good college GPA so far. Sure you don't want to go for MD? Or can you turn away from LECOM later?

 

[Damson]

You're a URM with a good college GPA so far. Sure you don't want to go for MD? Or can you turn away from LECOM later?

yup - he is allowed to turn away from LECOM. acceptance from EAP is non-binding

@vithebee you will get an interview and get in EAP without issue. shoot for it!

 

[vithebee]

yup - he is allowed to turn away from LECOM. acceptance from EAP is non-binding

@vithebee you will get an interview and get in EAP without issue. shoot for it!

Thank you so much!!

 

[samac]

yup - he is allowed to turn away from LECOM. acceptance from EAP is non-binding

@vithebee you will get an interview and get in EAP without issue. shoot for it!

Awesome! Then definitely go for it, but do try for MD!

 

[MedWeapon]

if you're okay with doing primary care, then it seems like it would be an easy acceptance. ~60% of DO students end up doing primary care. I also found that students straight from undergrad had a more difficult time keeping up with the coursework. If you think you may want to do a more competitive specialty in the future (surgery, ortho, derm, ophtho...) then I would avoid these programs, take the MCAT, and apply to MD schools

In response to ritts, 60% of LECOM students DO NOT go into primary care. If you consider internal med to be primary then yes, but most do specialize and go into other specialties. I know family friends and a cousin that went to LECOM and have been able to specialize in interventional cardiology, cardiology, literally anything and everything. At the end no one is going to look at the fact that you went to a direct 4+4 program, they will look at your step 1 score, your letter of recs, and your rotation grades and that is what matters.

To OP, I am currently in the 4+4 program with LECOM, and the reason I took it is because I do not do that well on standardized exams. At my school I'm currently seeing my classmates scarmble for their mcat and stressing over the fact that they will study for like 4-5 months, spend thousands on apps and interviewing and STILL not have a chance of getting in. That is something that I did not want to deal with and I am glad that I don't have to worry about that. Rather, I am able to focus on research and other extra circulars that I personally enjoy doing.

If you feel like you can do well on the MCAT then I would say to apply out. You can still be apart of the program and apply to other schools to my knowledge, but you just have to let LECOM know your decision and not wait till the end. Given your background and ethnic group and current GPA, a solid mcat would get you into a lot of goof MD schools. In the end it's a decision you will have to make regarding whether or not you want to take the risk of possibly not getting in later due to a low mcat score.

 

[samac]

In response to ritts, 60% of LECOM students DO NOT go into primary care. If you consider internal med to be primary then yes, but most do specialize and go into other specialties. I know family friends and a cousin that went to LECOM and have been able to specialize in interventional cardiology, cardiology, literally anything and everything. At the end no one is going to look at the fact that you went to a direct 4+4 program, they will look at your step 1 score, your letter of recs, and your rotation grades and that is what matters.

To OP, I am currently in the 4+4 program with LECOM, and the reason I took it is because I do not do that well on standardized exams. At my school I'm currently seeing my classmates scarmble for their mcat and stressing over the fact that they will study for like 4-5 months, spend thousands on apps and interviewing and STILL not have a chance of getting in. That is something that I did not want to deal with and I am glad that I don't have to worry about that. Rather, I am able to focus on research and other extra circulars that I personally enjoy doing.

If you feel like you can do well on the MCAT then I would say to apply out. You can still be apart of the program and apply to other schools to my knowledge, but you just have to let LECOM know your decision and not wait till the end. Given your background and ethnic group and current GPA, a solid mcat would get you into a lot of goof MD schools. In the end it's a decision you will have to make regarding whether or not you want to take the risk of possibly not getting in later due to a low mcat score.

A big part of becoming a doctor is standardized tests. Just warning you.

 

[ritts]

In response to ritts, 60% of LECOM students DO NOT go into primary care. If you consider internal med to be primary then yes, but most do specialize and go into other specialties. I know family friends and a cousin that went to LECOM and have been able to specialize in interventional cardiology, cardiology, literally anything and everything. At the end no one is going to look at the fact that you went to a direct 4+4 program, they will look at your step 1 score, your letter of recs, and your rotation grades and that is what matters.

To OP, I am currently in the 4+4 program with LECOM, and the reason I took it is because I do not do that well on standardized exams. At my school I'm currently seeing my classmates scarmble for their mcat and stressing over the fact that they will study for like 4-5 months, spend thousands on apps and interviewing and STILL not have a chance of getting in. That is something that I did not want to deal with and I am glad that I don't have to worry about that. Rather, I am able to focus on research and other extra circulars that I personally enjoy doing.

If you feel like you can do well on the MCAT then I would say to apply out. You can still be apart of the program and apply to other schools to my knowledge, but you just have to let LECOM know your decision and not wait till the end. Given your background and ethnic group and current GPA, a solid mcat would get you into a lot of goof MD schools. In the end it's a decision you will have to make regarding whether or not you want to take the risk of possibly not getting in later due to a low mcat score.

IM is a primary care specialty, buddy (along with Pediatrics and Family Medicine). You can do primary care and subspecialize. My point is that going to any DO school limits one's opportunities for other specialties

 

[MedWeapon]

A big part of becoming a doctor is standardized tests. Just warning you.

100% agree samac, but step 1-3 and other standardized exams are A LOT different than the MCAT. The MCAT is essentially a weed out exam to weed students out of med school/ the application pool. I know people who scored in the 50th percentile on their MCAT and ended up becoming ICU physicians, anesthesiologists, surgeons etc.

Does the MCAT predict medical school and PGY-1 performance? - PubMed

MCAT scores were weakly to moderately associated with assessments that rely on multiple choice testing. The association is somewhat stronger for assessments occurring earlier in medical school, such as USMLE Step 1. The MCAT was not able to predict assessments relying on direct clinical...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Do MCAT scores predict USMLE scores? An analysis on 5 years of medical student data

The purpose of this study was to determine the associations and predictive values of Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) component and composite scores prior to 2015 with U.S. Medical Licensure Exam (USMLE) Step 1 and Step 2 Clinical Knowledge (CK) ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

These 2 studies point to the lack of correlation between the MCAT and performance in medical school. For this reason LECOM made this program, and it was the best decision I've ever made and I'm glad I'm saving thousands of dollars and hours upon hours of unnecessary studying/filling out apps and writing essays while still having no guarantee of what's going to happen.

 

[hallowmann]

You should be fine for EAP, but definitely try for MD also when the time comes. LECOM is a perfectly reasonable option for a DO school, but I wouldn't limit myself by deciding DO before even taking the MCAT.

 

[MedWeapon]

You should be fine for EAP, but definitely try for MD also when the time comes. LECOM is a perfectly reasonable option for a DO school, but I wouldn't limit myself by deciding DO before even taking the MCAT.

100% agree^^^^