What are my chances?

[Buck Winters]

One semester my freshman year (absolutely terrible, failed most classes) brings my GPA down quite a bit.

Science - 3.39
Non - 3.26
Cumulative - 3.31

For reference, having retaken the classes I failed, my GPA is 3.68. My grades have been solid since that semester.

MCAT - 33
PS -11
VR - 9
BS - 13

ECs
~200 hrs of volunteering
~100 hrs research
~ 40 hrs shadowing
Worked 20-30 hrs/week all through college

I applied this cycle, stupidly waiting a few extra weeks to send in my secondaries (all submitted mid August)

I haven't been invited to a single interview this cycle, so I'm preparing to reapply. I'm feeling pretty worthless these days, and I definitely entered this cycle overconfident. Any help or thoughts would be appreciated.

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[WedgeDawg]

Did you apply to MD, DO, or both? If you only applied MD, be aware that they don't really do score-replacement, so re-taking classes isn't extremely helpful. DO schools, on the other hand, do. You look like you're in pretty good shape for DO schools, so if you were to apply again and include them (I'm assuming you didn't this time around), you could probably get several acceptances. If you want to be competitive for MD schools, you probably need to do a postbac to raise your GPA. Everything else, given the brevity of the information provided, looks fine.

 

[Buck Winters]

Did you apply to MD, DO, or both? If you only applied MD, be aware that they don't really do score-replacement, so re-taking classes isn't extremely helpful. DO schools, on the other hand, do. You look like you're in pretty good shape for DO schools, so if you were to apply again and include them (I'm assuming you didn't this time around), you could probably get several acceptances. If you want to be competitive for MD schools, you probably need to do a postbac to raise your GPA. Everything else, given the brevity of the information provided, looks fine.

Yeah, I applied only MD this cycle. I started the AACOMAS application and stopped when I had nothing I could honestly answer to "why DO?" Other than it was a backup. Sometimes it bites to be honest, and I will have to wait a year now.

I know that MD schools don't do grade replacement. I suppose I thought they would look for trends in your grades more than it seems they did. I mostly included that to show that my grades trended in a favorable direction.

Thank you for responding!

 

[WedgeDawg]

Yeah, I applied only MD this cycle. I started the AACOMAS application and stopped when I had nothing I could honestly answer to "why DO?" Other than it was a backup. Sometimes it bites to be honest, and I will have to wait a year now.

I know that MD schools don't do grade replacement. I suppose I thought they would look for trends in your grades more than it seems they did. I mostly included that to show that my grades trended in a favorable direction.

Thank you for responding!

Sure thing. Yeah, even with a strong trend, a 3.3 is still very low for MD schools (barring exceptional circumstances). I honestly think it's okay to apply to DO as a "backup" to MD schools (I'm sure people disagree with me here, but this isn't the place to discuss that), but you could perhaps talk about their primary care focus as an incentive for you rather than things like "holistic" diagnosis or OMM or whatever that you may not feel entirely comfortable listing as reasons.

 

[s5260205]

Yeah, I applied only MD this cycle. I started the AACOMAS application and stopped when I had nothing I could honestly answer to "why DO?" Other than it was a backup. Sometimes it bites to be honest, and I will have to wait a year now.

I know that MD schools don't do grade replacement. I suppose I thought they would look for trends in your grades more than it seems they did. I mostly included that to show that my grades trended in a favorable direction.

Thank you for responding!

Your chances are great at every DO schools. Try to get some DO shadowing and LOR so you could answer the "why DO" question with your personal "insights" into osteopathic medicine. I do believe schools look for upward trends but unless you have 3.9 in your last two years, a 3.3 cGPA is still too low. There are anecdotal cases of people who got into MD schools with 3.0 cGPA but insanely high MCAT (40+) and good ECs, though obviously they are outliers.

 

[Goro]

Rising trends are a good thing.

 

[Stagg737]

I wouldn't give up on MD schools. If you've got a solid upward trend (like >3.6ish) outside of freshman year I'd say you've still got a shot if you apply broadly (min. 20 low-mid tiers). Question is whether you want to spend that much money on just a shot. As a DO student, I see nothing wrong with applying to DO as a 'backup' unless you're of the attitude that DO<MD. However, that attitude is somewhat foolish no matter what school/field you enter, especially with the coming merger. It's a tougher road to get into some specialties, but we still learn exactly the same things as MDs plus OMM, which many DOs never use after graduating.

That being said, I wouldn't say you're a 'great' applicant at every DO school if those are all of your ECs. Your MCAT is well above average, but your GPA is still well below average at many schools. I'd try and add some volunteering hours to your list, especially if they're clinical. Idk what your job was, but if it wasn't in healthcare it sounds like you may be lacking clinical exposure. Spend this winter/spring/summer continuing to build your resume, apply really early, and apply broadly (I'd shoot for 15-20 MD schools, 10-12 DO schools) and I'd venture to guess you'll get a fair amount of iis.

 

[Buck Winters]

I wouldn't give up on MD schools. If you've got a solid upward trend (like >3.6ish) outside of freshman year I'd say you've still got a shot if you apply broadly (min. 20 low-mid tiers). Question is whether you want to spend that much money on just a shot. As a DO student, I see nothing wrong with applying to DO as a 'backup' unless you're of the attitude that DO<MD. However, that attitude is somewhat foolish no matter what school/field you enter, especially with the coming merger. It's a tougher road to get into some specialties, but we still learn exactly the same things as MDs plus OMM, which many DOs never use after graduating.

That being said, I wouldn't say you're a 'great' applicant at every DO school if those are all of your ECs. Your MCAT is well above average, but your GPA is still well below average at many schools. I'd try and add some volunteering hours to your list, especially if they're clinical. Idk what your job was, but if it wasn't in healthcare it sounds like you may be lacking clinical exposure. Spend this winter/spring/summer continuing to build your resume, apply really early, and apply broadly (I'd shoot for 15-20 MD schools, 10-12 DO schools) and I'd venture to guess you'll get a fair amount of iis.

Thank you for your response! Quick question, doesn't AACOMAS do grade replacement? In that case a 3.68 GPA wouldn't be well below average, or would it? My research of DO schools is pretty limited to general information. I'm recently married, and barring some miracle, I won't be able to afford applying to 25-32 schools. Is applying to that many schools really the only way to get attention?

 

[Stagg737]

Thank you for your response! Quick question, doesn't AACOMAS do grade replacement? In that case a 3.68 GPA wouldn't be well below average, or would it? My research of DO schools is pretty limited to general information. I'm recently married, and barring some miracle, I won't be able to afford applying to 25-32 schools. Is applying to that many schools really the only way to get attention?

Correct, I missed the line about your 3.68 after retakes, so you should be competitive in terms of your stats. Sorry about that. What I said about the ECs and clinical exposure still holds true though. Honestly, 350 hours of research, volunteering, and shadowing is fine, but not impressive unless those 20-30 work hours/week are somehow medically related.

If you really want to apply to MD schools, pick 5ish that you really want to go to that are 'mid to low tier'. I've heard of people with lower stats than you getting in, but as previously stated they are the outliers and I wouldn't hold my breath for an ii at any of them. Realistically, if you apply to 15-20 DO schools, I think you'd get a fair number of interviews and would be likely to get some acceptances if your secondaries are good.