California/west coast MD schools... is it even worth applying?

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Applying MD+DO next spring and would ideally like to stay close to California/west coast. Trying to stay local is important to me because of spouse's work/elderly parents/family support if we have children. And being a CA resident, the in-state tuition.

Not 100% if I got these calculations right... so far 4.0 in all premed classes, and if I keep going in that direction... AMCAS GPA 2.92c/2.94s. AACOMAS GPA 3.35c/3.5s. If I can fit in an additional course or two, (by my calculation at least) I may be able to get that AMCAS GPA to 3.0 -- priority though is keeping that 4.0 and doing well on MCAT.

I know that DO schools will be more forgiving of my academic history [going from undergrad 2.7c/1.4s --> 3.77 grad school/ + 4.0 science], but I have heard that some schools have GPA cutoffs and toss your application first round.

Given my numbers, are there any California/west coast (Colorado, Washington, Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon, Nevada) or Texas MD schools that won't throw my application out?
 
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It would take a spectacular MCAT (and application) to get an interview at any CA MD school with a gpa <3.0 I don't know of any school in the other states listed where your chances would be much better. Whether right or wrong, Master's grades are expected to be inflated and thus do not mitigate undergrad performance.
 
Don't waste your time with california MD period or with DO if you score under 27 on the MCAT.
 
Thanks for the input. Just to clarify you mean dont bother applying MD at all, and don't apply DO if I score under 27? Or apply to both if I score 27+ ?
 
peanutp said:
Thanks for the input. Just to clarify you mean dont bother applying MD at all, and don't apply DO if I score under 27? Or apply to both if I score 27+ ?
Click to expand...

Don't bother with MD at all unless you end up with an incredibly high MCAT, higher than you can ever plan on getting. Sorry, but a 3.0 just isn't going to cut it unless you get something like a 36 or higher. Even with a very high MCAT, California MD might not happen, and most of the other states you listed have very strong preferences for instate applicants. Washington is even more competitive than California for instate, and takes few to no OOS applicants. Nevada only takes OOS applicants from states like Alaska that don't have medical schools. New Mexico and Texas don't take many OOS. Arizona, Colorado and Oregon take a few, but competition is stiff. Your best chance of getting accepted to an MD school in the region you want would be to move to Texas a year in advance so you can establish residency before applying. Even that might not work out, and the odds of success probably aren't high enough to justify the trouble.

Therefore, you need to concentrate on DO schools. There are some good options in the west, like both Western campuses, Touro, A.T. Still's Arizona branch, and PNWU. You will need an MCAT of 27 or so to be competitive for them. Your AACOMAS GPA is high enough that your application won't be tossed out as long as everything else is good. DO is definitely the way to go for you as your GPA with retakes is quite competitive.
 
peanutp said:
Not 100% if I got these calculations right... so far 4.0 in all premed classes, and if I keep going in that direction... AMCAS GPA 2.92c/2.94s. AACOMAS GPA 3.35c/3.5s. If I can fit in an additional course or two, (by my calculation at least) I may be able to get that AMCAS GPA to 3.0 -- priority though is keeping that 4.0 and doing well on MCAT.

I know that DO schools will be more forgiving of my academic history [going from undergrad 2.7c/1.4s --> 3.77 grad school/ + 4.0 science], but I have heard that some schools have GPA cutoffs and toss your application first round.
Click to expand...

Are your calculated AMCAS and AACOMAS GPAs including your grad school courses? Just to be clear, your grad school GPA will be calculated separately from your undergrad GPA in the application. Most (all?) schools screen by undergrad GPA.

If your calculated GPAs are accurate, I agree with others in that you'll need to do extremely well on the MCAT for any MD school. DO schools are much more forgiving of GPAs. When you have your MCAT score, it'll be easier to gauge competitiveness.
 
The calculated AMCAS and AACOMAS GPAs do not include grad school. They do include post-bacc work (retakes+pre-reqs). I agree that Masters grades are inflated and thus won't be much of a bargaining chip. I am not a stellar standardized test taker, so a 36MCAT is a stretch, but I'm going to aim as high as I can.
Thanks for everyone's input so far. While of course it is disappointing that mistakes from a decade ago that no longer represent the person I am now still restrict my options, I do want to be as realistic as possible moving forward in this process.
 
peanutp said:
The calculated AMCAS and AACOMAS GPAs do not include grad school. They do include post-bacc work (retakes+pre-reqs). I agree that Masters grades are inflated and thus won't be much of a bargaining chip. I am not a stellar standardized test taker, so a 36MCAT is a stretch, but I'm going to aim as high as I can.
Thanks for everyone's input so far. While of course it is disappointing that mistakes from a decade ago that no longer represent the person I am now still restrict my options, I do want to be as realistic as possible moving forward in this process.
Click to expand...

I think hard work and the right preparation can get someone possibly anyone into the very good range. 32-34 or so. After that I think there is a natural sharpness, intelligence, and a technique specific to doing better and achieving greatness. We all might not have the gifts to be 320 lbs of solid muscle and run a 4.something 40 yard dash. But we could all maximize our nutrition and workouts and technique to be able to be a walk-on for a good team.

So don't underestimate your end of the bargain. Working as hard as you can and preparing correctly--including working hard on your weaknesses.

Good luck.

If you want to be Cali real bad. Try hard to get into western. And you'll have the proximity to be able to audition for spots in your clinical years.
 
peanutp said:
Thanks for the input. Just to clarify you mean dont bother applying MD at all, and don't apply DO if I score under 27? Or apply to both if I score 27+ ?
Click to expand...

MD no. DO in California only if 27+. DO oos might be okay with 24+.
 
Thanks. Just for my own knowledge, are there any other U.S. MD schools (besides Caribbean) that anyone has heard of where it might be worth applying to?
 
peanutp said:
Thanks. Just for my own knowledge, are there any other U.S. MD schools (besides Caribbean) that anyone has heard of where it might be worth applying to?
Click to expand...

You need to contact individual schools and ask them their policy on post bacc work. Accepting several students with 3.0's will not help a school's rankings so look for the non ranked schools, non ranked doesn't mean they aren't great schools, it more likely means they don't send in data to be ranked because they don't care to be ranked.

My state school of choice admits based on post bacc work of 32+ hours of science credits. But no one who has not had a face to face convo with admissions knows about this. It's not on a website and it's not on this forum. Make some phone calls, go talk to some people.

I seriously doubt my state school is the only one out there that does this. Surely other adcoms know people can find a better fit for themselves later in life and become academic rock stars, that the uGPA does not tell whole story.
 
peanutp said:
Thanks. Just for my own knowledge, are there any other U.S. MD schools (besides Caribbean) that anyone has heard of where it might be worth applying to?
Click to expand...

Wait and see until you get your MCAT. Tulane, Mayo, University of Vermont and Rosalind Franklin like nontrads, but not enough to take one with a 3.0 unless they have an MCAT a few points above the school's average. Only about 2% of students that get accepted to those schools have a GPA as low as yours, and you can bet that the ones that did get accepted had some amazing things on their applications to offset their awful grades. You need to plan on applying exclusively to DO schools, and maybe adding some MD ones if the opportunity presents itself.
 
Esquire said:
Best bet is to maintain your 4.0 for DO grade replacement, focus on your MCAT, and apply to DO schools in CA, NV, AZ, etc. If you ultimately want to work in CA, check out each school's match list and see who places the most in CA residencies.
Click to expand...

Don't worry about the match list. A school in California will place the most students in California residencies because lots of their students are from California and want to stay close to home. It will be just as easy to get into a California residency if you go to a similar med school on the opposite side of the country. Aside from MD/DO issues for some competitive residencies, the medical school you choose has very little bearing on your ability to match where you want. Step/Comlex scores and clinical grades will matter much more. Ignore match lists and look for schools that are in a good location, affordable and a good fit for you.
 
Chip N Sawbones said:
Don't worry about the match list. A school in California will place the most students in California residencies because lots of their students are from California and want to stay close to home. It will be just as easy to get into a California residency if you go to a similar med school on the opposite side of the country. Aside from MD/DO issues for some competitive residencies, the medical school you choose has very little bearing on your ability to match where you want. Step/Comlex scores and clinical grades will matter much more. Ignore match lists and look for schools that are in a good location, affordable and a good fit for you.
Click to expand...

In general I agree. But if the DO degree is the precondition, then I think Western is the best option due to better rotation sites that Touro MI and close proximity to a lot of LA programs. I don't think MD residency programs do too much distinguishing along the DO pedigree. Proximity and local reputations and familiarity with previous grads would be a stronger factor.

just my opinion when I was doing the research and considering options.
 
peanutp said:
Thanks. Just for my own knowledge, are there any other U.S. MD schools (besides Caribbean) that anyone has heard of where it might be worth applying to?
Click to expand...
No, it'll be a waste of time. <3.0 is simply not worth applying to MD or DO.
 
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