* *2009-2010 "What Are My Chances/Where Should I Apply/What Should I Do" * *

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hi guys!!!

what do you think my chances are?
overall 3.49
Science 3.42
mcat-28O
1.5 years of neuroscience research in college.
will have 2 years of clinical genetics research before class of 2010 (hopefully)
about 100 hrs of volunteer at a hospital
shadowed an emergency medicine DO, with a LOR

I really hope I can get into NYCOM. I'm from NYC and would love to stay near home.

thanks

I agree with Bacchus; your chances look pretty good as long as you get everything in early. Thankfully, I got into NYCOM for this coming fall; I have similar science/cumulative GPAs/MCAT. You should do fine. 👍

Was the ER doc an alumni of NYCOM? I can only assume so. 😀 If so, that will be a plus as well.

Good luck!
 
**edit**It would appear I can't read, as the title of this thread is for '09-'10 applicants.. I am obviously not one of those, Sorry for that..

I am in the "information gathering" stage here.

I am a non traditional 34 y.o., just about to finish a BS in Nursing..

I will be needing to take my second Physics, and second Ochem and IOchem as I see all medschools requiring them. I anticipate strong numbers in those classes, as chem is one of my favorites... (sickening, yes, I know)


I will have a cGPA of 3.5+ and a sGPA of 3.6+ (assuming a high mark in the 3 subjects I still need)
Additional related subjects taken were:
A&P 1 and 2
Microbiology w/ lab
Pharmacology
Pathophysiology

With my Nursing school, I have around two thousand direct contact hours with patients of all ages in all levels of illness (chronic/acute/trauma), in all theaters (outpatient/All wards/OR/DR) and in many different health care settings (rural primary clinics/Tertiary facilities)..

I still fully plan to *start* nursing as a career, as I have to pay bills, and get myself back in financial order. I have to admit to myself at this point that nursing does not really appeal to me. (great, right?!)

I desire more autonomy and a greater personal involvement into the impact of the health of my clients, rather than simply the "executor" and "advocate" role that nursing offers. I am not down on nurses or nursing. I just find myself way more interested when the docs are doing their rounds. I see as I investigate further, the opportunity loss of taking on medical school and PGYs often reduce the impact that a much higher salary could offer, especially for someone of my age. Regardless, the money will eventually be much higher, and that as a opportunity motivates me as well.

Regardless of my grades and all things considered, DO appeals to me more than MD. Family practice / Micro practice, options in PHC look very appealing to me.

My work experience before nursing has been in management, in unrelated fields.

I would like to stay in FL if possible (family), so I am very interested in LECOM-B and Nova. I am leaning towards LECOM-B primarily for the PBL program, and to a lesser extent, the lower (haha) tuition. Nova's location is better, as I would be in closer proximity to the aforementioned family, and the support they could provide. Speaking of family, just got married, and am planning to have kids.

Sorry again about the book. Any input would be appreciated.
 
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**edit**It would appear I can't read, as the title of this thread is for '09-'10 applicants.. I am obviously not one of those, Sorry for that..

I am in the "information gathering" stage here.

I am a non traditional 34 y.o., just about to finish a BS in Nursing..

I will be needing to take my second Physics, and second Ochem and IOchem as I see all medschools requiring them. I anticipate strong numbers in those classes, as chem is one of my favorites... (sickening, yes, I know)


I will have a cGPA of 3.5+ and a sGPA of 3.6+ (assuming a high mark in the 3 subjects I still need)
Additional related subjects taken were:
A&P 1 and 2
Microbiology w/ lab
Pharmacology
Pathophysiology

With my Nursing school, I have around two thousand direct contact hours with patients of all ages in all levels of illness (chronic/acute/trauma), in all theaters (outpatient/All wards/OR/DR) and in many different health care settings (rural primary clinics/Tertiary facilities)..

I still fully plan to *start* nursing as a career, as I have to pay bills, and get myself back in financial order. I have to admit to myself at this point that nursing does not really appeal to me. (great, right?!)

I desire more autonomy and a greater personal involvement into the impact of the health of my clients, rather than simply the "executor" and "advocate" role that nursing offers. I am not down on nurses or nursing. I just find myself way more interested when the docs are doing their rounds. I see as I investigate further, the opportunity loss of taking on medical school and PGYs often reduce the impact that a much higher salary could offer, especially for someone of my age. Regardless, the money will eventually be much higher, and that as a opportunity motivates me as well.

Regardless of my grades and all things considered, DO appeals to me more than MD. Family practice / Micro practice, options in PHC look very appealing to me.

My work experience before nursing has been in management, in unrelated fields.

I would like to stay in FL if possible (family), so I am very interested in LECOM-B and Nova. I am leaning towards LECOM-B primarily for the PBL program, and to a lesser extent, the lower (haha) tuition. Nova's location is better, as I would be in closer proximity to the aforementioned family, and the support they could provide. Speaking of family, just got married, and am planning to have kids.

Sorry again about the book. Any input would be appreciated.

It seems pretty clear that having a 3.5+ gpa and an MCAT score of 28+ with good EC's gives you a pretty solid chance of getting accepted into a DO school.

Take the MCAT do well and you shouldnt have a problem.
 
I agree with Bacchus; your chances look pretty good as long as you get everything in early. Thankfully, I got into NYCOM for this coming fall; I have similar science/cumulative GPAs/MCAT. You should do fine. 👍

Was the ER doc an alumni of NYCOM? I can only assume so. 😀 If so, that will be a plus as well.

Good luck!


hahah yeah he was from NYCOM. When he was writing my LOR i told him to say he was from NYCOM.
 
3.62 overall, 3.91 science.

Currently, my list is: PCOM, NYCOM, UMDNJ, OUCOM and OSUCOM. I'm a PA resident--really hoping for PCOM. I haven't taken the MCAT yet, but on practice verbals from AAMC (one test, EK - multiple tests), I've been scoring 13-15. I haven't taken the sciences yet, but they won't be anywhere near 13 (I am still finishing the pre-reqs). I am thinking something like 8-8-13 should be good enough to make me competitive? Hopefully 9-9-13.
 
Here is some of my basic info:
Graduated top school, Undergrad overall gpa: 3.41
Sci GPA: 3.13 (2 C's in Intro Bio, 1 in Physics II)
note: i've take 64hrs of science and gotten higher grades in higher level bio course
EC's (just to name a few): Men's Lacrosse manager 2yrs
Philathropy Commitee of sorority
Executive Board of Sorority
Residence Hall Association- board member
Organic Chemistry Student Instructor
Local volunteer work (habitat, Ronald McDonald)
Interned at a well known cancer institute
Currently do cancer research, go on rounds 1x/week, shadow surgeons
And other volunteer work

My clinical experience thus far is as follows:
- Worked in a geriatric neuropsych ward for ~8 months as a unit assistant
- shadowed a private practice neurologist for 1 wk
- interned at the transitional learning center for traumatic brain injury rehabilitation for one summer (assisted in neurological assessment, PT, OT, TR, the whole shebang)
- interned at south miami hospital for 80hrs- saw lots of surgery, kept up data base on cancer progression
- one semester, aided in Urological research at my university; went into the clinic and talked to with patients
- currently, go on rounds with Oncologist 1x/week (starting back in August), also get to see his surgeries

Mcat first time: 25M, second time: 26O
Yes i have signed up to retake it one more time.

I was unsuccessful in this last application cycle. I only applied Allo because at the time, I really knew nothing about DO's. I want to apply DO this next round....any advice?
 
3.62 overall, 3.91 science.

Currently, my list is: PCOM, NYCOM, UMDNJ, OUCOM and OSUCOM. I'm a PA resident--really hoping for PCOM. I haven't taken the MCAT yet, but on practice verbals from AAMC (one test, EK - multiple tests), I've been scoring 13-15. I haven't taken the sciences yet, but they won't be anywhere near 13 (I am still finishing the pre-reqs). I am thinking something like 8-8-13 should be good enough to make me competitive? Hopefully 9-9-13.

IMO, you should be aiming for higher than 9s on sciences.
 
3.62 overall, 3.91 science.

Currently, my list is: PCOM, NYCOM, UMDNJ, OUCOM and OSUCOM. I'm a PA resident--really hoping for PCOM. I haven't taken the MCAT yet, but on practice verbals from AAMC (one test, EK - multiple tests), I've been scoring 13-15. I haven't taken the sciences yet, but they won't be anywhere near 13 (I am still finishing the pre-reqs). I am thinking something like 8-8-13 should be good enough to make me competitive? Hopefully 9-9-13.

Either MCAT should definitely be fine (but still try to get as close as possible to a 10 on the sciences).

I'm curious: why no LECOM?
 
It seems pretty clear that having a 3.5+ gpa and an MCAT score of 28+ with good EC's gives you a pretty solid chance of getting accepted into a DO school.

Take the MCAT do well and you shouldnt have a problem.

Thanks for that. Most of my self doubt at this point is related to typical non-trad, non-academic factors, like age, time, family, debt, etc.

I am also looking at Barry. They actually have a lot of programs "targeted" towards my interests at this point, CRNA, DPM, etc. I will be lurking....
 
Here is some of my basic info:
Graduated top school, Undergrad overall gpa: 3.41
Sci GPA: 3.13 (2 C's in Intro Bio, 1 in Physics II)
note: i've take 64hrs of science and gotten higher grades in higher level bio course
EC's (just to name a few): Men's Lacrosse manager 2yrs
Philathropy Commitee of sorority
Executive Board of Sorority
Residence Hall Association- board member
Organic Chemistry Student Instructor
Local volunteer work (habitat, Ronald McDonald)
Interned at a well known cancer institute
Currently do cancer research, go on rounds 1x/week, shadow surgeons
And other volunteer work

My clinical experience thus far is as follows:
- Worked in a geriatric neuropsych ward for ~8 months as a unit assistant
- shadowed a private practice neurologist for 1 wk
- interned at the transitional learning center for traumatic brain injury rehabilitation for one summer (assisted in neurological assessment, PT, OT, TR, the whole shebang)
- interned at south miami hospital for 80hrs- saw lots of surgery, kept up data base on cancer progression
- one semester, aided in Urological research at my university; went into the clinic and talked to with patients
- currently, go on rounds with Oncologist 1x/week (starting back in August), also get to see his surgeries

Mcat first time: 25M, second time: 26O
Yes i have signed up to retake it one more time.

I was unsuccessful in this last application cycle. I only applied Allo because at the time, I really knew nothing about DO's. I want to apply DO this next round....any advice?

I think with this MCAT score you should be fine. A 26O is above average for most DO schools and even with your lower gpa you'll do well as long as you present yourself excellently in your primary and secondary essays.

You can check out my profile from last app cycle to see an example. #10961

Good Luck!
 
Silly question, where do I enter the # 10961 to see your last profile? Lol
thanks!
 
Thanks! Also, how did you all choose which schools to apply to (other than location)?
 
Like a lot of people in my situation I applied broadly to many schools all over the country. I selected the ones that I felt would be in locations where my wife and I could live happily and tried to choose schools where I thought would fit me best. (VCOM at VaTech felt like home with the large campus, small college town, lots of trees, and it's a big engineering school that has many opportunities for research.) It was really hard for me to get a good picture of the schools and the culture at each campus until I went to the interviews.

Once I had an acceptance I didn't pursue some of the schools because of tuition, location, and feedback from other DO's and DO students. Once I was accepted at a school I really liked I didn't accept any more interviews because of money and I was just burnt out on the application process.

I am sure you can get a great education at any US medical school, but if you find yourself with choices it really comes down to what fits you best. I thought all along that PNWU was the one for me and after the interview I knew that it was for sure one of the last places on my list (I think they could tell as well as I got waitlisted soon after the interview). I really wanted to interview at Western since I work with a lot of the students doing their NW track program, but after interviewing at VCOM I couldn't see myself attending anywhere else.
 
So I know it's still pretty early in this application process, but I know we can start applying to schools in May or June... I also know that some schools may accept you up to the day before matriculation. So my question is, when should I "give up" on this year to reapply next year? And if I do, does it look like I've "given up" on this year to the schools I've applied to this year? Thanks for your thoughts.
 
I am applying to schools (primarily DO) and want an honest opinion of my chances of getting in. I have an overall and science gpa of 3.0 and 24 MCAT score (but have a C+ in Orgo I and C in Gen Chem I) I have worked two years in a molecular biology lab, have minimal hospital volunteer experiance, and a member of Pre-Med society. In addition I played 3 years of NCAA varsity ice hockey(final year I was team captain), 1 year Varsity Lacrosse, and worked through school. Please give me some honest responses.
Thanks
 
Well I'm gonna assume you're talking about next session cause its too late for this session. 3.0 and 24 is low, even for DO schools. 24 not terrible on its own but not good with the low GPA. Retake those Cs for higher grades, get the MCAT up a few points (the better option because it can probably be done faster than bringing up GPA significantly).

This will get moved to the WAMC thread. Just watch. Chocolate bear lives for the opportunity to move threads.
 
In before thread relocation!

I think you are in a difficult position currently. I agree with eng (who I thought was a chick...) that improving your MCAT will be your best option. Aim for 29+ on MCAT and apply as early as possible and I think you will have a shot.
 
Hey,
To my knowledge, no school interviews much past April (ie, if you do not receive an invitation to interview at the school soon it will probably be pretty much over). The people who are accepted on the day of matriculation are accepted from off the wait list, not from the applicant pool in general. To get on the wait list you have to have been offered a place there after an interview. Long story short, if you have not been interviewed at this point then it may be starting to look grave. If you have been wait listed at a school I would not lose hope yet, there will be a lot of movement off the waitlists in the comming months.

You have some time before you need to think about re-applying. Some people talk about getting their applications in and varified first thing, but I think as long as you have submitted it to aacomas by the end of June you should be just fine. In the time between now and June, work on strengthing your application. Shadow a doc, improve your gpa, retake the MCAT.... things like that. If you did not have any luck this application cycle then take some time to see what you can improve for next time around.

In short, if you have not been offered an interview at this point in time your chances are starting to get slimmer. I wouldn't worry about re-applying to schools you applied to last year, just make sure you have something new and interesting to show them. Good luck!
 
Agree with all the above, and would add go for some more clinical experience. Get in a hospital shadowing a doctor (also make sure you can find a good one to write an LOR). Other than that, raise your MCAT and apply early and often. A lot of people with comparable GPA have gotten into medical school. Good luck!🙂
 
In before thread relocation!

I think you are in a difficult position currently. I agree with eng (who I thought was a chick...) that improving your MCAT will be your best option. Aim for 29+ on MCAT and apply as early as possible and I think you will have a shot.

LOOK AT THE AVATAR! YOU DON'T GET ANYMORE MANLY THAN THaT!
 
Hi everyone. I'm new. 🙂 I tried looking through older posts but couldn't find anything that really matched my question.
My GPA is low and I haven't taken the MCAT yet (May 22), and I've been looking into different post-bacc programs, but I'd really rather apply directly to med school and just skip that altogether. Is there anyone who has done this? I vaguely remember reading somewhere that to get into some PBs you have to have been rejected by med school. Any truth in this? I just wanted some opinions because I don't want to put all my eggs in either the PB or med school basket, but I don't want to do both if that wouldn't be advisable either.
 
Stats:

OA - 3.00
Science - 3.7ish
AO - probably around a 2.5

Does the AO gpa carry much weight? Anyone accepted with a shoddy AO?
 
I don't even know what the hell that means.

It means 'All Other' gpa - meaning all non-science classes. I've read in a few threads on this site that it matters and I was wondering if anyone had any experience it. The fact that you dont know what it is gives me great hope! :laugh:
 
OA is occipito-atlantal in my world. AO is nothing that I'm aware of.

My non-science GPA sucks **** through a garden hose. But I was ******ed until right before I graduated. I did my best work in an extensive post-bac, and on the MCAT. That is what got me the looks I got.

The non-science GPA got me the axe at Nova though. I know this to be a fact. Other schools were a little less hard-nosed about it.
 
Okay so I kind of have a dilemma concerning retaking courses. I am currently a sophomore at Rutgers University. I received a D in Bio I & II freshman year and a C in Chem I & II. I have to retake bio for my major so heres the dilemma.

Option 1:
If i take bio at Rutgers I will have to drive 40 min a day, but the grade will be averaged into my overall GPA at Rutgers. I will be unable to retake chem if I take bio at Rutgers over the summer.

Option 2:
I can take bio and chem at a local 4 year college that is 5 min away from home. The only thing is for my Rutgers GPA the grades will not transfer but obviously they will be used for DO school.

Option 3:
I can take bio and chem at my local community college. Again the grades wont be averaged but of course DO schools will use them.

I am asking this because I am wondering what will look better, taking bio at Rutgers again, taking both bio and chem improving my GPA at a local college, or maybe even at community. Some people say community college is looked down upon but others say it is not. What should I do?
 
well.... i completely understand about the commuting dilema, but it will be very hard to explain in an interview how you attend Rutgers... i don't have to tell you it's pretty much ivy league... then go and take chemistry at a junior college because you didn't make the grade at Rutgers. I have a good friend..... who was accepted to my state school.. he was attending a community college and did poorly on organic chem because it was very difficult, fortunately a large 4 year university was in the same city and people told him to try there and he ended up making an A..... i know it is an acception to the rule. I think you should suck it up and make the commute.... just my opinion.... any try to make a's in all other classes to show you can recover from your bad grades
 
So what do you guys think of my chances of getting into Western if my gpa stays consistent. I have a 3.4 sci and a 3.3 overall (trying to change this). How high of an MCAT would I need for me to be competitive?
 
So what do you guys think of my chances of getting into Western if my gpa stays consistent. I have a 3.4 sci and a 3.3 overall (trying to change this). How high of an MCAT would I need for me to be competitive?


I know people who attend there who are all over the spectrum. 3.0 and up on GPA and a 23 and up on the MCAT. There is more to getting into school than numbers alone, but if numbers is your only concern make sure to get a 28 or better and no lower than an 8 in any category on the MCAT and your GPA should be fine for at least an interview invite if your essays and recommendations are good.
 
Granted I too am only a lowly pre-med and my grades aren't stellar either (I got a D in Gen Bio 1). I'm not trying to sound to harsh but here is the bottom line how it was given to me (by a med student) last semester: "Suck it The %;#@ up and retake the classes, because what you have now simply will not cut it, there aren't second chances here. If you want to be a doctor get your **** together and get it done" I know at first this it's pretty much the most discouraging thing you could possibly hear, but if nothing else it helped put things into perspective for me and now I'm doing significantly better. Again I know it kinda sucks to hear, but if medicine is somthing we really want then I guess it's a pill we just have to take.

Good Luck!
 
Okay so I kind of have a dilemma concerning retaking courses. I am currently a sophomore at Rutgers University. I received a D in Bio I & II freshman year and a C in Chem I & II. I have to retake bio for my major so heres the dilemma.

Option 1:
If i take bio at Rutgers I will have to drive 40 min a day, but the grade will be averaged into my overall GPA at Rutgers. I will be unable to retake chem if I take bio at Rutgers over the summer.

Option 2:
I can take bio and chem at a local 4 year college that is 5 min away from home. The only thing is for my Rutgers GPA the grades will not transfer but obviously they will be used for DO school.

Option 3:
I can take bio and chem at my local community college. Again the grades wont be averaged but of course DO schools will use them.

I am asking this because I am wondering what will look better, taking bio at Rutgers again, taking both bio and chem improving my GPA at a local college, or maybe even at community. Some people say community college is looked down upon but others say it is not. What should I do?



I'd probably go with the 4-yr college that's 5 min. away, if the tuition isn't really an issue.
 
Okay so I kind of have a dilemma concerning retaking courses. I am currently a sophomore at Rutgers University. I received a D in Bio I & II freshman year and a C in Chem I & II. I have to retake bio for my major so heres the dilemma.

Option 1:
If i take bio at Rutgers I will have to drive 40 min a day, but the grade will be averaged into my overall GPA at Rutgers. I will be unable to retake chem if I take bio at Rutgers over the summer.

Option 2:
I can take bio and chem at a local 4 year college that is 5 min away from home. The only thing is for my Rutgers GPA the grades will not transfer but obviously they will be used for DO school.

Option 3:
I can take bio and chem at my local community college. Again the grades wont be averaged but of course DO schools will use them.

I am asking this because I am wondering what will look better, taking bio at Rutgers again, taking both bio and chem improving my GPA at a local college, or maybe even at community. Some people say community college is looked down upon but others say it is not. What should I do?

I would only do the CC option as an absolute last resort. It IS looked down upon. If the rest of your app is sound and you do well on the re-takes, you should gain at least some acceptances to osteopathic schools. If you apply allo as well, the cc credits would be a kiss of death.
 
So I have a major predicament...I'm not sure whether to apply this cycle or not because I have basically NO extracurriculars, volunteering, or shadowing in college (Junior now). Synopsis:

Major: Biochemistry

GPA: 3.63

Work/Research: 1 year, assisted on 2 projects

Volunteering/Shadowing: Only in High School, and once I knew I was interested in medicine/medical research, I decided to focus exclusively on school work and getting into research rather than waste time volunteering. May have shot myself in the foot.

Top choice DO: PNWU-COM

Will be taking MCAT in May or June if I decide to apply this cycle, but will wait until August or September if I decide to wait until next cycle.

Will probably apply to a few others, along with MD/PhD programs to see what happens. Not sure about DO/PhD though (based on funding data for students). Should I take a year off and try to get more clinical experience or just apply this cycle and see what happens?
 
Katatonic, are you too busy to beef up your app? You still have months before you need to apply.

I only recently switched my major to Biochem and have to take 20 credits next term. So, I might have the ability to shadow someone on weekends. Also, I am in the process of figuring out whether I got into an NIH summer internship which would help my research out. I don't have much extra time than that though to do any volunteering or anything, since I need to devote time to the MCAT as well.
 
I only recently switched my major to Biochem and have to take 20 credits next term. So, I might have the ability to shadow someone on weekends. Also, I am in the process of figuring out whether I got into an NIH summer internship which would help my research out. I don't have much extra time than that though to do any volunteering or anything, since I need to devote time to the MCAT as well.

I see. Well with a good application (including shadowing, letters, etc.), it wouldn't be too late to apply around September or even a little later (though it's obviously not ideal), so keep that in mind. If you can get everything done by then, cool. If not, I'd say it's a bit more of a gamble, but perhaps one worth taking, if it saves you a year.
 
I see. Well with a good application (including shadowing, letters, etc.), it wouldn't be too late to apply around September or even a little later (though it's obviously not ideal), so keep that in mind. If you can get everything done by then, cool. If not, I'd say it's a bit more of a gamble, but perhaps one worth taking, if it saves you a year.

Thanks for the advice. I'm definitely going to try and find a DO to shadow (thanks to your nifty Finder service in your signature). Other than that, I have a question about LORs, so maybe you could point me to a thread concerning that? I'm unsure what the requirements are, whether they are school specific or if AACOMAS sets the standards (like, 2 science faculty, 2 non-science faculty, 2 non-academic?). Thanks!
 
Thanks for the advice. I'm definitely going to try and find a DO to shadow (thanks to your nifty Finder service in your signature). Other than that, I have a question about LORs, so maybe you could point me to a thread concerning that? I'm unsure what the requirements are, whether they are school specific or if AACOMAS sets the standards (like, 2 science faculty, 2 non-science faculty, 2 non-academic?). Thanks!

Check out "DO version of the MSAR" and "Which schools require a DO LOR." 👍

Each school's LOR reqs are listed under the respective "Supplemental Application Requirements" in the CIB 2009 PDF.
 
Currently, I have 3.47 overall GPA and a 3.36 science GPA. I am in my sophomore year (2nd quarter out of three) at one of the top 3 UCs. Do I still have a shot at getting in if I get a good MCAT score?
 
Seeing as how I had a comparable cumulative and a lower science GPA and I have recieved 6 interview invites (3 MD, 3 DO) and one acceptance so far, I would say you still have a shot. Just keep working hard and try to pull it up as much as you can and do well on the MCAT and you should be fine. Oh and finding some good EC's should help as well.
 
ABout the same GPAs, 30P mcat, four interview invites, two acceptancs. If I can do it, so can you. Plus you still have time as its only your sophmore year.
 
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