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I'd retake the classes. Since you did well on the MCAT you have a very good shot at getting A's in the retakes.
* *2009-2010 "What Are My Chances/Where Should I Apply/What Should I Do" * *
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Thank you for your opinions guys. And thank you for being honest.
One question: A few of you guys have said that I should take some upper level sciences (in addition to retaking the pre-reqs) to prove to adcoms that I can be successful in these courses. Well, I am a science major, so jr and sr year I took many upper level sciences and did well (senior year: molecular bio, virology, neuroscience, embryology, biochem with all A's or B's). So I believe I have already proven that I can do well in upper level sciences. Do you still think I should take more upper level sciences, in light of this fact that I have already taken many upper level sciences and done well?
One question: A few of you guys have said that I should take some upper level sciences (in addition to retaking the pre-reqs) to prove to adcoms that I can be successful in these courses. Well, I am a science major, so jr and sr year I took many upper level sciences and did well (senior year: molecular bio, virology, neuroscience, embryology, biochem with all A's or B's). So I believe I have already proven that I can do well in upper level sciences. Do you still think I should take more upper level sciences, in light of this fact that I have already taken many upper level sciences and done well?
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Yes, I would anyway.
I had a better MCAT than you, a slightly better overall GPA, and a ridiculous upward trend, and I never felt like I was a lock to get in.
I had a better MCAT than you, a slightly better overall GPA, and a ridiculous upward trend, and I never felt like I was a lock to get in.
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For the posters who have been asking if they are competitive....
1) The competition for medical school is fierce. There are 2-3 people vying for each seat. You need to make yourself as competitive as possible. Depending on the school, the MCAT average is anywhere from 26-29. However, that being said, your MCAT is only a snapshot in time and not your overall performance. But, it is also a way to kind of level the playing field between people who have gone to a well known school and those that went to not so known schools.
2) The best way to know if you are competitive is to call the admissions office of your top choice medical school. People on these boards may mean well and tell you you that you are competitive but at the same time, they may have more sinister intentions and make themselves look better to a committee by steering not so competitive applicants to the schools that THEY want to attend.
3) Remember that the entire admissions process is a crap shoot. A 3.9 GPA and a 40 MCAT no longer guarantees admission to any school. At the same time, a 3.8 and 24 MCAT no longer guarantees a rejection.
Take a look at the average matriculant for your school(s) of choice and compare yourself to that and then ask yourself, are you competitive? Then call the school and ask THEM.
Good Luck
1) The competition for medical school is fierce. There are 2-3 people vying for each seat. You need to make yourself as competitive as possible. Depending on the school, the MCAT average is anywhere from 26-29. However, that being said, your MCAT is only a snapshot in time and not your overall performance. But, it is also a way to kind of level the playing field between people who have gone to a well known school and those that went to not so known schools.
2) The best way to know if you are competitive is to call the admissions office of your top choice medical school. People on these boards may mean well and tell you you that you are competitive but at the same time, they may have more sinister intentions and make themselves look better to a committee by steering not so competitive applicants to the schools that THEY want to attend.
3) Remember that the entire admissions process is a crap shoot. A 3.9 GPA and a 40 MCAT no longer guarantees admission to any school. At the same time, a 3.8 and 24 MCAT no longer guarantees a rejection.
Take a look at the average matriculant for your school(s) of choice and compare yourself to that and then ask yourself, are you competitive? Then call the school and ask THEM.
Good Luck
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You need to focus on your pre-reqs. Once you have those under control worry about upper levels. I don't see why you did so poorly when you've handled so many upper levels so well.
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Thank you TexasThriathlete and Bacchus for your opinions.
Texas, I have done the math (I created a whole spreadsheet with all my grades), and basically every time I retake one of my pre-reqs that I got a C/C- in and turn this into atleast a B+/A-, it will raise my cGPA by .6 and my sGPA by .10.
On the other hand, every B+/A- that I get in a new upper level science will only raise my both my cGPA and my sGPA by about half as much each (actually even less than that as I continue to take more credits)
Does this change your mind?
And to Bacchus, I was very uninformed and immature as a freshmen and sophomore. I also wasn't necessarily even shooting for medical school.
Texas, I have done the math (I created a whole spreadsheet with all my grades), and basically every time I retake one of my pre-reqs that I got a C/C- in and turn this into atleast a B+/A-, it will raise my cGPA by .6 and my sGPA by .10.
On the other hand, every B+/A- that I get in a new upper level science will only raise my both my cGPA and my sGPA by about half as much each (actually even less than that as I continue to take more credits)
Does this change your mind?
And to Bacchus, I was very uninformed and immature as a freshmen and sophomore. I also wasn't necessarily even shooting for medical school.
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Hey OP,
thats what i have heard from other threads as well. A mixture of retaking classes and still going for upper level classes looks the best. I m in a very similar position and I ll be essentially retaking orgo 12 and physics 1. I ll be a senior next year so i guess i have a bit more time but i still have a long way to go before applying.
Quick question, If i m retakin orgo, and i m a full time student at my home university how weird does it look if i took orgo at a community college near the university at the same time. Its only cus of a time clash, since i need a certain course for my major and thats only offered at the same time as orgo. SO i need to take it somewhere else. I know its going to be easier, and honestly that would be a nice change, seeing as our orgo class is supposed to be one of the hardest in the country and the first time i took it it totally screwed me over. But so basically in order for me to get started on retakin some my pre reqs i need to start asap. and takin it at the community college would be the easiest instead of watiing till the summer, since i already have other classes to take the summer. So whadya guys think?
thats what i have heard from other threads as well. A mixture of retaking classes and still going for upper level classes looks the best. I m in a very similar position and I ll be essentially retaking orgo 12 and physics 1. I ll be a senior next year so i guess i have a bit more time but i still have a long way to go before applying.
Quick question, If i m retakin orgo, and i m a full time student at my home university how weird does it look if i took orgo at a community college near the university at the same time. Its only cus of a time clash, since i need a certain course for my major and thats only offered at the same time as orgo. SO i need to take it somewhere else. I know its going to be easier, and honestly that would be a nice change, seeing as our orgo class is supposed to be one of the hardest in the country and the first time i took it it totally screwed me over. But so basically in order for me to get started on retakin some my pre reqs i need to start asap. and takin it at the community college would be the easiest instead of watiing till the summer, since i already have other classes to take the summer. So whadya guys think?
No one can tell you where to apply...it's really based on what YOU want out of your education. Is the name of the school more important...or the fact that you feel comfortable there? Do you want to stick with NE schools or are you a west-coast kind of person? And, who knows, maybe a tour through a few of the campuses would sway you one way or another. Honestly, everyone has a different opinion of each school...it's up to you to formulate your own. Almost all of them are good schools and place high numbers of their students hospitals across the country. Cut and paste the link below into your browser...it will give you a good foundation for your school search.
http://www.aacom.org/resources/bookstore/cib/Documents/cib2010/2010-CIB-complete.pdf
Your credentials look on par. The sci gpa is slightly below average as is the cum gpa...but by no means will it knock you out of running at most DO schools. Mid 20s (i.e. 25) on the MCAT isn't stellar, but definitely good enough...especially if it's balanced Apply broadly and SOON...and get the secondaries in quickly. You look very well-rounded! Good luck!
I've mentioned this before...trends ARE important. And your recovery was so strong that your final gpa (sci and cum) are still above the average for the applicant pool. I would not fret too much over it. Plus your MCAT hits the average range for DO matriculants...not much to worry about there.
However, definitely start piling up some MAJOR hours shadowing ASAP. And, make sure to include it in your app once you've completed even as little as 8-10 hours.
I didn't have a DO letter either so I had to scan this pdf (below) to figure out which schools REQUIRE a DO letter and which only recommend one. Mine was from an MD.
http://www.aacom.org/resources/bookstore/cib/Documents/cib2010/2010-CIB-complete.pdf
I'm in almost exactly the same situation as you. I'm retaking the MCAT July 31st. Can you get in to retake anytime soon or are you just going with what you have? I already applied...anticipating a better score the 2nd time around. If you plan to retake definitely apply NOW, indicate that you retaking on your app, then update with your new scores later. Good luck with whatever you decide to do!
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cgpa: 3.5
sgpa: 3.6
mcat: 25R (10P, 7V, 8B). retaking this summer to hopefully raise a few points.
EC: volunteer at hospital 3yrs. part-time as nursing assistant 1yr. research 1yr. involved in many leadership/volunteer groups throughout undergrad. shadowing.
LOR: i believe them to be pretty good/solid. have DO letters as well.
what are my chances at DO? i'm looking at msucom, pcom-philly, nsu, ccom right now.
any advice/thoughts would be great! thanks.
sgpa: 3.6
mcat: 25R (10P, 7V, 8B). retaking this summer to hopefully raise a few points.
EC: volunteer at hospital 3yrs. part-time as nursing assistant 1yr. research 1yr. involved in many leadership/volunteer groups throughout undergrad. shadowing.
LOR: i believe them to be pretty good/solid. have DO letters as well.
what are my chances at DO? i'm looking at msucom, pcom-philly, nsu, ccom right now.
any advice/thoughts would be great! thanks.
You look like you're in decent shape. MCATs aren't bad...though you said you are retaking...so am I...in late July. Both sets of gpas look excellent...that's about where I'm sitting. I wouldn't be overly worried if I were you...especially if your MCAT goes up 2-3 pts. Good extracurricluars too. I think you have a pretty good shot. Good luck!
dude thank you so much for your help i greatly appreciate it
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Interesting...Since it is a pre-req, I would take it at the university. How exactly do you know your orgo class is "one of the hardest in the country"?
Since you already took the class and call it one of the hardest in the country, I am guessing you found it extremely difficult. Well, perhaps you could find another professor to take it orgo with.
My orgo classes at my university varied extremely in difficulty (and quality) between professors. I did horrible in orgo 2 with this one professor, so when I re-took it, I made sure to take it with another professor whom I heard was great. So I re-took it with this second professor, and it turned out that his class was much easier than the first professor. Also, the second professor was also just flat-out a better teacher and knew how to explain things ten times better than the first professor and so I was able to understand so much more of the material the second time.
So, I would look for another professor in your state university to take orgo with for your retake. I would do this in the summer too, and move your other classes around to fit this.
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They'll look at your whole application (official shadowing... not including just working with docs... especially DOs, volunteering, reason for the career change, non-medicine activities, etc), but what you've shared here looks pretty good. Your GPA is on the low end, but I think with your background, you have a lot to offer.
You may want to apply to a good number of schools, to help your odds. Every school is looking for something a little different in applications.
Good luck!
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well it kinda sucks since we only have one two professors for orgo and each one takes either orgo 1 or orgo 2. And i know that our orgo is one of the hardest because the professor has taught for several other schools, and has a ridic amount of experience teaching and he gives us practice problems etc. from orgo classes of really top level schools in the country. So i m not able to move my classes around, does it really look that bad to take it at a community college?
Nothing to worry about with the gpas. Good news...MCAT score is great. Bad news...the 6 in verbal...but you already knew that. I would call some of the universities that you are interested in. Let them know of your situation and ask their advice. Personally, I would reschedule a retaking of the MCAT because I think the 6 might give you a problem. Don't get me wrong, your score is great...but the scoring breakdown isn't. Whatever you decide...apply now if you haven't already. Then, if you decide to retake, you can update the scores later. It's tough because your PS and BS scores are so high...but the 6 in verbal is an issue. Good luck!
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I have 14 DO schools, still on my list. They are so similar I am not sure what else to look for to narrow down my list.
I still got:
Kirksville, Des Moines, Kansas City, both AZ schools, both FL schools, VCOM, WVSOM, Pikesville, LECOM, GA, PCOM, LMU-COM,
I think I cut the standards in academics, so that really isn't a narrowing option for me. The main option I value is the availability of clinical rotations.
I don't prefer the warm climate, but it seems the northern schools (PCOM, LECOM, etc), are better schools, that have options for more clinical rotations. So it is a toss up.
I read the entire pros and con list of reviews of the schools, I did find the thread very enlightening, but I wasn't sure if I should knock some schools off my lists, based one or two bad comments.
I am tempted to take AZCOM off my list, because I heard some reviews stating they are raising their class population too quickly, and their clinical rotations sites are not keeping up with their class size.
AZ Kirksville location, they seem to have a new curriculum, where they incorporate the second year and beyond into clinicals, but does this mean they no longer have lectures during the second year?
Kansas City, I have a heard a couple of bad reviews about them now. Mostly about constant loss and gain of faculty, and some complaining about the clinical rotation sites. But they seem to have a good match list of competitive residencies.
I still got:
Kirksville, Des Moines, Kansas City, both AZ schools, both FL schools, VCOM, WVSOM, Pikesville, LECOM, GA, PCOM, LMU-COM,
I think I cut the standards in academics, so that really isn't a narrowing option for me. The main option I value is the availability of clinical rotations.
I don't prefer the warm climate, but it seems the northern schools (PCOM, LECOM, etc), are better schools, that have options for more clinical rotations. So it is a toss up.
I read the entire pros and con list of reviews of the schools, I did find the thread very enlightening, but I wasn't sure if I should knock some schools off my lists, based one or two bad comments.
I am tempted to take AZCOM off my list, because I heard some reviews stating they are raising their class population too quickly, and their clinical rotations sites are not keeping up with their class size.
AZ Kirksville location, they seem to have a new curriculum, where they incorporate the second year and beyond into clinicals, but does this mean they no longer have lectures during the second year?
Kansas City, I have a heard a couple of bad reviews about them now. Mostly about constant loss and gain of faculty, and some complaining about the clinical rotation sites. But they seem to have a good match list of competitive residencies.
A
AdemTD
I would get rid of both AZ schools, LMU, WVSOM, and Pikeville. I have heard that AZCOM's clinical rotations are terrible (don't know if it's really true, ATSU-AZ has a weird curriculum, LMU just for the sake of narrowing, WVSOM for the high OOS tuition, and Pikeville because they heavily prefer regional students.) Those are just my opinions, however.
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I agree, WVSOM tuition for OOS is insane. And Pikeville are very likely to only interview in staters. I never got an interview from there. I thought they were just a waste of my primary and secondary dollars.
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Yeah i cut WVSOM off my list because of the insane OSS tuition. I also cut LMU. Yeah if your having doubts about the AZ schools you'd prob wanna cut them too.
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I agree with others to get rid of WVSOM because of OOS tuition.
KCUMB because there are numerous people who agree the school is a money factory.
Both AZ schools if you are concerned about rotations. Although I will say if you were willing to put forth the effort to help arrange your own, you would probably do fine. But unless you have some reason to come to AZ this is just an added thing to deal with.
LMU because they heavily favor local applicants. Not a reason to nix but just something you should know.
Do you like PBL? If not then you should get rid of LECOM-B because they are solely PBL. If you don't mind PBL then their tuition is about as sweet as it gets.
On second thought I think you should seriously consider what parts of the country you would consider moving to. Do you have family or other connections in all those areas? Because those are things that will probably become very important.
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What are your stats? If they're higher, you can lessen your list that way too, with some confidence.
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I have a few questions today that I will ask you all about the osteopathic admissions process:
1. Is a 3.3-3.4 GPA good enough to be accepted? Without course retakes my GPA is 3.0-3.1 with a major in chemical engineering. My science GPA also went up for osteopathic, because anything with an engineering designation counts as other science.
2. Is MCAT averaged, or is last score taken? I have a 30 with a 37 on the second attempt.
3. If I apply to MD schools, does that lesson my chances of admission to DO schools, and vice verse?
4. Should I offer exclusively DO LOR's for admissions?
5. Does post-bacc work change the undergraduate GPA and can you retake courses after a BS degree is earned?
6. How do my chances look for osteopathic?
7. What should I do to get an acceptance from an osteopathic school that they would see as exciting?
1. Is a 3.3-3.4 GPA good enough to be accepted? Without course retakes my GPA is 3.0-3.1 with a major in chemical engineering. My science GPA also went up for osteopathic, because anything with an engineering designation counts as other science.
2. Is MCAT averaged, or is last score taken? I have a 30 with a 37 on the second attempt.
3. If I apply to MD schools, does that lesson my chances of admission to DO schools, and vice verse?
4. Should I offer exclusively DO LOR's for admissions?
5. Does post-bacc work change the undergraduate GPA and can you retake courses after a BS degree is earned?
6. How do my chances look for osteopathic?
7. What should I do to get an acceptance from an osteopathic school that they would see as exciting?
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1. Your recalculated GPA (3.4-3.5) is competitive for Osteopathic schools. However, when applying to MD's school, your 3.0-3.1 GPA will raise a red flag. However, your 37 MCAT score might balance it out.
2. It usually depends on the school. Most school will take your most recent MCAT score. Even if they average your MCAT, it is well above the average Osteopathic applicant's MCAT score (~27-28).
3. It will not lessen your chances. MD schools do not have access to AACOMAS nor does DO have access to AMCAS. So they won't know nor do they care.
4. If applying to DO schools, it's better to get a good DO LOR. If that cannot be achieved, then a MD LOR is as good. Bottom line: Just make sure the LOR is quality.
5. I am not sure about this, but I believe Post-Bac will not really change your overall undergraduate GPA. However, I believe they have a section of just a Post-Bac GPA/Master column.
6. You have a good chance. Pretty sure you'll get into one if you apply broadly.
7. Everyone's story is unique. You need to find a way to present it in an exciting way.
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My opinion:
1. A 3.3 GPA is excellent especially with your 37 MCAT. You are an excellent applicant to DO schools and very competitive for MD schools. A 3.0-3.1 I believe is still very acceptable with your amazing MCAT.
2. It depends on the school really, I'm not to sure though, but a 37 on a retake is def amazing and will surely help you out. Congrats getting that.
3. No it does not lessen your chances at all. They are both separate.
4. If you have plenty, that's no problem. For mine, I had an MD and DO letter. A DO letter I believe is very important even though some schools says they are only optional.
5. A post-bac does increase your gpa. I'm not too sure about this questions since I never looked into it.
6. Excellent.
7. Shadowing a DO physician and having that LOR. During the interviews, they always asked me about that. Just lets them know that you care about the DO profession and know what they are all about and took the time to gain an insight in Osteopathic medicine. But since you already got this, I guess maybe another DO physician? 🙂
Hope this helps you out a bit. Congratulations again, Good luck!
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Thank you very much, I feel like I am getting a lot of love here in the DO section. My MCAT was never viewed in the light that people here in the DO section look at it. I heard things that it was average and never told that it was great (because it would be averaged?). I am also pleased to hear I am an excellent candidate. I will try my best, thats all I can do, and if the first go around doesn't work, I will try again.
If you and the other people don't mind, would you please post your stats on what you had before you applied and extra curricular activities, I am not here to judge, I just want to know what sucessful people did to get accepted. I also want to know if any post-bacc work that was done as well as more then one period of applying.
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Great advice, this is much appreciated!
I have a father in Tennessee, but thats about it. Family really isn't an issue.
GPA 3.88 Cum, 3.92 Sci. MCAT- still waiting on my score. I averaged around a 27-28 on the AAMC tests. I felt very confident with the test, so I think I made pretty close to my average.
I am submitting my application for verification this week, but my MCAT score doesn't come back until the 21st. Is it true that you have to have your schools picked out, and paid before you can submit your application for verification?
If I can switch right after, then I probably will take WMSOM off and pikeville. I do agree with you guys on those points. I guess the only reason I had been keeping them on, was backup. They seem to be both have 22 MCAT averages (so just in case I didn't do anywhere near what I thought I'd do).
I have a father in Tennessee, but thats about it. Family really isn't an issue.
GPA 3.88 Cum, 3.92 Sci. MCAT- still waiting on my score. I averaged around a 27-28 on the AAMC tests. I felt very confident with the test, so I think I made pretty close to my average.
I am submitting my application for verification this week, but my MCAT score doesn't come back until the 21st. Is it true that you have to have your schools picked out, and paid before you can submit your application for verification?
If I can switch right after, then I probably will take WMSOM off and pikeville. I do agree with you guys on those points. I guess the only reason I had been keeping them on, was backup. They seem to be both have 22 MCAT averages (so just in case I didn't do anywhere near what I thought I'd do).
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Oh yea, PBL... I have read about it in a couple of threads. It really doesn't seem that appealing to me, because when a bunch of students sit in a group and discuss it doesn't seem like a whole lot gets done. I think I may leave my options open until I can sit in on session. I really have no idea though.
I forgot what school it was, but someone was talking about a school who had it, that would only test twice a semester, and cover something like 47 chapters in the test... that really seem awful. Even though, technically it would prepare you for your boards.
I forgot what school it was, but someone was talking about a school who had it, that would only test twice a semester, and cover something like 47 chapters in the test... that really seem awful. Even though, technically it would prepare you for your boards.
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Lecom E has the option of PBL, but the Lecom in florida is all PBL so if you're not 100% sure that you would like it I would knock that off your list of schools as well
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what is PBL?
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Problem Based Learning. What I have got out of it, is that it is a study group of 5-8 people sitting around at a table discussing problems that require something to be figured out, or a group input.
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why are you guys suggesting throwing out LMU? is there a strong in-state preference? orr is it because it is a new school? i think it says on their web page that 60% are in appalachian region.
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Just a note - AACOMAS does not use BCPM. Your science GPA may be different because it does not include math and does include grade forgiveness. Check out the AACOMAS website for calculation details.
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I didn't suggest to the OP to throw it out, I just mentioned it because they do have that heavy preference for the appalachian region.
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just curious since LMU is in my top 3. just wondering what other people's thought were on the school. i am applying there out of state so im keeping my fingers crossed
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I was accepted to PCOM, CCOM, ATSU-SOMA, and AZCOM, and chose ATSU-SOMA because of its "weird curriculum," haha. Look into it, see if it's for you.
As to the clinicals I have heard that AZCOM's clinicals are sketchy (not enough in AZ, so volunteers go to Ohio) and I didn't like their focus on numbers and the boards.
I did visit ATSU-SOMA's campus in Brooklyn and was impressed to see the SOMA students working alongside students from NYCOM and a couple of the MD schools there in NYC. In fact, a future 3rd year showed me his clinical rotation schedule for this upcoming year, and all of the rotations are right there at Lutheran Hospital in Brooklyn.
Some choices between schools are easy to make (a huge difference in tuition, a location you just can't stand, etc.) but deciding on the more subtle choices like the curriculum takes a lot of thought and foot work on your part. Don't cheat yourself by skimping on it.
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to the OP: I think that your idea of waiting until you get to sit on a session of PBL is a good idea. I was very skeptical going in, however came away from my interview at LECOM-B very impressed. That said it is not for everyone... However, speaking with the students at LECOM ensured me that for some people at least, the PBL curriculum can be greatly appealing.
Oh and I think your idea of a group of students just sitting around and discussing a topic is only partially true, because it is implying that you are doing the majority of your learning in that group environment which is untrue... In reality, PBL is a very self study oriented program, where your learning is done mostly out of the classroom. This de-emphasizes lectures and you'll see that PBL students spend much less time in the classroom and have more time outside of class, which is of course to be used for studying. So people who are good independent learners, people who somewhat have a difficult time learning in a lecture setting and prefer learning on there own will be suited for this type of program. And of course you have "mentors" who make sure you're on the right track so your not completely on your own.
Oh and I think your idea of a group of students just sitting around and discussing a topic is only partially true, because it is implying that you are doing the majority of your learning in that group environment which is untrue... In reality, PBL is a very self study oriented program, where your learning is done mostly out of the classroom. This de-emphasizes lectures and you'll see that PBL students spend much less time in the classroom and have more time outside of class, which is of course to be used for studying. So people who are good independent learners, people who somewhat have a difficult time learning in a lecture setting and prefer learning on there own will be suited for this type of program. And of course you have "mentors" who make sure you're on the right track so your not completely on your own.
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I am not trying to put down the curriculum, I just trying to understand it, so please don't take any offense to my comments. I would greatly appreciate your feedback though. Because you probably understand a lot more about this than me.
With ATSU-SOMA it hard for me to understand that you can learn all of your second year academics in a clinic, maybe I just not comprehending what exactly you do you second year, besides just starting clinical rotations early. My fear is what if you end up in a clinic with not much going on, how are you going to learn all that pathology and pharmacology you are supposed to know the second year?
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I take that back I have done something like PBL before.
Would you consider case studies the exact same thing? Because I sat in on a couple of those while I was up at UNC school of medicine.
Oh ya, I was looking on youtube for a video of it. Closest thing I found was this...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1iEYG14IEI
Its comedy, but I guess it gets the point across.
Would you consider case studies the exact same thing? Because I sat in on a couple of those while I was up at UNC school of medicine.
Oh ya, I was looking on youtube for a video of it. Closest thing I found was this...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1iEYG14IEI
Its comedy, but I guess it gets the point across.
I'd planned on taking the MCAT on July 31, but I'm feeling a bit rushed and have thought about pushing in back a few weeks, maybe to August 14 or 21.
My question is considering my stats, is a mid-August test date too late, particularly for the schools I am interested in:
LMU, Pikeville, Nova, Lake Erie, Ohio University, VCOM, and PCOM (both Georgia and Philadelphia.
cGPA 3.34, science: 3.25, non-science: 3.45.
I've submitted my application to AACOMAS, and have requested my committee letter and DO LOR be sent to my interfolio account. Shadowing and volunteer experiences, plus three summers of biomedical research.
Right now I'm averaging a 27-28 on AAMC practice exams, but would hope to push my score up above 30 with a few more weeks of preparation.
In general, how do my stats look regarding chances of acceptances from those schools, if I can end up scoring at least >28 on the MCAT?
My question is considering my stats, is a mid-August test date too late, particularly for the schools I am interested in:
LMU, Pikeville, Nova, Lake Erie, Ohio University, VCOM, and PCOM (both Georgia and Philadelphia.
cGPA 3.34, science: 3.25, non-science: 3.45.
I've submitted my application to AACOMAS, and have requested my committee letter and DO LOR be sent to my interfolio account. Shadowing and volunteer experiences, plus three summers of biomedical research.
Right now I'm averaging a 27-28 on AAMC practice exams, but would hope to push my score up above 30 with a few more weeks of preparation.
In general, how do my stats look regarding chances of acceptances from those schools, if I can end up scoring at least >28 on the MCAT?
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I'm sure it's a good school, but I nixed it because of the preference for appalachian region/etc (i am from the city so i don't think i'm exactly the kind of student their looking for) and also i just seems to be in the middle of nowhere haa I mean the pic they advertise in the CIB book looks as if it's a square in the middle of a wheat field. Again, no offense.. just not a fit for me.
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I am not sure on how you measure up to schools, I'll bet good as my recalculated GPA is close to yours, 3.4, and people said that was good.
For me, I prepped a lot for the MCAT, because I knew that if I did not put into preparing 100% then I would get a mediocre score. With my low GPA I needed to have a good MCAT. So don't take it if you aren't ready...k? Don't aim for a score, aim for the best you can do.
For me, I prepped a lot for the MCAT, because I knew that if I did not put into preparing 100% then I would get a mediocre score. With my low GPA I needed to have a good MCAT. So don't take it if you aren't ready...k? Don't aim for a score, aim for the best you can do.
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A
AdemTD
List looks good. But you are going to want to get the ball rolling immediately on your AACOMAS application. MSUCOM recommended to me that I submit my application before June 8th because it takes AACOMAS forever to get your grades verified and they have a very aggressive admissions policy of trying to fill most of their class by December.
A
AdemTD
My application was released to schools on June 12 and I got my first secondary (from MSUCOM) on the 18th. They specified a deadline of July 20th for my secondary...so I am guessing MSUCOM gives you about a month to complete it.
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