2013-2014 Underdawgs Thread ( Lets get it)

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
haha wish I could be that confident about it


probably gonna apply to a lot of lower tier MD schools and a good portion of DO schools as well.

you're definitely find for DO schools. trust me.

chin up. stay confident. i thought i had no chance because my mcat was significantly lower than yours and i got 7 interviews, only went to three and got into all three. i only applied DO but i dont think youre out of the running for MD either. i know people with similar gpas to yours and the same mcat that got into multiple MD schools. if you dont get in somewhere i would be hella surprised
 
How do you find out what a top tier school is?

If ur talking about DO schools, which I'm going to assume you are because we're in the DO thread....there are no "top tier" schools

Some people will argue that the more established schools have better opportunities for students and because they've been around longer they have a better reputation and blah blah blah. Thus if you wanna conform to the nonsense that some people believe, the more established schools are "top tier" in the DO world,


If you're willing to accept reality, a top tier DO school is any school that accepts you and that you love. You can talk to almost any physician and they're going to tell you to go to the cheapest school. Apply to schools based off you're GPA and MCAT and wether you have a shot, add a few reach schools, full out the secondaries, interview at places that offer you interviews, and go to the place you love the most.
Med school is what you make of it...a name gets you very little in the grand scheme of things


You would be smart to forget the nonsense obsession with names and notoriety that people around here seem to have
 
No it's a Caribbean school. Haven't you heard of that island "Clowns" near Aruba and Sint Maarten?

There are actually a few clown schools in the US. They teach everything a regular medical school does but in addition they also teach laboratory diagnostic techniques and clinical methods specifically for how a clown might need to practice.

[YOUTUBE]v3rhQc666Sg[/YOUTUBE]
 
Hey guys. I'll be applying this cycle and I feel like I'm in the underdog ranks. 23 MCAT (6PS, 8BS, 9VR) though I've already rescheduled a retake. Now that I've graduated I can dedicate full time to prepping for it, whereas I took it while taking upper divisions and physics II, which wasn't too wise. I have a 3.5c/3.2s GPA (Do they look at non-science? I have a 3.8 in it, although I assume many to be in a similar range). ECs are average.

If I don't make it this cycle, I'm considering two options to improve my GPA. One is to take upper division physiology credits. I graduated with a bachelor's of science in psych, and minored in physiology but I only need 20 more units to get a second bachelor's in physiology. My other option is to retake a few pre-reqs I got C's in. If I retook both ochems, I can probably raise that science GPA to about a 3.4~3.5 with grade replacement. Trying to decide which would be more advantageous for me.

Either way I'm banking on my passion and sociability during interviews. Not to be facetious, but many of my pre-med peers had trouble articulating why they want to become physicians. I could speak to an entire auditorium at lengths if I wanted to about what being a physician means to me.

We'll see. Good luck underdogs!
 
Hey everyone,

It's great to see this thread going strong, 4th straight year! I was a participant in the original Underdogs thread back in 2010-2011. Heck, I may have had the lowest GPA in that thread.

I just wanted to throw my support behind everyone in the underdog thread this year. Best of luck to you all. Believe me, you can do this. I had a terrible GPA, but I got in and I've done quite well ever since. I'm taking my USMLE step-1 and COMLEX part-1 now and fully expect to get a solid score on both.

I guess I'm just trying to say, the underdog label doesn't stay with you once you get into medical school, keep that in mind and go into your interviews with that attitude and you'll do great!

What's crazy is that you folks will be starting when I'm a 4th year; wow, time sure flies!

Don't hesitate to PM me if there are any questions I can answer. Best of luck to you all.
 
Plz advise me on the top tier janatorial schools I shud be applying to kthxbye
 
Hey guys,

I will be joining you guys in this application cycle.

Major: Engineering
sGPA: 3.55 (this for MD is around 3.7 since they don't count engineering as science)
cGPA: 3.55
MCAT: 10/11/10 (31)
 
Last edited:
Hi Guys. This is for my Canadian peeps. I applied very late last year (November-December) I had a 3.06 cgpa, 3.06 sgpa and a 34Q MCAT (11/12/11) I had a ton of volunteering and work experience but I considered myself an underdog due to my late application and poor GPA (also the fact that I'm Canadian doesn't help). I applied to many schools that accept Canadians and got 1 interview from TouroCOM NY, after going to it I was wait-listed on Feb, 14th. I did then complete some course replacements and bumped my gpa up to 3.22 however, the schools did not know of this as I had not updated them yet. Anyways just this Friday (May 17th) I got an email from TouroCOM NY and was accepted! There is hope for you poor GPA Canadians! Apply early apply broadly (I can send you a list of every school I applied to that accepts Canadians this can help reduce your workload, just PM me). Good luck everyone in your medical school endeavors! Some of you may not consider my an underdog due to my decent MCAT, however, we Canadians will always feel like underdogs when applying to American programs that is why I am posting this here.

anyway GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!
 
Not an expert here but I dont think ur an underdog.... if anything ur above average (imo)

gobigorgohome22
Hey guys,

I will be joining you guys in this application cycle.

Major: Engineering
sGPA: 3.55 (this for AAMC is around 3.7 since they don't count engineering as science)
cGPA: 3.55
MCAT: 10/11/10 (31)
 
Not an expert here but I dont think ur an underdog.... if anything ur above average (imo)

gobigorgohome22
Hey guys,

I will be joining you guys in this application cycle.

Major: Engineering
sGPA: 3.55 (this for AAMC is around 3.7 since they don't count engineering as science)
cGPA: 3.55
MCAT: 10/11/10 (31)

I think if he apply broadly and early, he might even get into a MD school.
 
Not an expert here but I dont think ur an underdog.... if anything ur above average (imo)

gobigorgohome22
Hey guys,

I will be joining you guys in this application cycle.

Major: Engineering
sGPA: 3.55 (this for AAMC is around 3.7 since they don't count engineering as science)
cGPA: 3.55
MCAT: 10/11/10 (31)

The reason I consider myself to be an underdog is because of my GPAs.
Just posted in WRMC if you care to take a look and help me with school list: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=1005928
 
Quick question:

Does significant amount of research have as big of an impact on DO schools as much as MD schools?
 
Hey guys,

I will be joining you guys in this application cycle.

Major: Engineering
sGPA: 3.55 (this for MD is around 3.7 since they don't count engineering as science)
cGPA: 3.55
MCAT: 10/11/10 (31)

Please don't take this the wrong way, but you have no business of posting in this thread. This thread was created for a reason. THIS IS NOT A WAMC THREAD.

That being said, your numbers are above average of matriculated students. Unless you are socially awkward, you should be a shoe-in at any DO program.
 
Please don't take this the wrong way, but you have no business of posting in this thread. This thread was created for a reason. THIS IS NOT A WAMC THREAD.

That being said, your numbers are above average of matriculated students. Unless you are socially awkward, you should be a shoe-in at any DO program.

Agree 👍 +1
 
Hey guys,

I will be joining you guys in this application cycle.

Major: Engineering
sGPA: 3.55 (this for MD is around 3.7 since they don't count engineering as science)
cGPA: 3.55
MCAT: 10/11/10 (31)

Definitely NOT an underdog.

You won't find sympathy here with those stats.
 
I may not be pure underdawg status.....but I probably will have some weak LORs which may hurt me.

3.52 cum
3.39 sgpa
27 MCAT

Applying to 20 schools. Gotta get in somewhere!
 
I may not be pure underdawg status.....but I probably will have some weak LORs which may hurt me.

3.52 cum
3.39 sgpa
27 MCAT

Applying to 20 schools. Gotta get in somewhere!

Very average applicant. You are not an underdog. I predict you'll have plenty of interviews. Good luck!
 
I may not be pure underdawg status.....but I probably will have some weak LORs which may hurt me.

3.52 cum
3.39 sgpa
27 MCAT

Applying to 20 schools. Gotta get in somewhere!

Chances are you will have 5-10 interviews.
 
Most of the peeps on this thread aren't even underdogs compared to last year's... Anybody wanna start a new one?? :laugh:
 
Most of the peeps on this thread aren't even underdogs compared to last year's... Anybody wanna start a new one?? :laugh:

A decent amount of underdogs have not been added due to a lack of mcat.
 
Hey guys,

I'm pretty new to SDN and figured I'd get a good start here 🙂

3.0 sGPA/ 3.23 cGPA
MCAT 30 O ( BS-9, VS-8, PS-13)
 
do you think those people who had 23 mcats and were accepted only had the one score? l
i have a few retakes all around the same low score, so this will probably hurt me right?
 
Hey guys,

I'm pretty new to SDN and figured I'd get a good start here 🙂

3.0 sGPA/ 3.23 cGPA
MCAT 30 O ( BS-9, VS-8, PS-13)

Low gpa + an unbalanced mcat may make things more difficult, but I think you'll be fine.
 
do you think those people who had 23 mcats and were accepted only had the one score? l
i have a few retakes all around the same low score, so this will probably hurt me right?

I'd imagine, mutliple sub-24 scores without any improvement will sink any application. But what are your scores?
 
Hello Guys, I am new to SDN. I am canadian and applying to DO strictly (will prolly apply to carribean if things dont work out with DO). My stats are 24 MCAT (10BS/4VS/8PS) and 3.93cGPA (3.86sGPA). I have about 130 hours shadowing a MD, about 1500 hours volunteering for various dance clubs at my university (as a choreographer/dancer/photographer), No research, 800 hours of paid tutoring, 200 hours of tutoring children with special needs/ lived 19 years of my life in rural india/ 320 hours of volunteering at pharmacy/ VP for charity club at my university which me and my friends started two years back and other ECs. I consider myself an underdog coz my poor MCAT score. It would be great help if you guys can suggest me a school list or any suggestions.
 
Hello Guys, I am new to SDN. I am canadian and applying to DO strictly (will prolly apply to carribean if things dont work out with DO). My stats are 24 MCAT (10BS/4VS/8PS) and 3.93cGPA (3.86sGPA). I have about 130 hours shadowing a MD, about 1500 hours volunteering for various dance clubs at my university (as a choreographer/dancer/photographer), No research, 800 hours of paid tutoring, 200 hours of tutoring children with special needs/ lived 19 years of my life in rural india/ 320 hours of volunteering at pharmacy/ VP for charity club at my university which me and my friends started two years back and other ECs. I consider myself an underdog coz my poor MCAT score. It would be great help if you guys can suggest me a school list or any suggestions.

Study for a few months and retake the MCAT, and apply to canadian MD and US MD schools too to increase you're chances. The 4 in Verbal would even be low for DO.

If you can study hard for 2-3 months, and get your MCAT up, you'll have more options. Don't give up when you're just 1 test away.
 
Sorry that was a typo. Its actually 6 in verbal. Thxx for your feedback
 
Sorry that was a typo. Its actually 6 in verbal. Thxx for your feedback

With your GPA, it should balance out the MCAT. But again, you should consider all the options and retake the MCAT. Your GPA is excellent.
 
Sorry that was a typo. Its actually 6 in verbal. Thxx for your feedback

Your MCAT is on the lowish end, but your GPA is signficantly higher than that of average accepted students. I wouldn't consider you an underdog. However, I would definitely retake the mcat. With your GPA a score of 30 will make you competitive at all DO schools as well as many MD schools.
 
Your MCAT is on the lowish end, but your GPA is signficantly higher than that of average accepted students. I wouldn't consider you an underdog. However, I would definitely retake the mcat. With your GPA a score of 30 will make you competitive at all DO schools as well as many MD schools.

Ehh---I think the 4 on Verbal makes him an Underdog no?
 
Top