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Because the student I am today isn’t the student I was 4 or 5 years ago in undergrad. And you can’t erase grades.
If it is only speciality related, then you should take the DO and just work your ass off in school to make up for any stigma still around for DO’s. If it is for research purposes, if you want to pursue academic medicine, or if you were already competitive for MD (which means multiple interviews or at least 1-2 T20s) then there is feasible reason to apply MD. However, basing it solely off a specialty you don’t even know for sure you want to do, I would advise against it (coming from someone who has gone through 4 cycles wishing I could choose a DO).

Edit: Plus to even get interviews schools will want to significant growth from your application, even the ones you already interviewed at. If you’ve added publications, hundreds of hours, and awards during the cycle that would help your chances as well, but it DOES need to be an entirely new app/story.
 
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I do have most of those things listed in your edit. Only interviewed at 1 MD so not much to have to worry about there. Added close to 1000-1500 hours, and a publication (case series). Brand new personal statement and an entirely new WA explanations. Didn’t improve GPA 3.5x and MCAT 511 tho.

I want the high earning potential of the competitive specialities. I know this may be seen as some kind of taboo and quite frankly I think that’s BS. This whole thing about not making medicine about the money is a load of BS bc we all know that is a big reason why we’re going into it. Doctors earn much more than the average person and the stability is great. We’re putting ourselves through all this debt and years of delayed gratification. Also the DO school I got into happens to be one of the most expensive in the country. That’s an issue of its own. Why would I not want to take the biggest piece of the pie? So I’m aiming high for those top specialties and not settling for less. Not because I think they’re worse, I just want to make the extra money. At the end of the day I want to be a doctor and see patients, but some extra cash makes a huge difference. It’s not all about the money for me. But who doesn’t want more money? We all have bills to pay and a certain life we want to live.
Imma be honest with you, those stats aren’t especially high to turn down a DO in this application era. Only having one MD interview shows you were gatekept before the actual interview so schools don’t wanna take the risk on you. Unless your school list was really bad last cycle, I don’t know if things change for you.

You also talk a lot about money, which is kinda yucky to me. A lot of people go into the field for money, but they don’t last. If finances are what drives you, there are so many better fields that compensate equally with a better work life balance. Also just weird that’s what is driving you…? You could have written a paragraph about your passion for working in that specific specialty, but choose to talk about money instead. ADCOMS pick up on that and after interviewing PhD students myself it’s easy to tell.

In the end it’s your decision, but your stats and the way you talk about the field by putting money first make me think you should really just take that DO A. If you’re not the same student you were earlier like you said and work your ass off you’ll get a specialty you want, regardless.
 
I do have most of those things listed in your edit. Only interviewed at 1 MD so not much to have to worry about there. Added close to 1000-1500 hours, and a publication (case series). Brand new personal statement and an entirely new WA explanations. Didn’t improve GPA 3.5x and MCAT 511 tho.

I want the high earning potential of the competitive specialities. I know this may be seen as some kind of taboo and quite frankly I think that’s BS. This whole thing about not making medicine about the money is a load of BS bc we all know that is a big reason why we’re going into it. Doctors earn much more than the average person and the stability is great. We’re putting ourselves through all this debt and years of delayed gratification. Also the DO school I got into happens to be one of the most expensive in the country. That’s an issue of its own. Why would I not want to take the biggest piece of the pie? So I’m aiming high for those top specialties and not settling for less. Not because I think they’re worse, I just want to make the extra money. At the end of the day I want to be a doctor and see patients, but some extra cash makes a huge difference. It’s not all about the money for me. But who doesn’t want more money? We all have bills to pay and a certain life we want to live.
Brother, u can make a lot of guap in basically anything but primary care. Anesthesia can easily make 500k+, and I personally know anesthesiologists who have made 1mil+ in the past (private practice, pain management). And anesthesia residency is a whole lot better than surgery. And there are many other specialities where this is true also. EM can even make 500k+ if u r taking a bunch of shifts and 400k is typical. I understand that compensation is something to consider, and I think it is a good reason for some people wanting to avoid primary care… but the fact is u don’t need to go into ortho, plastics, or neurosurgery to make killing. Find something that u love to do, and I promise u will be extremely financially comfortable. Like I said, if u do peds or primary care, ur not gonna make a killings… but soooo many other specialities you will.
 
I do have most of those things listed in your edit. Only interviewed at 1 MD so not much to have to worry about there. Added close to 1000-1500 hours, and a publication (case series). Brand new personal statement and an entirely new WA explanations. Didn’t improve GPA 3.5x and MCAT 511 tho.

I want the high earning potential of the competitive specialities. I know this may be seen as some kind of taboo and quite frankly I think that’s BS. This whole thing about not making medicine about the money is a load of BS bc we all know that is a big reason why we’re going into it. Doctors earn much more than the average person and the stability is great. We’re putting ourselves through all this debt and years of delayed gratification. Also the DO school I got into happens to be one of the most expensive in the country. That’s an issue of its own. Why would I not want to take the biggest piece of the pie? So I’m aiming high for those top specialties and not settling for less. Not because I think they’re worse, I just want to make the extra money. At the end of the day I want to be a doctor and see patients, but some extra cash makes a huge difference. It’s not all about the money for me. But who doesn’t want more money? We all have bills to pay and a certain life we want to live.
I mean this in the nicest way but if your only motivation is money for those specialties then you really don't know the work entailed to get to them and actually work in those specialties. You will likely change your mind as a med student as most do.

Also, as another poster said, your GPA and MCAT are very mid for an MD acceptance and I think that's reflected in the single interview.

Lastly, if you had no intention of ever attending the DO school, why even apply? You should take it, work as hard as you possibly can, and move on with your life. Going the DO route isn't going to be the thing that prevents you from doing what you want. That's on you.

EDIT: I got off a single MD waitlist, on my second cycle, at the end of May and I had better stats than you. I wish I had applied to a bunch of DO schools and my year would have been so much less stressful.
 
I mean this in the nicest way but if your only motivation is money for those specialties then you really don't know the work entailed to get to them and actually work in those specialties. You will likely change your mind as a med student as most do.

Also, as another poster said, your GPA and MCAT are very mid for an MD acceptance and I think that's reflected in the single interview.

Lastly, if you had no intention of ever attending the DO school, why even apply? You should take it, work as hard as you possibly can, and move on with your life. Going the DO route isn't going to be the thing that prevents you from doing what you want. That's on you.

EDIT: I got off a single MD waitlist, on my second cycle, at the end of May and I had better stats than you. I wish I had applied to a bunch of DO schools and my year would have been so much less stressful.
Second this. The competitive specialties don’t make 600k+ for nothing. Many physicians in these specialties literally dedicate their whole life to their work. They are fine with either not having a family or just knowing that they will miss out on a ton of quality time with their kids/spouse. Not saying that these physicians can’t have families, it is just much much harder to balance work and life.

Ortho and sorta plastics are a little different than specialities such as neurosurgery, in that U can do private practice where u just do elective, scheduled, or outpatient surgeries. This makes it much easier to only work 45-55 hours a week, no call. However, do not be fooled, the path to getting to this spot as an ortho or plastic surgeon is extremely grueling and there will be a lot of things in ur personal life that u have to put on hold (during med school, residency, and then the first few years after). These are not easy years for people in or aspiring to be in those specialties. 100 hours per week in the hospital is not an exaggeration (that’s 14.5 hours a day!). U cannot do that if u just want the money, u need to LOVE the OR and not envision urself doing anything besides it. Otherwise u will b one of the many surgical residents that switch residency/speciality in the first couple years.
 
Bruh, it’s his/her life. Dude if you wanna gamble and reapply with the same stats that’s on you. Just know if you go that route MD schools are gonna expect an improvement in your metrics. Or in the very least you’re going to need some ground breaking experience to make up for not going post Bac or retaking the mcat. But I will say I can see where your coming from some people like myself has always envisioned themselves as an MD, while some have always wanted to be a DO. Idk that I would redo if I were in your predicament. I didn’t apply DO, being overly pompous about my academic improvements, I thought I was a shoo-in to get in, only to be humbled and waitlisted by every MD program I applied to. I literally shat myself when I got off the waitlist at the end of May because I was dreading doing this **** all over. I can’t imagine why you would want to punish yourself by redoing this when you have an A cozy in your lap. So many people would die for an DO A. But if your dream is MD I get it bro chase your dreams, but just know it’ll cost you another year of uncertainty. Nothing guaranteed. And odds you will be blacklisted from DO schools. Because no serious person turns down a doctoral acceptance. And I agree with you the bread is cool, but I guess where everyone is coming from is that shouldn’t be your driving force behind why your choosing your specialty. There are so many better reasons to be an orthodoc, the girls you can pull for one. Jk jk lol. But on a more serious note Especially since there are so many people actually passionate about ortho and would still choose it as an internal med salary. Just ask yourself: do I want to be here in this thread again 365 days from now, with a whole new batch of panicking premedical students. Or do I want to be 1/4 of the way done with my medical education?
 
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applied DO bc an advisor said it was the smart thing to do. Told myself I’d cross that bridge later when I got there. Didn’t want to apply late. Hope that answers your question bud
Okay, well I definitely think you should take it. I'd rather be 1/4 done next year than possibly applying again.

Best of luck!
 
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ANOTHER WEEK! Let's go team
 
The days feel long the weeks feel short

I feel like I've done everything right and deserve the due diligence of getting an answer. The world seems unjust and cruel right now.

But I keep going. I know I will get what is best for me no matter what because I give my best everyday. I stay present in the moment because I will miss these times in the future.
 
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GUYS I GOT OFF THE WAITLIST AT MY TOP IN-STATE AFTER GETTING PLACED ON HOLD LEGIT LAST OCTOBER. Got the email as I was putting my new personal statement into my re-app today. Don't lose faith, manifesting for you all [emoji[emoji6][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]]]

Soooo happy for you congrats!!!!! Manifesting this for all of us I am so excited for you this must be the best feeling!
 
Don’t lose hope!! If your friends have gotten off waitlists recently that means there is likely still movement going on where you are waiting to hear back from!!! [emoji[emoji[emoji6]]] I’m in the same boat
 
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Also a good reminder that it only takes one!!! Even if you’ve been hearing about other people getting off the waitlist at places or getting multiple acceptances try to remind yourself that all it takes is one school to say yes and that can happen at any time! It’s easy to compare ourselves to people who hold multiple A’s
 
Also I really think hearing success stories especially from those who have gotten off the WL recently helps! Like the more people I hear got off the waitlist at places recently the more hope I have that movement will still happen!
 
Do u guys recommend sending an email to schools with continued interest before or after the CTE?
 
im still wl at my top DO school, and it starts in august 4th. should i hold out a bit longer or just commit to my other DO school (new school)
 
Do u guys recommend sending an email to schools with continued interest before or after the CTE?
A letter of interest will do little to nothing at this point in the cycle. Letter of intent before CTE has a better chance of moving the needle
 
im still wl at my top DO school, and it starts in august 4th. should i hold out a bit longer or just commit to my other DO school (new school)
What changes if you continue waiting? Just wait until you have to start at the other program
 
Do u guys recommend sending an email to schools with continued interest before or after the CTE?
maybe send a thoughtful email asking if their policy allows applicants to send letters of intent at this stage (cuz sometimes this is stated on tgeir website and you dont wanna send unsolicited info- that wont reflect well). that alone shows continued interest and if they do accept letters of intent then make you send a strong one! 🙂 GL!!!
 
Is it common for medical schools to accept waitlisted students after the CTE deadline? This is something that has been on my mind for a while because I cannot seem to find too much reliable information online regarding this.
 
being on waitlists right now is already so stressful, but with the passage of the BBB… the stakes have just gotten so much higher 🙁 any words of encouragement? struggling to stay positive right now 💔
You're not alone, I'm on a bunch of waitlists too. It's been extremely tough battling the stress of hoping to get off waitlists with finalizing my reapp at the same time.

On the bright side having multiple interviews means you have a solid application.
 
Waitlisted at UMiami, NOVACOM, and FAUCOM, I have just submitted my 2026 application because it's not looking great, and after emailing the directors, they confirmed it's over. RIP, 3rd application cycle here we go! so excited to drop another $2,000 and Re-write all my secondaries! What an amazing process thank you AAMC!
 
Waitlisted at UMiami, NOVACOM, and FAUCOM, I have just submitted my 2026 application because it's not looking great, and after emailing the directors, they confirmed it's over. RIP, 3rd application cycle here we go! so excited to drop another $2,000 and Re-write all my secondaries! What an amazing process thank you AAMC!
If you think you're eligible you may want to apply for fee assistance. I got it and wasn't expecting to get it, only took them 2 days to verify it.
 
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