Hello everyone!
I'm looking to apply this cycle for DO schools and would really appreciate any help with a school list for DO's:
cGPA: 3.30, sGPA: 3.10
MCAT: 502 --> 125/128/125/124 (retake will be on July 10th)
My LizzyM score is 59.
I am ORM (South-Asian male), and I reside in MD.
Shadowing/Clinical: 250+ hours shadowing an interventional cardiologist and ophthalmologist at JHU, have international shadowing experience in Pakistan under a neurologist, and have worked at my family's pediatric practice for 2 years.
EC'S: 2000 + hours of non-clinical volunteering specific to underserved communities. I have continued working with this specific organization since high school, coordinating food pantries, back to school supply giveaways, refugee services, and women's shelters. I spent a month in Jordan working with Syrian refugees, living with aid workers in their camps, and distributing food, medicine, and making shelter homes for those displaced. I'm from a rural county in MD, and interested in working with underserved communities post-residency. I'm also a youth director at one of the largest religious community centers in MD. I also volunteer and coordinate programs with a national civil rights group, and have worked with them for two years.
Leadership: I was on the board for one of the largest student organizations at my large state school for two years, one of which I served as president. I co-founded an organization on campus that helped homeless students find work studies, worked on their resume's with them, and helped with interview prep for jobs. I started and actively participated in initiatives on campus between religious groups to foster interfaith dialogue and community development.
I have solid rec letters from 2 science professors, 1 non-science professor, 1 volunteer letter (from the head of the organization where I gathered most of my volunteer hours), and 1 physician (MD) letter. I'm working on getting the DO letter currently.
I realize both my sGPA and cGPA are low for DO schools (I had an extremely sick parent my freshman and sophomore years, and spent a lot of time at home trying to help out in any way), post-sophomore year is an upward trend) and while I am retaking the MCAT (projected score is a 508+), my score won't be released until the second week of August of this cycle. I am also applying to a few post-bacc programs (+SMP's) this cycle as a realistic plan B.
1.) What MCAT score should I be aiming for a fighting chance this cycle?
2.) Since my MCAT score will be released a little late, how should I go about applying through AACOMAS? Should I choose a program I'm not entirely interested in, and have my AACOMAS verified, or should I apply everywhere, and then update them in August, when my score is released?
3.) I am receiving a committee letter from my state school, but they have guaranteed no committee letters will be sent out until August 15th at the earliest. Will this have an effect on my application?
4.) What schools are currently in my reach? At this point, I don't have the ability nor the choice to rule any school out, but I would like to know which schools I should focus on.
Thank you so much.
I'm looking to apply this cycle for DO schools and would really appreciate any help with a school list for DO's:
cGPA: 3.30, sGPA: 3.10
MCAT: 502 --> 125/128/125/124 (retake will be on July 10th)
My LizzyM score is 59.
I am ORM (South-Asian male), and I reside in MD.
Shadowing/Clinical: 250+ hours shadowing an interventional cardiologist and ophthalmologist at JHU, have international shadowing experience in Pakistan under a neurologist, and have worked at my family's pediatric practice for 2 years.
EC'S: 2000 + hours of non-clinical volunteering specific to underserved communities. I have continued working with this specific organization since high school, coordinating food pantries, back to school supply giveaways, refugee services, and women's shelters. I spent a month in Jordan working with Syrian refugees, living with aid workers in their camps, and distributing food, medicine, and making shelter homes for those displaced. I'm from a rural county in MD, and interested in working with underserved communities post-residency. I'm also a youth director at one of the largest religious community centers in MD. I also volunteer and coordinate programs with a national civil rights group, and have worked with them for two years.
Leadership: I was on the board for one of the largest student organizations at my large state school for two years, one of which I served as president. I co-founded an organization on campus that helped homeless students find work studies, worked on their resume's with them, and helped with interview prep for jobs. I started and actively participated in initiatives on campus between religious groups to foster interfaith dialogue and community development.
I have solid rec letters from 2 science professors, 1 non-science professor, 1 volunteer letter (from the head of the organization where I gathered most of my volunteer hours), and 1 physician (MD) letter. I'm working on getting the DO letter currently.
I realize both my sGPA and cGPA are low for DO schools (I had an extremely sick parent my freshman and sophomore years, and spent a lot of time at home trying to help out in any way), post-sophomore year is an upward trend) and while I am retaking the MCAT (projected score is a 508+), my score won't be released until the second week of August of this cycle. I am also applying to a few post-bacc programs (+SMP's) this cycle as a realistic plan B.
1.) What MCAT score should I be aiming for a fighting chance this cycle?
2.) Since my MCAT score will be released a little late, how should I go about applying through AACOMAS? Should I choose a program I'm not entirely interested in, and have my AACOMAS verified, or should I apply everywhere, and then update them in August, when my score is released?
3.) I am receiving a committee letter from my state school, but they have guaranteed no committee letters will be sent out until August 15th at the earliest. Will this have an effect on my application?
4.) What schools are currently in my reach? At this point, I don't have the ability nor the choice to rule any school out, but I would like to know which schools I should focus on.
Thank you so much.
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