DO 3.3cGPA/3.5sGPA/30MCAT (Taking New in May) - Input Appreciated

[austintr]

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I'm looking for a little advice on things to shore up my application/help decide to which D.O. schools I should apply.

Undergrad University: State School (Took about 9 years to graduate, full-time, then no-time, then part-time)
UG GPA: As stated above, 3.3cGPA, 3.5sGPA, massive upward trend (>85% A's in last ~60hrs), 4 retakes
MCAT: 30R (2009), taking new format in May (FWIW, strong in socio/psych)
Work Experience: Pharmacy Tech (CPhT, ~2000hrs), Paramedic (~8000hrs), Phase I Research (clinical, ~1500hrs), misc. college jobs
EC's: Non-work related: club soccer x 2 years, various other intramurals, Silver Key, Pre-Med Club member, French Club member x 3 years, CPR instructor x 2 years

Work-related: Plethora of EMS-related certifications (many not required/standard), field training officer/preceptor, public relations committee, two protocols created, continuing education lecturer, public outreach (cardiac arrest/CPR/AED awareness stuff), tracked effectiveness of new CPR protocol X 1 year, educating children on 911 access, reading books to 1st grade classes on 9/11 each year x 3​

Research: Only real research experience is paid clinical research position noted above, obviously no pubs
Shadowing: ~60 hours (40 primary care, 20 emergency, internal med coming soon)
Volunteering: Disaster recovery/cleanup x 2 major tornadoes in Midwest (~60 hours), ~25 hours working with homeless population (more to come, finally have time!)
LOR's: Access to 1 DO LOR and 2 MD LOR's with a possible 2nd DO coming soon

No family members whom are physicians. No IA's or criminal record. Confident in interview skills, able to write fairly eloquently for PS, secondaries, etc. (Not evidenced here for brevity)

Looking to stay in the Midwest if at all possible.
Current list of schools (definitely planning to expand):

• DMU
• KCU
• LMU-D
• KCOM
• OSU-COM (strong OK family ties, previous residency)
• WVSOM

Thanks in advance for any input!

 

[Faha]

You should be fine for DO schools as long as your MCAT is at least 505 ( 508 is equivalent to your previous 30). Even 500 would be acceptable at some of the newer schools. Apply broadly in June to at least 12 schools and you should receive several interviews. Include MU-COM and UP-KYCOM.

 

[The Knife & Gun Club]

Depending on the MCAT, if you replicate your previous score you'd be competitive for all DO schools (and state MD too depending what state your in)

AZCOM and CCOM will be especially excited by any MCAT over 30.

Maybe add:
NYIT
Nova
Lecom (they're an aquired taste but it works well for some)
PCOM

 

[Goro]

I think that you'll be fine for any DO school. I can't recommend LUCOM.

I'm looking for a little advice on things to shore up my application/help decide to which D.O. schools I should apply.

Undergrad University: State School (Took about 9 years to graduate, full-time, then no-time, then part-time)
UG GPA: As stated above, 3.3cGPA, 3.5sGPA, massive upward trend (>85% A's in last ~60hrs), 4 retakes
MCAT: 30R (2009), taking new format in May (FWIW, strong in socio/psych)
Work Experience: Pharmacy Tech (CPhT, ~2000hrs), Paramedic (~8000hrs), Phase I Research (clinical, ~1500hrs), misc. college jobs
EC's: Non-work related: club soccer x 2 years, various other intramurals, Silver Key, Pre-Med Club member, French Club member x 3 years, CPR instructor x 2 years

Work-related: Plethora of EMS-related certifications (many not required/standard), field training officer/preceptor, public relations committee, two protocols created, continuing education lecturer, public outreach (cardiac arrest/CPR/AED awareness stuff), tracked effectiveness of new CPR protocol X 1 year, educating children on 911 access, reading books to 1st grade classes on 9/11 each year x 3​

Research: Only real research experience is paid clinical research position noted above, obviously no pubs
Shadowing: ~60 hours (40 primary care, 20 emergency, internal med coming soon)
Volunteering: Disaster recovery/cleanup x 2 major tornadoes in Midwest (~60 hours), ~25 hours working with homeless population (more to come, finally have time!)
LOR's: Access to 1 DO LOR and 2 MD LOR's with a possible 2nd DO coming soon

No family members whom are physicians. No IA's or criminal record. Confident in interview skills, able to write fairly eloquently for PS, secondaries, etc. (Not evidenced here for brevity)

Looking to stay in the Midwest if at all possible.
Current list of schools (definitely planning to expand):

• DMU
• KCU
• LMU-D
• KCOM
• OSU-COM (strong OK family ties, previous residency)
• WVSOM

Thanks in advance for any input!

 

[austintr]

You should be fine for DO schools as long as your MCAT is at least 505 ( 508 is equivalent to your previous 30). Even 500 would be acceptable at some of the newer schools. Apply broadly in June to at least 12 schools and you should receive several interviews. Include MU-COM and UP-KYCOM.

Thank you for the input...I had definitely forgotten about Marian being (fairly) close, and I will certainly check out Pikeville.

Depending on the MCAT, if you replicate your previous score you'd be competitive for all DO schools (and state MD too depending what state your in)

AZCOM and CCOM will be especially excited by any MCAT over 30.

Maybe add:
NYIT
Nova
Lecom (they're an aquired taste but it works well for some)
PCOM

I have looked into the few state schools here, but unfortunately they either a) don't accept online classes (which a few of my classes are) or b) don't recommend applying with basically what would be a ~3.0/3.0 AMCAS GPA. I may end up applying to the local ones anyway, but I would be 100% content just applying DO as well. I will add AZCOM and PCOM and consider Nova. LECOM probably isn't a great fit for me, and I don't think I would like living in NY or Chicago, but who knows! I appreciate the suggestions greatly!

I think that you'll be fine for any DO school. I can't recommend LUCOM.

As always, your input is greatly valued, Goro...I'm just as likely to apply to LUCOM as I would be to Harvard, after reading up on them and doing some independent research. Actually, Harvard would be a bit more likely, because then I could at least frame the rejection letter and put it in an office some day. Thanks, Goro!