MD 3.6/3.3 GPA, 35 MCAT, IA, strong ECs, MD possible?

[aspiring20]

3.6 cGPA
3.3 sGPA
35 MCAT (11 PS, 15 VR, 9 BS)
top 10 liberal arts college, graduated summer 2012

ECs
-3 years (almost 300 hours of hospital volunteering during college)
-100 hours of MD shadowing (currently looking for a DO to shadow)
-300+ hours of community service, local long term and international short term
-2 years science research
-2 years tutoring
-1 year honors thesis in major (non-science)
-unique and substantial paid employment, freelance work, and individual projects

Potential Problems
-CA male resident
-minor IA (not related to alcohol/drugs, academic violations, or criminal conduct - a warning not on transcript)
-during my sophomore to senior year, i continued hospital volunteering. but i haven't done any clinical volunteering during my gap years, during which i am working and doing community service. keep in mind i do have 3 years of continued hospital volunteering while i was in college.

my primary focus is on DOs right now, but is it worth it to add 5-10 MD schools as well? UC schools are out of the question, and any mid-tier MDs are also gone.

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[Sean Lee]

I would try MDs if I were you. I am not 100% sure about GPA, but a 35 is incredible in my opinion.

 

[BlackBox]

Yea, that 35 looks really good and really helps bolster that 3.3.

You're biggest problem, in my eyes, is your lack of clinical shadowing (work too?) during your gap year. Can you be more specific about what you've been doing the past 2 yrs? It's also a great idea to shadow a DO. DO schools are not backups and don't want to be thought of as such. By shadowing a DO you give credibility to why you applied.

Other thoughts:
Apply broad MD (mostly low-tier) and DO.
It's hard to judge that IA without any detail...

GL

 

[nemo123]

With your stats and ECs, I don't think you need to apply to DO schools. I think you would be perfectly fine with applying to MD schools as long as you apply broadly and not top heavy. The IA won't matter much considering it was very minor (and non academic or criminal related). Just make sure you do report it on your app even if it doesn't come up on your transcript.

 

[DokterMom]

my primary focus is on DOs right now, but is it worth it to add 5-10 MD schools as well? UC schools are out of the question, and any mid-tier MDs are also gone.

Why? Sure, your GPA is a weak spot, but not necessarily deadly for MD, or even some UCs, which can be mission-specific. If you've got the time and money... Unless DO is your preferred route.

The risk with a high MCAT / low GPA combination is the potential "bright but lazy" presumption. But your work experience and ECs make it look like you're probably not lazy at all. Any reason for the sub-stellar GPA?

 

[aspiring20]

Yea, that 35 looks really good and really helps bolster that 3.3.

You're biggest problem, in my eyes, is your lack of clinical shadowing (work too?) during your gap year. Can you be more specific about what you've been doing the past 2 yrs? It's also a great idea to shadow a DO. DO schools are not backups and don't want to be thought of as such. By shadowing a DO you give credibility to why you applied.

Other thoughts:
Apply broad MD (mostly low-tier) and DO.
It's hard to judge that IA without any detail...

GL

duuring my gap years, i've been working 30+ hours a week in a non-medically related field. i've also been doing community service, taking several science classes, and working on an independent project.

i've been productive all this time with things other than clinical experiences. i figure that i already have enough clinical experiences during college years.

 

[BlackBox]

duuring my gap years, i've been working 30+ hours a week in a non-medically related field. i've also been doing community service, taking several science classes, and working on an independent project.

i've been productive all this time with things other than clinical experiences. i figure that i already have enough clinical experiences during college years.

You definitely have enough clinical hours. I also think you've been solidly productive since graduation.

I'm sticking with applying low tier MD and DO schools. If it were me, I would try to aim for 18-20 schools. I know people will say higher or lower, but as long as you have some extra cash (ya know, like all that money you've been saving during working) and time to spend writing quality secondary essays (which you can mostly prewrite thanks to SDN), I say the more the better. I know of too many quality candidates that have been rejected this cycle, and it can only take 1 red flag to tank your application... with 10K applications and ~150 seats at school X, the margin for error is low.

GL