505 MCAT, 3.75 GPA, good ECs

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thecloverdoc

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cGPA and sGPA

cGPA: 3.75
sGPA: 3.6

MCAT score(s) and breakdown

505 (127/124/127/127)
Will be scheduling for a re-take, however due to pandemic this date is undetermined

State of residence or country of citizenship (if non-US)

MD

Ethnicity and/or race

ORM

Undergraduate institution or category

University of Maryland, Baltimore County studying Biology with minor in Emergency Health

Clinical/research experience (volunteer and non-volunteer)

200 hours of surgical/clinical shadowing at a hospital in Taiwan (Orthopedics, plastic surgery, dermatology, trauma surgery)
800+ hours of outpatient orthopedics medical scribing
100+ hours of clinical assistant at inpatient autism unit
(current) 750+ hours as a clinical/research assistant in Neurology that involves administrative, clinical work, and clinical trial research
(gap year) 2000 hours doing medical research including hopefully at least 2 research publications

Non-clinical volunteering

50+ hours at humane shelter volunteering

Anything else not listed you think might be important

I have a somewhat complicated background on my path to coming to the U.S., lived in multiple countries/continents and attended local schools. As a result I am bilingual and am familiar with eastern and western cultural differences.


Any advice is appreciated, I am the first person in my family to pursue medicine in the US, so I did not have anyone to really talk to for applications other than advisors. My main questions are: when applying, should I basically just look at average matriculant GPA/MCAT and apply to those that fit my scores? Or is there another criteria I should follow? Any good recommendations? I am currently hoping for MD, and will likely apply 75% MD 25% DO

Thank you sirs and mams

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Every screener will have their own things to look for aside from GPA/MCAT range. For example, your non-clinical volunteering hours are a little light (just 50?) compared to what they will likely see or want.

Many of us who have been involved with screening and interviewing applicants have generally given advice that you need to be sure your GPA and MCAT are within the top quartile (I think) and certainly not below the lowest 10th percentile as a rule of thumb. Other schools will look at other characteristics as related to the mission of the school and whether you have a record that suits it. You have some good advisors at UMBC who are generally well versed about this.

As it stands I would apply for your DO schools where your current MCAT is going to make you desirable, and you have a few within your area (PCOM, VCOM, WVCOM) that you should already know about. I'll let some others do a longer list for you, but for now with your current MCAT/GPA, send in a few DO school applications now if you really want to get some movement on applying. MD schools will be generally out of reach until you report an official score of 510+ , but be aware some schools will average your MCAT scores when screening, so you always have to try to get +10 higher for your MCAT.
 
Every screener will have their own things to look for aside from GPA/MCAT range. For example, your non-clinical volunteering hours are a little light (just 50?) compared to what they will likely see or want.

Many of us who have been involved with screening and interviewing applicants have generally given advice that you need to be sure your GPA and MCAT are within the top quartile (I think) and certainly not below the lowest 10th percentile as a rule of thumb. Other schools will look at other characteristics as related to the mission of the school and whether you have a record that suits it. You have some good advisors at UMBC who are generally well versed about this.

As it stands I would apply for your DO schools where your current MCAT is going to make you desirable, and you have a few within your area (PCOM, VCOM, WVCOM) that you should already know about. I'll let some others do a longer list for you, but for now with your current MCAT/GPA, send in a few DO school applications now if you really want to get some movement on applying. MD schools will be generally out of reach until you report an official score of 510+ , but be aware some schools will average your MCAT scores when screening, so you always have to try to get +10 higher for your MCAT.

Thank you for the detailed advice. If I continue to volunteer throughout the gap year (2020-2021), and report that I will do so, will that help boost my application? I would be more than happy to volunteer, but did not realize that I needed more in that aspect. Furthermore, I do plan to apply to the listed DO schools. I noticed that there are similar posts to mine, and they were recommended some lower tier MD schools. With further research, I noted some schools have an average matriculation MCAT/GPA of something similar to my stats. Is my CARs score hurting me too much?

I am still waiting on AAMC to open up MCAT re-registration. I project probably a 508-510 for my retake.
 
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I suggest these DO schools with your stats:
CUSOM
VCOM (all schools)
WVSOM
PCOM (all schools)
LECOM (all schools)
MU-COM
DMU-COM
KCU-COM
ATSU-KCOM
AZCOM
Your MCAT is not competitive for most MD schools. However, you could apply to your state school, Maryland, and if your new scores is at least 508 you could add more schools later. Post your new score when available.
 
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I am still waiting on AAMC to open up MCAT re-registration. I project probably a 508-510 for my retake.

Like Mr.Smile stated, you should aim a bit higher with a retaken MCAT. A 3pt difference if you score a 508 will not make that huge of a difference, especially if that only means a 1pt rise per 3/4 subsections with your current spread. You should aim for 10+ as averaging the lower end spectrum of the difference (new MCAT: 515) with your old MCAT gives you an average MCAT score of 510 which is a safer bet than 506 (w/ new 508) or 507 (w/ new 510). Lastly I'll say, statistically, given that the confidence interval is usually +2/-2 points, projecting an increase in your score of only 3 or so points pretty much negates the likelihood that you'll even score better than your initial score. A projection of a much higher increase would more likely correlate with an actual significant increase in your performance.

Those are some thoughts for an otherwise fine application that certainly needs a better MCAT score to maximize your opportunities and open the doors for MD. I always warn against rushing the process, especially if MCAT is the weakness, as you are doing yourself a disservice after 2 decades of waiting to reach this point. Med school isn't going anywhere and an extra year is not a single drop in the bucket for a lifetime of career satisfaction.

More anecdotally, I did similar to your current MCAT on my first try. I had the option of applying all DO as my MCAT would bar me from MD, retaking quickly in the summer, or deferring a year to entirely restructure how I approached the MCAT. I jumped to a 517. This opened the doors that had all been shut and I was offered 3 MD A's this cycle when only the year before I had accepted that I would never be able to go MD.
 
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Hello Everyone,

Thank you for all of your help prior. I have retaken my MCAT and achieved a score of 510 (128/126/128/128)! I know this still might not be competitive for many MD schools due to my prior score of 505, but I am happy with it nonetheless.

I have my MD applications verified, would anyone be able to recommend me a list of MD schools that I will have the most chance at? I am not concerned with anything at the moment, as I realize my application is really late. I would just love the opportunity to compete for a spot at an MD program.
(My DO applications are complete and I am awaiting interviews)

Are there any MD programs that I have a good chance at?

Thank you
 
I suggest these MD schools with your new MCAT score of 510.
U Maryland
George Washington
Georgetown
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
West Virginia
Penn State
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Seton Hall
New York Medical College
Albany
Vermont
Quinnipiac
NOVA MD
TCU-UNT
Creighton
St. Louis
Loyola
Medical College Wisconsin
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
 
I suggest these MD schools with your new MCAT score of 510.
U Maryland
George Washington
Georgetown
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
West Virginia
Penn State
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Seton Hall
New York Medical College
Albany
Vermont
Quinnipiac
NOVA MD
TCU-UNT
Creighton
St. Louis
Loyola
Medical College Wisconsin
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State

Thank you Faha...you're the best
 
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