About to become a 3rd time applicant. No hope help please.....Please

[thetwinkle]

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[EmilKraepelin55]

Why did you decide that DO was not for you? It sounds like you almost had the cat in the bag last year.

 

[thetwinkle]

Why did you decide that DO was not for you? It sounds like you almost had the cat in the bag last year.

Mostly the philosophy. Also the uncertainty of residency.

 

[thetwinkle]

@WedgeDawg @Goro @gyngyn @gonnif @Faha

 

[Goro]

What was your school list?

Hi everyone,

I applied last cycle to ~25 MD and ~7 DO schools with 0 MD II and 4 DO II. Decided that DO wasn't my path and withdrew from all their interviews. I am reapplying current cycle to <40 MD schools with 0 II so far.
School list all mid-low tier (stats mostly within 25-75%ile MSAR range), mostly private OOS friendly schools.
Good PS and okay secondaries (all re-written). Okay LOR. No significant red flag.

Stats
CA resident ORM
cGPA: ~3.8
sGPA: ~3.7
mid-tier private UG (magna cum laude, PBK, etc), Non-science major
MCAT: 1st 505 (can't recall but balanced), 2nd 512 (128, 126, 129, 129)

Primary submitted mid June last year, mid July this year. Secondaries submitted late August.
I reused LORs from last year. Did not retake MCAT for reapplication.
I called the admissions after last year's rejection and all of them told me that MCAT/GPA/etc not an issue. I improved my activities significantly.

Last year:
150 hr clinical volunteer (post college)
250 hr clinical volunteer (college)
150 hr clinical research
100 hrs psych research
200 hr non-clinical volunteer
Honors thesis in major - presented poster
30 hrs shadowing different specialties
300 hrs employment

This year (Bold=new/update):
200 hrs non-clinical volunteer
500 hrs disability volunteer/research
250 hr clinical volunteer (college)
1000 hrs wet lab research - poster presented but no pub
400 hrs clinical volunteer (post-college; leadership/awards)
300 hrs clinical research (leadership)
100 hrs psych research & presented poster at conference
300 hrs employment
Honors thesis in major - presented poster
200 hrs shadowing in different specialties
2000 hrs Americorps (current; put in future hrs until matriculation)

EVERYONE (med schools, advisor, friends/family, etc) told me not to retake MCAT. But with no interview at this point I feel like being CA ORM you don't have a chance with a mediocre MCAT score. I am studying to retake it but I doubt my score will significantly increase (hoping for >518).

If everything else goes wrong I am considering also applying to dental schools. I feel like Americorps is useless (not medically relevant) if I go the dental route. Should I quit Americorps and study for DAT/shadow? I have ~6 months until next cycle and I just feel like everything was just a waste of time. Also it's been 3 year since I graduated and I feel lost with no real job. I want to pursue medicine but I feel like there is no chance if I can't improve MCAT (and most likely I can't).

I am so sorry for the long rant. Any advice/comment/criticism is deeply appreciated.

Thank you so much in advance!!!

 

[thetwinkle]

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[Goro]

You need to have DO schools on the list for the third time because beggars can't be choosers. Forget Va Tech next time. You may have a bad LOR. Have multiple readers triple check your essays.

 

[el_duderino]

Big mistake declining DO invites. Apply DO again, I guess. Apply to a lot of them.

Who reviewed your PS?

 

[JonathanHusky]

what AmeriCorps program are you doing? unlikely that it'd be useless... I'm also serving w/ AmeriCorps and brought it up a loot at my only interview I've had even though I just started the position about a week ago.. you do a lot of public service/community service w/ AmeriCorps and I don't see how that could hurt your application

 

[thetwinkle]

You need to have DO schools on the list for the third time because beggars can't be choosers. Forget Va Tech next time. You may have a bad LOR. Have multiple readers triple check your essays.

Does that mean I don’t have chance for MD at all at this point, even though I increase MCAT? I am planning to do masters next year.
I called admissions and they said no issues with LOR.

 

[Goro]

Does that mean I don’t have chance for MD at all at this point, even though I increase MCAT? I am planning to do masters next year.
I called admissions and they said no issues with LOR.

They're not going to tell you if you have a bad LOR!
The app cycle isn't over yet. You could get an II tomorrow, or in March.

All applicants should have a Plan B until they have accept in hand.

 

[SoppyElk]

Why go to dental school if you don't get accepted this year? They are two completely different things. MD/DO/MBBS/ATP/ANP/BNP/ROMK, doesn't matter what the letters are. You're still a physician. As for the philosophy, most DOs don't pay attention to it anyway so it's a wash. The residency issue has been discussed more times than necessary, but basically you'll still be able to be a practicing physician here in the U.S. Isn't that your end goal, to be a doctor?

Edit: I'm bored af studying renal so disregard those last few letters.

 

[thetwinkle]

Big mistake declining DO invites. Apply DO again, I guess. Apply to a lot of them.

Who reviewed your PS?

Several people, including few physicians. I got good feedbacks. I think I have a unique story.

 

[thetwinkle]

They're not going to tell you if you have a bad LOR!
The app cycle isn't over yet. You could get an II tomorrow, or in March.

All applicants should have a Plan B until they have accept in hand.

Goro,

Thank you so much for your input! One last question: if I didn’t get MD II because of LOR, why do you think I still got DO II? I was interviewed by one DO school and rejected, but the reason they gave me for rejection was not enough DO shadowing. So the admissions never talk about lor even though it was the main reason for rejection?

Thank you so much!

 

[EmilKraepelin55]

Goro,

Thank you so much for your input! One last question: if I didn’t get MD II because of LOR, why do you think I still got DO II? I was interviewed by one DO school and rejected, but the reason they gave me for rejection was not enough DO shadowing. So the admissions never talk about lor even though it was the main reason for rejection?

Thank you so much!

I shadowed two DO's for a grand total of 12 hours and got accepted to two DO schools. I have never even seen osteopathic manipulation! Sure, that school may have wanted more shadow time. However, it may be how you presented yourself and your experience with osteopathic medicine, which means that if you even wanted a DO degree then you would have needed to give serious consideration and self-reflection upon the nuances of DO training and philosophy that you have noticed. Then you need to articulate that understanding during the interview or your PS. Of course, this is just my opinion. The reason for my acceptances could very well be for completely different reasons than what I stated. And, you have stated that you disagree with the philosophy which tells me that you have considered it at least a bit. But any person knows that the true differences between DO and MD are so minute as to be indistinguishable. It is good to be able to talk those minutiae out with DO schools though, which I did in some cases during my interviews. So maybe give the foundational ideas behind the DO some more thought, perhaps?

 

[thetwinkle]

Quackery445,

Thank you for your opinion. I have definitely considered DO seriously but still decided that I should try MD for another year before I reapply to DO. My main concern is that I got DO interviews but didn't get any from MD. At this point, I am just trying to figure out why I'm not getting interview invites, rather than actually being accepted.
And I do agree that DO rejection could have been due to the way I presented myself, as you said. Last year DO was only backup and I went to the interview without much preparation and knowledge about the philosophy. If I end up reapplying to DO schools, I will definitely take your advice and do more research.

Thank you so much!!

 

[Goro]

Goro,

Thank you so much for your input! One last question: if I didn’t get MD II because of LOR, why do you think I still got DO II? I was interviewed by one DO school and rejected, but the reason they gave me for rejection was not enough DO shadowing. So the admissions never talk about lor even though it was the main reason for rejection?

Thank you so much!

DO schools don't seem to pre-screen. Mine sure doesn't.

LORs are written under confidentiality rules. It would reflect badly on any school to "out" a LOR writer, even if you're told you have "a bad LOR".

No IAs???

 

[thetwinkle]

DO schools don't seem to pre-screen. Mine sure doesn't.

LORs are written under confidentiality rules. It would reflect badly on any school to "out" a LOR writer, even if you're told you have "a bad LOR".

No IAs???

No. The only things that would concern me would be 2W’s from freshman year (non-science) and a leave of absence for 1 semester (I traveled).