Advice for Navy vet

[devdoc90]

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OK, So I received my second low MCAT (1st was 487, 2nd 489)score this morning.
I only improved by a wopping two points, and I am feeling very dazed and confused.
First attempt I was going through a divorce, and second time around I felt more prepared (But obviously not as prepared as I thought)
I am a Navy Corpsman Veteran, recent graduate, and have a 3 year old daughter with half custody.
I have great LORs, personal statement, and very good extracurriculars.
The only thing holding me back is the MCAT. Now, I know many will say to give up, and go plan B, but I feel as if I am stellar all around except the MCAT.
What do you recommend I do? Start studying again, and practice test? are there any SMP programs I can do that will be beneficial to my situation? I am literally feeling very lost in life after graduating. Thanks!
Also, I am wanting do go the DO route.

 

[Entadus]

How are your grades?

How did you study for the MCAT each time? For how long?

 

[devdoc90]

How are your grades?

How did you study for the MCAT each time? For how long?

My cgpa is 3.3, and sgpa is 3.1

 

[esob]

My cgpa is 3.3, and sgpa is 3.1

Well, if it were truly only the MCAT holding you back as you stated, I might suggest some alternative method or study but honestly your GPA is holding you back as well. Vet status won't help you enough to overcome that MCAT and your GPA. With your current GPA you would have to score well above the median of any school to which you might apply. Any URM status? If not, life isn't over but you are looking at an SMP and a significant MCAT makeover before you could be considered a serious candidate.

 

[Tabiyou]

How did you like green side?

Would have to concur esob.

How old are you, by the way? The reason I ask is because remember, this is a marathon not a sprint. Judging by those scores, it suggests you don't have the core concepts down. If I were in your shoes, I would take that year and spend it studying for the MCAT rather than spending time in a SMP.

Best of luck.

 

[djtallahassee]

How did you like green side?

Would have to concur esob.

How old are you, by the way? The reason I ask is because remember, this is a marathon not a sprint. Judging by those scores, it suggests you don't have the core concepts down. If I were in your shoes, I would take that year and spend it studying for the MCAT rather than spending time in a SMP.

Best of luck.

Agreed, you grades aren't great, but with veteran status you would be ok. Fastest pass to acceptance is a decent MCAT.

400's indicate content gap, should be able to solve that in a few months. Check out the mcat forums for tips, plans, and advice. Hold yourself to their standards (I.e. All shooting for 520s, therefore prepping like it) and you will be fine.




Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[NontradCA]

Hey, fellow corpsman here. I'm not sure what constitutes a good MCAT nowadays but I can tell you my veteran status helped me a bit for applications. Some schools didn't seem to care, for whatever reason. I would try to get your MCAT up and shoot for an MD school, applying to as many as possible. You're only shooting yourself in the foot by going to a DO school, and since you have a daughter I'd bet location is an issue. There's more MD schools than DO schools when looking geographically. Good luck. PM me if you wish.

 

[Terror Billy]

Hey, fellow corpsman here. I'm not sure what constitutes a good MCAT nowadays but I can tell you my veteran status helped me a bit for applications. Some schools didn't seem to care, for whatever reason. I would try to get your MCAT up and shoot for an MD school, applying to as many as possible. You're only shooting yourself in the foot by going to a DO school, and since you have a daughter I'd bet location is an issue. There's more MD schools than DO schools when looking geographically. Good luck. PM me if you wish.

OP this is bad advice. How is he shooting himself in the foot by going to a DO school? There are quite a few located in big cities , and with his GPAs and MCAT it will be very hard to attain an acceptance. Even if he brought his MCAT 11 points (no easy task) he would barely be competitive at MDs. It's one thing if his sGPA and cGPA were 3.5+, but they're not, and coupled with a low MCAT score it is a high predictor of struggling in med school. If you show a high GPA or high MCAT or a solid for both schools feel confident you'll succeed, but if you have none of the 3 it's an uphill climb for MDs and likely DOs as well.

I would say apply broadly to DOs and hope the veteran status helps and also apply to your in-state MDs.

 

[NontradCA]

OP I don't think this is great advice. How is he shooting himself in the foot by going to a DO school? There are quite a few located in big cities , and with his GPAs and MCAT it will be very hard to attain an acceptance. Even if he brought his MCAT 11 points (no easy task) he would barely be competitive at MDs. It's one thing if his sGPA and cGPA were 3.5+, they're not coupled with a low MCAT score is a high predictor of struggling in med school. If you show a high GPA or high MCAT or a solid for both schools feel confident you'll succeed, but if you have none of the 3 it's an uphill climb for MDs.

I would say apply broadly to DOs and hope the veteran status helps and also apply to your in-state MDs.

You can head over to the DO school forums or any of the specialty forums and see why going to a DO school is shooting yourself in the foot. I'm not saying for the OP to not apply to them, but to shoot for an MD spot. I say this as someone who has been in his shoes. I suppose I wouldn't say this to a non corpsman, but I want my boys to show up and show out.

Yes, getting a better score on the MCAT takes hard work, but so is being in a line unit.

 

[Terror Billy]

You can head over to the DO school forums or any of the specialty forums and see why going to a DO school is shooting yourself in the foot. I'm not saying for the OP to not apply to them, but to shoot for an MD spot. I say this as someone who has been in his shoes. I suppose I wouldn't say this to a non corpsman, but I want my boys to show up and show out.

Yes getting a better score on the MCAT takes hard work, but so is being in a line unit.

This post reeks of insecurity, at the end of the day this individual has a kid to look after. There is no guarantee that even if he gets a 505 that he will be accepted to an MD program w/out doing an SMP on top of it (more $$$). I thank you for your service, but perhaps you should not be giving bad advice to individuals, especially fellow corpsmen. I'll tag some experts to help the OP more than I can @Goro @gyngyn

 

[NontradCA]

This post reeks of insecurity, at the end of the day this individual has a kid to look after. There is no guarantee that even if he gets a 505 that he will be accepted to an MD program w/out doing an SMP on top of it (more $$$). I thank you for your service, but perhaps you should not be giving bad advice to individuals, especially fellow corpsmen. I'll tag some experts to help the OP more than I can @Goro @gyngyn

It's not insecurity, it's the reality. I apologize for going through 3+ years of school and extrapolating my opinion that is backed up by literally everything on these forums except pre-do. There is absolutely no reason for any pre-med to forego MD schools if their application might have any chance.

 

[Terror Billy]

It's not insecurity, it's the reality. I apologize for going through 3+ years of school and extrapolating my opinion that is backed up by literally everything on these forums except pre-do. There is absolutely no reason for any pre-med to forego MD schools if their application might have any chance.

Thats' the problem he has almost ZERO chance at the moment and in the next cycle as well w/ 2 limiting factors. I doubt OP has aspirations to become an academic cardiothoracic surgeon. Short of that, and neurosurgery, ENT, and plastics he has every ability to go into whatever he'd like as a DO, which is an option he can probably apply into THIS cycle. At the end of the day he has a kid, each year he spends working and trying to attain the holy grail of an MD that you think he should keep boning for is lost income for his family. It's fine if you're a 22 year-old who can't live your life w/out MD after your name, but he has real life considerations, and if he ends up wanting to something like EM, what difference does MD or DO make?

 

[NontradCA]

Thats' the problem he has almost ZERO chance at the moment and in the next cycle as well w/ 2 limiting factors. I doubt OP has aspirations to become an academic cardiothoracic surgeon. Short of that, and neurosurgery, ENT, and plastics he has every ability to go into whatever he'd like as a DO, which is an option he can probably apply into THIS cycle. At the end of the day he has a kid, each year he spends working and trying to attain the holy grail of an MD that you think he should keep boning for is lost income for his family. It's fine if you're a 22 year-old who can't live your life w/out MD after your name, but he has real life considerations, and if he ends up wanting to something like EM, what difference does MD or DO make?

I'm not sure if the OP is applying this cycle or not. All I told the dude was the shoot for an MD and retake his mcat. I assume he's retaking it based on the posts he made. If he falls short he'll still be a DO. Theres nothing wrong with being a DO. It's just from an opportunity standpoint there are disadvantages. And to answer your question there are differences no matter what the specialty (maybe not PMR). You can search these forums and figure it out.

 

[NontradCA]

Anyway OP, you can listen to this premed, or you can listen to me : 4th year med student, Top 10 in class, 85+ %tile USMLE/Comlex who is already seeing the disadvantage trying to match a field that's not very competitive. You will find people like me throughout DO schools. You can search these forums and talk to people other than premeds and get this information easily.


Edited by moderator. Name calling and profanity are not allowed on SDN. Keep it professional please.

 

[Goro]

Anyway OP, you can listen to this premed (pog boot bitch), or you can listen to me : 4th year med student, Top 10 in class, 85+ %tile USMLE/Comlex who is already seeing the disadvantage trying to match a field that's not very competitive. You will find people like me throughout DO schools. You can search these forums and talk to people other than premeds and get this information easily.

I agree with NonTrad that DOs have doors shut on them and it's harder (but not impossible) to get through others. 50-60% of DO grads will end up in Primary Care (which is not the 7th Circle of Hell people make it out to be). And there are also the annoyances like the hagiography of AT Still, and bogus things (or, a minimum, unproven claims) like Chapman's points.

SDNers considering DO schools need to go in eyes open and be aware of the plusses and minuses of the DO route. At the minimum, they should either try an MD cycle alone, or an MD + DO cycle. But they are also advised not to take out their disappointment at not getting into an MD school on themselves or their profession. In the end, one gets to be a doctor.

 

[Tabiyou]

Anyway OP, you can listen to this premed (pog boot bitch), or you can listen to me : 4th year med student, Top 10 in class, 85+ %tile USMLE/Comlex who is already seeing the disadvantage trying to match a field that's not very competitive. You will find people like me throughout DO schools. You can search these forums and talk to people other than premeds and get this information easily.

Congratulations on making it to the top 1o in class, 85+ %tile USMLE/Comlex in school. That is an incredible accomplishment. I sincerely hope I can be that successful in the upcoming years.

Your remarks on calling someone a pog boot b****, however, is exceptionally unwarranted and extremely unprofessional. What is rather remarkable/ironic is that you yourself are a POG. You don't have an 03xx designator, you enlisted in the Navy as a HM. I served in the infantry and did a deployment (0302). Where did you go to ITB? SOI? Any advanced 03xx courses? No, right? Because try as hard as you may, you aren't a grunt.

Please don't resort to pointless name calling - this isn't the fleet and these are our peers. Everyone on this forum is trying to help out one another.

Edit - spelling

 

[NontradCA]

Congratulations on making it to the top 1o in class, 85+ %tile USMLE/Comlex in school. That is an incredible accomplishment. I sincerely hope I can be that successful in the upcoming years.

Your remarks on calling someone a pog boot b****, however, is exceptionally unwarranted and extremely unprofessional. What is rather remarkable/ironic is that you yourself are a POG. You don't have an 03xx designator, you enlisted in the Navy as a HM. I served in the infantry and did a deployment (0302). Where did you go to ITB? SOI? Any advanced 03xx courses? No, right? Because try as hard as you may, you aren't a grunt.

Please don't resort to pointless name calling - this isn't the fleet and these are our peers. Everyone on this forum is trying to help out one another.

Edit - spelling

That's cute, and interesting that I rustled your jimmies. I'm sorry that I violated your safe space, and I hope you don't report my unprofessional microaggressions.

 

[Tabiyou]

That's cute, and interesting that I rustled your jimmies. I'm sorry that I violated your safe space, and I hope you don't report my unprofessional microaggressions.

If you were in the infantry or even served in a line unit, you would know how much we distain POGs or malingers like yourself.

 

[NontradCA]

If you were in the infantry or even served in a line unit, you would know how much we distain POGs or malingers like yourself.

I will prove to you I'm not a POG by posting my CAR DD 214 here. I am desperately seeking validation from you.

 

[Tabiyou]

I will prove to you I'm not a POG by posting my CAR DD 214 here. I am desperately seeking validation from you.

Anybody can earn a CAR from being a fobbit. No need to post. Besides, how is your external validation helping out in this thread or OP?

 

[NontradCA]

Anybody can earn a CAR from being a fobbit. No need to post. Besides, how is your external validation helping out in this thread or OP?

This is an ironic post. Also, sarcasm. Not even once. The internet can be a confusing place, so I forgive you. But we both agree on something, getting the thread back on topic. Feel free to PM me your concerns.

 

[Terror Billy]

Anyway OP, you can listen to this premed (pog boot bitch), or you can listen to me : 4th year med student, Top 10 in class, 85+ %tile USMLE/Comlex who is already seeing the disadvantage trying to match a field that's not very competitive. You will find people like me throughout DO schools. You can search these forums and talk to people other than premeds and get this information easily.

I didn't see the name calling in your prior post until now, but given where you claim to be located I can't be completely surprised #stayclassy

 

[QofQuimica]

Folks, let's please keep this discussion civil and professional.

OP, as others have already noted, you are currently not competitive for any medical school (MD or DO) with that GPA and MCAT combination. You don't need perfect stats (MCAT or GPA) to get into medical school, but you do need to score high enough in both areas so that an adcom can feel confident that you will be capable of passing your classes and medical boards. Given that your GPA also needs some repair, I would suggest that you start there. For sure you should retake any class that you earned less than a C in, and you should also take some upper level science classes. Given that you are struggling with MCAT performance, you may also want to retake some or all of your prereqs (or at least audit them) so that you can be better prepared for your next attempt.