Advice Needed: Chance for Osteopathic Schools THIS late?

[future med]

Hi everyone, I am new to SDN. I know nothing is absolutely definite, but I just want everyone's honest opinions on what are my chances of being accepted to any osteopathic medical schools this late in the application cycle of 2012. My primary applications were sent to and released by aacomas on 12/8/11. I have already sent out some of my secondaries and letter of recs right before the Christmas break (around 12/18), hopefully those schools will receive them right when admissions open on Jan 3rd if they have not received them already.

I got a 25L (8V8P9B) on my MCAT and I have a cGPA of 3.22 and sGPA of 2.95. I graduated a year and a half ago with a business degree and have been working in the education field ever since. I moved to U.S. at the age of 16 and had to overcome a lot of difficulties trying to "fit in" and adapt to a completely different society. I currently have residency in Texas. I know I am really late for this cycle and both my GPA and MCAT are on the low side, that's why I planned on retaking the MCAT on Jan 27th, hopefully a better score would make a difference to the pending applications for this cycle. I have experience in shadowing and MD, and volunteering at an ENT clinic for about 2 years while I was in college. After graduation, I was actively involved in an organization in Houston that raises money for heart surgeries for the underprivileged communities overseas. My letter of recommendations are decent.

I have also been offered an interview to St. George's University SOM for their MPH to MD program, basically if I get accepted, I would have to do a semester of MPH and if I keep my GPA above 3.5, I would be promoted to the MD program in August 2012. I am confident that I would be able to do well in the MPH program and medical school regardless of where I go. I "messed up" in undergrad and I would really like to be given a chance to prove that I can work had and be a good physician. I have read a lot about Caribbean schools and D.O. debate, and I am not here for that. I know the Caribbean route (maybe even D.O., when compared to U.S. MD) would close some doors for me, or I would have to work extra hard to get where I want to. But I do not mind that at all, all I want is a chance in medical education. Regardless of where I end up, I would really like to start medical school by August 2012. So I guess my questions are,

1) what are my chances of being accepted to any osteopathic schools, and what schools specifically do I have a shot at in this current position?

2) Below is a list of schools that I have applied to, I have sent out secondaries for 5, and I am currently working on the others. Should I just save money/time and not submit secondaries for particular schools based on my stats and timing? I don't mind putting in the time and effort, but all these secondary essays are extra time consuming for me due to the fact that English is not my first language, even though I have worked very hard to learn the language and I now speak it fluently. Do these essays even weigh much? I have been trying so hard to perfect these essays because I have low stats.

3) Should I give up on the SGU MPH to MD program (given that I do well at the interview and get accepted) and retake the MCAT on January 27th to improve my current apps? Most schools will look at my retake, but some say it MIGHT be too late by the time they receive the score. I have been working full-time ever since the last MCAT in September, so I really don't see myself improving too much. I have one month to study full time, realistically speaking I predict right around a 28- 30. Would such a minor improvement even improve my chance at all being this late in the cycle?

Sorry for the lengthy post. I thank everyone in advance and I am glad I joined SDN!

List of Schools applying/applied to


A.T. Still University, Kirksville MO
A.T. Still University, AZ secondary sent
PCOM Georgia Campus - GA
LECOM - Bradenton Campus, FL
LECOM - Erie/Seton Hill, PA
LMU-DCOM secondary sent
NOVA secondary sent
PCOM - PA
Pikeville SOM, KY secondary sent
RVUCOM secondary sent
TOURO COM - CA
TOURO COM - Nevada, NV rejected (low sGPA)

WVSOM , WV secondary not required until interview invite
Western University of Health Sciences -OR
Western University of Health Sciences - CA
William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine, MS

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[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Save your money, you're not going to get in this cycle. The combination of having extremely below average states and applying on the deadline, when the majority of applicants have been interviewed gives you almost 0 chance at getting in this cycle.

What you should do is use your time and money wisely and retake a few classes to raise your Sgpa and retake your mcat. I.e to actually have a good chance at getting accepted next cycle.

 

[willen101383]

Hi everyone, I am new to SDN. I know nothing is absolutely definite, but I just want everyone's honest opinions on what are my chances of being accepted to any osteopathic medical schools this late in the application cycle of 2012. My primary applications were sent to and released by aacomas on 12/8/11. I have already sent out some of my secondaries and letter of recs right before the Christmas break (around 12/18), hopefully those schools will receive them right when admissions open on Jan 3rd if they have not received them already.

I got a 25L (8V8P9B) on my MCAT and I have a cGPA of 3.22 and sGPA of 2.95. I graduated a year and a half ago with a business degree and have been working in the education field ever since. I moved to U.S. at the age of 16 and had to overcome a lot of difficulties trying to "fit in" and adapt to a completely different society. I currently have residency in Texas. I know I am really late for this cycle and both my GPA and MCAT are on the low side, that's why I planned on retaking the MCAT on Jan 27th, hopefully a better score would make a difference to the pending applications for this cycle. I have experience in shadowing and MD, and volunteering at an ENT clinic for about 2 years while I was in college. After graduation, I was actively involved in an organization in Houston that raises money for heart surgeries for the underprivileged communities overseas. My letter of recommendations are decent.

I have also been offered an interview to St. George's University SOM for their MPH to MD program, basically if I get accepted, I would have to do a semester of MPH and if I keep my GPA above 3.5, I would be promoted to the MD program in August 2012. I am confident that I would be able to do well in the MPH program and medical school regardless of where I go. I "messed up" in undergrad and I would really like to be given a chance to prove that I can work had and be a good physician. I have read a lot about Caribbean schools and D.O. debate, and I am not here for that. I know the Caribbean route (maybe even D.O., when compared to U.S. MD) would close some doors for me, or I would have to work extra hard to get where I want to. But I do not mind that at all, all I want is a chance in medical education. Regardless of where I end up, I would really like to start medical school by August 2012. So I guess my questions are,

1) what are my chances of being accepted to any osteopathic schools, and what schools specifically do I have a shot at in this current position?

2) Below is a list of schools that I have applied to, I have sent out secondaries for 5, and I am currently working on the others. Should I just save money/time and not submit secondaries for particular schools based on my stats and timing? I don't mind putting in the time and effort, but all these secondary essays are extra time consuming for me due to the fact that English is not my first language, even though I have worked very hard to learn the language and I now speak it fluently. Do these essays even weigh much? I have been trying so hard to perfect these essays because I have low stats.

3) Should I give up on the SGU MPH to MD program (given that I do well at the interview and get accepted) and retake the MCAT on January 27th to improve my current apps? Most schools will look at my retake, but some say it MIGHT be too late by the time they receive the score. I have been working full-time ever since the last MCAT in September, so I really don't see myself improving too much. I have one month to study full time, realistically speaking I predict right around a 28- 30. Would such a minor improvement even improve my chance at all being this late in the cycle?

Sorry for the lengthy post. I thank everyone in advance and I am glad I joined SDN!

List of Schools applying/applied to


A.T. Still University, Kirksville MO
A.T. Still University, AZ secondary sent
PCOM Georgia Campus - GA
LECOM - Bradenton Campus, FL
LECOM - Erie/Seton Hill, PA
LMU-DCOM secondary sent
NOVA secondary sent
PCOM - PA
Pikeville SOM, KY secondary sent
RVUCOM secondary sent
TOURO COM - CA
TOURO COM - Nevada, NV rejected (low sGPA)

WVSOM , WV secondary not required until interview invite
Western University of Health Sciences -OR
Western University of Health Sciences - CA
William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine, MS

1. Unfortunately man things are likely going to be a bit difficult if not impossible for this cycle. Your mcat is low, your gpa is low, and you are applying very late in the cycle.

2. I wouldnt waste my time with PCOM philly (my school)...its too late with your stats.
As far as the west coast school, it depends where you live. If you are an east coaster your app wont go anywhere. The others I would do my best to fill out. It all really depends on your financial situation. The chances are really low you will get an acceptance anywhere this year, but if you can foot the bill I say go for it. I significantly doubt the essays are going to sway anyones opinion one way or another about you given your low stats. If you had a borderline GPA you might get lucky.

3. I wouldnt go to the carribbean under any circumstances....and a program where you need to get a 3.5 to move into med school scares me even more. The carribbeans are notorious for being super difficult...and I just wouldnt risk that. What happens if you dont break 3.5? Are you going to give up and be happy with your MPH and working in public health? Or are you going to be upset and reapply to med school with a still pretty low post bac GPA? It just seems a bit too risky for my taste. A lot of people like to "predict" a higher MCAT score...and not saying you cant do it...but what makes you think you can jump 3 or more points? Did you not try hard enough on your first attempt? Or did you try pretty hard on your first attempt. People's mcat scores dont tend to increase that much if you had already put in a valiant effort. I know of a few people I went to grad school with who were great students in grad school....went to the carribbean and straight up failed out and got sent home.


Anyways, I hope that helps you out. I had a low GPA when I applied so I know a bit about low GPA med school admissions. Hope I wasnt too direct for you, but I think beating around the bush does you a disservice. Good luck!

 

[willen101383]

Save your money, you're not going to get in this cycle. The combination of having extremely below average states and applying on the deadline, when the majority of applicants have been interviewed gives you almost 0 chance at getting in this cycle.

What you should do is use your time and money wisely and retake a few classes to raise your Sgpa and retake your mcat. I.e to actually have a good chance at getting accepted next cycle.

and I thought I was direct lol

 

[ManBroDude]

I can comment on your DO chances: Your sGPA is under 3.0, which auto-screens you from some schools. The best way to offset this would be with a high MCAT, which you unfortunately don't have (25). This might have been mitigated somewhat had you applied on day one, but alas, your chances are close to nil since you're not even complete by the end of the year. With all these factors combined, it's not looking good. Hit the MCAT hard the next few months (take it in April), get a great score (>30), and apply on day one in June of next year. This is called maximizing your chances. I'd venture to guess even a great MCAT score released in late February / early March won't matter when there's no seats left to interview for.

I'm not going to feed into the DO vs Carib vs MD debate, but I trust you can do your own research, including the great thread HockeyDr09 made earlier this year.

 

[future med]

Thank you for the replies. I am glad you guys are so direct and straightforward. I wish I would have joined sdn a couple months earlier and maybe things would've been different. I am still going to send out a couple more secondaries but I won't have any expectations. Hopefully I will do well in the SGU interview and that will be an option for me. Thanks again.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Thank you for the replies. I am glad you guys are so direct and straightforward. I wish I would have joined sdn a couple months earlier and maybe things would've been different. I am still going to send out a couple more secondaries but I won't have any expectations. Hopefully I will do well in the SGU interview and that will be an option for me. Thanks again.

I wouldn't even follow up with the SGU interview for a multitude of reasons, of which many have been covered by Will. However he neglected to also mention that statistically your gpa/mcat combination is highly predictive of a possibility of failing the USMLE or even worse not even getting to take the USMLE by SGU*. Either way you need to improve your application and apply early next cycle to get into a DO school which will go out of its way to graduate you and place you into a residency as opposed to going to a school that will only care about your ability to synthesize blank checks.

* SGU participates in practices to protect its reputation and averages. These practices are usually in the form of the deceleration of students who they deem less able to succeed and hit high USMLE scores. They also frequently fail students out by the boatload.

 

[willen101383]

I wouldn't even follow up with the SGU interview for a multitude of reasons, of which many have been covered by Will. However he neglected to also mention that statistically your gpa/mcat combination is highly predictive of a possibility of failing the USMLE or even worse not even getting to take the USMLE by SGU*. Either way you need to improve your application and apply early next cycle to get into a DO school which will go out of its way to graduate you and place you into a residency as opposed to going to a school that will only care about your ability to synthesize blank checks.

* SGU to protect its reputation regularly decelerates students who they deem less able to succeed and hit high USMLE scores and can fail you to prevent you from taking the USMLE and sullying their averages.

Would NEVER even consider this program. Would much rather take some part time classes, work on that GPA, MAKE SOME MONEY, and reapply early next year. As someone who took 5 years off between undergrad and med school, what is another year...especially if you are making some money. Taking a year off and working sucks a whole lot less than moving to the caribbean, failing out/not making 3.5 and coming home with your tail between your legs. One of the guys I was referring to in my last post was a great student...3.5+ GPA, but due to his family's cultural stance he refused to go to a DO school and went to the Caribbean. Failed out after the first quarter. I fully believe that if this guy went to a DO school he would still be a med student, and perhaps a successful one at that. They dont care about your academic well being. They want to make money, and if they ruin a life in the process they dont care. The classes are notoriously cutthroat and ruthless to ensure only the best make it through, and that they can keep reporting out their "high" step scores and GPAs. There is simply no way that students who are forced to go to the caribbean are going to be scoring that highly on the USMLE without some "intervention" by the school.

Do yourself a favor and keep your feet on US soil, get your GPA and MCAT in order and reapply next year.

 

[tenndoc]

i answered you in the underdog thread

 

[Bacchus]

Moved to WAMC and bumping for the OP.

 

[Catalystik]

Save your money, you're not going to get in this cycle. The combination of having extremely below average states and applying on the deadline, when the majority of applicants have been interviewed gives you almost 0 chance at getting in this cycle.

What you should do is use your time and money wisely and retake a few classes to raise your Sgpa and retake your mcat. I.e to actually have a good chance at getting accepted next cycle.

I would echo this advise.