Advice needed for DO

[hemsky]

Hello SDN,


cGPA: 2.89 sGPA: 2.8
50 hours of volunteering in a local hospital
Will begin shadowing this summer of a primary care physician
No research.
Red Cross volunteer
2000+ hours of medical scribing in an emergency department at a large teaching hospital
During school I worked about 10 to 15 hours a week as a scribe.
MCAT will be taken in April.

So I am worried that I may not get an interview this cycle and I am applying to DO schools that I feel I will be competitive based off of my GPA statistics. I will have 6 LOR's, 3 from physicians who I have worked with over the past 2 years, pre-med adviser, and one from my work. I am also going to ask one of my chemistry professors but I am unsure if he will write me a strong letter.

I know my chances are probably pretty slim as I am very weak academically but my question is will I be able to get some interviews with my work experience and an MCAT score >28?

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[jitothe10]

Since I am not on an adcom, I don't necessarily want to say what will/could happen. Instead, I will give you a quick rundown of what happened to me at an interview at one of the oldest do schools in the nation. Although my stats were s/cgpa above a 3.4 and mcat >30, a member of the interview committee ran down my transcript and named classes where I had passed (I had no Ds nor Fs). She grilled me and asked me how I got my mcat score if I performed so poorly academically. This maybe an extreme case, but it does happen even in the interview. My ec's included research (clinical and lab-based), hospital, shadowing, and campus related/leadership activities.

I just want to give you one recent experience. That school did not accept me although other schools closer to my home state did. I hope this helps.

 

[hemsky]

Hey thanks, that sounds like an interesting experience. I figured if I got an interview something along the lines of what happened to you will occur.

 

[Goro]

I think you're out of luck with all except maybe the newest DO schools. The MCAT will not offset the poor GPA.

Suggest re-taking all C science grades to boost your GPA >3.0, or try an SMP, preferably one given by a medical school.

Hello SDN,


cGPA: 2.89 sGPA: 2.8
50 hours of volunteering in a local hospital
Will begin shadowing this summer of a primary care physician
No research.
Red Cross volunteer
2000+ hours of medical scribing in an emergency department at a large teaching hospital
During school I worked about 10 to 15 hours a week as a scribe.
MCAT will be taken in April.

So I am worried that I may not get an interview this cycle and I am applying to DO schools that I feel I will be competitive based off of my GPA statistics. I will have 6 LOR's, 3 from physicians who I have worked with over the past 2 years, pre-med adviser, and one from my work. I am also going to ask one of my chemistry professors but I am unsure if he will write me a strong letter.

I know my chances are probably pretty slim as I am very weak academically but my question is will I be able to get some interviews with my work experience and an MCAT score >28?

 

[TriagePreMed]

A year of retakes, even at a community college, would do wonders on your application. Otherwise, the <3.0 is going to hurt your chances, greatly.

 

[V5RED]

Why are your GPAs so low?

Did you have a really poor start in college and got better grades as you went along, did you start strong and see a slip in grades over time, did you have a couple randomly awful semesters, or were you pretty much a B- student the entire time?

I thought you needed a few LORs from professors, but maybe I am wrong, idk.

Did you understand the concepts in your pre-requisites? Given that the MCAT is based off of them and your sGPA is low, it seems like banking on a 28+ score to get into a school is a bit tough.

 

[DOhope]

I am curious to find out what this persons major was. 2.8 gpa is not unheard of for engineers. Still going to screw your/our chances of getting into med school. Either way retakes + strong mcat and lots and lots of praying. Good luck!