Am I qualified?

[jjac06]

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I've seen a few posts where people throw out their personal stats and hope for a response...this is one of them 🙂 Thanks in advance for reading this long post and making comments--I really appreciate it!

I am in my second semester of my jr. year at a private relatively prestigous university. Double majoring in biology and psychology, my cum GPA is 3.5 and science is around 3.3-ish (subject to slightly decrease after this semester). I have a lot of international medical experience in developing countries from high school, and have travel/cultural experience from studying abroad in college. My volunteer commitments have been relatively short term--usually lasting about a semester. I have tutored, shadowed a few doctors (both MD and DO), and TA'd bio labs for a year. I am currently working in an art-related store and have had quite a bit of experience working with people. I am very interested in Medical Missions and am planning on taking MCAT's in August.

Potential downfalls: I haven't had research experience. I have gotten B's in most of my science classes (exluding A's in labs and a couple science classes) I don't have any long term volunteer experience and the experiences I do have on my resume don't really involve leadership.

What are my chances?

 

[LVDoc]

I wouldn't sweat it. If anything, it would help you though to have that 3.3 science GPA by the time you submit your application, so try to stay around there. Your most important thing to concentrate on right now is probably the MCAT. You have a few diverse experiences, which will definitely be something that could potentially come up at your interviews or would be something you could talk about (such as the international experiences).

One thing I should emphasize though, is since you mentioned this was in high school, and the volunteer committments were short, I think it would be best to try to get some experience in (be it more shadowing or just volunteering, as long as it something current) by the time you submit your app; you don't want the committees to think that you've been sitting around for the past four years only sparsely being active.

Research experience is overrated. I did it, sure I guess it was something to talk about, but at this point, you should be more concerned about racking up clinical experience than research experience.

 

[dr.z]

I wouldn't sweat it. If anything, it would help you though to have that 3.3 science GPA by the time you submit your application, so try to stay around there. Your most important thing to concentrate on right now is probably the MCAT. You have a few diverse experiences, which will definitely be something that could potentially come up at your interviews or would be something you could talk about (such as the international experiences).

One thing I should emphasize though, is since you mentioned this was in high school, and the volunteer committments were short, I think it would be best to try to get some experience in (be it more shadowing or just volunteering, as long as it something current) by the time you submit your app; you don't want the committees to think that you've been sitting around for the past four years only sparsely being active.

Research experience is overrated. I did it, sure I guess it was something to talk about, but at this point, you should be more concerned about racking up clinical experience than research experience.

I agree. At DO schools, they seemed to prefer more clinical experience than research.

 

[medic170]

What are my chances??

68.4% roughly IMO

 

[DRLEWISDO]

With an overall GPA of 3.5 I think you are competitive. We like to see people with GPA's of at a minimum of 3.5, but hopefully with MCAT scores in the 34+ range. I am very intune with Medical School admissions criteria. You should NOT expect to have an easier time with DO commitees over MD commitees. Both US school systems are very hard to enter. PLease understand that medicine is a very responsible profession and we seek candiates who have many factors inlcuding high academic acheivement in the undergraduate curriculum. Good luck in your search for an admission into a US medical School.

Dr Lewis

 

[smgilles]

With an overall GPA of 3.5 I think you are competitive. We like to see people with GPA's of at a minimum of 3.5, but hopefully with MCAT scores in the 34+ range. I am very intune with Medical School admissions criteria. You should NOT expect to have an easier time with DO commitees over MD commitees. Both US school systems are very hard to enter. PLease understand that medicine is a very responsible profession and we seek candiates who have many factors inlcuding high academic acheivement in the undergraduate curriculum. Good luck in your search for an admission into a US medical School.

Dr Lewis

Gee "Dr. Lewis" why is it this school states they typically would like to see a 23 MCAT score and a 3.2 gpa? I thought you were intune w/medical admissions?

http://www.lecom.edu/lecom-new/florida/admissions/requirements.asp

Keep blowing smoke......

 

[DRLEWISDO]

Gee "Dr. Lewis" why is it this school states they typically would like to see a 23 MCAT score and a 3.2 gpa? I thought you were intune w/medical admissions?

http://www.lecom.edu/lecom-new/florida/admissions/requirements.asp

Keep blowing smoke......

Do you want to be competitive or "run of the mill". If someone can present a candidacy for medical school admissions wioth a 3.5 GPA and 34 or greater on the MCAT, then I can nearly assure them of entrance into a US medical school (DO or MD).

I wish folks would remember that we want stellar performance on the exams and such. Minimums as you described should be taken with a grain of salt. I thnk the OP is competitive for a spot but it is by all means not a certainty.

I am saddened by the large amount of posts on here that discuss minimums and try and explain away lower scores. The fact is I would like to see a changing of the guard with regards to our aplications and accepted stats at US Osteopathic Schools. Untill our incoming Stats are equal or better than our our allopathic counterparts we will fight the "are we as good" complex. I council my pre-med students to shoot for at MINIMUM a 3.5 and 34. This way, I can help direct them for the best program for them, not jus "any program".

Please understnad that I only mean well and want the best for all Osteopathic students. I find your post offensive and disheartneing.

Dr Lewis

 

[medic170]

Do you want to be competitive or "run of the mill". If someone can present a candidacy for medical school admissions wioth a 3.5 GPA and 34 or greater on the MCAT, then I can nearly assure them of entrance into a US medical school (DO or MD).

I wish folks would remember that we want stellar performance on the exams and such. Minimums as you described should be taken with a grain of salt. I thnk the OP is competitive for a spot but it is by all means not a certainty.

I am saddened by the large amount of posts on here that discuss minimums and try and explain away lower scores. The fact is I would like to see a changing of the guard with regards to our aplications and accepted stats at US Osteopathic Schools. Untill our incoming Stats are equal or better than our our allopathic counterparts we will fight the "are we as good" complex. I council my pre-med students to shoot for at MINIMUM a 3.5 and 34. This way, I can help direct them for the best program for them, not jus "any program".

Please understnad that I only mean well and want the best for all Osteopathic students. I find your post offensive and disheartneing.

Dr Lewis

Those numbers he gave are not minimums, they are AVERAGES. BIG difference. However, I guess the doc is right, with a 34 MCAT and 3.5 gpa no DO school is going to turn you down. Most MD school would not either. But, these stats would be well above average for any DO school matriculant and many MD schools.

 

[carn311]

I am saddened by the large amount of posts on here that discuss minimums and try and explain away lower scores. The fact is I would like to see a changing of the guard with regards to our aplications and accepted stats at US Osteopathic Schools. Untill our incoming Stats are equal or better than our our allopathic counterparts we will fight the "are we as good" complex. I council my pre-med students to shoot for at MINIMUM a 3.5 and 34. This way, I can help direct them for the best program for them, not jus "any program".

Please understnad that I only mean well and want the best for all Osteopathic students. I find your post offensive and disheartneing.

Dr Lewis

I do see your point. Osteopaths will be looked upon with a certain stigma as long as their stats are lower than those of in allopathic programs.

However, as to the disscussion of minimum requirements for admission that goes on in these boards, just remember: we just want to be doctors.
MOST of us will work as hard as we can and , appart from personal tragedy, will exceed the minumum stats required for admission. But it is a comfort at least to know that you are in an accademic safe zone, so to speak.

Im not condoning lazyness...I'm just differentiating lazyness and fear. 🙂

 

[Amy B]

Hi,
My advice is to not worry about the research but rather go and start volunteering someone that is clinically related. See if you can find a free health clinic. They are an ideal place to start volunteering. I would say once a week for as long as you can would be great for your application and will give you a fantastic experience. I loved being at the free clinic where I volunteered consistently for 3 years.

Study hard fo rthe MCAT, do your best, get clinical volunteering experiences, write a heart felt essay, apply early, have a great interview and you should be set.

Good luck. 😎

 

[jkhamlin]

I've seen a few posts where people throw out their personal stats and hope for a response...this is one of them 🙂 Thanks in advance for reading this long post and making comments--I really appreciate it!

I am in my second semester of my jr. year at a private relatively prestigous university. Double majoring in biology and psychology, my cum GPA is 3.5 and science is around 3.3-ish (subject to slightly decrease after this semester). I have a lot of international medical experience in developing countries from high school, and have travel/cultural experience from studying abroad in college. My volunteer commitments have been relatively short term--usually lasting about a semester. I have tutored, shadowed a few doctors (both MD and DO), and TA'd bio labs for a year. I am currently working in an art-related store and have had quite a bit of experience working with people. I am very interested in Medical Missions and am planning on taking MCAT's in August.

Potential downfalls: I haven't had research experience. I have gotten B's in most of my science classes (exluding A's in labs and a couple science classes) I don't have any long term volunteer experience and the experiences I do have on my resume don't really involve leadership.

What are my chances?

I have similar stats (although it is really difficult to compare anyone's stats and med schools know this), and I am interviewing at OSU-COM next week; obviously I "qualify," so you probably have a good chance.
Cool double major BTW. 😀